[Eremite]

Baltic Winters Sled Dog Association: Rescue Round Up

This boy used to belong to an elderly musher who passed away. His family didn't know what to do with his dogs so they left them there until they found us. In his time at the musher's home this handsome boy developed mange! He is practically hairless with large scabby patches. Guessing by the little hair he has he'll be a tall, dark, and handsome fellow when healed!

owner;; Crimoodle
full name;; Perchance to Dream
call name;; Alexander
age;; 4 years
gender;; Male
colour;; Dark grey minimal white ticked
genotype;; kk/asaw/BB/dd/Emem/Gg/Iir/smsp/TT
have all the tasks been completed?;; Complete
stats;
speed- 27
stamina- 30
strength- 27
No posting until Crimoodle has posted their claim! You have until 8th April 2016.

ps: trust me this boy will be a stunning dark grey boy once healthy!

[Venatici]

oh my god-- this made so so so happy you don't even understand

thank you so much !! I'm gonna start working on my tasks pronto, oh golly he's so handsome and I bet he'll be fantastic when he's all healed up <3

I'll post the name somewhat relatively soon- I just wanna make sure he has the perfect name ; v ;

I am claiming my Baltic Husky!
full name;; Perchance to Dream
call name;; Alexander
tasks;;

Task 1 - Welcoming your new dog home - Complete

The freckles on his arms were roadmaps to the sky, and the bruises that he carried were supernovas in disguise.

I didn't quite understand the severity of the disease until he came to us from the rescuers who found him in the first place.
We were prepared with knowledge of our new dog, and armed with soft toys and bedding and all the treats a dog could ever want, but we weren't prepared for the bad state he was in.
They gave us him on a leash instead of a crate, indicating he seemed to be one of the bolder dogs-- not one all too affected in mind and boldness by his situation. He kept his head held high and tried to keep large strides from what it seemed, but otherwise didn't react. He seemed as if he had seen too many things, and seemed as if to falter every now and then with his large steps, almost acting lethargic. They said he came with another dog- another male who was two years older than him-- but we didn't know much more than that. In order to make sure the dogs were taken best care of, we decided to devote ourself to just one dog, and that was how we had gotten him on our doorstep.

They said he was a wheel dog, and had been best friends with the lead dog of the team- from this we slowly began to piece together and find his pedigree and lineage, and find out more about the dog we now had on our hands.

We gave him a bit of isolation from the other dogs are first. We didn't want to overwhelm him- he needed rest, and recovery. Most of his fur was gone and since he didn't allow us to touch him, we made sure to put blankets all in his dog bed and made sure everything was incredibly soft so it wouldn't irritate his skin more.

To welcome him home properly, we made sure he did have his bed and the blankets [the blankets soon after would be found scattered around the house, it was like he was dragging his blankets around with his mouth to claim his 'territory'] and made sure he was given the right amount of food and plenty of water. We didn't make him walk around the house, he eventually did it on his own, and whenever he felt particularly scared he would retreat back to his room and sit in the doorway, watching while being alert.

We made it his new home the best we could- I requested we bring in some of the minor sled equipment such as the harnesses and straps and placed them on the table, but where he could see them. Strangely enough, it did calm him down.

They said he would be hard work, but they also said he was different. It wouldn't necessarily be working on making him less shy [even at first glance we could tell he was bolder than most of our dogs to begin with] or working on a fear of noises or dogs, no. What we needed to be working on was something different: something we couldn't tell just yet.





Task 2 - Bonding - Complete

The road is long and hard, but he will never look back
He knows she is there, holding his hand through the underworld
For she is his eyes and he is her heart.

They said his name was Alexander- Alexander the Great was who he was named after, and as if he knew his name had bestowed upon him a great weight, the moment he walked into the room was the moment I knew I had a dog with an unbreakable spirit. Alexander came when we called, sometimes even trying to run over when he felt particularly spunky. We found out a few things right away- Alexander hated being on a leash but enjoyed trying to have someone put a harness or boots on him [mostly by knocking them off of whatever they were on and bringing them over to us], that he seemed to have some boundary-pushing instincts [if we told him no, it made him stop-- but just until we weren't looking anymore], and that he was also incredibly smart [he somehow managed to open up the stove door and the cabinet drawers in order to climb up on top of the counter]. Almost [definitely] too smart for his own good.

It took a little while for him to adjust. Not that Alexander was jumpy or skittish- no, he seemed alert and lonely. He acted as if he already knew the house, that nothing spooked him, and would just sit and look out the window. We suspected he was missing his musher, so we slowly tried to integrate him in with the older but friendly members of a retired sled team. Being around a group, despite them not being on a sled or doing anything but sitting around outside together relaxing, seemed to ease him in and make him feel better. It didn't make it completely 'okay', but it wasn't as bad as when he first arrived either.

Alexander soon began to feel more at home, and he became more receptive soon after. His dull, unresponsive stares started to become turning his head and looking at us with bright eyes and ears tilted slightly to the side. He made sure to let us know that he didn't enjoy sleeping outside-- or on the floor for that matter, he always managed to wedge his way up on our couch-- and that yes, giving him more than one treat was what we were supposed to do. Alexander then allowed us to start actually bonding with him- he would come and instead of sitting at the other side of the room, sit or lay down by us at the table.

It was clear he didn't like us touching him-- no, that was the one thing the mange had affected all too much. While we were thankful he wasn't too badly hurt or neglected like other dogs, so he still had most of his trust in people, it was still a struggle for when we needed to try and put medication on the patchy areas.
Because of how bad his mange was, we couldn't really let him outside for a while-- whenever he had to go for bathroom purposes, he would be briefly let outside in an enclosed area, and then quickly brought back inside. Alexander didn't have the fur to help protect him from the cold, and didn't like us touching him to try and put a specialized jacket on him. This, however, made us bond easier, as we were consistently around each other all the time, and as the weeks went on he soon began to then come into my office and lay at my feet.

It was rewarding to see Alexander now have a bond with us- with myself, then the other mushers, and then slowly one by one the other dogs. He was incredibly respectful and it was a miracle there were no problems- it was like he was meant to be here. It was like this place with us was supposed to be his home in the first place.





Task 3 - Gaining Confidence - Complete
The universe is in your bones, the stars in your soul; it’s never really the end.

Alexander wasn't really ever all too nervous- he seemed to be more unsure.
More unsure of himself, of us, and the team. He wasn't sure what he was, and wasn't allowed to do- and yes, while he was quite the rule pusher and trying to break boundaries, he was exceedingly careful around everything. He had to get comfortable with the dogs, as he was already comfortable with the mushers. While he had met the other dogs before, it was all through a fence to try and make sure that the interactions were limited- we weren't sure how the dogs would take to Alexander, and likewise, we weren't sure how Alexander would take to the other dogs.

Since he was already used to the older retired dogs who were more laid back and relaxed about Alexander, we had him integrate and find a 'buddy', or one of the dogs he felt most comfortable with and hung around by the most. Alexander picked our old lead dog, and followed him around. When we had to introduce him to his own team, an energetic group of baltic huskies that wanted to do practically nothing but run, we allowed Alexander to follow around the lead dog. Since the lead dog commanded respect from the other dogs, we saw Alexander start to relax more and greet the other dogs on his own [without both parties being divided by a fence] and get along with everyone comfortably.

Now that he knew the dogs in his team, he felt bolder and he would happy greet everyone and be responded back with happy barks and wagging tails. It wasn't before Alexander was one to also wag his tail and wait at the door to go out and see his new friends, and his new team. It was a great sight, and soon after every time Alexander would walk outside [for his coat hadn't been fully grown back at that time] he would be in a circle of other happy dogs waiting to say hello to him.


Task 4 - Training - Complete
So ephemeral and weak. But it's shining with all its might. Thump, thump, like a heartbeat. This is the light of life.

Now that Alexander had grown a good deal of his coat back, he started to get restless. The exercise we had to give him wasn't anything compared to pulling a sled, but there hadn't been anything we could do. While we waited for more of it to grow in, we worked on getting him accustomed to the equipment again.

He was ecstatic to have a harness and boots on again- even in the beginning he wanted them put on, and he got his wish. We got him a new harness- one that was brown and had golden buckles and a golden nameplate with his showname and name engraved in it, and his new sets of boots.

We hadn't loaded up the sled much- it was practically just the sled and nothing but the sled- and it was to our surprise that as soon as Alexander had seen the sled, he trotted right over and sat right where the wheel dog spot was, looking at us expectantly as if we were about to just hook him up onto the line. He refused to move when we called him, and he completely wouldn't budge. When we moved the sled away, he followed it, and would only go back inside the house after we hooked him up for a minute, let him know he was hooked up, and then unhooked him. He was said to be a fair lead dog but a great wheel dog, and it seemed Alexander had every intent on making sure we knew that.
It was amusing, considering we only brought the sled out to get him familiarized with a position and to get him accustomed to being hooked up on a line with other dogs. He acted as if he owned that wheel dog spot- and even if he wasn't rehabilitated enough yet, we knew that spot was his, and he didn't intend on letting anyone change that.

Task 5 - Your choice [optional] - Incomplete/Complete
[your task 5 goes here]

[Venatici]

ty for bumping this, I've been working on it when I can : >
I just got out of the ER for heart problems so I'm being told to relax and not stress myself out, so when I get motivation for writing again I'll be sure to finish u v u <3

[Eremite]

ty for bumping this, I've been working on it when I can : >
I just got out of the ER for heart problems so I'm being told to relax and not stress myself out, so when I get motivation for writing again I'll be sure to finish u v u <3

Alrighty take your time, there is still awhile before it ends.

[Venatici]

all mandatory tasks have been finished.

I'll fix them up and make them better later and probably add the optional task.

[Eremite]

What color would you like his harness to be? I made it white for now so you could see his true color.

[Venatici]

oh my cod
he's absolutely stunning, my precious alexander x v x <33 thank you so so much !!

if possible having it something similar to this hex code [ #3D2B21 ] would be great, as its one of my favourite colors and it might look nice on him, but feel free to use your judgement on whatever color :'0

[Phina Wolf]

Well it's a good thing you named him after a prince!! He deserves that name!

[Eremite]

Is that ok? I put in the code and got the darkest of the 3 browns on his harness but since he is already so dark made it shade a bit to help add character and brighten it.

[Venatici]

Well it's a good thing you named him after a prince!! He deserves that name!

Thank you !!

Is that ok? I put in the code and got the darkest of the 3 browns on his harness but since he is already so dark made it shade a bit to help add character and brighten it.

omg its beautiful, aaah <333
thank you !! he looks perfect and now his harness looks perfect too :"D <33