Ness Lake Rd - First Home

At nine weeks of age my first home away from the kennel I was born in was on an acreage just outside of Prince George, BC. It was a big house inhabittedby six student types, three dogs (me, Vader & Aurora), two pet rats(Kitty and Babe), one cat(Maceo), and three horses (Tonto, Spider & ?). The people that lived there were from all over BC but had all met through a little skihill called PowderKing where I was to later spend much time at myself.

Vader and Aurora ended up being my surrogate siblings. Vader was a year and a half old tall and lanky pound special. Perhaps black lab with some pitpull. Aurora was maybe seven months and was a shorter, and again perhaps a yellow lab pitbull cross. I learned so much from the two of them most importantly how to keep my head up to avoid being sent sprawling from an unexpected body check.

Chris took a whole month off, no work no school, because he wanted to hang out with his new pup. We lived on ten acres over a third of it uncleared bush where Chris had cut trails to walk us dogs. When I wasn't exploring my backyard I was eploring all the best trails;Eskers Park, Moores Meadow, Forests For the World to name just a few.

It was a good time to be a puppy. So much to explore, nothing expected of me. The only real trouble I seemed to get in was when I continued to eat horse poop with Aurora but I just couldn't help myself and had to keep going back. I think it was my breath that gave it away.

Enter Taiga, Slave Lake Alberta - First Road Trip

From what I know I was born on september 17th 1999 which would make me a virgo and a rabbit. I was born just outside of Slave Lake Alberta. I dimly remember six or seven other litter mates and perhaps five or more full grown huskies all in a big outdoor run. When I was nine weeks old the kennel lady loaded me and all my litter mates into the back of her truck and I got to go on my first road trip.

About half way to Edmonton we stopped and the canopy opened up. All of us pups stood up on the tailgate to have a look at the new sites. It was there that I first got to meet the tall guy, Chris and also where I first met my van.

At first one of my brothers was to go with Chris, picked from a set of pictures a few weeks earlier. Fortunately for me it wasn't such an easy decision. I watched three of my brothers all get picked up and were allowed to have a sniff inside my van. At one poine I licked the fog off of the canopy window so I could peek at all the action outside and it was then that the tall guy noticed me and I got to take a turn sniffing around the van. I'm told my ears perked up when I first heard my name and that's what sealed it.

I haven't seen my litter mates since that day. Perhaps one day I'll link back up with them. I have cover thousands of kilometers of driving riding my bench in the van. All over BC, all over Alberta. As far north as Whitehorse, west to Juneau. As far south as northern california. From Tofino, BC on the west coast to west virginia in the east and back through Winnipeg I've driven it all.

Thank you to the Bacon Lady

I would like to give my thanks to the Bacon Lady. This past Xmas of 2005 that tall guy that feeds me left me at home with Fred while he flew to Edmonton so see his family. After a day I realized that if I wanted to get my excercise in, I'd better start walking myself. One walk I went down to the Big Barn produce mart and was picked up by a nice lady who smelled like bacon dog treats. She took care of me for a day and brought be back to my roomate Fred. When the tall guy that feeds me got back from his Alberta trip he recieved a nice card from the Bacon Lady. I have my own blog today because of the Bacon Lady's idea. Here's what she wrote...


(On the envelope)

-Chris-
Sometimes our dog Bert goes on walkabouts. When we reunite, we always wonder what stories he would tell if he could talk. Here is Taiga's story....

(On the card)

Hi Chris!
If Taiga could talk, this is what he'd tell you:

I went on a walkabout yesterday and I made it all the way to the Big Barn. I stubbed my front right paw along the way. Anyways, when I got there, all these people started coming at me, trying to read my collar. This one nice lady came by, and because she smelled like bacon dog-treats, I thought she was okay, so I let her look at my collar. She went in to the store and when she came out I approached her and started talking. Somebody else had asked around in teh store to see if I belonged to anyone there. When they'd learned I was alone the bacon lady and her husband decided they'd lead me into the car and bring me home to #### (somestreet). Their little beagle Bert was already in the car. So off we went. We got to our pleace and the guy knocked on the door upstairs. No one answered. He went to the neighbor's and she told the guy that he should knock downstairs, so he did. No one answered. We drove away. Next thing I knew, I was getting out of the car and going into a strange house, it was a nice place. When I got there I checked it all out, smelled everything. They fed Bert and offered me food. It smelled different from my regular food. I didn't eat it until later. Then I went outside and checked out the backyard. I started to feel comfortable with these folks. I was a perfect gentleman and I lay down on the floor not far from the wood-stove. I was cozy. After the people ate dinner, we all went out for a long walk. I was really good, I didn't even pull on the leash. Then I went to sleep. This morning I got up. I went out with the Bacon Lady into the back yard while she got wood to start the fire. We came in and I licked my sore paw for a while. Then we went to my foster grandparents' house at 10-mile Pt. The bacon lady took me for a nice walk by the sea. We got back to the old people's house and I just lay around while the women baked cookies. Then I started to talk to them and they fed me some other dog food. The bacon lady got a phone call. Then I heard that she was talking to Fred. Fred told the bacon lady that I can sing, so she started to sink, then I started to sing and before I knew it we were all singing. Then we went backto the bacon lady's house. That's where Bernie came to get me.

Anyways, I had a great little adventure. The bacon lady and her husband really liked me. They kept telling me how handsome and good I am. I hope you weren't too worried about me. I'm sure glad you put all my information on my collar, because now I can come back to #### (somestreet) and wait for you to come back from Edmonton. My paw is a little sore, but it'll probably get better soon.

-Taiga

The Premier Log for the Dog,

What a great time to start my first web log. The end of the first week of the chinese new year is upon us. This year we enter the year of the dog and as this will be the first year of the dog I've lived in all my dog years its been a time for reflections and resolutions.

My name is Taiga (tay-ga), a misspronounciation of the forests of my ancestors. I am a siberian husky soon to be entering my seventh summer. The years have been good to me and I've had many adventures.

Looking back at the places I've been and the people I've met I've noticed one common regret among many older dogs is that they wished they woulda written more of their life down. So welcome to my attempt to chronicle some of my memories.