I grew up on an 80 acre horse ranch in northern Missouri. There I raised and trained siberian huskies. I specialized in pack structure, lead skills, and wheel dogs. When it came time to raise the last litter I knew i could be no more attatched to any of these pups than any of the others.

When I am not training them, I am cleaning up after them, but as a human socialization tool I always kept one random pup out for 'play time'. I never used balls or any tools, but just running and growling, giggling and hiding. They loved it!

I knew how important survival skills were. How to dig in snow without getting it packed between your toes, or how to hunt rabbits, how to make dens, how to follow the faintest smells no matter how cold. I knew they were wild at heart and were only trained to work, but I felt a deep love and respect for them.

So on one fateful day I had the pup named Spring out to play. We were running around chasing each other when she followed me over a dip and did a Wiley Coyote landing and sat there just crying, "Eyeyeyeyeyeyeyeye!!!"... So of course I scooped her up and brought her in the house to check her skinned up chin. To this day she has never been a working dog and no longer known by that name. She is Tundra. She is my spirit. You know the free part of our hearts that we only give to the purest of creatures? She has mine. She is fierce, loyal, loving, and a life long bonded friend. She was born August 2, 2000. So hard to believe that she will be 10 this year.

So as she is aging I was not thinking about bringing a puppy into our lives, she can be a grumpy old lady and she has earned the right to choose with me. But I did want someone she could go for walks with, and snuggle with, and spend her last days with. So I set to searching...and I found Bijou. An 11 year old husky mix. I asked a million questions and was really liking what I had heard about her. Ultimately I knew it would be Tundra's choice, and not mine. So Tundra and I loaded up and took a drive. As Bijou stepped around the corner Tundra's ears pricked, tail went up and the nose was going to town. They walked up to eachother and did formal greetings, and then ignored eachother! I knew that these two ladies could have a good time together, yet not pester eachother, what a perfect match! I was so right! We made the trip back home and they have been by eachother's sides everyday and night.

Yesterday was the first day that i felt a good connection with both of them at once. We were out for a walk and the girls wanted to rest. Tundra sat down on my feet, so i crouched down and hugged her, and then Bijou came over. First she laid her head across my shoulder and then nosed underneathe my arm so that i was hugging the both of them. What a once in a life time moment to know that a human was chosen to be loved by two suck extrodinary creatures with very different backrounds, but with the same heart.

I love them both very much. Although they do not have many years left, what time they do have will be spent running and growling, giggling and hiding....