If I'm honest, I have to say that I DIG President's Day. Not because I particularly care to take a day to recognize an office, or because it's so much easier when the mail doesn't come. Rather, I dig President's Day because I get the day off work, which is extra nice considering the 12-hours I spent on ACTUAL Sunday in the studio producing the Daytona 500.
I also like today because it feels like a lazy Sunday. It's 3:30 in the afternoon, and already I have eaten a few slices of pizza, played a little Playstation, cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen (brownie points baby!) and had some romp time with the dogs. It's that last bit that made me realize that I don't think I've introduced YOU to my boys. A lazy Monday seems like a good time to fix that...
This is Killian (left) and Yksuh (right) last summer lounging about in the yard.
Yksuh is the older of the guys, he's going to be 9 this July. My senior year in college, my girlfriend (now my wife!) gave him to me as a Christmas present. She knew that I REALLY like huskies. So much so, in fact, that years before it was ever realistic that I would have one, I had decided that I absolutely someday WOULD have one, and his name would be Yksuh. It's actually 'husky" spelled backwards, and pronounced "YEEK-sah." It's always a lot of fun to introduce him to people, explain what his name is, and then listen to them try to get it out. When all else fails, he responds to "Pizza." Yksuh came from a show dog breeder in Dayton, and both of his parents were successful show dogs... and he knows he's a pureberd beauty. He carries himself as if he were a prince. There are times when he reminds me of that tiny prince from "Shrek." He likes to spend his time hunting... anything. If I had a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats, he would hunt it. I also strongly suspect that our house has at least one ghost because A) it's a real old house and B) sometimes it seems like Yksuh is hunting something, when there's nothing there. I think he hunts the ghost(s).
Killian, on the other hand, does not come from show dogs. He was a rescue that came to our home a few years ago when my wife made me the victim of the worst con job ever perpetrated on anyone, ever. I was on the hunt for an old Volkswagen Karmann Ghia to add to my garage, and SHE was on the hunt for a new dog. Convinced that ONE dog was plenty (Yksuh was too, indignantly so even) I protested. That's when the con job began.
"You can get that Karmann Ghia...." was all I heard.
"...if I can get another dog" was how it finished.
I got the Ghia... she got the dog. We still have the dog.
Killian, we believe anyway, is a husky mixed with something else.... possibly something NOT a dog.
He really has kind of a sad story. He was abandoned at a dog park in Michigan and turned into a shelter where strays are given 3-days to be picked up before they are put down. Killian's 3 days came and went, and he was actually on the Vet's table to be euthanized. However, somehow, the vet decided that there was no need for a dog like this one to die, so she called a friend that runs a shelter for Labradors and asked her to take Killian in. That's where he made it onto Petfinder.com, and where my wife found him. The rest, is whiney, sheddy, barky history, and we couldn't be happier that Killian is a part of our home. He's not what you would call the smartest dog in the world... or even in our house. He falls down, runs into walls, regularly just kind of freezes up like your computer might, and generally bumbles about with no sense of grace whatsoever.
VOICES:
Yksuh has the voice of Clint Eastwood in any movie you've ever seen him in. When I get home from work in the evenings, Ykush doesn't get up and come to the door to greet me. Rarely does he even look in my direction. Most often it's some sort of sigh, followed by (in the dirtiest of Dirty Harry rasp) "Oh finally... the tall one's back. Consider my day made... punk."
Kililan however, has the voice of a very excited Brad Garrett, who played "Robert" on Everybody Loves Raymond. "DAD! DAD! DAD! HEY DAD'S BACK! DOES YOU SEE THAT DAD'S BACK! OH DAD I MISSSSEEDDD YOUUUUUU DAD!"
Followed by him promptly forgetting his name, my name, and where he his.
Here's some more inside info:
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DAD! DAD! THESE ARE ALL MY THINGS DAD!
DON'T TAKES THEM. THEY IN A ROW FOR A
REASON. |
He was on a leash I swear! |
I'm not 100% sure what Killian was doing with this squirrel toy, but I'm reasonably sure he thought he was hiding behind it to avoid having his photo taken. I'm also pretty sure he's smiling. |
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JUST WHAT IN THE WORLD DO YOU THINK
YOU'RE LOOKING AT!?!?!? |
Yksuh always stands beside me. Even when our furnace was out and it was 38 degrees in the living room. He's not standing by me out of support, he's mocking me for needing a blanket. |
I blame my wife for this. Killian is having the time of his life. Yksuh is mortified. |
