Nyshia 2 - Where's the Chuck Wagon?

Nyshia 2 - Where's the Chuck Wagon?

Nyshia and her favorite toy

Of course everybody's dog is special, at least to them, and Nyshia was no exception. Nyshia and I settled into living with each other at the Villard Street house. She house trained very quickly. She only had one incident of relieving herself in the house. We of course were living with roommates and I knew we would likely be living with roommates for some time in the future. I wanted Nyshia to be well behaved especially because I may need to convince potential landlords and roommates that Nyshia would not be a problem. We put in the time and worked hard. Nyshia was a good student. She learned to come promptly when called. She learned to sit and stay on command and she learned to heal off-leash. She was so well behaved that I could take her pretty much anywhere and I found that she was welcomed in places where dogs typically were not.

Nyshia's personality was very much like her mom's in that Nyshia was a very calm and gentle dog, but also was a dog that stood her ground. Nyshia's coat, although initially a little spotty for an Elkhound due to the infection she had as a pup (the reason I got her so cheap), came back in full and looked beautiful. She had been a runt of the litter but when she grew to full size she ended up being an inch larger that the standard for a female Elkhound. She was more the size of a male Elkhound.

As a young pup she was not much interested in dog toys. She did like to find things to chew. Her interest was largely confined to chasing other animals, like birds and squirrels, or chewing bones and balls. Someone left an old playground ball in our front yard. It was not fully inflated but inflated enough so that Nyshia could not quite get her mouth around it to pick it up. Nevertheless she spent hours and days trying to do just that. After a couple of months of trying she finally managed to puncture a hole in that darned ball and she proudly showed me her “great” accomplishment by bringing it up on our front door stoop. I gave her a pet and then returned it to the yard where it pretty much was just ignored until one day I tossed it in the garbage. That ball turned out to be the best toy she ever had.

Nyshia learned quickly and became a very well behaved dog but there were a few things that she decided were not worth learning. I attempted to teach Nyshia to play fetch. She was up for chasing the ball. Initially she'd get it and with some coaxing, bring it back and eventually dropped it but she seemed to lack the proper enthusiasm. After a few times she evidently decided she'd had enough. On the third or fourth throw she chased it, picked it up, and then took it to the far corner of the yard and dropped it. She then came back to me sans the ball. It was like “I don't want to do this and don't even think about getting that ball!”. I waited a few days and tried again, with similar results, so that was the end of that.

Nyshia liked to dig holes in various places in the yard and I wanted her to cease and desist. I caught her in the act a few times and told her “No” expressing my displeasure. This had little effect. I became frustrated. I was talking with someone who told me they were a dog trainer. Their advice was that the next time I saw her digging I should go out and join her and then fill the hole with water and stick her nose in it. This seemed a bit odd and maybe a bit extreme. I was not too keen on doing that but finally I became frustrated enough to give it a try. I sat by the hole with her and pulled out a little dirt. I then got the hose and filled it with water and then stuck her nose in the water. She didn't like it. I felt bad about doing it. She continued to dig holes but the next time I picked up a hose she barked at me until I put it down. So while I didn't teach Nyshia to stop digging holes, I did teach her to hate hoses. I evidently did a very good job because she retained her dislike of hoses.

Nyshia slept with Cyndi and me in our room, and for awhile, once she was house broken, on our bed. That didn't last long. Elkhounds are independent dogs. They, like many dogs, are not into being hugged. They are very loyal but don't need to be right next to you all the time. Nyshia didn't like me moving around in bed and I didn't care for her trying to steal my space on the bed either. We ended up coming to a mutual agreement of sleeping in separate places. Cyndi and Nyshia were a different story. They hit it off right away. Cyndi is good with animals and, like my wife Kris, has a real soft spot for them. Nyshia was fine sleeping next to Cyndi and not only that, allowed Cyndi to hold her and hug her and she seemed to be perfectly happy about it. I guess I should not have been surprised because I liked Cyndi hugging me too. However, even though Nyshia liked attention and being pet she never did care for hugging by anyone other than Cyndi. She would tolerate me hugging her but clearly would prefer we kept it at just petting.

Cyndi and Nyshia napping together

Nyshia and I continued to have occasional food wars. I usually bought a good quality kibble and as long as I was buying that same kibble she would willingly eat it. But sometimes the money got tight. It was usually during the summer months when I was not getting any G.I. Bill checks. My work-study jobs helped but they only lasted as long as school was in session. During this time there would be little to no money coming in. I discovered that the University's Psychology department was always running experiments and were always in need of willing participants or subjects. They would pay two or three dollars per session, depending on the time and task. In those times I would sign up for two or even three tests a day a few times a week. They liked me because I was reliable. It was not uncommon for students who signed up to be “no-shows”. Not me, I always showed up. I needed the money. My goal was to get enough sessions to avoid or at least minimize tapping into my savings. I would sometimes do this during the school year too whenever I was running short of cash. Anyway, it was during those times that I would buy Nyshia's food from a surplus food store. They had a big barrel of dog kibble. It was supper cheap because the barrel contained all kinds of dog kibble from damaged or broken bags. The first time I brought some home Nyshia communicated her displeasure by refusing to eat, staging another hunger strike. Maybe she didn't like that generic dog food bag. I noticed that she immediately looked the bag over when I sat it down. I could see her thinking “Hey, there's no picture of a dog on that bag and no picture of any sort of meat. Heck, there's not even a picture of a chuck wagon. This can't be good. I ain't touching that stuff.” It was another three day standoff but once again she eventually gave in. Maybe that's why she didn't care for me hugging her. I guess it can be tough when someone else controls your food....

Nyshia would sometimes bring me things from the yard. One time she presented me with a snake she had caught. She was rather proud of herself and seemed a bit confused by my lack of appreciation. Perhaps it was during one of those months when she was getting the inferior kibble and she was making a suggestion.

Not long after I got Nyshia we moved out of the Villard house at which point it became just Nyshia and me. She was my sidekick and we did many things together. I deeply loved that dog. For me, she and I were a family. She became my anchor and was the best thing in my life.