So, I have a new fur child.
For now, kind of.
Meet Yukon Johnson!
I briefly mentioned this at the end of my recent “Life Lately” post, but I wanted to give you guys the back story.
I’ve been seeing a guy named Ryan since January. At one point on our first date, the topic of dogs came up. He asked if I had one, and I said that, no, I really wanted one, but with my recent living situations (small Chicago apartment, Peace Corps in Ukraine, unemployment on my sister’s couch…) it just wasn’t feasible.
He said he understood, since he works on a wildland fire crew and is basically gone for six months out of the year for fire season. Not exactly a living situation conducive to owning a dog.
Here’s where I totally shot myself in the foot.
“Ryan, you should totally get a dog! I’ll watch it for you every summer!”
Well, a few weeks later…
…Ryan has a dog.
And it looks like I’ll be watching it for him every summer.
OK, so it’s not like Ryan went out and purchased him from a breeder as soon as I (jokingly?) mentioned I’d dogsit.
Some back story: Ryan is a wildland firefighter working on my forest, but he’s also a licensed EMT. Right now, he’s on a 30-day FEMA assignment administering COVID-19 vaccinations down in Prescott and Cottonwood before fire season starts.
Ryan has apparently always wanted a red Siberian husky. Very specific, but I guess ever since he was a kid, he’s wanted this very specific dog.
On one of the first few days down in Cottonwood, one of the women on the same FEMA assignment approached Ryan and asked, “hey, do you know anyone who wants this red Siberian husky? Because I’m trying to get rid of him and if I can’t find someone to adopt him, I’m going to take him to the pound.”
Ryan texted me like, “IT’S FATE! Remember how you said you’d watch him?! Will you watch him!?”
Ryan ended up adopting Yukon that day. (Yukon is the name he came with, Ryan decided to keep it.) The two of them drove him up to Flagstaff after work, and the three of us went to PetSmart to buy him EVERYTHING. Here’s how that conversation went:
Ryan: “We need to go to PetSmart. He has a collar and a leash. Well, he chewed through his collar. So actually he just has a leash.”
This is already going so well, right?
We bought him food, a new collar, a crate, treats, a bed, a furminator and toys.
Ryan had to head back down to his FEMA assignment — where he’s working long days and staying in hotels — so Yukon stayed in Flagstaff with me at my apartment for the first few days, until Ryan could switch to a dog-friendly hotel down in the Prescott area and I could come work remotely and dogsit there.
We’re still figuring out his personality and what he likes.
He’s incredibly stubborn. Honestly, I’m not sure who’s more stubborn — Yukon or Ryan.
One of those days I was working remotely from Ryan’s Cottonwood hotel and watching Yukon, he spent the entire morning crying and whining to be taken outside — even though I was in meetings and trainings all morning and Ryan took him for a long walk before he left for work.
Finally, on my lunch break, I went to take him for a walk and then magically all of his bones just disappeared, and he melted into a pile of fur and refused to get up or let me put his harness on him.
He seems to be REALLY picky with food. Ryan bought him both wet food and dry kibble, and he scarfs down the wet food and totally ignores the kibble.
He also… doesn’t like treats? We’ve bought him several types and he doesn’t get excited about them the same way other dogs do.
However, he does love chewing and toys. He’s been going through rawhide (alternative) chews like crazy, and he quickly destroyed all the squeaky stuffed toys we bought him.
Luckily, he seems really well-trained when it comes to chewing. He has yet to chew anything in my apartment (including my plants, many of which are toxic to dogs) and if he doesn’t have a rawhide around, he’ll just chew on his paw?
Freaking weirdo.
He does love snow.
But, is terrified of water.
He loves hiking, running and pulling on his leash like he’s trying to win the Iditarod on a 95-degree Arizona day while attached to his humans.
He gets along really well with other dogs and is super friendly. He’s full of energy, but he’s really good at letting that energy out on walks, runs and hikes, for the most part, and when he’s at home because Ryan and I are both working, he’s really good at napping, chewing on his rawhide and behaving himself.
He’s also not very vocal! I know huskies don’t really bark so much as they whine, cry, howl and sing, but Yukon doesn’t seem to do any of it, short of crying. He’s a very quiet happy boy, which is great for me and my neighbors.
When he’s not being stubborn and refusing to listen to commands, he’s actually really sweet.
So, that’s Yukon! I’m not sure how long I’ll be dogsitting him for and how long he’ll be in my life, but he’s definitely a mischievous little cutie and I’m glad that I get to spend this time with him.
This post was originally published Oct. 13, 2021. It’s timestamp has been updated to reflect when I originally wrote this post, but I held off on publishing it for months bc I was trying not to get evicted for housing a restricted breed, long story, will share later!
