Husky Owners - The Siberian Husky Forum: If he starts to behave, then I should worry. - Husky Owners - The Siberian Husky Forum

Nik just sauntered up and decided to lay down right beside me as I sat at the table with my laptop (surfing husky-owners.com, of course!). This is unusual for him, because as he has aged, he has come to seek privacy whenever he beds down.

Earlier today, when I was in my office, I started to get teary-eyed, because I could see Nik in the other room struggling to lay down, and whining slightly. Once he was down, I could see he was propped a bit on one elbow, and it looked to me like he would have preferred to zonk out flat on his side. He has never let me adjust him in these situations -- offering him any aid at any time, whether it be helping him into a reclining position or assisting him when he loses traction on the kitchen floor, results in a buckarooing explosion beyond belief. So I just went in and sat on the floor with him and scratched behind his ears, which, based on his head rolling and pushing, he still clearly enjoys above all else. I scratch his ears, that is, and cried. Even Dakota, who has to be the center of everything and usually forcefully inserts himself in between me and any affection I'm giving (either to Nik or Tim!), came in quietly and laid down near Nik, put his chin on the floor, and fell asleep. Once I was convinced Nik was thoroughly relaxed, I slowly tried to reposition his elbow for him.

And the little sh*t popped right up.

I hate it when he does that. Whenever he gets up, he'll spend at least 20 minutes slowly trolling around the house before he'll go back and try to lay down again. Sure enough, he later went back in and slowly bedded down, still with his elbow out to the side. That's the position he's in now here at my feet.

I took a picture, and I have to admit my little Nik looks a mess. Unlike Dakota, who tolerates baths, brushing, nail trimmings, you name it -- Nikita has never, ever been easy with any of these things. Throughout his life, any sort of grooming has brought on World War III. As he's gotten quite older, I decided putting him through the hassle isn't worth it -- why rile him up over things that aren't an absolute necessity (only exception are nails -- he goes to the vet for trimmings, they manage to gang up on him and get him done without too much fuss). He stopped getting baths more than a year ago. I brush him as infrequently as I can get away with. And as much as I'd love to trim those feathers in between his toes, I fear he'd injure himself in the struggle before I'd ever get through it.

I started to worry about how much a mess he looks. But then I thought about how I might feel if he did placidly let me adjust his elbow. Or sit idly while I get in a few swipes with the coat rake. Or fail to react when I touch any of his feet.

So I learned a lesson today. The fact that he's such a mess means he's still able to fight the good fight. I guess the day he starts behaving is the day I'll really start to worry.