So, I have good news. After some very sad Pruppet of the Month segments, I have DOUBLE good news this month!
Last month, I talked about Luci, who moved out. Luci’s mom, Olivia, is a part of our team here at audiochuck and was super gracious in letting us tell us about her journey with Luci. Well this past weekend, she just adopted the sweetest little lab mix puppy named Finn, and I think all of us are super obsessed with him already and just thrilled for Olivia.
But Finn’s story isn’t the one I want to tell today. I want to tell you about Angel the Alaskan Malamute
This story comes to us from our listener Paige who wrote about how she met her very best friend, Angel. Paige is a grad student at the University of Washington and far from her family and support system back on the East coast. Even though she’s always wanted a dog, she knew her life wasn’t really in a place to get a brand new little puppy, like I mentioned Olivia just did. But she’s one of us and has a huge soft spot for senior pups and a good howly-woofs breed. Paige knew she wasn’t ready for a dog quite yet, so she goes to the Washington Alaskan Malamute Adoption League so she could walk and play with all these dogs at the rescue to get her fix. Of course, it just made her want a dog even more! She put in an application, specifically for a senior dog, and waited for a match.
A little over two months later, another volunteer reached out to Paige and said, “Hey, there’s this dog I think would be great for you, but she’s about 3 hours away.” The dog’s former owner had passed and their other pets had been rehomed to a family friend, but Angel, this particular dog, was 8-years-old and wasn’t taking kindly to the family friend’s husband. They needed to find another home for Angel, someone like Paige. So, Paige gets in the car with her friend and drives through treacherous snowy Washington state to get to Angel. She was sweet and shy, and once they got home, was even shaking when Paige tried to put on her new harness and collar. This sweetheart had lived all 8 years of her life with her human who was suddenly gone, and now she was somewhere new, with people she didn’t know.
Over time, Angel got a lot better. She’s even gotten over her fear of men for the most part. Angel’s biggest struggle has been separation anxiety. In their first year together, Angel would howl and howl and howl while Paige was at work and the other people in the apartment building weren’t fans of. So Paige started bringing her to work, which actually helped socialize Angel even more! Angel basically became the emotional support dog for her entire team, which I just love. Dogs make work better, you guys! Plus, as a grad student, she worked on campus, the campus of the University of Washington whose mascot is a husky. When Paige would walk around campus with Angel, people would think that Angel was the IRL school mascot. Truly living her best life. Paige said that Angel has truly blossomed into a super happy goofy social girl. She loves squeaky toys and has really come into her own in her senior years. Paige says she’s so lucky she gets to experience these years of Angel’s life as her mom.
Washington Alaskan Malamute Adoption League
Paige wanted to make sure we pointed everyone to the Washington Alaskan Malamute Adoption League as our organization to shout out this month! It’s where she got her dog fix in the time before she got Angel, and the place that brought the two of them together.