And now, for those who might have missed my post last year, I’d like to share the story of our neighbor’s husky and Heidi (our big German Shepherd).
In the spring before we opened the first year of camp, Lenette, myself, Heidi, and Brutus ( a smallish beagle) decided to walk our forest to Richardson Creek. We constantly walked our land so we could be as familiar as possible with it all. On this day, I brought with me a large machete.
The forest was dark and beautiful, and our walk was enjoyable. The dogs ran in all directions, checking out every rock and tree. But a real danger was waiting for the dogs. I saw the husky crouched in the forest, so I grabbed Brutus. In that same instant, the husky leaped and tore Brutus from my arms. I picked up my fallen machete and hit him with the flat side of the blade. It bounced off the husky and flew 10 ft away from me.
I looked for a rock or piece of wood to get him to drop Brutus, who was hanging limp in his jaws. That was when Heidi rushed the husky from the side, striking him so hard that he released Brutus. I grabbed Brutus, who was like a limp rag in my hands. I thought he was dead and looked at what was now happening in front of Lenette and me.
The two dogs circled each other, instantly bringing to mind the battle between Buck and the wolfpack leader in “Call of the Wild.” That, of course, was a movie, but this was real, and life or death was intended for one or the other of these two magnificent animals. There wasn’t anything I could do at the moment. It wasn’t possible to get between them or try to hit the husky with a rock or something. All we could do was watch.
The husky lunged at Heidi, but she parried his forward rush and instantly went for his neck. She lifted him off the ground in a single motion and threw him onto the ground with her jaws gripping his neck. It was obvious she was in this fight to kill or be killed. Fearing the worst, I grabbed Heidi’s tail and screamed at her to let go. She hesitated and glanced at me as if to say, “are you sure?” before finally releasing him.
The defeated husky remained on his back, feet in the air. He had given up. We watched as he slowly turned on his stomach and, just as slowly, crawled back into the forest. Heidi watched until the husky was entirely out of sight, alert for any aggressive move. She turned to Brutus, who I was still holding, and licked him. Brutus leaped from my arms and began kissing Heidi in pure joy.
Sy
