Alaska was Good for the Pack

Winter in Alaska was as revolutionary for Nellie as it was for us. But we didn’t know that until after winter was over. Our beautiful German Shepherd from the mean streets of San Jose really didn’t like snow during those first couple of months. We weren’t so sure about it either.

During the first couple of months we felt so guilty for taking her north! She hated going outside even for short walks, especially when it got really cold in December. She expressed her displeasure by taking forever to get up for her last evening potty walk. And instead of enjoying the beautiful starry night with us, she would run back inside the cabin as soon as her business was done.

But what a difference a few months of an Alaska winter made for her.

By the time winter was wrapping up, Nellie decided she was a snow dog. Maybe our previous snow dawg Wyatt was channeling through her. Or maybe it was the Librella injections she started getting. But by February, the girl couldn’t get enough of the powder! She would roll in it, and burrow down so deeply into the icy terrain that she often came back up with cuts on her snout.

We had to tame her excitement over the snow.

Not just to keep her from looking like Scarface, but also to make sure she didn’t roll in frozen turds left behind by neighborhood dogs. We learned that picking up dog poop is quite an inconvenience. Especially when you have two pairs of gloves on your hands in minus 20-degree weather. I can’t blame folks for skipping that dog duty, and I confess that we skipped a few pickups too.

The only problem with letting your dog’s poop flash freeze on the sidewalk is that once the snow starts melting, all those frozen poops start melting too! Breakup season is one of the messiest times of the year, especially because of the thawing dog turds on the road.

Nellie became a team player, too.

During winter she got to hang out with real musher dogs, leash-free and engaging on canine terms without too much interference from the humans around them.

Nellie quickly learned how to behave in a large pack. That’s something she wasn’t too skilled at doing before we got to Alaska. She used to be a scruffy, loud street dog on the defensive around other dogs. But those sled dogs taught her what kind of behavior is expected from the new kid in town. That’s helpful when all the other dogs are faster and stronger than you.

Now we hope that translates back into the “real world” when we once again hit the road full-time in our upcoming RV.

It was quite a growth period for all of us.

This time last year, Nellie was as winter-stupid as we were. Today I’m happy to say that not only did she and all of us survive, but we actually had fun and became better beings in that strange and wondrous place called Alaska. It was heartbreaking to leave it behind in June.