When I came to see her with her siblings I was very shocked to see that little cover was given to any of the puppies and hardly any bedding for them to sleep on. We had already been through one of our cold snaps that winter and these pups were struggling hard to stay warm. They shivered and stayed as close to one another as possible but it didn't seem like enough.
Juno was the only one in her litter with one brown patch over her eye but that was not what attracted me to her, it was her mother. When the musher introduced me to her I noticed her gaze right away. Everywhere the musher went she would follow him with her eyes and her whole body. Even though he was already walking towards another dog to show me Juno's father she still expressed a bond that wouldn't quit.
First Day
Juno's
first hours home
sitting on James' shoulder.
sitting on James' shoulder.
I had a flash back to my visit at the Valdez animal shelter when I adopted Spock. Juno's mother had the exact same loving loyal gaze Spock had for his temporary care giver there. That gaze was later bestowed upon myself and has bonded us closer and closer through the years... if Juno had a chance of inheriting a trait like that from her mother I knew this dog had to come to our kennel!
Both parents were only 30-35 lbs so her size was a bit of a concern. We were looking for new blood to add to our freighting line and even though I knew I would have to make a small sacrifice in size after I had seen the range of dogs available in our community, I almost turned away worried that she would be too tiny for our team. In the end I held on to the hope that some of her larger distant relatives would contribute to her size but it was not to be.
Juno grew but remained small and to this day is the smallest dog in our kennel. Her coat grew in very thin and I couldn't understand how such a thin coated sled dog could survive out in the cold. We raised her in the house and potty trained her throughout the winter. We dropped into a few more cold snaps of 50 and 60 below zero before we started warming up for spring. I thought of her siblings often and wondered if they were getting along okay, hoping they would survive.
Gentle Father
Spock was always very
gentle with her even when he
had her entire head in his mouth.
As Juno slept and played with her toys I wondered if she could remember her puppy days, how harsh those first few weeks of life were or if she missed her siblings. If she missed any of it my dogs more than made up for it. One by one they adopted her as their own as they came into the house for visits and to warm up throughout the winter. Each greeted Juno, played with and cleaned her as if she was their own pup. It was strange seeing this type of bonding. My dogs had raised pups in the past through our foster care work but they all seemed to bond to Juno far tighter than any other.
Since the dogs and I were training on the trails little baby Juno came with us. She would run along side, behind or whine to let me know she was tired. As we sped along I would scoop her up and carry her in one arm while the team kept pulling down the trail. When she would start squirming Id let her down again and off she would go! She was so fast and at her young age it was amazing she was keeping up so well with the team!
As the winter passed and we headed into spring it was time for Juno to learn how to live outside. To my surprise I found that she had completely won over James. He was very hesitant to let her sleep outside. She had warmed up to him throughout the winter and the two were now quite close.
Momma Iris
Juno and Iris playing together.
I had never seen Iris clean
another pup as if it were her
own, she did this for Juno
many times.
There was a very special
bond between these two...
I was determined she wouldn't add to the number of house dogs we had in permanently (three at the time) knowing there would eventually be a need for one of our aging adults to use the house permanently as they eased through their final years. Since James has a hard time with a house full of dogs I wanted to make sure we kept our numbers inside to a minimum.
Juno made her transition to the outside but James made sure that coming in at night was a very solid habit. As we eased into winter I had plans to build an insulated dog house and tried to think of any other accommodations to help her stay warm. Through James' worry for her safety out in the cold and her inability to grow in a thick adult winter coat I knew I had no choice but to give in and make her one of the house dogs permanently.
It has been a decision I have yet to regret...
- January 2008
Trail Pup
Juno at the back of the team
checking everything
out while the team rests.
All Grown Up
Juno rests on the office couch, her head on her favorite
squeeker toy, with the other inside dogs Ajax and Spock.
Big Shoes to Fill
Juno runs next to Big
Daddy Spock as the two
follow the team down the trail.