Nipsy had to leave us Wed. April 9 due to health
reasons. Here are some memories I have of her.
Click on the pics to enlarge.
Justine was curious one day and started looking for
a dog. After finding the DuPage County Animal Care Center, 120 N.
County Farm Road Wheaton, IL 60187. She found Nipsy as pictured top
left. We went through the interviewing process and was told that 3
other families wanted the dog. Since Justine had a Husky when
growing up, we won. Ever since then, we have been very fortunate to
have Nipsy.
As a pup she was very playful and loved to chew wood
products. Cabinetry included. I used to play a game with Nipsy
where she would mouth my hand and I would hold my fingers in her mouth
just so. Then I would move my hand around and her mouth would
follow. Hard to explain really. Anyway, we did this a lot.
She also loved Chew toys. Sticks, rawhides, pig ears, ropes,
tennis balls, squeaky toys never lasted over a minute without the squeaker
and the head removed. Stuffed toys were fun too. Loved to
remove the stuffing and throw it all over the floor. Whenever a
guest would come over, she would bring her toys to the guest as if to show
them what she had. Then she would lay at their feet as a foot
warmer. She had some trouble with all of the stairs in the
house. Especially the basement. But my brother Tom was first
to coaxed Nipsy up the stairs.
Nipsy loved to be outdoors. She had plenty of
fur for the Winter and loved to romp in the snow. Trying to fetch a
snowball then lose it in the snow. She would search and search for
it. She would dig a hole in the dirt next to the house on the
Northside where Justine liked to plant perennials in the Summertime to
keep cool. You don't give Huskies haircuts. They tend to shed
A LOT, twice a year. Much to the delight of the birds who would
scourer the backyard after a good brushing for nesting material.
Never much of a fetch kind of dog. She didn't really see the
point of that. Sure, once in awhile when company would come over,
she would show off her fetching abilities. I could sometimes get 2
or three throws returned at play time.
Once in awhile we would go to the Dog Park on Swift where there
were four small lakes and some trails where you could take your dog off
the leash. Nipsy absolutely loved the dog park. You can get
fairly adventurous with crossing streams and finding new trails. I
think we covered every inch of that park. We once ran into some
horses people were riding. She didn't care for them. We even
went over these railroad tracks that are about 50 high on a creast.
Tough climb for both of us!! Getting down was even tougher.
But Nipsy was a champ and did great for a non mountain dog. We
took the railroad tracks down always and found another preserve with two
lakes and a barn. No one was around and I laid down in some grass on
a sunny day and let Nipsy just roam around on her own for a good
hour. She never left my sight. Even if it did get to be a
couple of football fields away. But she would reluctantly come back
as you called for her. When taking the regular trails, she would
like to stay 50ft in front of me and glance back to make sure I was still
following her! One of the first times at the park, she decided to go
swimming. She unfortunately went in too far and learned that she
cant swim. Her head went under and I was about to dive in after her
when she popped up and paddled her way back to shore. Ever since
then she would never go in water deeper than her shoulders. But did
enjoy taking a skamp around the edge of lakes and doing some splashing
around. One the way home after a couple of hours at the park,
she would find a spot to lay down in the back of the truck. Smelling
like old pond water, legs like jello and various sticker weed clinging to
her fur, she was in bliss. Arriving home, as soon as she was out of
the truck, she would find her spot by the house and crash out after a fun
filled day in the sun. I would grab a beer and join her, telling
her,"Good Girl. Nipsy".
The time I will miss Nipsy the most will be around bed
time. Before I would go to bed, Nipsy and I would do the
"Thing". Instead of "Walking around the house before
bedtime". Didn't want to mention the word "Walk"
around Nipsy and get her all excited. So our "Thing" came
to be. "Lets do our thing, Nips!" I would say and she knew
exactly what it meant. It was a nice way of ending the day for both
of us. I could have a smoke and she would keep her property markers
fresh.
Nipsy never meet a cat she liked. One unfortunate
kitten found its way into Nipsy's compound by accident and paid the
price. I was in the basement when I heard some call out,
"Hello?" I went outside and some lady asked me if I had a
cat. When I went to check on Nipsy, she was flinging around the
kitten like a stuffed animal.
Another animal encounter was with a opossum. I think
every dog encounter a opossum eventually. This one was special in
that it was carrying around her babies. Imagine Nipsy's surprise
when she started shaking it with her teeth, 8 more flew off in every
direction. She didn't know what to do with all of them.
Luckily, I just walked into the scene as was able to coral the babies in a
box. The Mother suffered some injuries but eventually made it
out. We left the babies near the fence where I suspected they
entered, but they were still there the next morning. Justine brought
the last 7 surviving to a shelter. Nipsy has found several opossums
in her time. One I thought she had really done it in.
Squeezing it into her jaw, I heard bones cracking. I threw it out
and the next day it was gone. Playing opossum.
Our backyard was one of the more popular stops in the
hood. Many dogs would come and visit. Charley was her first
play mate and would run around the back yard with him. Others would
make it a point to come by Nipsy and pay a visit. There were even
people without dogs that would stop by on their walks and give her a
treat. Many people would refer to us as Nipsy parents. I think
more people knew Nipsy's name than ours!!!
Around the middle of April, 2008, we noticed Nipsy
breathing weird. We brought her to the vet and they found free air
in her chest cavity. They drained it and she seemed better.
Then a week later it was happening again. Another drain was done, but she
wasn't much better. The next week we took her to the VCA clinic to
hopefully see what was causing the free air. After doing a
ultrasound, they found a tumor on the limph node and was cancerous.
When we went to pick her up, she was noticeably worse. The tests
were very expensive. From her condition, we decided that even if
they fixed the tumor she would still be having the problems she had.
The first thing we noticed was that she had trouble drinking water and
eating (neurological) . Then she was getting lethargic. She
wasn't responding to my voice. Then her back legs didn't want to
cooperate with her. She lost her appetite. Her last day was
spent enjoying a warm sunny spring day laying in her favorite spot.
Which is where we will put her
ashes.
Nipsy, Siberian Husky, 2/4/2001-4/9/2008 
