Is She Drugged?

The other day K and I had taken B.B. to the dog park for an hour in the morning, our usual routine (or, rather, I should say K's usual routine that I tend to join on the weekends), where she (B.B.) runs around untethered, gets into minimal mischief, and generally has a grand time playing/wrestling with other like-minded dogs.  Sometimes a bad one gets into the mix, and we owners all have to stay on guard, but usually the dogs are happy to frolic amongst themselves.



So anyway, the other day we drove her to bagel joint on the way home.  They have a nice outdoors seating section, so we got our bagels and coffee and sat down with B.B. between us.  Once she realized she wasn't getting any of our food, she settled down and took a nap.  After an hour of playing at the park with her "friends," she is a remarkably well-behaved dog the rest of the day.  In fact, we discovered that dog park when she was about 8 months old and was nearly ready to drive us insane with her energy.  It saved us all.

So there we were, sitting and eating, chatting, B.B. between us, and random people would come up and say something about her (she is a beautiful dog), this little girl and her mother came over and asked if they could pet her, and B.B. sat up and let them (she loves little girls for some reason, not so much little boys), and then this older guy walked over and asked, "Is that a Husky or a Malamute?"

Most people immediately assume she's a Husky.  That's the more popular representative of her canine family.  Most people have never heard of an Alaskan Malamute, but anyone who's familiar with these breeds could tell them apart in an instant.  Huskies are smaller and generally have icy blue eyes (probably why they are so popular).  Malamutes are bigger with deep brown eyes (definitely why I'm so smitten with B.B.).  The fact that this guy even knew to ask was impressive.

"She's a Malamute," we said.

"I've had one," he said, and went on to explain that he'd rescued a Malamute and raised it and really liked it.  "She was a lot of work, though," he added.

And they can be.  Like I said, without daily exercise they can be a handful. 

Then he asked, "Is she drugged?"

B.B. was just lying on the ground resting, peaceful, calm.  Not the usual state for a Malamute when she's around people.  My family has had Malamutes all my life.  They are not quiet dogs.  My parents have B.B.'s sister, Abigail.  We got them from the same breeder, from the same litter.  I've never met their dog, but my brother tells me she can be a handful.  When he and his wife met B.B. for the first time earlier this year, they told me she looked just like Abigail... if Abigail was on Valium.

"No," we said, "Just tired.  We take her to the park to wear her out."

The guy smiled and said, "Good idea."