--» July 19th 2010.
Well were here. 'Here' is somewhat of hell on earth if you think about it, well at least it was yesterday when we arrived... Image this:
"You've just been on the road for the past 5 hours non-stop with a twenty-five pound dog who's been sitting on your lap the whole time. When the diver finally says 'we're here' and yet misses the small exit, you feel yourself almost bounding with joy, but then; 'Here' happens to be a complete horror. It's a native ex-hunting camp. There are three complete 'beaver-lodge' tents, the kitchen tent, a cabin, some old sheds, our trailer and another trailer. There is junk EVERYWHERE, old cans, boots, backpacks, boards, toys, windows, etc. There's a pack of about 15 kids aged 2-10 running around like hooligans, yelling, jumping up on machinery, screaming and dragging a tenish week old black lab mix puppy on the end frayed blue and pink skipping rope. There are also bone fragments all over the place, rotting caribou hides, upturned buildings... somewhere someone is mowing the lawn, or at least attempting to do so, considering there is no grass... An angry mother yells at her child, the lab pup quits and is heartlessly dragged around on the end of the skipping rope by the eldest boy-child. An elder dog barks from somewhere in the camp, someone has just arrived with more kids. Karma sticks close, hackles raised and on red-alert. Some very pregnant chiwawa type dog barks at him without mercy. A chubby girl of about six wearing nothing but a dirty tee-shirt and underwear exits the small cabin, comes up and tries to yank your dog's leash out of your hand while saying 'my puppy'. Umm yeah right kid. Dad calls from behind the trailers, the feeling of relief is so big it's terrible. Running off towards him, Karma at your heels, you can't help but think.... Arriving at the trailer, you see your dad shake his head, "you and your sister have some work to do" is all he says. You manage to get yourself and your dog into the trailer by climbing on an overturned garbage can and pulling yourself up into the doorway. The content makes you gasp. The trailer has completely been vandalized. All ten insulated triple-glass windows have been smashed to pieces by large rocks, toilet paper rolls have been thrown all over and unrolled, the window-screens are all over the place, crumpled and ripped to shreds, they litter the floor along with glass, toilet and news paper, nails, screws... orange juice has been spilled around for good measure and paper cups have been spread around all over the floor and counters. Dishes are scattered everywhere, dust coats every inch of the place, and even the fridge has had it's fair share of hard knocks. You place your puppy on the cleanest bed and tell him to stay there. The cleaning starts. About an hour later the rest of the white guys arrive, one of them, Simon, looks around and goes 'wow, you guys have a lot of work to do!'. If only he knew that you and your sister had already cleaned more than half of what was there. Annoyed, you send him off to fetch a bucket of water. You still have that 3 millimetres of dust to scrape off the counters, benches, windowsills and stove to take care of. Outside, five or six natives diligently work on making a stair case to get up into the trailer. It's almost a 6 foot drop to the ground. When you finish cleaning up the guy's trailer you head out toward your own sleeping quarters. The mess is almost just as bad. Luckily your cousin Nic has arrived and helps you clear out all the garbage. Electricity is set up in both places and the guys start working on setting up the hydro. Since there is nothing for you to do you set
off to explore the camp. Your small group is met up with the lab pup who managed to escape the kids. He comes up to Karma, tail wagging. After a bit of growling on Karma's behalf the two hit it off. You've never seen your dog have such a blast with another dog, and you ignore with a smile your sister's comments about the mangy mutt that's probably filled with worms... Later on it's time to go to the nearest town to pick up groceries, that's good at least, a chance to get out of this place! At least, for a couple hours. You jump in, dog at your heels. In the back sister and cousin buckle up. The hour ride to town, groceries and then back to the camp. When you get back, you notice the lab pup has been recaptured, this time it's a cute, but extremely dirty little girl of about six dragging him along. Discouraged at such lack of knowledge, you walk your dogs together while teaching her about her own dog, and how it shouldn't be dragged along on a walk like that or be forced to jump off a trailer thats over 3 feet off the ground. The kids really don't know much English, but you manage to get the message across and feel a bit better. Finally it's time to go to bed, you wave goodbye to the little girl, say a silent prayer for the pup and run off."
And Karma slept on the foot of my bed for the first time, he usually sleeps in his kennel but I didn't bring it. He was good and stayed there all night. He's getting really good at the 'bleib' command.
--» July 20th 2010.Not much on the menu on this day. Started with another trip to chibougamau. We purchased over 600$ worth of gear for the job and came back, not a long trip unfortunately. The rest of the day was quite long indeed, we weren't needed around the camp or in the kitchen since the current cook had relatives over and they took over our duties for the day, and they don't look like they are leaving anytime soon so I'm not sure what's up, but I don't speak cree so I can't know for sure. Karma on the other hand is an awesome canine. We went for a walk in the woods, going nowhere in particular, not paying attention to direction just following a deer trail. When it was time to go back, I held Karma close, looked him in the eye and told him 'let's go home'. He's not a
stupid animal, he just bounded back in the direction we came and led us back, waiting for us slow two-leggers every 20 feet or so. He led us right back the way we came. Talk about an awesome tracker. The trail we took wasn't an easy one either. This dog's got a nose. Walking/tracking was a great physical and mental exercise for both of us, so an adventure at least twice a day sounds like a plan.
--» July 21st 2010.
More Chibougamau today, it will be the last day we get out I think. Tomorrow and after are all going to be camp days. Oh the horror. Karma saved my life last night. I have a really bad allergy to something here and my nose totally blocked off preventing me from breathing. For some reason my mouth didn't catch on an replace my nose, it was realy cold so I guess I was sort of into a really deep hibernation-type sleep. Karma however, didn't miss a thing. He made non-stop loud high pitched type whines till I woke up gasping for air. My dog is amazing, there's not much more I can say... I thank God every day for sending him to me. Unfortunately our woodland escapades were cut short when I told my dad about them. Apparently walking around in wolf/bear country with only a twenty-five pound four month old pup as a guide is totally a giant no. :( I'll have to find a way to negotiate this.
EDIT: Way negotiated. I walk in a straight line and use landmarks. I still let Karma lead me back though. It's a good exercise for him. I zigzag along the straight line to give him more of a challenge.
--» July 22nd 2010.I'm watching the K-dog (my newest nickname for Karma) chew on his kong and I can't believe how fast he figured out how the thing worked. I always give him half a denta-stix in his kong for a bit of a puzzle, but boy has he solved it fast. Pick up the small end with your teeth and shake the thing till the treat comes out the bottom. He's also got a different way for different treats, if it's got kibble in, he paws the big half to make it stand upright and the releases and eats what came out, he repeats this till it's empty. Smart boy ;3.
LATER: Back from the nature run. Yeah, this time it was a run. Different trail and we ran all the way. Karma stays behind me when we go on a walk but on the way back he knows it's his job to lead us home. He looks like a bunny as he bounces through the underbrush and moss. I've never ran so much in my life. I have a breathing disorder so on the flat I can't usually run much at a time unless I've been doing intensive training for two or three weeks prior, but in the woods its like nothing applies, I can follow Karma all the way back at full speed for as long as it takes. It's a feeling of freedom that can't be explained. Oh and, Karma knows some new tricks! Dig, Let's go home and Tap-ladan (high five) have been added to the collection of Fuß (heel), Blieb (stay), Ven-aqui (come), Platz (down), Sitz, wait, snap, climb, au-bord (stay on the side of the road) go get -inserttoyhere-, fetch, tug, crossover (consists of crossing a suspended 2x4 piece of wood) and go to bed. We're working on 'bite', 'smile', 'en avant' (lead) and 'en arrière' (fall in behind). Once we've got those down I'll teach him to pick up items I've 'dropped'. And we are also working on recall. Karma has never failed recall, but recently while playing with the lab puppy he just ignores me. I mean obviously it's hard to keep focused with a fat puppy attacking you while you try to debated whether to come or not, but he choses to stay and play instead of coming back. Silly dog, no more free (only supervised/leashed) puppy play till he's mastered the come under heavy distraction.
LATER (again): Just got back from Chibougamau. We walked all the way across it, it's a pretty small town when you think about it. Karma really enjoyed the exercise and meeting other dogs along the way. We even stopped at a baseball park so he could stretch his legs while playing fetch.
--» July 23rd 2010.
Karma has developed aggressive tendencies out of the blue since we've been here. He's fine with me of course, but no one else can handle him without being growled at. He will also not let anyone other than me take his toys, sticks, treats away from him. This never used to be a problem at home. I guess it's the move and environment change that's getting to him. I'm not really sure what's going on, but I hope I can get this aggression cleared up quickly. He's also starting to have panic attacks when I'm out of sight. I took him to a river today, my dad went fishing and I opted to go along to give Karma and I a change of scenery. Especially Karma. He was so happy to be there, jumping all over the rocks, digging holes in the dirt, wading, swimming, chasing flies and just having an absolute blast. And I have interwebs now! Whoo! ;3
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