Dio

 

Dio is an attention junkie, so he's really going to enjoy today's post. He is part of Rachel's pack, which also includes Logan and Mika. He's an Alaskan Malamute, one of my favorite breeds. However, the responsibilities of caring for Malamutes are as big as the dogs themselves, so their ownership is not to be taken lightly.  

Dio has a tendency to jump in the bath with Rachel. The last time he did that she decided to give him a bath. The top left pic is all the hair she groomed out of him afterward.

Rachel was contacted by Dogs Deserve Better about this beautiful dog who was tied to a tree in Nashville. She and her husband brought him home as a foster dog, and in one night he ripped up all the carpeting in their great room. They still fell in love with him.  

They tried, however, to adopt him out twice.  Both people returned him because they couldn't handle him. Rachel's warnings had fallen on deaf ears, and he ate a trampoline, two couches, and a rug!!!  In fact, he actually escaped from the adopter's yard and was found in Kentucky. Rachel had to drive from Nashville to the biker bar he was hanging out in to retrieve him. 

Rachel and her husband decided to keep him, and much of the destruction stopped. Rachel believes this is due to the presence of her other dogs, which compensate for Dio's separation anxiety.  

Nonetheless, he finds plenty of trouble to get into. They have to keep all the food put away or he steals it, and keep the doors locked at all times because Dio knows how to open them. He aggravates the other dogs and never stops talking. If you think the name MalaMUTE implies silence Dio has something to say about that. 

None of that matters though. Dio is a part of Rachel's pack and his good qualities far outweigh his naughtiness. He is a Daddy's Boy:

But loves that mom sometimes takes him to work, as seen here:

 
He is great with people, approaching them with his head down and his tail wagging. He is gentle with babies and kids.  All attention is good attention to Dio, and one look at this dog should explain why he gets so much attention to begin with.  

Fun  fact about this picture: Rachel shares that Mika was staring intently at the construction workers outside when Dio decided to join her. However, although Dio looks as though he too is staring down the workers, he is in fact looking at himself in the mirror. HAHA

Thanks so much for sharing Dio Rachel. We still have to talk about Rachel's whole pack and how they interact with her foster dogs, but we will save that story for later.  

I do want to share a few words about my brother's Malamute, Jackie, who went to the Rainbow Bridge about 10 years ago. She was the most loving and affectionate incorrigible dog I've ever met. She ate everything. 

She once ate rock salt out of the bag. Another time my mom was dogsitting her and heard all kinds of clanging in the kitchen. Jackie was standing at the stove eating directly out of a pot of hot chili, and her collar was clanging against it.

She also ran away often. She would lean on my brother's fence until it would bend, and then she'd hop over. Frequently she would run the six blocks to my parents' house, but she also made her trips around the neighborhood visiting with everyone. My brother would get calls saying, "We have Jackie." She would walk right up on the neighbors' porches and stare in at them.  Once she tried to hop in a minivan full of kids.

One day her two worst habits combined, and she ran away from my brother's house when my dad was letting her out. I was at my parents and the phone rang. The person said "Yeah, do you have some big husky-looking dog?"  Now my parents did not have a "big husky-looking dog" so I said no, very confused. 

They said "Well this number is the second number on the collar. I tried the first and there was no answer."  I realized they must be talking about Jackie, who I didn't even know was missing. They gave me their address and it was actually just a few houses away from my parents', so I walked down to get her.  She was thrilled to see me and I her, until the people told me they were cooking out on the grill and heard a loud noise. They turned in time to see a giant dog eating all the chicken off the grill!!! 

Can you even imagine? I was mortified, and tried to explain that she wasn't my dog. I apologized profusely. Don't worry though, my mom still went in her freezer and took some chicken out. She walked it down and apologized again.

Jackie's face, though, and her sweetness. . . .it just made it impossible to stay mad! 

 
 I apologize for the quality of the picture but it's the only one I have. 

What funny stories do you have to share? I'd love to hear them, and I'd love to hear your rescue stories too! Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com

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