Oakley, The Alaskan Malamute


Part Two: Enlightenment and Exhaustion - Equal Measures


I can’t believe we have only had Oakley for SIX days! It seems like much longer than that what with the lack of sleep and all. Howling, I name thee Malamute.

I have been astonished by the range and amplitude of sounds our Oakley can generate. He howls, yowls, yips, yelps, barks, brays, whiffs, whines, moans, groans, grumbles, mumbles, gruffs, whuffs, snarls, squeaks, shrieks, roars, and bellows. With this impressive range, I wonder why no one has taught an Alaskan Malamute to speak yet. I had read somewhere that George Lucas had modelled the sounds of Chewbacca after his Malamute. If he’d owned Oakley, Chewy would have been giving soliloquies!

Since homing Oakley—I won’t say own, as I believe he now owns us!—I have walked my property more than I have in the last twenty years. Together, we have covered a few kilometres. I am sure of this as the snow around our house bears the proof. I have rediscovered the beauty of a sunrise during an early morning stroll through the snow and been surprised at the number of different animal and bird footprints that cross our land: deer, turkeys, rabbits, mice, coyotes, to name a few. I marvel at the brightness of a crescent moon and try to identify constellations I had learned as a child, while standing on the lawn at one o’clock in the morning. I now realize that it isn’t so bad being out in a snowstorm in minus three degrees Celsius.

A puppy brings discovery to a familiar world, teaches delight in things old but newly-appreciated, and kindles a realization of joys long forgotten. Oakley fills me with thankfulness that I can still be reminded of these pleasures while shuffling through the slippery snowflakes after a surging, barreling ball of fluff.


#AlaskanMalamute #puppy #malamutepuppy