Hugging a Skunk

Several years ago I heard these stories from Corrine Zipps about two of her malamutes.

     Every so often we parents are reminded how literally children take our instructions as the following story indicates.

     In a parking lot a few years ago, I had a little toddler pop up from seemingly out of nowhere *underneath* my dog, a large Alaskan malamute. Her arms encircled his neck as she asked sweetly, "Can I hug you?" I then saw her poor Mom frozen like a deer in the headlights three cars away. The next thing I heard was an exasperated, "You're supposed to ask the person, not the dog!"

     One of my prior malamutes, Siranush, had a problem with getting into cars if he got loose. He loved to go for rides! A friend was caring for him one weekend while I was away and was having a grand old time with him until Nuk jumped off his sailboat when they got to shore and immediately ran off! Nuk was a beautiful seal and white male with a striking mask. Fortunately, he was found quickly by a neighbor. It turned out that a neighbor's little grandson had seen Siranush in his car. The child had come inside and told the grandfather, "Grampy, there's a biiiiiiiiiiiiiig skunk in your car, so I shut the door!" The poor man was actually *relieved* to find a big black and white dog in his car!

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