Naki's Story

September, 2019 was a painful month for me. Titus, my beautiful twelve-year-old Vizsla, suddenly, but peacefully passed away from cancer. One week prior, my son had taken his three-year-old German Shepherd I had shared in raising, away with him to college. Titus and Patton, aka Mutt and Jeff, aka Cling-on and Patrol-Pup, were best friends who provided countless hours of comic relief. The house was empty and silent. I vowed to adopt two dogs of the same breeds ASAP. 

Two weeks later I adopted Lexi, a skinny, three-year-old micro-chipped GSD found roaming the streets. Her owner was contacted twice by animal control; both times he said he'd pick her up but he never came.... What kind of person dumps a sweet, loving dog on the street? Lexi has absolutely no signs of aggression and loves people and kids of all ages.

Finding a rescue Vizsla was another matter. Having been a Vizsla owner for over 40 years, I could not live without having those long, silky ears to stoke, the expressive, soulful eyes, vitality and yes, the unique, Vizsla ability to have every inch of its body pressed against mine, no matter what the position I'm in. I would be open to a Vizsla mix as long as it looked and acted like a purebred but that's almost impossible to find.

Luckily, I found 2nd Chance Vizsla Rescue in Colorado who had five-year-old, purebred Vizsla litter-mates, Tara and Naki. Born and raised together in New Zealand, they were named after a landmark, Mt. Taranaki. Their owner moved to Colorado and because of reasons unknown to me, sadly, had to re-home the pair. Tara went to a foster home in Albuquerque and Naki to Colorado Springs. After three phone interviews, a home study and a lengthy application process I anxiously waited for the go-ahead to adopt. (This process was more thorough than adopting my two grown sons and I totally approve of it!) 

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, Susan, Naki's foster mom, told me the great news that I had been approved to adopt Naki. However, driving Naki the 13 hours from Colorado Springs to my home in Phoenix, would prove to be a challenging task to plan and execute with winter weather on its way.

Thanksgiving, 2019, will be recalled by many who didn't make it home in time to feast with their families. A huge blizzard and record low temperatures swept over the northwestern states in the days before the holiday.  The Accu-Weather forecast for Black Friday and Saturday at every town on the route reported 20 degree weather, some rain late Friday afternoon but no snow. I reserved a one-way flight to Col. Springs Thanksgiving night and a one-way car rental. 

Murphy's Law Challenge #1: I arrived at the car rental desk at 8:00 pm to learn that policies forbid one-way car rentals secured by debit cards; I don't have credit cards. Two and one half hours later I found a cheap round trip flight between Phx and CO Springs and a round-trip car rental returning the rental car to CO Springs. This was the only way my debit card would be accepted. By then, the economy hatchback I reserved was gone and I was stuck with a Dodge Charger sports car with bucket seats, mediocre miles per gallon and poor traction tires for icy roads.

Black Friday: I met and fell in love with Naki at first sight. He is absolutely gorgeous and has an out-going, confident personality. Out of the six Vizslas I've owned, he has, by far, the softest, silkiest ears and coat; an incredibly well-bred, well-trained dog with no vices. 

Murphy's Law Challenge #2: The huge XXL Sky Kennel that came with Naki wouldn't fit in the Charger so Susan's husband spent 40 minutes Jerry-rigging the back seat and trunk to make it fit. Naki had to sit in the front passenger seat which actually helped us bond on the ride home. Left at noon with an ETA of 5:30 pm at the Santa Fe Motel 6.

Murphy's Law Challenge #3: What Accu-Weather failed to forecast was Raton Pass, elevation, 7834 ft. between Trinidad, CO and Las Vegas, NM. We found ourselves in the middle of a snowstorm crawling at 15-20 miles per hour in first gear to keep the Charger from Slip-Sliding Away off the road. I played Bluegrass Music while Naki rested his head on the dashboard.

Murphy's Law Challenge #4: Sixteen miles north of the nearest gas station Las Vegas, NM the Charger's fuel gauge suddenly went from 1/2 full to a warning light. The car ran out of gas 11 miles later at 5:10 pm on the southbound shoulder of I25. It was dark and 20 degrees outside. I had to wait 90 minutes for gas to arrive. I played Spider Solitaire to avoid obsessing over the many Forensic Files episodes I had seen. In addition, the bucket seats were the worst! Finally arrived in Santa Fe at 9:00 pm. and purchased Advil and a seat cushion for the next day's journey.

Fortunately, Black Friday ended our ordeal and the remainder of the ride went without a hitch. We had a beautiful drive through snow-covered mountains and high desert. And the car rental company forgave our one-way penalty due to the car's broken gas gauge and my sore bum!

Alas, it has been six weeks since our fateful trip. Naki adjusted immediately to his new home and is the happiest, friendliest dog I've ever met. I introduced him to my horse and he acted like he's been around horses his entire life. I take the dogs to run freely at my barn three to four times per week. 

It took some time for Lexi to get used to his bold personality as she is very passive. Her response to him is a low vocalization: I'm sure she is saying "You are SOOOO ANNOYING!!!!!" They have now bonded and play and run together even when they are with other dogs. 

So... Life is Good. My horse, my Cling-On and my Patrol-Pup -aka, My Family. Thank you 2nd Chance Vizsla Rescue and Saving Paws Rescue.