Happy Birthday Silah

In early March I wrote a blog post about our life with dogs. I focused a bit on Silah because she’s the only dog we have left. But her birthday was on 23 March so I thought I would celebrate with all of you.

Her birth date was pulled out of thin air – when we got her in June, the vet thought she was about 3 months old and used his birthday as hers. When she was slow with losing her teeth, we realized she must have been younger than three months, but the date was set and we weren’t going to guess backwards.

We got Silah on a whim, because she looked so much like our first shepherd cross, Tsuga. The rescue that had her was in Lethbridge, and her foster mom called her a “baby Tsuga.” Dave drove across the province in blazing hot weather to pick her up in Nelson, BC. The woman who was fostering Silah had a sister in Nelson, so drove there from Lethbridge so Dave’s trip would be shorter.

Dave can still remember taking Silah out to pee in the baking heat, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. I remember him pulling into the driveway and me rushing over to the passenger side of the truck to welcome her home. She was such a great little traveller. Sat in her small crate and looked out the front of it, watching the world go by.

We introduced her to our flatcoats, Cedar and Cosmo. Cedar wanted to play right away. Cosmo wanted to fight. He showed her who was boss by growling and lunging on the end of his leash. But when we let him go he was less bossy, though he lorded it over her until he died.

Silah relied on Cedar for play. They would have chase-me games in the yard, Silah grabbing at Cedar’s tail. Like all puppies, Silah was a shark with her tiny sharp teeth. Luckily she channelled her chewing to appropriate things like toys, and didn’t try to eat shoes or anything else. We kept too close of an eye on her for that to happen.

She was cute as a puppy, though she started off scrawny and underfed with giant ears. She’s grown into a magnificent dog with a regal look about her – far from that tiny puppy she was when we first got her.

Silah has been one of our constants for 10 years now. She knows every bunny hole underneath the fences and remembers exactly where she last saw that squirrel that ran up the cedar tree. She finds nasty things like dead birds, but doesn’t eat them or roll in them, just sniffs until I dispose of them.

She’s famous for her woos, which she uses in the house sometimes when she’s getting excited about going out. And when there’s someone on the other side of the fence she barks: she likes to defend her property. Sometimes there’s nothing to bark at – it’s just that the cattle dogs across the street and the German shepherds down the street are barking, and if they are then she should, too.

She has her routine, which revolves around meal times and outdoor time. She knows when I’m putting her food on to soak, and comes to inspect my progress and get a few free kibbles.

We love her to the moon and back, and hope she has many more years left.