A 'Yukon Dog' (Boomer's Story)

Boomer came into our lives in the late summer of 1998, just after we had bought an old 'fixer-upper' house in downtown Whitehorse. We first met him after a long day of renovations as we were heading out to a blues jam downtown. We encountered him half a block from our home on that very dark night. He was sitting on the sidewalk in front of a house. He was a big friendly, shaggy fur-ball and we stopped to pet him. We were alarmed when we noticed that he appeared to have a problem with a front foot and thought he may have been in a recent accident, but discovered that he actually had an amputated foot (which he held up to us - an old sympathy trick, most likely, which definitely worked on us). We also noticed that he had a problem with his hindquarters, the fur of which was matted with dried blood. Thinking that he was already somebody's dog, we continued on our way with the sense of guilt you feel when you come across a lost or unfortunate person or animal, and get used to walking by without helping. The impression meeting Boomer left on us, however, did not go away.

In the days to follow, we searched the 'lost and found' ads in the newspaper in hopes of finding out if he was in fact a stray, to what end, we did not know at the time. Eventually, an ad for a dog fitting Boomer's description ('Bouvier-terrier cross with amputated foot - fantastic personality!') informed us that he was in the care of the Humane Society Yukon (this was before the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter was built). With a strong urge to see him again we contacted Andrea Lemphers (who has done so much over the years to help unwanted and mistreated animals in the Yukon through her pioneering work with the humane society) who was fostering Boomer 'after surgery'. We made arrangements to meet him and drove out to Andrea's home on the Mayo Road on a Saturday morning in early September. If we had made our choice based on 'daylight' impressions of Boomer, we might have quickly gotten back into the car and driven back to Whitehorse. Boomer had scary-looking stitches all around his shaved posterior. He was also very fat (fatter than he is now) from a life of eating table scraps. He had yellow teeth and long, werewolf-like hair. Aside from the physical appearance, his behaviour in Andrea's yard (obsessively trying to get into the chicken coop) and in her home (barking insanely at the cat and running through the house bumping into furniture with his cone-shaped protective collar) left much to be desired. Doubtful that we would end up adopting Boomer, we took him for a walk (where he dragged us around the acreage on his leash) and told Andrea we would 'think about it' and get back to her.

Despite the overwhelming meeting, it was impossible to get Boomer out of our minds, and the next day (admittedly partly motivated by sympathy and obligation) we called Andrea and reserved Boomer for adoption. As we were having our hardwood floors refinished we would not be able to take him home for a few weeks, but felt relieved at having made the decision to take Boomer in. The day arrived when we drove out early on a Saturday morning to pick him up. He had healed considerably since we last saw him and was looking much better with the care and attention he had received (like many other of our four-legged friends) at the Lemphers' home. His combination of cuteness and rugged handsomeness warmed our hearts.

It was a very special feeling to drive home with our new dog and to look back at him sitting in the back seat. When we got Boomer into our porch he let out a sound that can best be described as a sob from deep within him, and he froze for a minute in the doorway. The only furniture we had upstairs because of the floor refinishing was the new bed we had bought for him. We bonded with Boomer in a matter of a couple of days and could not have imagined anyone else adopting him or what we would do without him.

The first two years with Boomer involved a lot of visits to his veterinarian (we can't explain why, but to this day he really loves going to see his doctor) due to the rough life he had led. This included several operations of both a major and minor nature in Whitehorse, and taking him down to Saskatoon for a complicated surgery at the veterinary teaching hospital at the University of Saskatchewan. Boomer was plagued with a weak posterior region, which resulted in a herniation or collapse of the entire area beneath his tail. The veterinarian who performed the procedure attributed this problem to either past physical trauma or genetics. Considering the success of the surgery to be miraculous, we stayed with Boomer as he recovered in Saskatoon for a week before we flew home. Boomer has since been in very good health for his age (8 years this past April).

We learned a little about our dog's past upon meeting Boomer's previous owner who had abandoned him on the street and then surrendered him to the Humane Society (after inquiries by the society), as he was not financially able to look after him anymore. The elderly man had learned of his old friend's whereabouts from a 'thank you ad' to Boomer's doctors (featuring Boomer's picture), which was placed in a local newspaper. He had parked across the street from our house at lunch hour one day (Boomer's walk time), and pulled up in his noisy old Jeep and got out and approached us. The man relayed to us that he had owned Boomer since the dog was one year old, shortly after an accident where Boomer's foot was lost in an animal trap on a cold winter day. We were told that they had been to many mining camps in the northern Yukon, over the years. It was a bittersweet moment for all but the man was happy that his old companion was looking so good and had found a permanent home.

Around Whitehorse we sometimes meet other people who knew of Boomer before we had him. One man we met at a vet clinic said he had seen Boomer 'take a round out of a Rotweiler' twice his size. We learned that Boomer was tied up outside for a period in all kinds of weather on an acreage outside of Whitehorse. We learned that he lived in a garage down the street from us for a while. We later learned that one of our friends in Whitehorse, Patrick Singh, who has a soft spot for down-on-their-luck mutts, picked Boomer up off the street shortly after the night we first met him, and pawned him off on Pam and Bernie Phillips who generously paid for Boomer's first operation before turning him over to the humane society.

When you adopt an older dog, you miss out on things such as knowing what your dog looked like as a puppy as well as the years of companionship you have missed out on. To our minds, this only makes the short time we will have with our special dog all the more precious. We now choose to spend most of our evenings and weekends at home and do not get out to 'blues jams' much anymore. We find ourselves missing Boomer desperately on the short holidays we have taken in the south. Recently, we have taken more of an active interest in Humane Society Yukon (where we admire the work the special people at the shelter perform, whether they are staff or volunteers). We go on a regular basis to visit the animals, taking dogs for walks, petting the cats, kittens and puppies that pass through, and have fostered several animals (currently a mother cat who gave birth to her gorgeous kittens in our home). Nowadays, we also pick up every lost or stray animal we find and bring it to the shelter.

We have become aware that there is a special breed of dog known as a 'Yukon Dog' (this also applies to Yukon cats), many of which may have descended from their forebears in the days of the Gold Rush, who provided companionship, protection and hard work for the early 'Sourdoughs' and First Nations peoples in those difficult days. At the time of this writing there are beautiful dogs such as Tulip, Ruffus, Preacher and Franklin (the sled dogs), Miles, brother and sister Leo and Lucy, and Chinook 2, who fill the cages at the shelter, several of whom have been there for a long time. Some may strike you as being a bit rough around the edges in their behaviour and look a bit scruffy. Others may give you a negative impression appearing to be vicious or deeply disturbed as you approach their pens (we must remember the shelter is not a normal environment and the stress affects the animals in different ways). What we have found is that we have become very attached to all of them and know that there is somebody out there who is missing out on a great pet and life companion. It is encouraging that the wonderful web site for the shelter (other animal shelters and the animals therein should be so lucky) has resulted in people from far away learning about our Yukon Dogs. Several have gone to Alaska and southern Canada (and one even to the bright lights of Hollywood!).

Eventually, all the dogs seem to find a home, but the shelter is always near to, or exceeding capacity for dogs and cats. We urge everyone to support this vital charity, which helps out animals that find themselves at the mercy of this often extremely cold and unforgiving environment due to the ignorance and cruelty (and sometimes poverty, infirmity and misfortune) of some pet owners (which is not unique to the Yukon). The shelter is always living on the edge of its financial resources, despite the work of a core of deeply committed society members and patrons, who manage to keep it functioning. We often think of how empty our lives would be without Boomer (a deeply painful thought), who just as easily may have found himself put to sleep or have suffered a tragic ending on the streets of Whitehorse. There are many more great dogs and cats out there that need to be taken in, on a foster arrangement or a permanent, adoptive basis. Open your homes and hearts to them. You too may find yourself lucky enough to receive the love of a 'Yukon Dog', a very special feeling indeed.

Terry Cumming & Krista Linklater,
May 19, 2001

Update

Abby was adopted from the shelter on Boxing Day in 2001. The name given to her there was Theresa and she was one of the 3 puppies who were thrown over the high shelter fence with their mother sometime during a -30C night in November. Staff at the shelter initially thought she may have been brain-damaged (read 'special') as she seemed slow to respond to stimulus (an example was that she would leave her mouth open for a long time after having her mouth checked). This was part of the motivation for us to add her to our family, but she has turned out to be a very smart little dog (sometimes a bit TOO SMART!).

Abby adores her Uncle Boomer although she can be a major pest to him in his 'Golden Years'. He also has a bit of a soft spot for her but doesn't like to show it very much. Abby acts as 'personal fitness trainer' to the shelter dogs (we call them 'her cousins') who go out on weekend outings to 'Inisfree', the shelter dogs' special place. She helps to socialize the dogs by helping them learn to play and is very gentle and patient when dogs get too rough with her. She loves to be the chase dog, and to splash in the kiddie pool at Inisfree with the other dogs in the summertime. Abby can sometimes be seen in the doggie movies on the web site, which are all taken at Inisfree.

In April of 2005, Boomer had his first grand mal seizure, which he continued to experience intermittently until his eventual passing on May 19, 2006. With medication and excellent veterinary care, Boomer had a good quality of life, but he rapidly started to lose mobility towards the end, his mobility being already hampered by his amputated foot. On his last day, he was barely able to stand and we stayed with him to the end as he was put to sleep. As terrible as the loss of Boomer was, we would have been devastated had we not had our wonderful little girl Abby to share the loss with. We went to the shelter on weekends during the summer and fall of 2006 to take dogs home to our yard to play with Abby, but it was not until November, 2006 that we went into the shelter on a Sunday afternoon and saw our old friend, another very special 'character dog' named Otis.

We had known Otis when he previously found himself in the shelter (around 2004). We used to take him out to Innisfree on weekends for a romp. Otis had a very long stay at Mae Bachur Shelter until he was eventually adopted by a family. His family moved away and could not take him with them. We took Otis into the vet after we adopted him because he was having a problem with crystals in his urine. His x-rays revealed that he has a couple of BB pellets in his body from years ago, which are not removable. Otis is a very affectionate dog. He and Abby are great friends and companions. We are all very fortunate to have him. We loved him since the first time we saw him and are extremely fortunate to have Otis as part of our family for the rest of his life. We are sure that Boomer, running around up in doggie Heaven, approves of the arrangement.

Terry & Krista