In 1997, our first wolf hybrid, Chari, died. She was thirteen years old and had aged suddenly and seriously during the previous year. We were suddenly without our "Big Good Wolf". We missed her terribly. Dan and I didn't discuss getting another wolf dog right away. But I knew eventually we would.
In 1998, I took my oldest competitive horse, Gandolf, and competed in North Georgia in the National Arabian Horse Association's National Competitive Trail Championship. The location was Pigeon Mountain, a state forest filled with rocky, high hills and mountains, things I am the most scared of and intended to confront my fears.
The group I caravanned up realized we were very close to the border between Georgia and Tennessee, close to Chattanooga, the great battleground. Since we had arrived a few days early to acclimate our horses to the height and the rocky terrain, we all had breakfast at a tiny gas station just down the road. It was the sole sign of life on that side of the mountain.
The closest we were to what was going on in the outside world was the daily newspaper we usually read second hand every morning with our scrambled eggs, sausage and wonderful, hot coffee.
One morning, I noticed an ad for "wolf hybrid puppies for sale". We tried for several days to call from my cell phone to see if the puppies were available to see. Finally I got through and made an appointment.
I was given complicated instructions on the directions but they were good directions and Kat and I found our way there late one afternoon. The owner, a real Southern lady, was hospitable and very loving toward her pack of wolf dogs. She showed me two of the three pups who were cute and inquisitive. Then she went into the garage to extract the shy pup who had gone inside and burrowed under a woodpile hiding from these invasive strangers who had ventured into her world.
As she was gently pulling the puppy out from the woodpile, she said the female was the most beautifully marked and would have a lot of black, gray and brown highlights on her adult coat, based on her dam's previous litters.
The lady handed the little girl to me and she pulled away slightly for a second. Then she looked at me. The gorgeous markings on her face looked like someone had taken a wet brush and expertly applied mascara under each of her eyes. She was perfect! I never handed her back. When we discussed price, the pup stayed in my arms and I pulled my wallet from my purse and gave her $250, an discounted, agreed-upon price, down from her original $400. She also saw that the puppy and I were meant for each other and we had already bonded.
There will be more, much more to this long overdue story about my beloved Chaos soon.
