"Ooh" says the kids,  "A puppy.  Isn't he cute?"

He was cute too: black and white with a big curly tail , fuzzy fur, huge paws and a tongue that was destined to shower love on all.  He immediately won his way into our families heart.

"What kind of dog is he" asked the family.

"He's a Spitz" says I slyly. "An Alaska Malamute."

"They get pretty big don't they?" asks my wife.

"Yes, they probably do" I answer, "I think that they are the largest of the Spitz breed"

My daughter gave him the name of Amok.  I asked her where she got the name, and she told me that she just made it up.  She though it sounded Eskimo or Alaskan and the name did seem to fit.

Amok grew in size and our mutual love grew as well.  He was a really good dog.  He did not chew things up and was about as well behaved as one could ever expect from a young animal.

He initially was very interested in the cat, but the cat let him know in no uncertain terms that a non aggression pact was in the best interests of all.   For a while it was an uneasy peace, but peace eventually did reign between the two animals.

Bunny was a different situation, there was no deterring Amok.  He just knew that Bunny was "food".  Cats were OK, but bunnies were put there by God for Amok Dogs to eat.  This is how the world has us made, and this how things must be.  We could not reason with him, and the only thing we could do is make sure that Bunny remained in the garage far removed from a rapacious Amok.

Amok never did get to eat Bunny, but he always felt that it was his God given right and no one was ever able to persuade him to think any other way.

Amok had other little quirks.  He did not like being alone in the dark.  He would be frightened by shadows, and would look to us to protect him from them.  Then again, he was still a small pup of 40 or 50 pounds and had a lot of growing ahead of him before he would reach his mature weight of 140.

We were told: "Just wait until it snows, your dog will love it".  This sounded reasonable to us, since he did come from a long line of Alaska sled dogs. 

We live in western Oregon, and the climate here is really quite mild.  Snow is not all that common and when it snows, the snow rarely lasts.  The schools close, people skip work, and it often is treated like a holiday. 

It was either late November or early December, and we were graced with a gentle snow.   It was a lazy morning, and our dog was sleeping on the floor towards the foot of our bed.   We lay in bed  that morning listening to the radio.  The announcer read a list of school closures and cancelled meetings. Winter had come to us early and we were going to enjoy it to the fullest.  The kids would remain home and it would be a great day not to go to work.

" Hey Claudia" I say. "How about pooping the dog?".

On queue, Amok got up and gave Claudia a big wet kiss.

"Ooh yeah, let's go poop the dog"; says I with an enthusiasm that could earn me early morning death threats.

Claudia and I both get up and get semi dressed so that we (and the dog) can make our way down stairs.  There is snow out there, and we have an Alaska Malamute.  Our dog is about to experience his first snow, and we know that he will love it. 

We walk with him to the patio door.  He stands at the door, tail wagging.  He is eager to run outside and greet this new and snowy world. 

I open the door.  I yell " Go for it Amok, go poopÖ"   

He runs out the door under the patio into the snow and stops.  He stands there and lifts his front paw and shakes it.  He puts his paw down and then shakes it again.  He backs up, turns around and literally throws himself at our patio Window.

In my mind, I can hear him say: "Let me in.  I don't like this stuff.  This stuffs cold, and it's wetÖ. Let me in!"

So much for Amok and snow, so much for Malamute sled dogs.   Claudia put on some more clothes, and took him outside, so that he could get his business over and done with.  Weather not withstanding; he let us know, in no uncertain terms, that he was not an outdoor animal.  Amok was a house dog, and as a house dog deserved all the comforts