Nearly two years ago, our daughter asked us if she could have a dog and we began our search at local animal rescue centers. Megan eventually adopted Nika when she was about eight weeks old and Noah, our golden retriever, was about two. In the photo, Nika is the black and white dog in front of Noah, our golden retriever.
We thought Nika was a border collie mix, but when Megan did a mouth swab for an Internet testing site, the results were, at best, dubious: Pomeranian, and back at least four generations.
Really?
Here’s a Pomeranian.
You’ve already seen pic of Nika. Any resemblance?
When Megan moved to Orlando for her internship at Sea World to work with dolphins, Nika spent the next seven months with us. During that time, she and Noah bonded. They played together, ate together, slept together on the same quilt. They were like twins conjoined the hip.
After Megan’s internship ended, she moved Nika to Orlando with her. Nika went from a suburban home with a yard to which she had access constantly to the ninth floor of an apartment in downtown Orlando that she shared with Olly, a Dachshund mix, a yapper. During the ensuing months, as Megan established a dogwalking business in Orlando, we got together at least once a month, which was also a reunion for Nika and Noah.
These reunions were not those of two dogs who shook hands and went about their personal business. These reunions were OMG I see you and I’m jumping out the car window to get to you and now we’re going to run around like mad dogs.
When Megan pulled into the driveway last Friday, Noah and I happened to be outside, playing with the Frisbee. He saw her car and started barking, but ran over to it as soon as it stopped because Nika was hanging out the back window. Noah leaped, Nika leaped, and sailed through the window onto Noah’s back.
For the next five or ten minutes, they chased each other around the front yard.
Yes, I have been accused of being anthropomorphic. And if I am, I welcome the label. I suspect the label actually means that you, a human, recognize that animals have emotions. They develop attachments that are just as profound and significant as the attachments of humans. They love, they mourn, they yearn. And quite often, they act as vehicles of synchronicity.
On the day that Megan arrived, I had been thinking that I would like to experience a synchro that showed me how love is a force of nature – and then I witnessed Noah leaping up on Megan’s car to greet Nika, and Nika leaping through the window to be with Noah.
Her visit was just for a long weekend. But on Monday morning when Megan prepared to leave, she said, “Maybe I should leave Nika here with you guys until I come back for my friend’s wedding on June first.”
“Let Nika decide,” I said.
Megan whistled for her, invited her into the back seat. She leaped in, then backed out and ran off with Noah. Megan looked at us. “She’s my dog and she’s just visiting you guys, okay?”
“June first,” we replied. “But if you can’t take being without her, we’ll bring her to Orlando next weekend.”
No question that Nika loves Noah and vice versa. But as Megan’s car backed out of the driveway and headed up the road, Nika sat there a moment, then chased it, barking, as if to say, Wait, you’re my human! There’s been a mistake!
When I called her back, she hesitated, staring longingly after Megan’s car, then trotted back, nose to the ground, pursuing some scent. A squirrel, perhaps? And she looked at Noah, barked, and they took off beneath the vast blue sky, and chased each other around the yard again.
Now, they’re exhausted- and happy, together once more.
Dogs teach is so much about unconditional love – unless been damaged by humans ! Tuppence brings me into the NOW so often. & into joy. Many years ago I had a German shepherd who licked lambs & played with our free range rabbit ! We had a cat who liked to suckle from a terrier. I think more recent global stories of inter species love like the wild polar bear with dogs or you tube films of cats friendly with a crow or playing with an owl is a sign to us that there is more unconditional love around !
This is so like my own experience. I looked after my daughter Sophie s dog for 6 months & it broke my heart when she had to go live in a London flat with Sophie after she had enjoyed the freedom of wild country & woods with me in Wales,but she is Sophie’s dog & Sophie is dedicated to her,choosing a flat next to a huge park. So after 7 years of no pets I went & got my own little Jack Russell,Tuppence & she & Amber have exactly the same re unions as you have described. Tuppence is my constant companion,it’s just the 2 of us now the kids have moved away &. She is the loveliest little soul. Best therapist I could have & even on a bleak day she makes me laugh! The sheer joyousness of watching her bounce thru long grass. She caught her first rat last Sunday & proudly payed it at my feet! They are a particular phobia of mine. Shriek ! Clever Tuppence !
Some dogs just capture you heart, don’t they?
i love these stories too – and always feel as if i’ve been there witnessing their shenanigans – this afternoon i sat for a while and watched my 10 yr old g/daughter and her father play with “bayou” her huge newfie that santa brought as a new pup about 5 yrs ago – bayou is bigger than she is now and almost as big as her daddy – but he is the gentlest of giants and loves his humans – he has always let c. do whatever she wanted with him – tugging on him – pulling him – teaching him to do a high-5 and to sit – their exchanges are always just beautiful and it’s all i can do to tear myself away when they are playing together – i’ve always wished that he had a canine companion for all those hours that everyone is away from the house at work and school – anyway, he does have a little girlfriend of sorts – a black lab who visits when her human takes her for a walk around the development – anyway, N and N are so lucky to have each other and it is more than obvious how deep their feelings flow each for the other!
YOU need a dog, Gypsy!
These are two of my very favorite dogs, and their love story warms my heart, every single time. Thank you for this.
And Nikka is a Pom? LOL!
You certainly got your example that love is a force of nature, and it will be different on June 1st. Weddings are a big deal but I bet Megan and Nikka are both going to welcome their together time then.
I just love this love story. I used to have a cat and a dog who were the same age and played together all the time and loved each other. One had to SEE it to believe it. They used to put on a performance for guests, pretending to be fighting which was all acting for the audience. If the cat was out side and I said to Joi, the dog, where is Gemmi? she would run outside and bring her back. I was always amazed by the fact that she understood my words. I did not train her to do that. I wouldn’t even know how to do that. The pair just loved each other, and playing was a big part of their relationship.
What a cool story. Our cats tolerate both dogs, but so far there hasn’t been much inter-species playing!
I enjoy these posts about Nika and Noah. We have much to learn from our animal friends.
Animals most definitely have emotions and very deep feelings.
Poor Nikka can’t figure out why he has to keep leaving.
I think Nika is sometimes confused about why she lives sometimes with Megan and sometimes with us. She’s happy in either place, but sure does love being with her Noah!
Dogs definitely have emotions and feelings too but, perhaps, these are more childlike than with us so called adults. In some ways their emotions are more pure and unsullied.
Pure and unsullied: that’s exactly how these two are when they’re together.