Monday, May 9, 2011

Thor, Malamutes and The Market

Unknown 8:53 PM farmer's market, Malamutes, Thor

Malamutes always seem to warrant road trips.

Thor

Thor, Haegl and Kira (in background)

I don't exactly understand why that is, but Malamutes seem to have the ability to pull me great distances to adopt them. Such was the case with Mishka when we took a long road trip to pick her up in Kansas. Such is the case with Thor, our newest Malamute, who was in Great Falls. He came from the Fort Belknap Reservation, found running with a group of feral dogs. Poor guy had porcupine quills stuck in his muzzle and mouth that had gotten infected. He still has lumps and scars from the thing. Poor guy.

The good news is that he's so far getting along with most of the other dogs. We've had a few small spats, but nothing that would yet qualify for scary Malamute fight. As you can see in the picture on the left, he's doing pretty good.

Thor is simply gigantic; that's the only way to describe him. We measured him to be 30 inches at the shoulder, which is huge for a Malamute, where the standard is about 25 inches. Still, he's well proportioned. He's still a puppy and still has growth plates, which means he'll get taller yet. Probably only a half inch or so.

The lady who worked for Malamute rescue was so in love with him, but her big male Malamute hated him. Our male, Haegl, is pretty nonchalant about everything, but is a little taken aback by his size. Thor isn't sure of Haegl's intentions, so it's kind of important to keep the peace.

Thor also made me violate my own rules as to wake up times. I wanted to go to the Farmer's Market, and so ended up getting up early. When I was there, I discovered that this was the second market of the season. To my surprise, the first market happened April 30th in the snow. Geez!

I got salad greens, bok choy, salsa, guacamole, potatoes (cold storage), cheeses, butter, bacon, ground buffalo, a beef roast, a pork roast, and some awesome sesame balls with bean paste in them. These are my very favorite, so I asked the seller if he was selling it all summer. He said yes!