From the Styx by Peggy Tibbetts

Do dogs love each other?

Some experts believe all animals form bonds with other animals but that bonding has more to do with companionship rather than love. Other experts believe animals do love. Whether that love is based on need, devotion, or companionship, it is certainly love.

I’ve loved and raised enough animals in my life to have witnessed real love between them. My Himalayan, Rosie was devoted to her beloved mate Fred and lasted only a year after he died. She slept in his bed and missed him terribly. My Golden Retriever Marley and his mate Jesse were inseparable and he was never the same after she died. I could go on forever with examples of real love between two animals.

Do Venus and Zeus love each other? There’s no doubt Venus loves Zeus. It is certainly a crazed, obsessive kind of love. But it is love. So the one true question has always been: Does Zeus love Venus?

The day he met her he was definitely smitten. He pranced around and flirted like a teenager. They played like puppies. We never tried to force their relationship. We hoped it would develop naturally. After a few months he grew impatient with her. She challenged his dominance. She didn’t play fair, grabbing his collar or biting his ears. She barked and threw toys and bones at him. We thought she was just squirrelly and she’d grow out of it. He made his own rules and set his own boundaries. She has often viciously disagreed. There’s no doubt in my mind that dogs have powerful energy sensors. I think way back then Zeus knew she was mad as a hatter.

They were getting along okay after her summer solstice meltdown. But it was just that – okay. Venus has gradually mellowed out, right on schedule. We have experience now, we know what to expect from Clomipramine. When she does become anxious she calms down easily. She’s only allowed to pay attention to Zeus with his permission. Every now and then she sneaks over and gives him a little lick on his nose or ear. Except we’ve learned the hard way that a lick can quickly turn into a chomp. One little lick is all she’s allowed.

Venus still demonstrably loves the big guy. It’s Zeus I’m not so sure about. He figured out the training game. He knows it’s up to him whether she can be near him. After her big meltdown last November, he was more involved in her training. This time around he has responded by tolerating her or ignoring her. They have played tag at Dogland a couple times but Zeus stopped it as quickly as it began. Was she too anxious? Did she get snippy? Or was he testing her? Knowing these dogs as well as I do, I suspect he was testing her.

Who can blame him? Life with the mentally ill has been described as walking on eggshells. Life with Venus often feels that way. If Tod and I feel it then Zeus feels it, too. But a) Venus didn’t attack me; and b) I’m not a dog. So I don’t know what Zeus is going through. I don’t know what he’s thinking. His behavior seemed to say, “I’m just not that into you.”

Caring people have asked me whether it’s fair to make Zeus live like this. We have wondered the same thing. So we treat Venus with Clomipramine and keep training her which makes life easier for Zeus – and us.

Last month in our continuing quest for new places to run wild, I said to Tod, “Let’s go somewhere we’ve never been before. I’ve always wanted to go to Trappers Lake.”

So on August 14 we packed up the camper, piled the dogs in the backseat of the pickup and headed north. We’ve never been there. My only excuse is that it’s easier to take two big dogs to places they’ve been before – especially Venus. They settle in faster and enjoy familiar surroundings. They know what to expect. After Venus flipped out during our Wisconsin trip last year, we haven’t exactly been eager to test her limits for new adventure.

We pulled a fast one on the dogs. We didn’t tell them where we were going. Then we waited for their reaction. Big fun. By the time we got to Meeker, they knew we weren’t taking an alternate route to Meadow Lake. They couldn’t sleep. They sat up and looked out the window. Nothing looked familiar. After we passed Buford, the road turned to gravel for the long ascent up to 9,900 feet. Venus pressed her nose and forehead into the glass as though willing something familiar to appear. Zeus paced back and forth. I turned around and gave him the eye. He plopped down next to my left shoulder and glared at me. He rolled his eyes toward the window and looked back at me with alarm.

“I got the message loud and clear,” I said to Tod. “Where the hell are we?”

We laughed but Zeus was not amused. He paced some more, which got Venus’s attention. He was visibly upset. Whenever his mood changes we have to distract her so she doesn’t fixate and snap at him. She stood up. I pulled rank and banished them to their corners like two unruly children.

“Enough already,” I barked. “Just chill. Everything’s okay. You’ll see.”

Seven years ago, July 19, 2002, a lightning strike ignited a wildfire near Big Fish Lake. The fire burned 41,000 acres between Big Fish and Trappers Lake. Thousands upon thousands of acres of charred dead trees stretch for more than ten miles like pillars of the devastation. Yet the mountainscape is no less spectacular. Chinese Wall, Flander, and Trappers Peak shine as pinnacles of nature’s powerful energy.

There were only a few campers so we had our choice of four campgrounds above the lake. As we drove through them the dogs drooled on the windows as they gobbled up the scenery. We wanted a view of the lake but the campsites are burrowed into a conifer forest. We had to get out and walk through them to find the right one. We ended up with a lake view, mountains view, and quick trail access to a quiet lagoon.

Heavenly view from our campsite

While we set up camp, Zeus was impatient and Venus was anxious. When we finally headed out for a hike we found a small lagoon right away. The dogs were thrilled. They ran down the trail and plunged into the water. Venus bounded into the marsh grass and rolled upside down. Zeus splashed around in the shallow water.

Lovely lagoon

We continued on another quarter mile to Trappers Lake where the dogs practically swooned. So did we.

Pristine Trappers Lake

Watching their freak flags unfurl was ecstatic. Tod and I shared a lot of laughs at how we’d fooled them. At the shoreline they seemed to get the joke because they each wiggled over and pressed against our legs. Big dog hugs. We hiked up the Carhart trail for about an hour until we reached the intersection of the Wall Lake trail. Talk about running wild. Zeus pranced from one pond to the next. Venus headed for the woods and shadowed us.

On that first hike on the first day we noticed a change in them.

“Happiness,” I said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen them this happy,” Tod said.

Throughout the weekend it felt as though we were watching a peace negotiation a la dog world. Zeus and Venus healed old wounds and forged a new bond right before our eyes. The Protestants and Catholics. The Capulets and Montagues. Though Zeus and Venus are hardly Romeo and Juliet. A tragic love story indeed, but more modern, like Mr.and Mrs. Smith. We documented their reconciliation in photos. We didn’t put them together or pose them deliberately. They are photos of spontaneous dog behavior.

Zeus and Venus spent both nights sharing the table bed

Early Saturday morning I rousted the lazy mooks and headed down to the lagoon. Venus figured out immediately where we were going and beat us there. When Zeus saw her standing in the water he raced downhill and plowed into her, which was totally uncharacteristic behavior for Mr. Smooth. Looking as startled as I was, Venus jumped backward. But she shrugged it off and engaged him in a chase through the tall grass. 

Zeus plopped down next to Venus as they waited for BBQ chicken

The wilderness around Trappers Lake is a maze of dozens of trailheads and intersections. No motorized vehicles or bikes allowed. Only hikers, horses, and dogs. Hikers paradise. But also many more interconnecting trails than the dogs are used to.

Ready for the wilderness

Venus got a little carried away with the whole running wild thing. On our Saturday hike, Tod and I had a brief discussion whether we would take the Carhart trail again or hike along Trappers Lake. He was thinking Carhart trail and I was thinking Trappers Lake. I won. About 5 minutes later we realized Venus was nowhere around. We stopped. We whistled and called but she didn’t appear. Tod headed back the way we came, wondering if she took off up the Carhart trail on her own. Sure enough another 5 minutes passed and she came trotting down that trail.

I don’t know if dogs can read people’s minds. All I know is that Tod was thinking about taking the Carhart trail when Venus took off, and that’s where he found her.

High level talks along the trail

On Sunday morning we hiked the same trail around the north end of the lake because the dogs loved it. When we reached a trail intersection Tod said, “This is the trail back to our campsite.”

“Let’s hike out to the bridge and back,” I said.

So we did. But after 10 minutes we noticed Venus was missing again. We thought maybe she’d gone ahead of us through the woods and would meet us at the bridge. No Venus at the bridge. On the way back to the trail intersection, I asked Zeus, “Where’s Venus?” He ignored me. Though a half hour had passed and still no Venus. We figured if she had gotten in any trouble she’d bark or howl.

“I bet she got her signals crossed like she did yesterday and took off on the trail back to our campsite,” Tod said.

As we headed that way I considered the alternatives if she wasn’t there. Tod could start packing up and I could hike the trail in reverse and look for her. Our phone number is printed on her collar. The lodge nearby has food in case we had to stay another day to look for her. 

At our campsite I glanced around nervously but I didn’t see her. I opened my mouth to describe my plan to Tod.

“There she is,” he said.

She crawled out from underneath the picnic table and grinned sheepishly. Tail thumping, she was relieved to see us. I stroked her and praised her for being such a smart dog. I noticed she was trembling which indicates fearfulness or anxiety. We didn’t have to tie her while we packed up. She stayed put. Perhaps she learned a lesson. Never can tell with her.

I couldn’t figure out why she didn’t track us on the trail. Tod thought the swirling wind combined with the maze of trails confused her. But I wasn’t so convinced. Tracking dogs use the wind to pick up scent. I suspected that the Clomipramine affected her sense of smell. I googled it when I got home and sure enough, in a 2007 University of France study the results “showed a significant decrease in olfactory sensitivity” in mice that were given Clomipramine. It’s such a bummer. I hate the whole side effects aspect of prescription drugs. But Venus is doing so well, especially with the increased dosage. I guess as side effects go, it’s not that bad. We can tell from her behavior she still has her sense of smell, evidently it’s just not as powerful as it would be without the drug. Now that we know we’ll pay more attention on hikes. Maybe she will, too.

Since the Trappers Lake weekend things have definitely changed at home between Zeus and Venus. The biggest and most noticeable change is the happiness. Zeus is happier. There’s a spring in his step as though a weight has been lifted off his back. He is less cautious around her. Venus smiles more. She is less fixated on Zeus, where he is and what he’s doing. If he’s in her way she woofs and he either moves or I step in and make him move. She doesn’t stare at him while he’s eating. They spend more time together. Zeus will actually walk over and choose to lie down near Venus. They rub up against each other when they’re walking. They act more comfortable with each other – and more playful.

Is this a lasting peace? Who can say? We’ve come this far before then watched it all unravel. I still don’t know if Zeus loves Venus. He definitely likes her. Seeing both of them so relaxed and happy is like a gift.

Read the Crazy Bitch series. Or click on the handy links provided on the left.

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