08-04-2017 to 08-05-2025
Sokka was a male 90-pound Husky/German Shepherd/Malamute/Blue Heeler mix. He was 2-3 years old when he was adopted by our family from the East Vancouver Humane Society after a long search for the perfect dog. The Humane Society said he was found homeless on the streets of Bakersfield, Ca. When he was picked up off the streets, he had a severe flea infestation, and he was allergic to the flea bites. All of his skin under his fur was covered in scabs. It took us months and two rounds of antibiotics to clear up all the scabs and staph infection. He was such a great dog and never showed any aggression or behavior problems with his family at home, but we did quickly learn that he got a little territorial with guests after having a party shortly after he was adopted. Everyone at the party told us that he had nipped them at some point! We had to learn to be careful with him around strangers and other dogs pretty quickly. But I always said that was his only flaw. Otherwise, he was a perfect dog. And we just had to avoid situations that made him feel nervous. Here are a few of our favorite Sokka stories.
The Couch
Shortly after we adopted him, we were nervous about leaving him alone in the house. I was watching him on a camera while at work and saw our other dog ignoring invitations to play. Eventually, Sokka got bored enough that he decided to play with the couch! I tried to use the speaker function of the camera to get him to stop, to no avail. My husband tried, and both of us showing our co-workers and everybody laughing about our bad dog. Luckily, Sokka didn’t get too far, and I drove home right away, and we sat on a duct-taped-up couch for a while.
Perfect Guard Dog
Another time a very senile old man wandered into our yard trying to find the main road. Sokka notified us right away by barking at him, and the guy was trying to hold him back with our recycling bin. We helped the man figure out where he was, and my husband walked him back to the main road. Sokka was very good at his job of making sure we knew if anyone was approaching the house.
Off Leash and Car Rides
He loved being off-leash, and we would take him out to the field near our house often. We also would take him to Thousand Acres Dog Park, and he would just run around and play, and had so much fun. We also loved taking him to the beach, and he loved running around on the beach off leash. Sokka loved going for car rides and sticking his head out the window. We always noticed people gushing at him because he was so beautiful and fluffy.
Air Frier Liners
One day, we went out and left the dogs at home. We had just gotten new air fryer liners and put them in reach of the dog by accident. Sokka was looking for scraps and accidentally knocked over the air fryer liners. Sokka and our new dog Wybie had the time of their lives playing with the air fryer liners. When we came home and we were surprised to find air fryer liners all over the floor!
The Pergola
One time, we were getting our photos taken for family photos at this beautiful college campus in Portland. He looked over this balcony above a pergola covered in vines and beyond the pergola, there was a big field. He loved being off leash and was doing so good on campus, and we wanted to get a picture of him without the leash in the picture. So we took his leash off. After taking the photo, he turned around and had his paws up on this stone wall. It was cute because it looked like he was gazing out into the field. Then suddenly he took off and jumped straight on top of the pergola, assuming it was the ground. He fell into the vines, and luckily, the vines caught him! We ran down the stairs below the pergola, and he was dangling 10 feet above us on vines. There was a family sitting on a bench below the pergola. Can you imagine the family’s surprise when a 90 lb dog suddenly comes crashing through the pergola? Directly underneath where he was dangling from vines was a pool for a fountain and when the vines snapped, he landed in the fountain and was uninjured because he landed in the deep pool. He scrambled out, shook off, and was completely unphased. We and the photographer, and the random family were just all in shock and also very relieved because he didn’t get hurt!
Final Chapter/Illness
In the final chapter of Sokka’s life, was spent with our puppy we adopted two years ago. Sokka and the puppy became quick friends and played endlessly. It really added so much to his life to have a dog buddy again. In the last 6 or 9 months, we noticed he slowed down a lot and primarily spent his day sleeping, and then, starting in the spring, we noticed that he had a decreased appetite and a secondary wound that wasn’t healing. After multiple testing at the vet, he was diagnosed with kidney failure, and we attempted treatments, but his kidneys were unresponsive. During his final weeks, he lost his appetite completely and eventually stopped drinking water, and we knew it was time. The vet confirmed that his kidneys were not improving and his blood was becoming toxic. Out of concern for continued and increasing unavoidable suffering, he was humanely euthanized peacefully at our home, laying on his favorite spot by the gate surrounded by his family.
He was a very sweet dog who was very loved and cherished by us and everyone who knew him. We will never forget you, and you will always be in our hearts.
