Sasami and Tenchi sleep curled up in a ball, much like their larger counterparts who likely developed this behavior to ward off cold by conserving heat energy.
Nine years ago, Rebecca Davis and her partner at the time wanted to get a dog but a full size Alaskan Husky was out of the question. They compromised and found Sasami, a female miniature Husky. But the first year was difficult. "Sasami has separation anxiety" David explained which led them back to the breeder where they got Tenchi, her male counterpart.
The names come from a Japanese Anime series called Tenchi Muyo that was popular in the early 90's. "It's a very silly series but it's cute," Davis explained.
Huskies, even the miniature variety are pack dogs and possibly to reinforce their relationship, they chatter, even to their humans. "They chat a lot. If you go away and you come home, especially the girl dog, she will chat at you for a good five minutes and you basically have to get down and talk to them, pet them or otherwise she will just keep following you around the house chattering." It's not barking. It's more like talking.
What does their conversation mean? "I am sure that she is saying something," said Davis, "since she and Tenchi will chatter back and forth occasionally and say something to each other but I have no clue." There's likely something meaningful in their banter, "I'm assuming because they are in sled teams that it means something," Davis offered, "When dogs are in a pack and one of them barks a certain way, the others know what it means."
Both Sasami and Tenchi had health defects when Davis first got them. Sasami had a heart murmur and he had a hole in his soft palate, but these problems have been addressed. "They weren't pet quality at first and they needed somebody who was willing to take a pretty big risk, especially for her since she would have died if we didn't do something."
Sasami weighs 13 pounds and Tenchi weighs 16 pounds.
"The day I brought Tenchi home on the airplane," Davis said, " I let him out of the bag and I said (to Sasami) 'This is for you', the look on her face was 'Ok it's MY dog, yay I'm so excited, I get this dog!' and it was funny because we took them to a doggy play place and she wouldn't let anybody else touch 'her dog'. It was actually kind of bad because he was supposed to be getting socialization and his big sister is protecting him from everyone. But it was very sweet."
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