Living Alaska, Big Dogs

I bought a t-shirt from the Big Dog store a long time ago. I wore it prodigiously until it faded into obscurity. It reminded me of the big dogs in Alaska. I came from San Francisco, California where everyone has a dog, and the dog park is all the rage. No dog, no social life. So, everyone has these little dogs that fit into their little apartments. In Alaska things are a little different.

People in Alaska like big things. They build big houses, have big families to fill those houses, and they have Big Dogs. When I am at work, I get to unlock the Car Deck at 12:30 am so passengers can come down and walk their dogs before they go to bed. Some of the ferry crossings take a week from point A to point XYZ. The dogs all stay on the car deck guarding the cars and trailers.

I like this part of my job. I politely remind everyone to clean up after their pets, and for the most part they are very good. The difference though is the size of the dogs. Alaskan’s own big dogs. This makes sense though for many reasons. There is simply a lot more room for the dogs to roam. They do not have dog parks here; the backyard is a forest. You can have a big dog when you have a big house, and a big yard.

You might appreciate having a couple of big dogs around because bears do not like dogs. Get a few dogs together and they will run the bears off. Sure a hungry grizzly could attack them, but chances are the grizzly will not want the trouble. Big dogs do not get attacked by eagles or hawks. Most house cats do not survive long in Alaska if they go…