Jurisdiction

Brisco is our 10-year-old husky mix mutt. We named him Brisco after the title character in Brisco County Junior, a short lived (but great) television show. In fact, his full name is Brisco County Jr., but we only call him that when he is in trouble, which is almost never. He is very likely the greatest dog on earth.

We have had him since he was a 6 month old stray foraging for food in a shopping center garbage bin. The good people who found him took him in and looked for the owners for a couple of weeks. The search was not successful. The shopping center was near a freeway, so it is possible Brisco wandered away at a stop and the owners did not realize it until they were farther down the road. I wonder sometimes about the people who lost him. Brisco had been well cared for; he was well trained and easy going from the start. They must have been sad.

In all honesty, I was reluctant to adopt Brisco. We had another dog for just a month or so. Maris, the first dog, was also a stray, but likely had not been treated as well as Brisco. She was skittish and never comfortable with us. She ran into a busy street and was hit by a car that never stopped. This occurred right in front of my older son who was chasing her. My son was about nine years old at the time. Both boys were so hurt, and my older son so traumatized when Maris died, I didn’t think I could handle that again. Steve was of the mind that another dog would help them recover. I relented. Steve was right.

I was afraid to get too close to this new dog. My heart was broken by the death of the first dog and my helplessness to comfort the boys. I kept fences up to protect myself. One condition was if Brisco wasn’t good with Maggie, he was gone. Maggie was four years old then and was not yet comfortable spending a lot of time in her wheelchair. She spent a lot of time on the floor in the living room and if the dog was going to bother her, he was gone. Everyone agreed. That was 10 years ago. The fences fell down a long time ago.

Right from the beginning, Brisco was Maggie’s protector and friend. He would lie next to her, she could pull his ears, his tail or any other part, and he would sit quietly. If the boys even tried the same thing, Brisco would never stand for it. He “got” Maggie right away. Whenever someone else would come into the house, he would automatically position himself between him or her and Maggie until he determined they were ok. Never bit anyone, and never even really barked at anyone in the house. (Coming up the stairs was and is a different story). He would just sort of check them out before he would let them near Maggie.

He is still very patient with her, though these days she is in her wheel chair more than on the floor. She calls him on her talker and he comes over and licks her hands. She laughs and he lies down and goes to sleep. He patrols through Maggie’s room, checks up on the nurse, and just keeps an eye out. He is good to the nurses and vice versa. When the nurses are with Maggie, in her room, they can do anything and Brisco is cool with it.

HOWEVER, on the rare moments that the nurse brings Maggie into the living room, Brisco does not want them fussing with Maggie. The living room is his jurisdiction. No one (outside the family) messes with her in his territory. He does not bite or growl, but he does bark, pace and generally communicates his displeasure very clearly. This is ESPECIALLY true if Maggie is on the floor. Brisco is in charge.

You wanna mess with her here; you better have a warrant.