Huckleberry

By Eileen Cohen

If you visit Point Isabel most late afternoons, you’ve probably seen Huckleberry trotting  along with the pack of Littles that includes his mini-me friend, Corky. The adorable Corky is the reason Huck entered my life. In 2015, when a flyer with young Huck’s photo was posted at PI, I’d been dogless for about two years. He looked so much like Corky — and he needed a new home!  It was time, obviously.

Huck had been adopted as a stray by a wonderful family almost a year earlier. They gave him loving care and good basic training, and he got along well with their other dogs. But he had to be crated much of the time because he harassed their three cats, and their young child wanted to chase and hug him. They eventually made the agonizing decision to rehome him in a calmer environment. That would be my house (no cats, no kids, no other dogs)!

When I met Huck, I was surprised at how inhospitable the cute little guy in the photo was. “But all dogs love me!” doesn’t cut it with Huck. His mom assured me that he was really sweet but that meeting and greeting people was not his strong suit. That remains the case to this day at home; fortunately, he willingly enters (and barks from within) his crate when I need to keep visitors safe. That first day, I won him over with treats — the key to his heart — relatively quickly. Eventually I gently coaxed him into the all-important belly-rub position, and from that moment on our trust was mutual.

Huck is my first male dog and my first small one. I have no regrets on either count. He is a delight: affectionate, loyal, entertaining, and happy. He loves other dogs (except puppies, to my chagrin) and revels in his daily romp at PI. His amiability quotient when meeting park humans has grown exponentially over the years, ever since he realized that every encounter is a potential treat score.