Stud Rites

between God and Adam is a primitive version of the Italian greyhound. Myself, I think that Michelangelo’s pup is hairier than that. The muzzle, as I see it, is blocky. The bone is heavy. In brief, when it grows up and starts to talk, it’s obviously going to say ivoo-woo-woo. That’s just my interpretation, of course. Genius that Michelangelo was, though, he may actually have created something of a cosmic and universal looking glass that reflects the soul of the beholder. The Sistine Chapel is not for sale. I own the next best thing. As high bidder at the silent auction, I bought that hand-painted malamute mirror. I paid a lot, but I got a bargain. In the gap between human and divine, I see myself as my own dogs. I sense Creation. Like God and Adam, I am newly restored.
     

A NOTE TO THE READER
     
    The Alaskan malamute rescue group and the national breed club depicted in this book are imaginary. For information about the real Alaskan malamute rescue organization, write to:
     
Alaskan Malamute Protection League
P.O. Box 170
Cedar Crest, NM 87008
     
    Information about the breed may be obtained from:
     
Cap Schneider
Public Relations
Alaskan Malamute Club of America
21 Unneberg Avenue
Succasunna, NJ 07876
     
    Information about other breed rescue groups and national breed clubs is available from:
     
The American Kennel Club
51 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10010
     

About the Author
     
    SUSAN CONANT, three-time recipient of the Maxwell Award for fiction writing given by the Dog Writers’ Association of America, lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two cats, and two Alaskan malamutes—Frostfield Firestar’s Kobuk, C.G.C., and Frostfield Perfect Crime, called Rowdy. Her work has appeared in Pure-Bred Dog/American Kennel Gazette and DOG/world. She is the author of nine Dog Lover’s Mysteries and is now at work on Animal Appetite, her tenth.