 I was up way past my bedtime last night for the arrival of these 14 loves - 8 adults and 6 puppies. Some had been kept on heavy chains connected to frozen urine encrusted wooded boxes. Some were in pens. All were living outside in northern Canada up until a couple days ago. Think that's cool? Nope. It's really f-ing cold. The sled dog tour industry isn't all it's hyped up to be. I've been documenting the post-working lives of sled dogs for over 10 years and every time I meet a new group into care, I take a moment to tell each one that it's going to get better. The arrival can be very scary and everything they've known, whether it's good or bad, is thrown out the window and it's back to square one. But the one thing I've learned is that sleddies are resilient and do their best to make sense of our seemingly random human world. Welcome to a whole new world: Ying, Yang, Yale, Watsit, Keni, Baloo, Blue and her 3 pups and Willy and her 3 pups! This time I made a video of their arrival... it's about 5 mins long so grab a cup o' tea. xo  It was March 21, 2012 when I first met Ash. He had arrived the day before and was getting his bearings. It was a big change from life on the mountain. At the shelter he was being kennelled with Comet, a pretty relaxed sleddie who was very generous with his affection. Ash had these deep golden eyes that drew you in. His coat was a beautiful brown, almost brindley and he had those long sleddie legs. He was one to put his paw on you for treats, attention or maybe just comfort when he was unsure. It would be about a year and a half before I saw him again, September 2013, at our first reunion. He'd been adopted by an amazing human who was working to help ease his anxieties, someone who didn't return him when he tore apart the inside of her car when he was left in there for a short time. She loved him. As a Whistler sled dog cull survivor, Ash's second chapter as a beloved family member was pretty awesome. He came to reunions and hung out with some of his old buddies and in 2017 he participated in I Was A Sled Dog and showed off his posing skills as well as his extra cute "paw + cute look = treats from human" look. The last few years he shared his life with a tri-pawed brother and Ash got to show him the ropes. He was a very good big brother. I'm so grateful that Jen and Ash found each other. Rest in peace and love sweet Ashy. xo  Our second meet up of the year was a great success! 17 sleddies along with one honourary sleddie came out to the woods to run, romp, trundle and get their paws muddy. We started with a group photo, and then met up in the woods with some more friends and another photo op. Some were off leash and weren't too happy with having to stop the adventure so soon after starting, so it's a bit of a group-photo mash up with wayward dogs wandering in all directions! In addition to old friends reconnecting, some new friends joined in! Twister, who came into care in March 2022 got adopted last spring so came for his first group walk, and Spinner, who it turns out is Jasper's brother! They have the same cute snouts and soft, floofy-ish coats. With so many attendees it made for a long line of humans and dogs on the forest trails so I tried my best to capture everyone along the way. Some gave me lots of chances as they ran from the front of the line and back, likely putting on 10x more mileage than the rest of us and others made me work a bit to find them along the way. All in all, it was a great little adventure and I'm so glad were 2 for 2 with groups walks this year! As usual, I include a whole host of photos so you can join along virtually and share in those split-second moments of head tilts, facial expression nuances and body language changes... all without getting your feet muddy. Thanks to all who came out... I'm looking forward to March's meet up already! xo Sleddie Roll Call: Apex, Mary Kate + Roo, Argus Arwen, Clyde, Jack, Jasper + Portia, Samwell, Sparky + Buddy, Smokey, Spinner, Stevie + Peach and Twister... and honourary sleddie Tica, who was a great little sister to ChiChi. |
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