I Was a Sled Dog
  • Home
  • Galleries + Projects
    • The Sled Dogs of Whistler
    • I Was A Sled Dog, Part One
    • I Was A Sled Dog, Part Two
    • Archives
    • Books
  • About
    • Rescued + Retired Sled Dogs
    • My Remarkable Journey
  • Content Sharing + Image Use
  • Support
    • Resources + How You Can Help
    • Press
    • Fundraising + Donations
  • Contact
  • Blog

I WAS A SLED DOG BLOG

lola

3/25/2020

 
Today I wanted to send my condolences out to the family of Lola.
Although Lola was never a sled dog, if you had to bet which of Shannon's dogs was a former sled dog, chances are, you would've picked Lola. She was bigger, fluffier and with her all-white coat she was what we envisioned a sled dog to look like.
Lola was an only dog until Shannon adopted ChiChi in 2012. I had gone to middle-school with Shannon and we lost touch over the years. Then in December 2012 as I was photographing pets with Santa at our local shelter, a familiar face came in with two dogs. I had started focussing on sleddies by this time so I recognized ChiChi right away, and then was happily surprised to see she was with someone I knew, Shannon!
I was then introduced to sweet, sensitive Lola Granola.

Lola didn't come on all sleddie adventures, but she had her circle of familiar sleddie and non-sleddie friends  and this smaller group had some fun adventures together. Lola would often be found heading into the water, digging in the sand and carrying sticks... and being a treat mooch, of course!

Thankfully Lola was never a sled dog, but she was part of the sleddie extended family here and I wanted to share a snippet of her life, the one she shared with special human and sleddie sibling.

Shannon gave her 'Birdie' a beautiful life until she had to say goodbye earlier this week at the age of 13.
​Rest in peace and love, Lola.
​
Thanks for sharing your girl, Shannon...

march 18, 2020

3/19/2020

 
Picture
It’s never a good time for our pets to get hurt, but right now things different and protocols are changing daily. But what if your pet is injured and you’re not feeling well? And what if your pet is extremely fearful and a big flight risk in most situations? Welcome to Flash’s world. 
The importance of having a backup plan is crucial, but it’s hard when your pet is so so fearful. You can’t just ask anyone to help. You weigh the pros/cons of going out. The ethics. 
​
Flash’s human circle is small- her life as a sled dog has left her with such deep-seeded fears that those who want to adopt her want to ‘fix’ her, they think she’ll ‘come around’- but Flash doesn’t need fixing, she needs sanctuary and safety. So when her foster mom was worried about the healing of her wound (and is staying close to home with a cold), she put a call out to Flash’s circle and with a bit of schedule re-arranging, I had the privilege of escorting her to the vet. 

Flash had no idea how different things were- new procedures meant when I arrived at the vet I had to call the office from the car and then the vet came out to do an assessment through the open windows. Flash was of course tethered to the seatbelt and wearing her GPS tracker just in case and while the vet looked at her and talked to her foster over speaker phone, I watched Flash and could see her checking out potential escape routes. Thankfully it was determined that Flash is healing up as she should be, so she got a few yumyums and we headed back to her foster home.

It’s certainly strange times but I’m so grateful that people are working to find new ways to continue helping our animal friends, because for whatever we know is happening, they don’t know. They continue to rely on us to keep them fed and safe and cared for.
#iwasasleddog #sleddogsaredogs #victoriahumanesociety #adopt #sleddies

Picture
Picture
Picture

march 12, 2020

3/13/2020

 
I usually focus on the 'after' stories of sled dogs, but I feel the need to share a video because of its relation to the bigger picture of what the Iditarod 1000-mile race means for the dogs.

I shared this post to the facebook page after commenting on the original video shared by  Humane Mushing, who's in Alaska documenting what she sees:

"Even though the dogs have (what look to be) leashes attached, they still get dragged by their collars... it's no wonder so many of the former sled dogs I've met have issues when it comes to collaring, harnessing, and being handled.
Time is $$$.
If people saw their neighbours handling their dogs like this, or knew their neighbour forced their dog to run so far and fast they choked on their own vomit and died, they'd be reported to the authorities, but because of a skewed idea of history, animal protection laws are different for sled dogs so it's "ok" for 'sled dogs' (really, just mixed-breed dogs that are used to pull a sled) to be handled and treated this way.
Everything about this video - and the others you've been sharing while being witness to this f'ing awful race - show nothing but stress and stressful situations for the dogs and abhorrent cruelty.
The spectators along with the organizers, sponsors, mushers and everyone involved in supporting this are complicit in this cruelty."


Welcome to Alaska. Where dogs used for pulling sleds (as well as animals used in rodeos) are exempt from the same laws and protections afforded dogs who don't pull sleds.


This has to change and it's up to us to help change the laws and the minds of those who think and believe these dogs are somehow inherently different than the dogs we share our homes with.

If you'd like to view the video, you can find it here: 
​https://www.facebook.com/…/vb.11800259823…/901942020226386/…

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    November 2017
    March 2017
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories
    (of dogs named in blog only)

    All
    Ace
    Angel
    Apex
    Argus
    Arwen
    Ash
    Baloo
    Bamboo
    Batman
    Bear
    Bella
    Berta
    Betty
    Biggie
    Birch
    Blizzard
    Blue
    Blue's Pups
    Bran
    Bruno
    Calli
    Cally
    Camino
    Cane
    Cap
    Casey
    Catty
    Centurion
    Chase
    Cherry
    ChiChi
    Clyde
    Cola
    Cola2
    Colby
    Comet
    Copper
    Cruz
    Cuddles
    Cutie
    Daffy
    Daisy
    Dandelion
    Dave
    Farmer
    Felix
    Fiddle
    Flash
    Frankie
    Galute
    Ginny
    Goldie
    Grey
    Herman
    Holstein
    Hurricane
    Ice
    Jack
    Jasper
    Jo
    Kayou
    Kc
    Keni
    Kepler
    Kerri
    Kerry
    Kirika
    Kit
    Knik
    Lefty
    Lion
    Loki
    Louie1
    Louie2
    Louise
    Lucy
    Luna1
    Luna2
    Lunar
    Maddy
    Magic
    Mars
    MaryKate
    Meso
    Millie
    Moon
    Morley
    Mossy
    Nike
    Nina
    Niv
    Nordique
    Oman
    Otter
    Pancake
    Peaches
    Penny
    Pharaoh
    Picasso
    Piper
    Pique
    Pluto
    Porsche
    Portia
    Pumpkin
    Punk
    Question
    Red
    Rio
    River
    Roo
    Samwell
    Sassy
    Saturn
    Serabe
    Shivers
    Shrek
    Siku
    Silly
    Sinatra
    Sky
    Smokey
    Snickers
    Sonny
    Sparkle
    Sparky
    Sparky2
    Spinner
    Splash
    Stevie
    Storm
    Stuart
    Stuart Little
    Sun
    Teddy
    Tig
    Tiger
    TJ
    Toledo
    Trixie
    Troy
    Twister
    Vinnie
    Watsit
    Whistle
    Whistler
    Willy
    Willy's Pups
    Yale
    Yamaha
    Yang
    Ying

    RSS Feed

About

  • Rescued + Retired Sled Dogs
  • My Remarkable Journey

Galleries + Projects

Support

  • The Sled Dogs of Whistler
  • I Was A Sled Dog, Part One
  • I Was A Sled Dog Too, Part Two 
  • Archives
  • ​Books
  • Blog
  • Content Sharing + Image Usage
  • Resources + How You Can Help
  • Press
  • ​Fundraising
  • FAQ

Contact

  • Contact
All content on this is site is copyright protected.
© Wendy Nesbitt  // All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • Galleries + Projects
    • The Sled Dogs of Whistler
    • I Was A Sled Dog, Part One
    • I Was A Sled Dog, Part Two
    • Archives
    • Books
  • About
    • Rescued + Retired Sled Dogs
    • My Remarkable Journey
  • Content Sharing + Image Use
  • Support
    • Resources + How You Can Help
    • Press
    • Fundraising + Donations
  • Contact
  • Blog