Along with the joy of sharing stories of sleddies here, there is another side to that joy.
It may not be the full opposite, but it's a sadness that inevitably shows up once one of our community passes away.

Whether you believe there's a rainbow bridge or a dog park in the sky, or just an end and nothing more, i like to believe that when one of my sleddie friends passes, they join those who've gone before them and they continue an existence somewhere, playing, running, napping and doing whatever their sweet, sleddie, souls desire.
Maybe it doesn't make sense, but it works for me.

A few of my buddies in our community passed away in the past months - in fact I started writing this on April 1 and had to put it aside for all this time because the weight of coming up with something to write for each of them that may come close to conveying my thoughts and feelings about knowing them as individuals, was a big weight. I know it’s not about me, but the reality is, it’s just me here doing this thing and being human.
So, I suppose as some kind of a procrastination measure, I shared a collage showing 54 of the sleddies who helped me with Part One of this project, along with an ode to those of them who’d passed away since. Perhaps I foolishly considered it might buy me some time while I collected my thoughts. But by doing so, I got messages about some of my other sleddie friends who’d passed. Almost 2 months later, more friends have passed. And now I'm here, getting further behind a self-imposed 8 ball, wondering "now what"?

I've met each and every one the dogs I share. And because of that, I want to then share my individual experiences with them and what I remember about meeting them, one last time. But that’s not going to happen today. Today is recognizing that I want to share them here and now so I can ease the pressure I'm feeling and then down the road take the time I want to share more. I recently discovered I could add a Search button on this site, so between that and just perusing my archives, if you have some time, look up each dog and see how they touched just one life - mine.

To the families of each of the sleddies below, thank you for opening up your home and your heart. 

May you rest in peace and love my friends, wherever that may be:
Birch
Cane
Fiddle (seen also in our blog header above xo)
Flash
Kirika
Millie
Luna (1)
Luna (2)
Penny
River
Shrek

Angel, Snickers and Tiger.
Three new sleddies who've come into care.
Three new sleddies who are no longer exempt from animal cruelty laws because of what humans have made them do for a living. 
Three more dogs who, once they get time to decompress, let us humans learn more about them - likes, dislikes, what gives them comfort, if they like toys, what their favourite treats may be, etc - and get a vet check, will be looking for a soft, permanent place to rest their head and curl up into sweet little sleddie donuts.

The intake experience is different for each dog.

Angel (light colouring) - Hopped out of the van, sniffed around, found me and my treats, and in no time was jumping up on me, paws to my shoulders, for treats. This wee one wasn't shy at all, of me or my camera.
Snickers (shades of brown/white) - Hopped out without issue, investigated, seemed pretty chill, took most treats, a little shy, reminds me of Gretzky, a Whistler sled dog I met in 2013.
Tiger (dark brown/black/white) - petrified, had a hard time getting out of her transport kennel in the van, let alone getting out of the actual van... she just wanted to hide in there. If she could've hopped out of her own skin, she may have tried. She came out for a bit, but then went back in. 

As I write this, it's been about 10 days since their arrival and Angel, Snickers and Tiger are settling into their foster homes, learning about changes of flooring, finding their comfy, safe spots and having some biiiiiig naps.

Not pictured is Missy, who was dropped off at her foster before I could meet her... 

Harness + collar? Check!
Double leash? Check!
GPS tracker? Check
ID tags? Check!

Welcome to retirement my friends!
​xo
p.s. who's the other dog giving Angel a sniff? That's Stevie!

Clyde, aka, the Shadow.
He'd arrived the evening before on a flight from Winnipeg. Upon arrival his GPS tracker was attached to his collar, and he was chauffered to his foster home where he spent the first night without any issue. The next afternoon his foster family had some things to do so instead of leaving him on his own in a new place, he got to hang out with some local sleddies! And then I got to meet him!

He followed... his nose, his ears, Apex, Deb... all the newness. And found a friend in Apex.
Not much is known about this fella at this point other than: he was transferred from Lexi's Rescue Relief in Manitoba to Victoria Humane Society here in Victoria. His age is noted as 6, but after watching him for a bit, it could possibly be more like 8-10. He's got signs of arthritis in his back end (spine, legs, hips?) and he's got a couple white spots in his eyes which may or may not be part of the reason his sight seems to not be all there. He's been neutered and had a dental. He has a sibling named Echo that could also come out if a foster home can be secured. 
He's very sweet.
He's a gentle treat taker.
He's got floopy ears.

Once he's decompressed a bit and had his visit to the vet, Clyde will be ready for adoption. He's going to be a great companion as he's still got lots of beans in him and seems to be cool with other dogs as he just wants to follow them around and maybe get in some playtime. He's quite hand shy which could be partly due to sight issues (he reminds me of my own little dog who's only got one eye that  doesn't work well at all),  but once he knew I was there, he was very content to get some loves  (see vid at end of photo gallery) and he may have even given in to his tiredness if it weren't for the music of the live band coming from the nearby park.

As always, I've shared many photos in the gallery so you can see the nuances of Clyde's  movements and personality. Photographing new sleddies for me is just about sharing them as they are. There is no 'sit' or 'stay', because even if they knew those words, this is not the time or place for it. But in the case of Clyde, if they happen to sit in front of the flowers, I'm stoked and the shutter will click!
​Who's the goodest boy?!

Also pictured in this gallery are Apex, who is notoriously camera-shy with me, but for some reason allowed me take photos of him at this visit - even looking at me sometimes (!), Mary Kate (with the springs in her hind end) + Roo (singularly focussed on treats).

Welcome to the west coast little shadow, Clyde! I can't wait to see you continue to flourish!
​xo