New arrivals Gadget (blue collar) + Penny (rainbow collar) are being fostered close to each other so I invited myself to the impromptu gathering yesterday afternoon.

Penny had a dental a few weeks back which meant some extractions and now she has a bit of an Elvis snaggle-look. She's also had some other medical issues appear, so having some friends come over put a little pep in her step for a bit and she seemed to have a good time. Her foster family is all about the dogs -- they've had about 50ish fosters come through their home over the years and though Penny has a couple foster brothers currently, there's something special about sleddies when they get together - especially old kennel mates like her friend Gadget - that can help with the transition from their old life into their new.
Along with Gadget,  Apex, Mary Kate, Roo + Smokey also came. Amongst the photo ops, there was lots of sniffs of hello, then treats, then hanging out, then treats, then more sniffing and potty breaks... and cheering for poops.

Apex, as always, was suspicious of me and my camera, Mary Kate stuck close to Deb and Roo kept an eye on his sister Mary Kate. Smokey just woo-woo'd and followed the treats... and stopped in for neck scritches.

After a bit, Harry the gentlest bear (and one of Penny's foster brothers) managed to 'lick himself out of the house' and came for a visit (and looked quite pleased with himself!). Penny's other foster brother, little Lenny visited through-the-window, and dearest Diesel, the neighbour got some treats through the fence. 

With full bellies and business taken care of, I sat next to Penny - who just loves people - while the humans kept chatting. Eventually this little lover rested her head on my leg.
Quite possibly one of the cutest things ever. 

Thanks to Penny's fosters, C+D, for hosting this last-minute gathering. 

Gadget + Penny are currently in the care of the Victoria Humane Society.
For adoption info, or if you're able to donate to help offset the veterinary costs while Penny's medical issues are investigated, please contact VHS directly: www.victoriahumanesociety.com

Thanks for stopping in,
​w

Sleddie roll call: Smokey, Patsy, Pluto, Apex, Mary Kate, Roo, Jon Snow, Baloo, Jasper, Portia, Louie, Argus, Blue, Oman

Though it's been over a month since this rainy walk in the woods, I remember it all very clearly.
The dogs, the people, the flooded trails, the bike racers.
Me abandoning my camera for my camera phone because my body was sore from holding my beast of a camera for over  40 dog photo sessions in the previous 2 weeks.
And then putting all that aside to try to just 'be'.
Though I still took some video while talking to dogs and offering treats.

And then I pushed my luck by talking to Apex just one too many times while offering him a treat, which proved to be a bit much for our delicate walkie relationship, so Deb was going to have to head into the bushes to coax him back from 'the dark side' as she calls it. Deb was already managing 4 dogs -- 3 of her own (Apex, Roo + Mary Kate) and one recent intake who was moving foster homes, Jon Snow. Since Roo and MK would want to be with her, once she headed into the woods, I took the leash of the odd man out, Jon Snow.
I didn't even think about it, I just did it.
Something had compelled me to take that leash.
And then as we started I walking I wondered what I had done. Jon was a big boy and a bit of a puller. Some sleddies pull, some don't... Jon did. My greatest fear walking a sleddie is it getting loose and being too scared to come back -- and with my painful body I was suddenly worried. But the muscle memory of years of walking both shelter dogs and sleddies clicked to the 'on' position and off we went. We walked with Ally and Argus, though puddles, around puddles, up hills where I appreciated the bit of pulling help, and down hills where I thought "don't let go, don't trip, don't fall"! Maybe Jon knew just how much tension I could handle because we made it the rest of the forest walk without any problems and best of all... no lost dogs!! (including Apex who was fine once I was out of sight... sigh...)

As we milled about in the parking area with the others Jon did some circles - a common behaviour with sleddies due to their time spent on chains - but then the circles went around me and my legs ended up cocooned in his leashes. I managed to unravel myself without falling over and laughed a bit to myself. I'm not usually the one in these situations, I usually capture it happening to others. But here I was and I was loving every minute of it.
As some began to leave it was a split moment when I happened to catch Jillian's dog Portia stumble getting into her car and Jon Snow noticed it too because he then put his front legs up on me in a 'hug'. Of course it seemed like the cutest thing and others saw him do it too, but then I realized why he was doing it, he had gotten scared. Some sleddies want to bolt, some look to the closest warm body. Thankfully Jon came to me rather than bolt away.
I gave him reassurances and a few kisses on his head and after about 20-ish seconds he put his feet back down on the ground and shook it off.
Recovery... yay Jon Snow!

I'm thankful I saw that happen because it not only informed us of Jon Snow's fears, but it hit home the concept that something seemingly innocuous as a dog doing a small stumble while getting into a car... across a road -- an action that barely makes any noise and doesn't seem like much -- can be scary to a dog that's learning about our big, wide, weird, human world.

Sleddie School is always in session with the dogs as teachers, we just have to be open to listening.

Here are a few photos as well as a video so you can enjoy a bit of the walk too!

xo
​wendy

p.s. Jon Snow has since been adopted and his new family just adores him!!

There's always that excitement at the beginning of a sleddie walk. Anticipation. The hurry-up-and-wait. 
It's pretty much hard wired into them from their days of pulling sleds. 
Some of today's crew know the drill well having been on many walks over the years. Gather, wait, sniff, wait, photo ops, wait... and then let's go!
For others, this was pretty new and maybe a bit scary.
With 14 sleddies in today's group, it was an almost 50/50 split of experienced retirees to newbies.

The weather held, though fall is starting to arrive with leaves falling and a crispness to the air.
I had no idea who was all coming so when I realized that a young pup who'd stolen my heart back in February was prancing my way, my heart skipped a beat. This fella is now known as Yukon. He's 10 months old and has the legs of a giraffe, the silliness of a puppy and the speed of a sleddie. Back in February, he arrived as a wee little one who wasn't doing very well. He arrived late at night and I remember holding him and trying to feed him bits of food. It was a win when he finally took some. When the time came for me to put him back down with his siblings, he just looked at me with big puppy eyes and tried to hold on with his paws. 
I'd heard a few reports that he started thriving (yay!), and I was delighted to finally see it for myself!
I've said it before, but seeing sleddies who have settled into their new homes is just the best. And since it's hard to stop at one sleddie, his family is fostering Yang, who arrived in that same group and the two of them are fantastic playmates. (BTW, Yang is adoptable!)

Black and Robbie arrived together back in June. Robbie (who is now Raspberry) led the way so I didn't get any action photos, but she did give me some good faces once we were done! Black (who's rumour has it is all but adopted), got her  first taste of being off leash and, well, let's just say that she's going to be an on-leash sleddie for a while longer. Though she and her foster brother Twister (of the floppy ears) are close, Black's still learning about this whole retired life thing.
 
Sweet Ying just couldn't mentally get herself out of the truck to join on the walk - even with some friends and her foster sister Benga on hand. It just wasn't to be, today. I'm told she does really well generally, but maybe the pre-walk energy was just been too much for her. Her foster family are patient and let her find her own pace, so they'll try again another time.

Along the paths the younger dogs ran and ran and ran, and the older ones kept a more moderate pace with brief moments of zoomies. Yes, Jasper I'm look at you! 
Portia is back to her pre-lost dog adventure self from earlier this year and is doing so well! She took treats from me which she never did before, and just seemed more relaxed in general. She's still pretty silly though!

Argus is another one whose true self is emerging. He's super chill at home and on today's walk he was much more relaxed than I've seen at previous ones. With age catching up a bit he's losing a bit of vision, but his mom was gushing about him and what a bright spot he is in their family. Also, he LOVES being brushed so he got lots of finger brushing before the walk and even along the way!

Biggie is still the happy-go-lucky guy he's been since I first met him back in April 2021. He motors along, stops for treats and has some of thee best head tilts around!

My old friend Apex donned his best bell. It's now a fixture on him on walks and comes in handy when he trundles behind a bit or heads off the path... or decides to head off on his own like he did today. Mary Kate + Roo got their zoomie time too, but with a big group like today, they stuck close Deb.

Some of the dogs on today's walk were so fearful when they arrived into care it was best not to look in their direction, or they'd want to escape. To see them loose and happy and adventuring, something they may never have had the chance to experience, is something that isn't taken for granted by their families. To have the support of a patient human who will go at their pace to help them build confidence, experience the world safely and spend time with other dogs who are just cool cucumbers. Who will also be there to support them as they age and slow down, is how it should be. 

These walks are important for the dogs as well as the people. While the dogs do their thing, the humans talk about all things sleddie... and no topic is taboo! 

Along the walk, we met an adoptee named Duncan. His mom was expecting to meet another dog group for a walk but couldn't find them, so they ended up joining ours. Yay Duncan!

At the end of the walk a few of us stayed to chat. This is usually the best time for photo ops -- the dogs are tired, the excitement has worn off and everyone just chills out. Shi (formerly Shining) took the opportunity of the smaller group to get treats, LOTS of loves, drink water from my hand (!), pose for me, then nap. She and Idefix arrived into care not even a month ago, but she's settling really well, spending days napping in the front yard of her foster family's home and getting all the love she wants. 

Thank you to today's crew for allowing me the photo ops! You are all ambassadors for change!

​Sleddie roll call:
We had 14 sleddies on today's walk!
Apex, Mary Kate + Roo, Argus, Biggie, Jasper + Portia, Raspberry (formerly Robbie), Shi (adoptable), Twister + Black, (adoptable) Yang + Yukon (foster brother), (adoptable) Ying + Benga (foster brother).

Please click through photos in gallery to view photos full size.
To see all blog posts about a particular sleddie, please click on their name on the right side of the page.

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.

Smokey of the smoke blue eyes.
​
Prior to today we'd met only once back in March 2019 when she came to my studio to participate in Part One and she was as sweet as she was nervous.

Today's meet up was a chance for Smokey and her human to reconnect with the local sleddie community so off into the woods we went - Smokey, Apex, Mary Kate, Roo and the humans.

Down, down, down the trail to the ocean inlet where the sea dogs (seals) splashed around in the water, then back up, up, up the hill with Smokey 'woo woo-ing' us if we stopped for too long. Apex trundled close to Deb and MK and Roo blew off some steam with some zoomies.

At almost 14 Smokey still showed moments of puppy-ness with her head tilts, digging in the dirt and her woo-woos. Under all that floof is a wee girl who's in her element in the woods and the quiet of nature. She's so much more loose and relaxed than the last time I saw her and that makes me so happy. She even took treats from me off the start - though she promptly dropped them until I was a few feet away. But that only lasted for the first few and we were soon friends. Of course, Mary Kate and Roo were on treat alert as usual, with Apex doing his thing by keeping his distance from me... or at least my camera. 

I love that Kevin reached out and that Smokey will now have an expanded circle of people who are there to help her and Kevin along when they need it.

Thanks for the walk gang!

​~w

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

Impromptu visits always include treats and/or snuggles... whichever they dogs prefer. Or neither if that's more their thing.
Today, Deb popped over with her sleddie Apex, and adoptable sleddie Troy. Deb sprung Troy from the SPCA where he's currently interviewing for his forever home, to go on a forest walk. 
I love that there are people out there who are do stuff like this.

More here:

• Apex's story
• View Troy's adoption profile

The window opened up and the weather held. Just pockets of sun and a brisk chill in the air. The ground was saturated from the deluge of rain we've been getting here on the we(s)t coast which made the moss extra green, encouraged little mushroom families and created delicate droplets of water which hung from the lichen. But the dogs paid no mind. 
They got to romp, run, trundle, and saunter over trails and bridges and throughout the forest. 
They got to see old friends and meet new ones.
And Apex didn't run from me and my camera... a first in the 7+ years I've known him.
The regular sleddie walk schedule has been difficult to keep during Covid, but sometimes the last-minute plans are the ones that work out.
That was Sunday's walk.

Sleddie roll call: Apex, Bear, Biggie, Bruno, Calli, Flash, Jasper, Mary Kate, Portia, Roo, Saturn, Stevie + Sparky
... plus Tica (Bruno's sister while he's in foster) and Bear's new floofy siblings (Abby + Lola)

Before I went to meet the new arrivals on August 9, I stopped off at Deb's place to say hi to her crew... and her.
This group always makes me smile -- so many personalities amongst them. 
Calli, who I'd seen recently is so damn sweet and was first to greet me... with a big smile. I'm not sure if she's really 'smiling' so much as she's excited for a visitor... whatever, I'll take what I can get! Flashy I know has heard me pull up. And even though she won't take a treat from me (she did once a few years ago, but never again),  she stands where she's knows I can see her so I toss treats her way that she promptly gobbles up. Roo and Mary Kate - who I haven't seen for a bit - were a bit slower to the game, but once they remembered, they were ready to accept the cupboard love. And Apex... well he just does his thing knowing I'll come to him when things have settled down.
We also had a little brush session because it isn't always about treats. Apex and Roo LOVE being brushed and with the warm weather, there's a lot to brush! Then it was time to head out to meet the new arrivals, Cally + Ice.
Here are a few pics from a short, but sweet visit with Flashy, Roo, Mary Kate, Calli and Apex, including Apex taking a treat from me... while I was taking photos with my phone... a first in the 7 years we've known each other.
​Remarkable.

It seems like a lot of posts lately have been in memoriam. 
I guess it's part of what all this is- this project following the lives of a group of dogs over the course of many years- some for almost eight years now.
But amidst the farewells, there are successes and celebrations. Today was one of those days. 
My friend Deb has been involved in the sleddie group since adopting Question back in 2013. She then adopted Daffy, then started fostering sleddies. I have no idea how many she's fostered over the years but I'm guessing it's close to 20 or more. Along with fostering she's also opened her home to sleddie sitting on occasion. Currently she's got five sleddies in her care- adoptees Apex and Calli and her fosters Flash, Mary Kate and Roo.
I've met them all many many times over the years. We've been on walks together and they've come for photo sessions as well as to participate in I Was A Sled Dog, the project. 
Today they came to hang out at the studio- the whole lot of them. There was some initial fear because they don't often go visiting people in their homes, but they did splendidly! Once we sorted out the bed situation and made sure everyone had a comfy spot to chill out, they found where they wanted to land and that was it... until Deb had to use the restroom and then a few got concerned because she closed they door and they couldn't go in with her (it's a teeny room), but it all worked out. 
None of these dogs spent any significant time (or any time at all) in a home while they were working dogs, so we celebrate (on the inside, taking care not to scare them) when we see them settle into new indoor environments. 
Thanks for the visit gang!
I played around with some treatments on these photos. I don't usually process them much, but I think it's interesting to see how a filter or treatment can change the mood of the photo and can make someone look at that image differently.