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
    • Help Support This Project
  • Contact
  • Blog

I WAS A SLED DOG BLOG

september 3 walk

9/3/2023

 
Picture
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.

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    March 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    July 2024
    May 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    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
    Black
    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
    Dawson
    Farmer
    Felix
    Fiddle
    Flash
    Frankie
    Gadget
    Galute
    Ginny
    Gino
    Goldie
    Grey
    Hailey
    Herman
    Holstein
    Homer
    Hurricane
    Ice
    Idefix
    Jack
    Jasper
    Jo
    Jon Snow
    Junebug
    Kayou
    Kc
    Keni
    Kepler
    Kerri
    Kerry
    Kirika
    Kit
    Knik
    Lefty
    Lion
    Loki
    Loretta
    Louie1
    Louie2
    Louise
    Lucy
    Luna1
    Luna2
    Lunar
    Maddy
    Magic
    Mars
    Mary Kate
    Meso
    Millie
    Moon
    Morley
    Mossy
    Nike
    Nina
    Niv
    Nordique
    Oak
    Olaf
    Oman
    Otter
    Pancake
    Patsy
    Peaches
    Penny
    Penny '24
    Pharaoh
    Picasso
    Piper
    Pique
    Pluto
    Porsche
    Portia
    Pumpkin
    Punk
    Question
    Raspberry
    Red
    Rio
    River
    Robbie
    Rocket 23
    Roo
    Samwell
    Sassy
    Saturn
    Serabe
    Shanti
    Shining
    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
    Yukon
    Zouave

    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
  • Contribute to Help Keep This Project Going
  • 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
    • Help Support This Project
  • Contact
  • Blog