Further to my previous post a second brave individual came forward in an e-mail to AAOAW that recalls her time with the Whistler sled dogs. At this moment we only know the names of 3 of the 100 slaughtered dogs: Suzie, Poker, and Nora, as printed in the WBC report.
From Anouk Hartwell
to aaoaw.whistler100@gmail.com
date Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 12:54 PM
subject pictures
mailed-by hotmail.com
The dogs born at the kennel were often given family group names. Some examples were the reindeer family, chocolate bars, dirt bikes (yamaha, honda), candy family, beer family, etc.
I worked there the winter of 2008-09
The first picture is of myself and Blitzen. Blitzen is part of the reindeer family. Their father was pure siberian and the only sib in the kennel. I think their mother is Cher or we called her Cher Bear. Blitzen loved to play ‘chase me’ games with me. We would only run this family when it was colder than -5 for they had a much thicker coat and got to hot. Their dad Rouke (I think that was his name) would only run if it was super cold.
The second picture is of myself and Harpie. He is part of the musical family (trumpet, tuba, cello). When you unclipped him from the line he would immediately jump up and give you a hug. If I was ever having an off day I would go get a Harpie hug. I am 5’9″ and he was almost as tall as me as you can see.
The third photo is that of Mr. Big, who is part of the chocolate bar family. He is also a very large dog. We had a much longer run that day and he needed a nap. His sisters are also very good runners.
The fourth picture is that of Sonny (I think) and either Cello or Trumpet (I always had a hard time remembering which of the two sisters was which). I guess Cello didn’t want to miss being in the picture so she jumped on my back.
The fifth picture is that of a tour with my family. Poker is the male lead on the right. He was still the top male of the kennel at the ripe age of 13 and still running and loving it. Rasta is beside him. She was a great lead dog too. She would listen to me if I needed her to gee or haw. I remember being told a story of Poker running with a team and picked up and ate a live mouse without missing a beat. He has the most beautiful eyes.
The sixth picture is that of Nora on the right. She had a condition that the sun bothered her skin. We always gave her a house in the shade. She also had a problem with her teeth and so we would grind up her food. She still prefered the kibble in whole form so I would sneak her a few bits to put in her ground up food. She loved it. I can’t remember who the male beside her is, but they were both fast.
The seventh picture is that of Bumble. She became the family pet and never would run in a team for she was born with many issues. She was never put down though she had issues. She was like the down’s syndrome dog and we loved her.
The eighth picture is that of Cher. She is the alpha female of the kennel.
The nineth is that of the famous Chi Chi. She is tiny, but a great leader. She would pull males twice her size over the trail she was asked to go on.
The tenth and final photo is that of Porche. She is part of the car family. Her other sister is Lexas and her brother is Chevy. Chevy is deaf and yet with a good female lead he was okay to lead too. The whole family has beautiful eyes and they were all fairly small dogs. Both girls like to spring out of the dog boxes on the truck and you had to be prepared to catch them. Only the guides that didn’t pay attention to this put them in the boxes above head level and got a shock everytime they opened the box.
I love these dogs. I am so glad I got to work FOR the dogs and they worked for me.
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