It all started with an ad on facebook.
“Hello! We are looking for an experienced dog trainer and groomer to come to Iqaluit for 3-5 days before the end of February! Short time line we know but we have two free tickets we need to use by February 29! Most important, we would like all our staff given basic training and grooming skills each day and also for the people to work with the shelter dogs especially the challenging ones….”
I discovered this ad on February 17, 12 days before the last day of the return trip.
“Short notice”...no kidding. I weighed out whether I could do this with the experience. I would have to cancel all appointments, and postpone classes. I would have to be back in the province by the 29th due to scheduled therapy dog testing.
“They probably already have people chosen”
“I am sure they will get applications from across Canada and want to go with somebody else”
“Screw it, I know my credentials and experience are impressive. When would I get to go to Iqaluit again? Nothing ventured nothing gained.”
All these thoughts went through my head. I felt I had much to offer. I am used to consulting with rescue groups. I have helped all the local rescues at some point in time and got a wealth of experience that way. I knew I would have much to contribute to whatever was happening in Iqaluit. My social work background meant that if they were looking for people culturally sensitive, I had that too. So, I applied.
“Hi, I am a dog trainer and behavior consultant out of Newfoundland with 14 years of experience. Attached you will find my resume. My website contains all information about me as well as my training methodologies. I have developed and conducted training seminars for many groups. I think I can provide you with exactly what you are looking for. I look forward to hearing from you”.
A couple of days passed and I didn’t hear a word.
Not surprising to me really. I am sure they had a load of applications to choose from and let’s face it, from a purely logistical standpoint it is much easier getting a trainer from Ontario to go directly to Iqaluit than Newfoundland especially this time of the year.
On the 20th I received a message saying they had closed the competition, had 250 applications to go through, had chosen 3 finalists and would be in touch with all three shortly. Again, I thought, “awesome, nothing ventured nothing gained”
I was teaching first aid at Academy Canada. The class was writing the final exam when my phone binged. The message flashed up on the screen said ”Congratulations Ken, you have been chosen as one of the finalists. If you are still interested in coming and the short notice, please get in touch”.
The phrase “Holy hell, I am going to Iqaluit” may have been muttered a little too loudly during the class with confused looks being shot my way from the students.
The next couple of days was a whirlwind. God love Janelle. She is the director of the shelter and literally is involved with all aspects. She arranged everything, juggled schedules, flights, plans for the week...she was amazing doing so. We arranged for me to fly out on the 24th and back on the 28th. We had to overnight in Ottawa Monday night but would be flying early Tuesday morning for Iqaluit. We had much correspondence over the following days detailing what she wanted from me and what to expect. This was a new experience for her too. She hooked me up with the other two professionals picked. Jeanette Kinney, a groomer from St. John’s and Samantha Hum, a pet first aid instructor and behavior consultant from Montreal. I was familiar with Jeanette by reputation although at that time I had not had the pleasure of making her acquaintance. A quick facebook search turned up Sam. We all connected on facebook, excitedly discussed this opportunity, nailed down some last minute plans and off we went.
One piece of advice Janelle gave us was to “dress warm”. Of course everybody says that and being from Newfoundland you think…”ya I know cold….-15 with a windchill of -25 is cold. You will hear Newfoundlanders often say
“the damp just gets into your bones”.
I thought “-35 can’t be THAT bad”.
I dug out all my warm stuff, took a couple of trips to the Outfitters, a local outdoor store, to pick up anything I thought I was missing and packed. A new backpack to replace an aging MEC pack that had been to war with me. A new set of hiking boots…figured with an extra pair of socks and my gaiters…I should be ok. Even though they were not “winter boots” they would do. A lighter north face down jacket would be my travel and walking about jacket. I had a set of north face snow pants I bought years ago…they are a lined shell but with a base layer and mid layer underneath, I thought I could manage. Of course I packed a few base layers, buffs for face shields and such, sun glasses, gloves and liners. I had a really thick Eddie Bauer parka I bought 15 years ago. Barely wore since bringing it home as the jacket is just too warm but I thought it was perfect for the trip. Last minute I threw in my Fourth Element Arctic layers. This is the stuff I use underneath my drysuit. It is AMAZING. Expensive but sooooo worth it. I don’t know why the rest of the world outside of the diving world has not caught on to Fourth Element. Anyway, that layer went in the bag last last minute my thinking was it was better to have it and not need it than to need and not have. Was I ever glad added them. My plan was to spend as much time with the dogs as I could regardless of the weather. I had no idea how to dress but figured with all that I was bringing, I would be prepared for bear.
All packed up and prepped for Iqaluit
Getting on the plane to Iqaluit, I engaged in some people watching. This is a pastime I love.
In a world where electronics demand so much of our attention, we often miss what is going on around us. The nuances of people, the random events happening….kissing of two complete strangers, mom looking at her kids while kid one tries to get away with poking kid two, the lady ordering at booster juice who wants “a tropical tornado but leave out the banana, substitute yogurt with soy, whipped three times, not four and I want it in a metal cup….none of that Styrofoam for me thank you”…I find it fascinating.
Waiting to board the plane, I was watching many of the others traveling including what I assumed were locals. They were dressed the same as me. Jeans, hiking boots, a winter coat….nothing out of the ordinary. I was thinking….”I may have come too prepared”.
As the pilot announced we were landing, the plane came alive. Out came thicker jackets, hats, gloves. “Ah, this looks more like it”.
We had to disembark the plane, walk across the runway to the hanger. The first minute I was thinking “ok, cold but not bad”. 15 seconds later my nose was sticking together. 30 seconds in and I realized I should have done up my jacket. 10 seconds after that I realized my fingers were fumbling with the zipper…they couldn’t figure out how to work it. I hit the terminal and everybody was pulling big stuff out of their bags. Parkas, snow pants, skidoo mitts.
“Ok, glad I came with what I have”
We hit the ground running.
We went straight to the shelter for a quick visit (more on that in a bit), went to our home stays to drop our bags, and then it was off for a tour of the town with Martine a local tour operator.
Martine brought us around Iqaluit and gave us a crash course in the history, demographics and make up of the town. Iqaluit is a vast tundra. For Newfoundlanders, think if Fogo Island and Clarenville had a baby with an Industrial Park and you may get an idea of what Iqaluit looks like. Not a tree in sight, ice everywhere and lots of business activity happening. I cannot imagine the first people travelling in the Bay and saying “this would be a great place to put down roots”.
Overlooking Frobisher Bay….apparently the second highest tides in the world. You can see the pack ice which rises and falls with the tide
The history of the place is pretty fascinating depending on the point of view you come at said history. Of course, like so much of Canada, the Hudson Bay Trading Company played a large role in the area
Hudson Bay Company once played a pivotal role in Canada especially n the North. It is now a shell of itself
The military and the federal government are the primary reason the area was settled. It is a hub for that part of the world. As you drive around you see lots of hustle and bustle. This is a small town with a larger town feel. Get out around the coast and you see the occasional dog team hanging out attached to their shelters. These are very much working dogs. The conditions they live in would get reprimands from many animal advocates. According to the shelter staff, the teams are not nearly as common as they once were. They have been replaced by snow machines and other technology. But some still have them and many are used in adventure tourism and such.
Oh the carvings!!! I should have gotten pictures of the large elaborate ones too!!!
We visited the museum and I was fascinated with the carvings. Dear lord, the talent!!!!! Rock carving is something I have dabbled in the last year or so after doing a seminar with a gentleman from Labrador. I look at the works in the museum and my best piece is the equivalent of a child's finger paints to the Mona Lisa (insert any great work of art here…you get the idea). I took lots of pictures and intend to try to replicate some of what I saw.
We congregated at a local pizza place and met all the shelter staff for introductions and pizza. The staff and volunteers are YOUNG. It is so great to see young people active in a such an amazing cause. After pizza and chat back to the shelter we went.
Janelle wanted to do personal introductions between me and one of her problem four legged children. Rex is a German Shepard. A big boy with all kinds of eccentricities. She fell in love with him but realized he had a lot of issues. He intimidated most of the shelter staff. He nipped (read no mouth awareness especially when facing anything more than mild stimulation), fixated on other dogs, cars, cats….ya he could be a handful.
At around 9pm that night we suited up and took Rex out for a walk. You have never really felt cold until you try to walk across a field with a dog in the night with a -35 degree temperature, a moderate wind whipping across the field making the wind chill much colder. Especially when you are jet legged, and have been on the go since 4 am that morning. Oh dear!!!!! Rex had no problems with the cold though. Minutes in, I knew I had my work cut out for me. I can still hear the snow crunching under my feet. It may sound strange but unless you have experienced it before, it is eerie. It sounds like ice breaking in a movie, very hollow and loud.
We returned Rex to the shelter and off I went to my home stay.
I stayed in the house of a lovely lady. She works with the finance department in Iqaluit. She, her son and Rusty, a recently adopted shelter dog, lived together. Her house backs onto “the road to no where”….which is exactly what it sounds. It is a road that goes to nowhere…..it just ends at some point.
On the back of my homestay looking out on the Road to Nowhere
The houses in Iqaluit are fascinating. Because of permafrost, there are no foundations. They are all on stilts. There are no wells nor septic tanks in the ground. Everything is built into the house including tanks to hold drinking and grey water. All houses are equipped with special lights. These lights indicate whether the water tank needs filling or the septic tank needs pumping. Trucks travel the community looking for the the lights. One set of trucks pump fresh water into the house, another set takes the grey water away. As I said multiple times in the videos, being this far north brings some unique challenges and innovative solutions.
I hit the ground running on Wednesday. 9-12 I was to hang out with the shelter staff, conduct some training with them, work with the dogs. 1-4 was shelter work and one on ones in the community. 6-9:30 back at the shelter. Reset and repeat over three days.
By now you have all seen the pictures of the shelter.
All rescues convey they are understaffed, under resourced, have inadequate funding and are operating in less than ideal conditions. And you know what….that isl accurate. It is the degree of such that needs to be examined. The shelter in Iqaluit operates out of an old building given to them. It is in bad need of repair and way too small for the work being done. A lot of the shelter is pieced together from materials scrounged or donated.
The Iqaluit Humane Society. It occupies the left side front of this building. It takes in dogs from Iqaluit and all the surrounding communities. When I say surrounding communities, besides Apex, each community is at least an hour by plane away.
Click here for a tour of the shelter
Have I mentioned the size? I do not want to be too off target but the whole shelter could fit inside of many of the living rooms I walk into. During my visit there was 16 dogs and one cat at the shelter. Now imagine the kennels needed for that number of animals, add a small washroom with washer and dryer, a porch and you have the shelter. Pens outside are either just attached to the shelter or inside a snow dome…..a tent with an inside frame. Dogs pee, it is frozen. Dogs poop, it is frozen. Metal fails, hinges fail, latches fail. This is down and dirty shelter work at its finest.
Second Morning there and walking Rex. Started to acclimatize by this point. Notice the jacket undone although the face shield was working overtime
Click here for a video of myself and Rex first morning
Many of the dogs come with a lot of issues. Dogs taken from mom and siblings way too early, poor to no socialization, lack of proper stimulation…it means problems and challenges. You may think all the dogs in that environment are husky mixes and you would be correct, many of them are. At the time of my visit however, there was Rex, the previously mentioned GSD, Daisy, a small terrier, her four two and a half week old puppies, a doodle named Stella, a small mix that looked like a little fox named Blackie, and a 16 year old Samoyed named Suki. So there was a mix of dogs there..some more suited for the cold than others. The staff were young, new to the positions and eager to learn. They explained the ropes, I dug in and tried not to get in the way.
First on the work list was Rex. As I mentioned above, Rex is a big GSD with a large personality. He can be quite intimidating, is reactive to dogs and very rude with people. He is mouthy and unfortunately has poor mouth awareness. When Rex is hyper stimulated, which can be triggered by a variety of stimuli, he paces, engages in repetitive behaviours and can be quite difficult to bring back to task. Rex also has severe resource guarding issues, especially around food. Many of the staff were quite daunted by him. To make things worse, Rex pulls like a freight train, and lunges at cars as they pass. Combine all of that and Rex is problematic to work with. For those who know me, it was love at first sight.
What a beauty!!!! So going to miss him!!!
Click here for the last video of myself and Rex
The staff filled me in on what history they knew and their experiences with Rex. I approached the kennel, leash in hand. Rex looked at me, got excited, allowed me to leash him and off we went. Sometimes dogs are like that. They react differentlly to depending on the person. Rex saw me and we hit it off.
People get really caught up in the whole “ dominance” belief. The idea that if Rex is being a butthead, you correct that out of him, gradually he will realise he cannot get over on you and he will fall into line. Honestly, if I tried that, Rex would have had me for lunch. Operant conditioning can work wonders and Rex took to it like a duck to water. For example, rather than focus on distance of the walk, I focused on quality of the walk in short bursts. Rex pulled, I stopped. Rex stopped pulling, I moved forward and rewarded with treats, scratches and “good boy”. Normally this combination of marking desirable behaviours works quite well but I quickly realized trying to hand feed small kibble piece by piece when the temperature is -35 without the windchill, colder with…can be difficult. Hand feeding anything like that, dealing with slobber on bare skin can get you frostbitten quickly. Also remember, Rex has no mouth awareness. You offer him a piece of kibble, your whole hand goes in his mouth. I had to re-evaluate my normal methods. I decided whenever I could work with Rex inside, we would practice focus skills, taking food nice and engaging in the trading game to work on his resource guarding. Outside on the walks, rewards would have to be verbal and scratches. Rex actually caught on fairly quickly especially when he got some of the pent up energy expelled. We started off with very short heeling sessions interspersed with free time. As that developed, we also worked on road manners. Over the next few days, I worked with Rex as much as I could. He made progress with me. Each session required less time for him to calm. He reacted negatively less and focused more. He became pretty attached to me. The staff figured Rex was looking for me when I was not at the facility because he gave them a harder time when it came to bringing him inside. If I took other dogs out, you could hear Rex letting his protest be known.
Saim is one of the fabulous shelter staff working with the society. She is a small statured lady with a huge heart. As I mentioned, most of the staff working with the dogs are young and new. Saim was no exception. When I arrived, Saim had a month and a half experience working the shelter. She possesses a big love for the animals and a lot of natural ability. Rex intimidated her. He mouthed her a lot and was very rude on the walks. She managed him but it was not enjoyable. The last night there, I grabbed Saim, we went outside, leashed up Rex and took him for a walk. We walked for about 40 mins. Saim walked him for three quarters of that time. She was so happy and I was very proud of her and Rex. It was quite an accomplishment. She wrote me the next morning saying when she arrived at the shelter, the first thing she did was get Rex out for a walk. She was so pleased because she was able to do so and it was enjoyable. Again, my heart swelled. While many people may view something like this as no big deal, anybody in the animal world realizes that the small successes are huge. This was a big deal. The less intimidated the staff are, the more skills they have, the more they enjoy doing something and the more that something is done. If Rex is a joy to walk, he will be walked which means he is worked with more extensively which means he develops better manners which ultimately makes him more adoptable. This was a win win for he and the staff.
Loved working with Daisy and interacting with her puppies
When I arrived at the shelter, Daisy immediately caught my attention. Daisy was a newer arrival at the shelter. She is a smaller terrier with a very thin coat of hair as opposed to fur. Not really the typical dog you expect to see in Iqaluit. Her look and her four two and a half week old puppies made her stand out. When Daisy was in her kennel with the puppies, she lunged and snapped at anybody or anything that approached. Given the size and layout of the shelter, people and dogs constantly walked by and she was under a lot of stress. That could not be good for her nor the puppies but it was unavoidable due to the available resources. Myself and the staff immediately engaged in some emergency management and classical conditioning practices. When Daisy was in her kennel, a blanket was placed over it. If she didn’t have to see people or dogs pass, she was less reactive. Outside of the kennel, she was more tolerant. We started getting her out of the kennel more, raining treats on her and eventually took the puppies out in our arms for a trial. She was very accepting of that. Within a day and a half, myself and the regular staff there could approach the kennel with she and the babies in it. Daisy began looking look for scratches and treats. At least with us, she was no longer expressing fear. By the end of the visit, we were met with tail wags and she was quite content with us having her babies in our arms. She also became much more tolerant of a few of the other dogs and could engage with them off leash in the shelter.
Laura rocking it with Daisy and Blackie. Hazel in the background taking it in
Again not an ideal situation in many regards but we made the best we could with the given situation. One of the positives of this is that those puppies should be bombproof around everything and everybody by the time they weened and able to go into forever homes. I discussed with the staff some things they should start working on as the puppies aged to help them meet and surpass some of the developmental milestones. Of course the staff completely enjoyed this work. Hard to criticize that. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with baby puppies all day.
My Boy Hunter!!! So proud of the work we accomplished together
Click here for the first Hunter video
Next on the work list was Hunter. Hunter and his brother came to the shelter a month previously and after seeing and handling all of the dogs there, he was the one concerned me the most. Hunter has a bite history. He is reactive to other dogs and anything that moves really. He only liked one of the staff and one volunteer. Outside of that, he is quite happy to bite at anybody approaching. He had little interest in treats if you were strange. Many dogs will engage in this behaviour when afraid and as long as they are given space, most will avoid as opposed to engage. Hunter unfortunately is not one of those dogs. He actively seeks engagement. You pass his run, Hunter will charge the door as opposed to bark from the back of the run. He will accept a treat or two and then bite. Normally for a dog like this, I will begin a plan looking long term. Start by slowly gaining his trust, feeding him, spending time around him, working him under threshold and eventually handling him. Unfortunately I had three days to work him him and needed to find a way to expedite the process. I called on Laura, the staff member he liked, to help me out. Like Saim, Laura is young, crazy about the animals and has a lot of natural talent. She leashed Hunter and we took him for a walk together. Quickly into the walk, I was able to get his leash and walk him by my side. He tolerated it and started checking me out. The next walk was the same . I kept approaching the run during that day and interacting with Hunter’s brother next door. He is a sweet heart and loves people. When Hunter saw us interacting, his mood changed from “ I want to bite you” to “ I want attention too”. That night I was able to get the volunteer he liked to leash him for me and I took him right out of his run. After that walk, I was able to enter the kennel with him accepting me. He even climbed up next to me as I sat with him to get some loving. The next morning, we repeated the process. By the end of the morning he was literally jumping into my arms whenever I went into his run. Inside I was able to put my hands into his kennel and calm him anytime he got upset. We walked and worked together extensively over the three days. He showed a lot of love. Hunter is going to be a more difficult dog to bring around. You cannot really trust him around people. If you are one of the few he likes, you have no worries from him at all. If he does not like you, it takes work to get him to trust. You make a mistake, you will get bitten. He needs time, patience and a lot of management practices put into place. There is potential there though and I am hoping the staff are up to the challenge.
Click here for last night with Hunter
Over the three working days my goal was to interact and walk all of the dogs there. I quickly realized I was probably being overly optimistic. Achieving this while engaging in staff training sessions, and one on ones with the community while doing as much work as I could with my two problem children (Hunter and Rex) meant I had to triage the work. I interacted with all of the dogs, walked most but unfortunately did not do so for all. I was disappointed with this as the dogs I could not devote much one on one time to were fantastic dogs. There were two young brothers there who could go into most homes with a little work. One of the longer term residents of the shelter, Fergus was perfect in many regards. Not only is he fairly mannerly and very loving with people but he is STUNNING to look at. For the life of me I cannot understand why he was not adopted 10 times over. All the dogs needed work. Most had little leash manners. Most lacked many basic manners in general but all had potential.
Beautiful Suki…16 years old and a total love bug
Fergus…such a handsome gentleman
Sweet Princess…hated other dogs but LOVED people
I said in the videos that life that far north brings challenges. When I hear clients say to me now “well, I get my dogs out for walks when I can…it is just that the weather this winter has been so bad and cold….” I have a new outlook on that. Again when you are walking your dog at 38 degrees below WITHOUT factoring in the windchill AND the dog is loving it, you develop a different perspective on the weather. Things like latches on outdoor runs, tie outs, cleaning up pee and poop….all are more difficult and regularly fail in Iqaluit. All rescues are challenged with regards to resources and funding. It is all a matter of perspective though. All attempt to make the best of what they have. Iqaluits Humane Society has less than most and faces other challenges that are not present in many other places. I will not delve deep into the challenges faced. Suffice to say they are many. Inadequate facility, little funding, staff training opportunities, cultural views on proper care for dogs, access to timely and affordable vet care, roaming and stray dogs, distance and isolation of catchment communities…..honestly pages can be filled with those challenges alone. Hats off to Janelle, the director of the shelter for stepping up to the plate in that regard and managing everything. I was struck by the quality of work that was being done. I was even more surprised she was able to pull off having myself, a groomer and a pet first aid instructor come and help. This whole experience was a feat of tremendous accomplishment.
I interspersed my time at the shelter with a number of one on one visits to work with a couple members of the community and their dogs. The one on ones were pro bono. I donated the fee for them back to the shelter. I was very happy to meet the acquaintance or all and look forward to keeping in touch with them and hearing their progress.
A strange thing happened during my visit to Iqaluit. The first day I arrived, I found it COLD!!! I mean this is a cold that freezes uncovered body parts. When I got off the plane and we toured Iqaluit, I thought there was no way I would be able to accomplish one of my plans…to spend as much time with the dogs as possible. There was no room at the shelter to work with the dogs inside. Literally every piece of available space was taken by kennels and walking space. Jeanette, the groomer had to set up her table inside the washroom just to be able to groom a dog. This meant any real one on one work with dogs needed to be done outside. The dogs were used to the temperature and while I bought clothes with me suited for the temperature, when you inhale and your nostrils stick together….when the skin covering your cheeks goes numb after a minute of being outside, being able to walk and train dogs outside for 12 plus hours a day becomes daunting. My second day there I arrived at the shelter wearing multiple layers and some of the thickest clothing I had. After my second walk, I was drenched in sweat and had to rethink chosen wardrobe. The good thing about layering is you can add or remove as needed. I found a groove and combinations that worked and my body acclimatized. By Friday, I was walking around outside with much less clothing…the cold was still there but was somehow less intense. Perhaps I was getting used to it, perhaps the progress of Hunter and Rex meant I was riding a high or maybe I was just not thinking of it as much. The last video I took I was wearing a base layer, jeans and hoodie, hat and gloves and was ok doing so. When I mentioned it to the shelter staff laughed…they said “Ken, you are becoming one of us”. I took that as high praise!
Myself, Laura and Saim….such a pleasure to meet these two young ladies and work with them.
Alas my time in Iqaluit was way too short. I met some fabulous people and some terrific dogs. As I posted pictures, some people following this adventure laid bets as to how many dogs I would bring home with me. Honestly, if it was not for the fact that Tanner is in his very senior years, either Hunter or Rex or both, would have been coming home with me. They were the two that needed it the most. It would have taken a long time to get both to the point that I could do the work with them I would want…visiting groups, demoing in class, using them for presentations and such but I would have really enjoyed the challenge. I am doubtful Tanner would have appreciated it as much and I just could not do that to him. Who knows that the future will hold though.
Click both links below for:
People keep asking if I am going back. Myself and Janelle have already agreed to keep in touch. We both discussed viewing this as “phase one” and want to see where this type of partnership could lead. I would totally go back to continue the work and explore new ways of maximizing my time there to the benefit of all. The dogs, the people, the place got a hook in me. It really was an amazing experience and one I will remember for the rest of my life.
Waiting to cross the runway for the flight home
Thank you to all the people I met and spoke to during my stay. You opened your homes, your businesses and your lives to me and I will remain grateful for that. Special thanks to Janelle for accepting my application to come to Iqaluit. Lets make the the start of a long term relationship. Special thanks and a big shout out to my cohorts in this experience. Sam and Janette…you two ladies are awesome. You have my utmost respect and I look forward to working with you both in the future.
Myself Jeanette Kinney (groomer) and Samantha Hum (pet first aid instructor on a hill above Iqaluit our first day there