Where was I? Oh, right Canada, eh! The land of snow, hockey, beer, Tim Horton’s, and curling.
I jumped on the convenient Banff Airporter bus in Calgary and jumped off in Canmore. Luckily a friendly couple gave me a ride to The Hostel Bear, where I unloaded and showered before heading over to the Snowy Owl office for my “interview.” I was happy it was one of those informal interviews where we pretty much talked about the job and Jereme just threw in some questions. Honestly, the interrogations that interviews can be are not worth it; a conversation tells so much more about a person! After a brief visit to the kennel of 177 dogs, the rest of the afternoon was mine.
As much as I wanted to wander around town, I knew I should just get some food and finally sleep. Off I went to Sobey’s, which I’ve gathered is a Canadian grocery chain. When I stepped inside and started perusing the aisles, I realized I was back in a land of different brands and bilingual packaging! YES! Since I absolutely love wandering through grocery stores filled with unfamiliar labels, I spent a fair bit of time looking at brands and food items.
Then, I made the best discovery ever.
Yes, the Tim Tams of Australia (also found in Middle Earth) have traveled to Canada!! Tim Tams are okay on their own, but they were created to be enjoyed as part of the Tim Tam Slam. If you don’t know what that is, please look it up now. And go find some Tim Tams to try it. If you’re any fun, you’ll thank me later. 🙂
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I saw a few people in my hostel who looked like they could be there for the try-out, but I wanted to get some sleep rather than chat, so I didn’t find out.
Morning came too soon the next day, but a beautiful sunrise made the walk to the Snowy Owl office worthwhile (see top photo). A number of us were picked up and taken to the kennel, which was already hopping with all those puppers. 177 dogs can make quite a ruckus, as one might guess.
Luckily the try-out was more like a day of unpaid help than anything else. Having never driven a sled, I had been concerned they’d be testing our skills at driving a team and knowing how to put one together. Instead, we first split into 2 groups to water the dogs and scoop poop. Snowy Owl has super high standards of cleanliness; as in, if there’s anything at all in the water, you’re supposed to get it out, and 99.99% of poop needs to be scooped. Sometimes it didn’t even look like poop, but the long-timers could tell and point it out.
After that a dropline was set up and we were given sheets telling us which dogs would be in which teams. The staff showed us how to walk the dogs over (using ourselves to protect the chosen dogs from those left behind), how to put harnesses on (because a few people had never put a harness on a dog), and how to hook up the dogs in team on the gangline. Over the early afternoon, about 7 different teams of 10 dogs went out pulling a 5 passenger motorized cart. It was nice to leave the noisy yard and get out in the woods to see the dogs enjoy their work!
We took a pretty long lunch break, which was a good chance to chat with everyone. I don’t remember all the details now, but I think there were 2 Aussies, 3 fellow “Alaskans,” a couple others from the lower 48, and the rest were Canadians. Those of us who are, unfortunately, Americans, were referred to as the Yanks.
Later I learned that the staff had essentially already decided who would be hired by the time we got to a lunch break. Afterwards we just took some of the retired dogs + others on a walk. Nakoda took me for a walk because surprise, surprise… she wanted to pull the whole time.
Before we all headed back to town, we tackled feeding the dogs. It sounds simple, but that whiteboard in an above picture shows the portion of food each dog gets. When just a few experienced people pass out all the food, the numbers all work out… not so much with 10 new people. 🙂 Oops. The best part of feeding time came when Jereme asked if anyone wanted to feed Shaman. Who’s Shaman, you may wonder? Oh, ya know, the wolf hybrid we all keep in the backyard.
Let’s just say that Dustin volunteered for the experience before I had the chance, and he had a moment he’ll remember. When Shaman wants his food, he gets his food… manners don’t matter when there’s a little hesitation coming from the human. (Oh, and newbies are typically to have virtually nothing to do with him because he doesn’t have the domestic side that trusts most everyone.)
That evening I went to The Grizzly Paw, a microbrewery in Canmore, with Tim (Aussie), the 3 “Alaskans” (who actually know my friend Tom from working with him on a glacier in SE Alaska), and Elyse (American). We enjoyed some Canadian beer before calling it a night.
Before dinner I got a phone call from Snowy Owl with the word regarding a job. I was rather torn whether I wanted an offer or not because I knew Conservation Canines would hopefully be sending out some word on their job any day. Somehow I felt that I wouldn’t get an offer from Snowy Owl; other applicants just seemed more comfortable and experienced. When I called Snowy Owl back, I was told some others had more guiding experience, and so I wasn’t offered the guide position. :/ However, I was offered the assistant kennel manager position. Hooray for not being a total failure!
Unfortunately, that left me with quite the dilemma.
Fear not, though, for Canadian dogs know how to drive! I wonder if they know how to curl, too?
