Losing Isla.
At the beginning of winter in 2023, I lost Isla for two hours in a nearby forest during a blizzard. We had picked her up just a few months earlier, and she was making great progress with her recall training. I let her off the leash, and as we were finishing our walk, she ran off. The snow fell so quickly that it covered her tracks within minutes, and it started getting dark.
Celine and Dyllon helped me search for her and drove around town looking for any signs of Isla. Dyllon was waiting in the parking lot after circling the nearby neighbourhood when Isla emerged from the trees, carrying a leg bone from another animal.
I felt emotionally and physically exhausted from the search and the anxiety of potentially losing our new puppy to the wilderness. Shortly after this experience, we bought a tracking collar for her, and we've been working on training Isla ever since. She is extremely energetic and affectionate, which are both her greatest traits and her most challenging aspects. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the joy she and Aspen bring to our lives, and I continually strive to provide the best care for the animals I’m responsible for. I'm not always successful but I want to know they lived a good life during the years they have with us.
