dogs of shed calendar

thank you for landing here. this project has consumed my heart and head this year. it has taken a village, as they say, to pull it together. through sponsorship, peer mentoring, ongoing learning curves and building block obstacles, the calendar is finally in print. for a first run at the dogs of shed calendar i am pleased to release this project into the wild. i hope it evokes a feeling of joy, love and community - a community of hearts that understand what it truly means to love and be loved by an animal.

MAXIMUM SHIPPING RATE OF $18 FOR THE DOGS OF SHED CALENDAR - UP TO 4 CALENDARS. WE WILL REFUND ANY SHIPPING OVERAGES CHARGED AT CHECKOUT.

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a glimpse at some of our calendar models:

100% of the proceeds collected will be donated to carter's forever rescue and sanctuary located in bracebridge, ontario.

chance + julius

thank you to our sponsors!

i have received tremendous support from our local community of compassionate and kind-hearted small business owners who believed enough in my dream to help facilitate this project into a reality. through their sponsorship we were able to cover expenses associated with bringing this calendar to fruition, ultimately, that means more money into the pocket of carter's. i am beyond overwhelmed by the generosity of the following people and businesses:

my dear friend mary lynn (@gathertonourish) her eloquent and poetic words have helped shape the heart of this calendar. she without complaint endured my constant messaging, out-dated file sharing methods and my angst to bring this altogether as i had envisioned. it is because of the company 7 communications, that she and her husband larry own, that all graphic design needs were provided as a gift to us; to carter's.
to kristen hickey the incredibly talented and patient graphic designer on behalf of 7 communications that worked late into the evenings beyond work hours to compile, shape and edit our vision into a beautiful cohesive calendar.
to dr. tanya and the entire huntington animal hospital staff for the exceptional care that has been provided to our family over the many years - through all of our new beginnings and our losses.
my dear flower friend who always makes me feel supported in life, art and business. she is a hard working farmer and an outstanding florists. her passion for her plants also trickles over into her tenderness to help out any animal that crosses her field or pond. she is the bob barker of the barn cat community.
to shannon and her husband for raising money through their pizzeria library (that's right! a pizza and library combo) they started the library during covid times to fill a gap when the local library closed, the idea took off and they have raised an incredible amount of money through the rentals of $2 books in their pizzeria. they re-distribute their fundraising efforts to various dog rescues and shelters. shannon also has a carter's allum, you'll find that grey bean as miss august.
to bare. cleaning essentials/miss'es clean who cares deeply about the home environment we all live in, including our pets. all of her products have been designed with animals in mind and are 100% pet friendly.
to my neighbour in between the vines who's love of dogs had her first to my door to show her support of this project. head to her flower stand and you will likely be greeted by her beloved bernese mountain dogs.
to unleashed niagara for being a strong leader in the all positive dog training community. through support, guidance, education and classes offered at the unleashed school we were able to set our family up for success. being a proper canine guardian begins with the people in the household. we are now better equipped to shape our dogs present and future.

mary lynn and larry's, beckett - a chocolate boy who had the most ginormous ears and masterful head tilt.

about the project:

this calendar is in honour of our adopted dogs past and present. with special homage to our legacy canines, chance and julius - they have inspired a lifetime commitment to adopting and advocating for animals in need.

it is extremely painful to lose a loved one and somehow it feels even more excruciating when we lose our devoted animals. it's a grief that is not always honoured or accepted in our society. we have to find the courage to talk about it and to seek out people who support us because it is a very significant loss. it is hard to articulate the loss because so much of what we share with our animals is spiritual. it's a relationship based on unspoken trust with one another.

animals have the ability to heal us and to make us feel loved and accepted unconditionally. they bring laughter and joy into our everyday. they are a gift bestowed upon us, a gift that as humans with all our flaws and inconsistencies are unworthy of. we must learn from our animals to be tender and kind, to love big and to be patient. and to not let our love end when we lose them. it is important to carry their light, to speak about them, tell stories of the many adventures, to acknowledge our ache, to celebrate our love, to carry on a better person for having shared precious time and space with such a pure and beautiful soul.

in april of 2022 i kissed my shadow, my sweet bell, my julius, at the prime age of fifteen good-bye for the final time. he was ready to go. stillness fell upon him quickly. before i could fully honour him in feelings of grief i had to hold my broken heart together to turn my love and focus outward onto what i knew was a dissipating hour glass of time with chance. to have chance still by my side was to be with julius. they were brothers from the moment they met. we adopted chance in 2015 at the age of seven from our local humane society. it was love at first sight for us both. one year later we brought julius home from a small nothern ontario rescue: carter's forever rescue and sanctuary. it was a difficult transition for us. julius was so broken and he needed time to settle. that was only something i came to understand upon reflection. but it was chance who guided us all. he used gentle corrections in canine language to teach julius how our household co-existed. they showed each other affection though play and camaraderie. they used each other as pillows as they napped. they shared sticks and balls in the backyard. they egged each other on in moments of excitement and anticipation of good things to come. in the weeks that followed after julius's passing i clung to chance. i put my life on hold to be present and mindful. this is how chance lived. it is what he taught me. then two months later with one final grunt of contentment he laid his head on my lap as he took his last breath.

it is my great honour to carry their light and tell their story.

our love for chance lead us to julius, which then lead us to odie. odie is my heart heeler (he is a blue heeler mix). odie, my shy, gentle, stray from san antonio, tx. now a full blooded country boy who loves vineyard walks and backyard romps with his baby sister, billie. we adopted odie as a very careful decision when we found out chance was sick. odie is a true gift. he loved chance and julius and always gave the impression that they were his heroes, especially chance. chance and odie had the opportunity to share forest adventures and evening strolls. chance's confidence helped odie to navigate through the trauma he had experienced as a young pup living on the harsh streets of texas. just as we had hoped chance and julius left their lasting imprint on odie.

after julius had passed, i had reached out to brenda at carter's rescue. i told her of our loss and asked her to keep us in mind if another unicorn like julius landed in her care. two short weeks after chance passed she messaged to say she had puppies. puppies! heck, no! i did not want a puppy. chance and julius were seniors when we adopted them. odie was estimated to be around two years old. but a puppy is such an overwhelming thought. i politely said no thank you and went on with my day. the next morning i woke with incredible anxiety, ryan and i discussed the idea again and with quiet excitement i messaged brenda to say we will be up the following day. a three hour drive followed by three hours spent rolling in dirt with a litter full of chonky monsters and finally with butterflies in our stomachs and little to no words to speak due to an overwhelming feeling of "what have we gotten ourselves into?" brenda dressed billie in a pink harness with a little polka dotted bowtie, she microchipped her, gave her a squeeze and placed billie on my lap and waved us on our way.

brenda has now introduced and trusted us with the lives of two of our greatest love stories. she works tirelessly along side her team of dedicated volunteers to save dogs. her heart is bigger than her home and that doesn't stop her from providing sanctuary to those in need. if you don't have any close links to the rescue world you may not know there is a global crisis happening. all rescues and shelters are beyond capacity and the sad truth is now even non kill shelters here in canada are beginning to euthanize animals at an alarming rate to make room for daily intakes. the reasons are many why we are seeing overcrowding, very few reasons for animal dumping or surrenders are justified. i cannot personally adopt more animals at this time, i wish that i were a financially wealthy woman. i would buy a large farm and build a rescue and rehabilitation center for canines, but that is a lofty and likely unattainable dream for this lifetime. the best i can offer is my time and energy into a project that i hope will speak to the hearts of many, who in return will want to support our efforts to raise money for carter's. the dogs of shed calendar is that project. i am an amateur photographer at best. this calendar is not meant to win any awards but i do hope it makes you feel some level of joy to see the faces of lucky animals who have found themselves in loving homes.

thank you for helping us give to dogs in need.