Iʼve just gotten home from a vacation to Whistler Canada. My husband and I decided to go dog sledding for one of our activities while there. I had such a different picture in my mind from what I actually saw and experienced. The dogs they used were a husky and greyhound mix. When we first arrived I noticed that many of the dogs were extremely thin. The people there said many of them were this thin because of the greyhound part of them. Iʼm wondering if this is true. Some were so thin, you could almost see all their bones, even in their heads, they also told us that some of the dogs just wouldnʼt eat a lot, that they were extremely finicky. They further explained that all the exercise they got from running, was also was a factor in their appearance of looking so thin. They said they loved to run but this didnʼt seem to be so when I saw the dogs getting leashed and ready to run.

When we walked up to the dogs, instead of being excited or friendly, many were extremely scared of us and cowered back. A lot of them were very afraid and this bothered me so much. It just didnʼt seem normal. When they started to leash them up, a lot of the dogs didnʼt want to go and started pulling back. They literally had to be dragged to get leashed on, and one fought back so hard, it had to be carried over. The people told us that all of this was normal and just kind of made a joke and assured us that once they started to run, they would all completely love it. The dogs didnʼt seem to me that they wanted to run at all. They told us there, that this was the dogs' 5th run of the day and that by the last run of the day, some were pulling back because it was the last run , but said they were completely fine and would love it when they actually stared to run, I donʼt know whether 5 runs are good or bad. Iʼm writing to you to see if this is normal behavior or something I should check further on.

The people there all seemed very nice and the girl who was our musher seemed to love animals, well at least by what all she told us about why she had come there and how much she loved dogs. My husband and I both really liked her. Everyone there was very sweet but I was so bothered by the dogs' fear when we walked up and the way the dogs absolutely didnʼt want to make the run and by some of their appearance, being so thin. We booked this tour through the Hilton in Whistler Canada. Would you please tell me if my feelings could have been right or if some of this was normal behavior? If it's not, what should I do to help make the situation better for these dogs? This just bothered me so much to see how they fought against being tied to do the run and how scared some were when we walked up.

Again the people there were all so nice and Iʼm sure some I talked to loved dogs but I want to make sure I didnʼt notice something that might need to be addressed. Is there someone around the Whistler area you might know that I could be in contact with, just maybe to have it checked out? I donʼt want to get anyone in trouble if everything is alright but my main concern is the dogs.

Would you be so kind to let me know what you think and if you think I need to talk to someone near the area. If so, would you know who I should contact?

Sheree Porter Thomas
La Quinta, CA