Raven's Pack: Honoring A Lifetime of Love, Leadership, and Exploration
I might take a guess and say, if you’re reading this, you probably have a very deep and loving relationship with your dog. That deep connection leads to the desire to give our dogs the very best life we can, day by day, until their very last moment. This is something I promise to all of my dogs. The way we fulfill that promise changes over time, and depends on age, health, and abilities. Today, I want to mark an important lifecycle event for Raven, Pack Leader, and celebrate a new project in her life.
My name is Toby, and I'm the Owner and Pack Leader of WPA. However, that’s only half of who I am. The other half runs at the head of the pack. She is brave, bossy, absurdly smart, and her name is Raven. She is my adventure partner, best friend, and teacher. Quite frankly, and I am not just being dramatic, she’s my everything. The amount of connection I have with Raven can’t be summed up in a blog. It’s simply too complex; it deserves volumes. One day, I’ll write more about our deep connection and inspiring work together. Raven has been the leader of all Wild Pup Adventure Packs for about 8 years and there is no way I could have done what we have without her leadership, a role she was born to do.
What matters here is that I’ve always promised Raven that she would lead the very best life I could create for her. In this post, I want to share with you a brief overview of Raven’s journey from a young dog to where she is now. From now on, I also invite you to follow her, and have your dogs join her as she launches her next endeavor: Raven’s Pack.
Raven’s life story is incredibly inspiring. From the moment Raven entered into my life, emaciated and pregnant, having been scooped up by friends at Standing Rock Reservation in the Dakotas, and delivered to my home for fostering, I knew she was someone extremely special. But, I wasn’t ready for another dog. Namesake of WPA, Pup had passed just 5 months before and I was still deep in mourning.
With her sleek black fur and bright, intelligent, engaging eyes, Raven captures your attention and if you ignore her, a piercing bark will get hijack your attention instead. As soon as we made eye contact, the moment she got out of my friend’s vehicle, I knew- she was my family. This was a problem, since I was living with a boyfriend in an apartment that didn’t accept dogs. Long story short, I chose Raven over the apartment and the boyfriend. That’s how much she meant to me. We’ve been creating a life together, based on what we wanted to do in life, ever since. In those early days, Wild Pup Adventures was just beginning.
Raven has always been a natural-born leader and explorer. When Raven was still a young dog, full of boundless energy and curiosity, I could see that she was the ultimate adventure dog. She was indeed wild, boisterous, obnoxious, a show off, and there was no challenge she couldn’t overcome in the wilderness. Sadly though, I had no idea she had been through a serious physical trauma, and I wouldn’t know the details of it until many years later.
Would you like to sign your dog up for Raven’s Pack?
Together, Raven and I embarked on countless adventures – from hiking through rugged mountain trails to kayaking in crystal-clear rivers, from dirt biking through forests to snowshoeing on Mt. Hood. We’ve done it all. We lead dog adventures, it’s our life. We’ve rolled together in fields of wildflowers, and basked in the warm glow of the setting sun. Raven and I have laughed together, cried together, been scared together, and worked as a team under trying circumstances. Every moment spent with Raven has taught me that I have someone in this world who is there for me, no matter what, and completely devoted to our relationship. That is a mutual commitment. It’s a tremendous gift, maybe the best gift one can experience in this life. She is truly a part of my self, my soul, and she feels like an extension of my own body. There have rarely even been times we’ve been away from each other.
The quality of a Raven’s Pack adventure is determined by the wag of their tail, their silly playful moves, the excitement in their walk, the joy shared with friends, the sparkle in their eyes, the quantity of sniffs and rolls, and the love in their heart.
As Raven grew older, our adventures only became more meaningful. Wild Pup Adventures grew and became successful. Together, we’ve shaped and enriched the lives of hundreds of dogs. Her life is meaningful and important. Raven has always run at the head of the pack, and I’m at the back, her unwavering loyalty, strong presence, and boundless enthusiasm driving us forward. And while telling you about our remarkable adventures and her unbelievable talents in leadership are topics for another post, I want to highlight the fact that she’s always done what she was meant to do in her life, and her intelligence, abilities, and interests have caused WPA to look las it does today. She and I have been collaborators the entire time. This comes down to the little things in daily life, as Raven often determines our routes on adventures, and I mention that to emphasize that her life has been largely honored through my deep respect for her. Every day for her is filled with the elements our dogs long for: meaningful activities, social relationships, exploration of the environment, fun, sensory pleasures, physical exertion, freedom, autonomy, stimulation, problem-solving.
As the years passed, I began to notice a change in Raven. While she always had an uneven gait, vets in the past told me to hold off on x-rays until the need arose for them. However, that made understanding the cause impossible, and it wasn’t until 2 years ago that we learned she had sustained a severe trauma to her femur before I adopted her. It is severely misshapen. This injury caused arthritis to form in her other leg. Being a Shepherd mix didn’t help. This makes it even more incredible that she’s served such an epic role in WPA for so long. At the height of her career, Raven was running about 40-55 miles each week. Recently, her steps grew slower, and on dirt biking adventures, she began looking at me with a distressed expression. It was a difficult realization to come to terms with – my faithful companion was experiencing pain. But even as Raven's body has begun to slow her, Raven’s spirit remains as strong as ever. It’s a very difficult thing to watch, when your dog is mentally 110% and their front half is strong and healthy, but their hind end is struggling. We have been grieving this together and I can’t say it’s been easy. Personally, it’s impacted my emotional health significantly over the last year.
Raven and I are adapting to accommodate her changing needs. Sometimes she goes with the adventure pack for 30 minutes to an hour and then waits in the van. But summer is coming and soon that won’t be an option. While Raven still loves hiking adventures, it’s time to create something that’s her very own again, and to build community of canine friends around her. Every day until the very end will be an adventure. Raven’s pack will be an expression of love for our slower pups. We will go to destinations they delight in, and experience the joys of wandering, of sniffing, of rolling, of swimming. We will do everything more mindfully, with intention, with a sacred reverence for the moment and our lives. All friends who join Raven’s Pack will experience my outpouring of love for them and the expressed vision of making every adventure into a beloved memory. Life is short. It’s shorter for our dogs. And they deserve the very best of everything we can offer them.
With Love,
Toby Joy
