SnowShark Week 2021
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Last week, over 23 dog teams submitted their best photos for SnowShark Week. What an amazing experience! We truly had the best of the best…avalanche rescue dogs, police dogs, service dogs, personal protection dogs, and even just personal pets!
But the thing I love most about SnowShark Week isn’t really anything to do with the photos.
SnowShark Week allows us to go back to our roots.
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When we first started our social media journey in 2015, the one thing we wanted to do was give handlers a platform to connect with other K9 Storm Handlers. To have their voices and their stories told. To showcase the amazing and unbreakable bond between a dog and their partner.
As the years passed, the landscape quickly changed and we were told by many people that we were marketing our page all wrong. That we weren’t pushing our products hard enough. That we should be getting “influencers” to promote our equipment whether they truly believed in it or not, or to simply give gear away for free to get exposure, followers, or likes.
It seemed like everywhere we went, people were wondering why we weren’t trying to be more Hollywood.
The truth is that we’re from a midsize Canadian town that isn’t chalked full of glitz or glamor. I must admit, when it’s minus -30c and the falling snow and crushing wind just doesn’t want to let up, it’s easy to lose sight of any beauty that is around; however, the people work hard, do their jobs, and continue to enjoy life.
SnowShark Week is a way for us to showcase this sense of Northern determination.
This year, we never specified that there was any prize for entering SnowShark Week. There was no external reward for participating. No gold fortune or multimillion dollar sponsorship waiting at the end of the tunnel. In a world where the majority of our clients have real life consequences for their actions, where the stakes are always so ridiculously high, where one mistake can literally cost you or your dog their life, maybe having a low-stakes contest was just what the doctor ordered.
When it comes to motivation, what more do you need than pride?
Leroy - K9 Storm Ultimate SnowShark 2021
More importantly, we were able to see, first hand, the support that other handlers gave each other.
Every single SnowShark participant either liked or commented words of encouragement on photos of other SnowShark participants. I could really feel the sense of community and belonging.
In the end, this year’s Ultimate SnowShark is Leroy from Banff, Alberta, Canada. Last year, his handler missed the deadline for submission and vowed to bring his best when the next SnowShark Week began. He was the very first submission we received…1 full month in advance of the contest.
Congratulations to Leroy and his handler (@nzlogan on IG) and thank you to all the participants in this year’s SnowShark Week!