Healthy Dogs Healthy Communities
Loving dogs and sharing love in relationship with dogs was described by participants as a spiritual connection that determines outcomes within the relationship.
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‘Two-Eyed Seeing’ as described by Mi’kmaw Elders Murdena and Albert Marshall describe in Bartlett et al. (2012), describes an approach that uses the strengths of both Western and Indigenous knowledge systems to achieve a common goal; this integrated approach to creating and seeking knowledge together requires power sharing and equitable processes between team members to adequately achieve these common goals. [Ch3, pg32]
Acknowledging dogs’ roles as transportation was an important aspect of highlighting the historical and traditional roles of dogs in the Tri-community area. While dogs are still used as transportation in entertainment and sporting contexts (Bertella, 2016; Davis, 2021; Fesenko & García-Rosell, 2019), their use as a means of travel was invaluable to the lives and social health of Woodland Cree and other Saskatchewan residents for generations (Butler, 1873; Pike, 1892; Riche, 2015; Tremblay, 2019)
There’s old legends too, you know, about dogs. My mom said when she was tiny, they had lots of pups that were being born, and every kid was given one pup as a responsibility to care and love your dog, and to feed them, and to raise them…Dogs are important.” (LLRIB_6).
After an initial fifteen interviews, this study conducted 5 more conversations to elaborate on a divergent perspective discovered in one of the initial data collection events. The divergent interview addressed experiences of anti-Indigenous racism through dog management, as well as traditional Woodland Cree upbringing with dogs as companions, transportation and protection on the trap-line.
In my background, I come from a long line of bush people, right. People being out on the land. So when I go out, or when I went out and ran the dogs, it was a spiritual thing. It was a spiritual bonding with the dogs and with everything…and then to think back as I was a kid, I did this as a child, you know – because it was good memories. And also being connected to the land, being connected to the sky, being connected to the stars.
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Genevieve – Dog Spirit
Dogs As Teachers
But then on the other hand, the benefit of a child having a dog in their life is phenomenal. The amount it teaches them in empathy and understanding and just unconditional love that they sometimes don’t get elsewhere, we can’t take that away from them.” (AR_2).
A long time ago dogs had many purposes and were well-respected.
Nancy LaFleur - Dogs Teach Us A Lesson
So when we did have more [dogs] we did have a tourism business, and we did go racing across Canada and United States… [b]ut we used to have two teams, my husband and I, each a team. And then even more teams to take tourists out.” (AR_5)
ELDER STORY - Donna's Happy Place
Dog Death Is Natural
I couldn’t imagine [sighs] I mean I know my dog’s gonna go and when she crosses that rainbow bridge it’s gonna be a devastating time. (AR_2)
Human Role of Dog Death
There is a belief that ‘good’ dog ownership requires financial means to consistently provide all needs of the animals in one’s care. This participant’s thoughts provide a foundation for deeper conversation about social supports and providing resources for community members so that dogs and people can get what they need in respectful and non-patronizing ways.
[Ch6, Pg 75-76]
If we don’t see the value or the qualities that companion animals have and how relationships and bonds between animals can really improve and enhance the quality of humans’ lives, then attitudes towards pets won't change.
Miriam - Cleanliness & Parvo
But I think people enter into [dog ownership] with good intentions if not unrealistic intentions. And then you just [sighs] oh my God I just can’t look after this dog anymore
Dogs as 'Rescues'
While the dog catcher no longer shoots dogs as a primary method of population control, it appears that public perception of this role continues to be fraught with negative connotations of dogs being removed from their families, and the disruption of important dog-human relationships.
[Ch.6, Pg.62]
Rescue – Taking Puppies
Uninvited removal of dogs from reserve communities can exacerbate community tensions, and present barriers to regional collaboration on dog care and control within the Tri-communities. In short, it does not work to apply ‘southern solutions and expectations to northern [Indigenous] conditions’ (Qikiqtani Truth Commission, 2013, p. 10)
[Ch6, Pg 103]
Cats & Dogs
Dogs as Gifts
Dogs as gifts was a concept the team was aware of prior to collecting data. Several team members had talked about dogs being given as gifts, particularly to children. This was discussed as being a problem because they were seen as ‘the kids’ dog’ and sometimes it was observed that the adults in the home weren’t taking responsibility for the animal’s wellbeing.
The idea of dogs as gifts being a contributor to spiritual health through supporting the spirit and love connection between beings suggests that this is a practice that might be worth preserving. To do this in a way that supports healthy dog-human relationships and good dog welfare means that human caregivers need to re-establish their roles as mentors for the children and dogs in their care to demonstrate what healthy and balanced relationships look like.
[Ch1, pg9]
If we don’t see the value or the qualities that companion animals have and how relationships and bonds between animals can really improve and enhance the quality of humans’ lives, then attitudes towards pets won't change.
Dogs as Symbol of Freedom
Recognizing and honouring dogs’ need for living in alignment with their instincts was integrated with connecting to nature and land and a sense of freedom:
That’s why I like nature walks. When we go on plant walks, everybody's free. We’re not discriminating. The plants are beautiful things, and your mind is free…so even the girl dog, she made herself a hole by the water under a tree, and she hides there like it’s her safe place. And then she watches the water, and she can see if any boats are coming. It’s her spot. It’s interesting how she found a spot where she can relax. (LLRIB_6)
Some participants connected dogs and living alongside them to a sense of or experiences of freedom. In particular, one individual related living alongside dogs in a traditional manner to the good times her family experienced before being exposed to colonial violence:
But I still know my dad’s dogs. I still know the names. I still can see them in my mind. I can still see my dad working with his dogs because there was a time, there was a form of freedom. And […] things were so much better.
Animal Emotional Wellbeing
The emotional wellbeing of dogs was considered an important element of emotional relational health with humans, and some participants believed that an emotionally healthy dog was indicative of a healthy relationship with humans:
To me, a healthy dog should…also be happy with their owner. (Youth_S.N.)
Good Dog Ownership
The question is ‘what is a good home and who gets to decide’?
[Ch4., Pg.21]
The concept of ‘good’ dog ownership is often dictated by the normative relationships between dogs and humans in Canadian society, which is based on human dominion over dogs and a sense of inter-species ownership (Faver, 2013). This type of ‘power-over’ relationship pre-judges the position of dogs in the relationship as one of service to the human counterparts, and minimizes the inherent value of dogs themselves, and dogs’ ability to determine whether and how they wish to be in relationship with humans.
[Ch4., Pg. 47]
I mean, there [are] people that leave their dogs in the kennel for eight or ten hours a day, and think that’s totally fine, while having sled dogs is not fine. So it’s - then it’s the question, where do you see the dog? What is important in the dog’s life?
Relational Value of Dogs
…Number two, I view myself as the alpha male of this pack. They’re a pack animal, and so I have to fit into their way of thinking and being. So that means I can’t make them fit into me, the way humans are, because that’s not how they are. What I need to do is fit into the way they are, which means I become a pack member and I become the alpha male. So my job is, of course, to protect them, to feed them, you know, to look after them, to train them. And so that becomes my job.
Dogs as Element of Humanity
Understanding dog roles is critical, as it can improve the appreciation that service providers and decision makers have for the value of dogs in these communities, and the importance of fostering and maintaining dog-human relationships everywhere. This understanding can help to dismantle the belief that ‘owning a dog is a privilege and not a right’ (Quain, 2002) – a common adage amongst animal health and welfare professionals. This sentiment alludes to the idea that if people cannot provide for a dog’s needs, they should not have access to dog ownership.
[Ch4., Pg.1]
From a legal perspective, the relationship between dogs and humans is only regarded as one of ownership. Under Canadian law, animals are still considered property, regardless of the depth and importance of the relationship for many individuals, families and communities .
(Hunter & Brisbin, 2016)
In this research, the youth tended to communicate from a more dog-centric perspective, and recognized that if dogs are not getting what they need, they behave in socially unacceptable ways but that this is due to gaps in human caregiving:
It’s sad when I see a hungry dog because their owner doesn’t look after them. When I meet a mean dog, I think that it’s just because their owner made them like that.” (Youth_D.G.)
Youth Vet Goals
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Roaming Dogs are a 'Nuisance'
Dogs Only As Good
As Their Humans
This element of a traditional upbringing seemed to still inform the closer companionship relationships that participants have now with dogs, despite the roles of dogs changing:
I don’t really consider them pets – I consider them a pack, that I’m a part of their pack. With a clear understanding that I’m the alpha male, and the alpha male’s job is to protect and look after the other pack members. (LLRIB_7)
