If you've ever wanted to howl at the moon with a pack of wolfdogs at night around Halloween, this Saturday is your chance.
The Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary in west Rocky View County is hosting their first ever Howling Halloween Thriller, open to anyone 18 and older from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 30. The event is quickly selling out, with about two-thirds of tickets already sold, according to Yamnuska fundraising and events manager Jessica Hynes.
Participants will have the chance to howl with all 35 of the sanctuary's wolfdogs, learn more about them, give them treats, and watch their behaviours change as the sun goes down in a series of events and enrichment activities.
"As night comes and it starts to get quieter at the sanctuary, the wolfdogs are definitely a lot more active, playing, flirting with each other and just really enjoying life," Hynes said, "You'll see a lot more action with the wolfdogs and really see their personalities and get to know them.
"It's very different than in the morning or in the afternoon, in daylight. Being able to see them after dark and really immerse themselves into their world of wolfdogs is fantastic."
The event includes a Halloween Howler Tour, Behind-the-Scenes Tour and a Spectacular Sanctuary Adventure. The Sanctuary Adventure costs $30 plus tax and still has lots of spots open, while the other two tours – which have limited capacities – are already sold-out.
The Halloween Howler Tour, which starts at 5:30 p.m., includes carving pumpkins to fill with hand-picked treats for the Engadine pack. Participants can watch the wolfdogs get into their pumpkins and interact with the treats which they might eat, try to steal from each other, bury or scent-roll on.
In the behind-the-scenes tour at 5:15 p.m., participants are given the opportunity to follow a guide around the sanctuary and learn more about wolfdog activities, their behaviours, enclosure set-ups and how they are fed.
The spectacular sanctuary adventure begins right at 5 p.m. and includes various enrichment activities for humans and wolfdogs alike.
"At 6:30, we're doing what we call a witch's brew with Enzo and Ruby, which is basically going to be giving them a scent to investigate and seeing if they roll in it, eat it, pee on it or ignore it," Hynes said. "It's really fun to guess what they're going to do. Then at 7 p.m. at the castle enclosure, which has Kasha and Horton — Horton is typically a fan favourite — we are going to be doing a pack howl, trying to get all of the wolfdogs to howl with us in the middle of the night."
Other activities include trick-or-treating with Lark and Ylva, a meeting with Mawko and a Halloween costume contest with prizes.
This time last year looked a bit different for the Yamnuska team, who travelled over 3,000 kilometres to rescue 10 wolfdogs and three huskies that were facing possible euthanasia in an animal cruelty investigation.
Through one of their latest fundraising campaigns, the sanctuary was able to raise enough money to build four more enclosures to house the new wolfdogs, the last of which is being built currently.
Hynes said that Nukka, Eska, Juneau, Arrluk, Meeka, Laika, Summit, Atka, Sitka and Merlin are settling into their new home and have started to come out of their shells.
"We're really getting to know their personalities and they're really bonding and connecting with each other and finding their person that they really enjoy having around," she said. "They're becoming really well-adjusted and showing a lot more confidence from day one to now There were some that we couldn't find in their enclosures at the beginning, they were so scared. Now they're like front and centre showing off to guests, enjoying life and all the space they have."
To purchase tickets for the Howling Halloween Thriller's Spectacular Sanctuary Adventure and to support the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary, click here.
