The love of having/raising a giant dog inspired Celene Collison’s first-ever children’s book.
Phoebe Bear if You Dare is Collison’s “passion project" but the genesis of the book, published in June, goes back to almost 20 years ago when she and her husband saw something that would, years later, influence their life choices.
Collison's vividly recollects seeing two large male dogs, weighing about 200 pounds each — “peaceful, majestic and kind of magical.”
“They just really left an impression on us. And we both said at the time: ‘If we can ever have a dog like that, that's the dog’.”
The ginormous pooches that they saw that particular day were Irish Wolfhounds — one of the oldest and tallest breeds that were used to hunt wolves in Ireland back in the day. According to the book Irish Wolfhound by Alice Kane, they were considered prized possessions and were exchanged as gifts in ancient Rome (~400 AD).
Fast forward to about six years ago: Celene and her husband now had two children, six and 11 years old — and were ready to get a family dog.
They liked one particular puppy out of a litter that their breeder in Courtenay on Vancouver Island showed them. “I remember the breeder saying to us, ‘Oh, are you sure you want her? She is the most mischievous of the litter. She's the one that climbed out of the whelping box when she was four weeks old’.”
But Collison and her husband had made up their mind; they wanted that specific pupper.
Only, they had no idea how the little one was about to transform their lives.
Understanding an Irish Wolfhound
“The first year was extraordinarily difficult,” she said. “I definitely felt like we bit off more than we could chew. We had a trainer for a full year. Phoebe was a little bit of a terror; quite funny, though.”
Until they brought her home, the couple didn’t know that Irish Wolfhounds couldn't do steep stairs. “So we had to build a wheelchair ramp off the back deck.”
In just a matter of months, Phoebe outgrew Collison’s Nissan X-Trail.
”She got to the top of the car on a telescopic dog ramp because it's like loading a little pony into the car. And she would look at me with furrowed brow and go like, ‘I don't fit in here'.”
Collison ended up getting an old Land Rover that had more space for Phoebe.
She joined the Irish Wolfhound Canada Club to find a support group of other Irish Wolfhound owners, and learned that the breed is “more like a horse” in terms of its health.
“When you need a wolfhound X-rayed, it should be done with them standing. If you try and wrangle a wolfhound onto a veterinary table, it won't be fun.”
When Phoebe was teething, she ate a dozen pairs of shoes, forcing Collison to baby proof the shoe rack.
Later, when she was about a year old, she ate an entire sofa when Collison and her husband left her home and went out for dinner.
“She had a foam party in the living room; and looked just so guilty, like, ‘Oh, what have I done? Like, I'm so sorry I ate your sofa. But you left me in, what am I to do?’,” said Collison with a laugh.
“We thought we're past that point of destruction. But, no,” she added. The mischief continued.
Today, the 150-pound, six-year-old Phoebe reverses into Collison’s husband and sits on his lap — “like a human would sit on the sofa” — and demands a back rub, said Collison.
"She's done a lot of funny things over the years."
The making of the book
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Collison decided to make a note of all those funny moments in little post-it notes. Soon, she had a whole manuscript on Phoebe's adventures ready to be published.
“Dogs give so much to their families. And all they have is you,” said Collison. “They have so much to say with their body language. That's why I really enjoyed putting together the book.”
Collison has been busy promoting the book that though written from Phoebe's perspective; is a true story of how living with a giant dog (an Irish Wolfhound can be as tall as seven feet when on its hind legs) is like.
She did several readings in New West schools, gave away about 100 books to family and friends, and is already pondering the idea of a second volume.
According to Collison, who has a background in marketing management, what's funny is that, “10 years ago, I would have been like, ‘There's no way I'm writing a book.’ But I think it sparked out of really just loving having a giant dog.”
“She's really quite a special girl.”
‘Phoebe Bear if you Dare’ is available on 12 distributing websites including Chapters Indigo and Amazon, among others. You can meet with Celene Collison and grab a copy at the New West Craft Holiday Market at the River Market this Saturday, Dec. 17, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
