SAANICH – Carrie realized she was a 'cat person' at a young age. She shows me a picture of herself as a girl from around the time she got her first pet. "I love cats," she recalls thinking. "Cats are awesome!"
When she grew older, Carrie created cat comics, before painting cat portraits. "I eventually shacked-up with a fellow."
Carrie recalls her boyfriend at the time suggesting they get a dog. "And I was like, 'A dog? Curious. Why not? Sure."
When the human relationship inevitably ended, Carrie demanded full custody of the pup. "I'm leaving you," she recalls with a laugh. "And I'm taking the dog!"
Carrie is now a dog person. "Dogs," she proclaims. "Now that's a pet!"
He current pup is named Guess. She's curled up on the couch sleeping, no doubt dreaming about sticks. Perhaps about the first time she went to a beach in Victoria covered with logs. "Her mind was blown that there could be so many sticks in one place," Carrie laughs. "She didn't know where to start!"
The little rat terrier has had a thing for big sticks ever since.
"Everyone will comment 'Wow! That's amazing!' – 'Look at the huge stick!,'" Carrie says. "And I'm like, 'You have no idea. That’s nothing!'"
So Carrie started capturing video of Guess carrying sticks. They show the tiny dog carrying sticks in her mouth that are as long as an adult.
Carrie started editing the videos with custom-title sequences and professional soundtracks composed by a friend. She posted them on social media titled "Guess with Sticks."
Over the course of 112 short episodes, you see the inevitable ups and downs of a little dog pursuing her big dream. They document her search the perfect stick, attempt to life it with her mouth, and navigate it home along often too-narrow paths.
"She used to really struggle with large sticks when she was smaller," Carrie says of the evolution of the videos. "Now she can carry a pretty hefty stick."
She can do what Carrie's cats never could, and what Carrie herself never would. "My own personal motto, I got from the B.C. Lotto Corporation, 'Know your Limits Play Within It,'" she laughs. "I'm actually not that interested in striving."
Guess couldn't be more different. Perhaps that's why the most compelling videos are not the episodes when Guess succeeds to life a log, but the ones that show she never fails to try.
"She's inspiring, and cute, and funny" Carrie says. "It’s just something that I get joy from watching every day. It's something that seems to bring joy to people."
