Anthology of short stories and poems by authors of the Whidbey Writers Group

Write Around Whidbey

Literature & Fiction

Group, Whidbey Writer's

Bland, Barb

Brunjes, Pat

Carnahan, Carol

Erickson, Kaye

Fulle, Suzanne

Johnston, Miko

Labuhn, Gordon

McNeff, Mike

Nunn, Nasus

United States

Whidbey Writers Group Press

When animal shelter volunteer Barb Bland chose to work with Lab-Border Collie mix Pikachu at the WAIF minimal-kill facility, little did she know she was about to dedicate the next four action-packed years to the hard work of love in order to transform him into a confident, loyal house pet. Smart and sweet, Pikachu, (whose litter was named for Pokemon characters) was untrained and unsocialized, shy and fearful – a throwaway dog, an escape artist and a runner. Within twenty-four hours after his first adoption, he jumped the fence and escaped into the deep forests of Whidbey Island, Washington, where he spent the next five months of his first year on his own. Though terrified of people, Piki loved and trusted other dogs. And that trust was largely the key to Barb finally catching Piki in the wild. But catching him was only half the battle! While Piki languished once again at the animal shelter, hiding from prospective adopters, Barb had to reconcile upsetting her other pets and her husband, (whom Piki feared, as he feared all men), and their peaceful family life before she could introduce Piki to her home. It took the next three years of frequently funny ups-and-downs to teach Piki how to successfully conform to human expectations. The difficult dilemmas of problem solving gradually yielded to the rewards of a special lifelong love. Barb also relates the development of Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation (WAIF), one of the first minimal-kill animal shelters in North America,in which she participated in personally. If Whidbey’s animal shelter had still been a typical “five days and out” shelter – many of which still exist – Piki and his littermates would have been killed within a week of their surrender as puppies. But because of WAIF’s ground-breaking efforts, Piki was able to stay at this safe haven as long as it took to find his first owner and again after his capture until Barb took him into her home. Anyone who values the unbreakable bond between dog and caretaker will find enjoyable reading in this dog’s story that changed both Piki and Barb’s lives. Barb plans to contribute proceeds from the sale of Running Free to the construction and support of WAIF’s new animal shelter being built now.

Running Free

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Pets & Animal Care

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

This book is an anthology of short stories and poems by authors living on Whidbey Island, Washington. The focus is on famous or popular landmarks on the island.

Whidbey Landmarks: Stories and Poems from Whidbey Island

Wilson, Bill

Wright, Jan

Mackaman, Audrey

Rector, Avis

Read, Dorothy

Ortgies, Sandra McGillivray

Rothboeck, Karen

Whidbey Writers Group, LLC

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bland, Barb. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Bland, Barb