After Teresa Cherpeta’s family adopted a rescue dog in the summer of 2017, her teenage daughter discovered on Instagram that another puppy in the Calgary area shared the same birthday.
The family had an idea: wouldn’t it be interesting to reunite their dog, Beaux, with all five of his surviving siblings?
“I never thought in my wildest dreams that we would actually find her,” Cherpeta said.
The search for the five siblings took years, but a community of dog owners emerged who support each other with dog sitting, play dates, and health information. One of the dogs was recently diagnosed with cancer.
An Instagram search
Cherpeta reached out to the puppy’s owner via social media, who her daughter had spotted on Instagram, and the first connection to one of Beaux’s siblings was made in August 2017.
Her name was Phoebe and she was also adopted by the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS). The organization does not publish information about who adopts dogs, but does indicate an animal’s birthday.
In just a few days, Beaux and Phoebe were in puppy training together. The two had to be separated because they couldn’t stop playing together.
The next connection was made months later, in October 2017, when Lauren Potocki and her dog, Jamieson, joined the herd.
The three dogs and their owners met at Calgary Dog Park.
“When we bring the dogs together, you immediately get this feeling of connection,” Potocki said.
The fourth connection came a few months later, in the summer of 2020, when Radley’s Edmonton-based owners spotted the sibling group on Instagram.
Radley’s Instagram account posted a message on one of the dog’s pages, which read, “I think I’m your brother.”
A mysterious letter
The group had been looking for the remaining two siblings by filtering searches for Instagram hashtags related to AARCS, the organization through which all six dogs were adopted.
Cherpeta also posted on the platform, telling Beaux’s Instagram followers that they knew there were two other puppies out there.
Then, in September 2022, an anonymous letter appeared in Cherpeta’s mailbox. She opened it and it contained the contact details of the other two owners.
“I was jumping around, I was super excited,” she said.
The letter had no return address, Cherpeta added, noting that she did not contact AARCS because the organization does not release information about where a dog’s littermates end up.
Almost immediately, Cherpeta reached out to the people in the letter and explained how she got their information.
It turned out that the owners of the last two dogs, Auggie and Ozzie, had already found each other on their own. Coincidentally, their children were in the same daycare.
On October 17, 2020, all six canine siblings were reunited for the first time.
“When the dogs see each other, there’s this immediate familiarity,” Potocki said.
“For me as a dog owner… being able to create a sense of community not only for us as owners but also for the dogs has been invaluable.”
The owners and their dogs get together in Calgary a few times a year, with Radley’s family traveling from Edmonton. Meetings are generally held at River Park Off Leash Dog Park or Southland Dog Park.
pack mentality
The families keep in touch and share photos via an Instagram group chat. They also help each other with dog sitting.
Health concerns have recently been discussed as Jamieson was diagnosed with lymphoma late last year.
“We just reached out to the other owners right away to let them know what we were going through,” Potocki said.
Other dogs in the group also had serious health concerns. Phoebe had cancer cells removed from her neck and Radley had a total hip replacement for severe hip dysplasia.
“It’s nice to be able to share the information, to know that the dogs are going through this,” Cherpeta said. “It’s also nice to be the support for the families and the dogs, knowing that we will help them in any way we can.”
For Cherpeta and her family, bringing together all of the dogs in Beaux’s litter was nothing short of life-changing.
“I’m going to reschedule my life to make sure I go to these sessions,” she said.
Potocki sees the fact that six families have the interest and willingness to network again and again through their adopted dogs as something rare that should be appreciated.
“We’re really lucky to have that in our lives,” she said.
