Pauliina Saarinen Photography

06/04/2026

Four weeks, $24,316 raised, and a nail-biting finish — here are your winners:

Congratulations Ginnie, Russell, Kayla, Chloe, Bee, Kona, Ember, Cruz, Gwynn, Ole', Rumi and Baxter & Rufus!
Your 2027 is guaranteed to be brighter with these wonderful faces adorning your walls. I'll be photographing the winners for the calendar. Can't wait!

A huge thank you to competitors, voters, donors and sponsors! Your contribution is very much valued.

See the standings at contest end here: https://www.gogophotocontest.com/freedompawscanada

Freedom Paws Canada

I'll make a separate post about the winners and their prizes.

05/29/2026

My latest newsletter announcing Week 3 winners and Week 4 prizes is out! https://pauliina-saarinen-photography.kit.com
I'll make separate posts about our latest winners and upcoming prizes here soon but you'll get the news earlier by reading the newsletter.

I'm a professional photographer, specializing in pets. In my emails I love to talk about pets and animals, share the latest news and surprise you with special offers. Subscribe and join over 1,000+ newsletter readers! I treat your email like dessert and will never share it with anyone!

05/29/2026

The final week of the Vancouver Island Dogs 2027 Calendar Contest is running! You have until May 31st, 9PM to make sure your favourite contestant is in the lead to win these amazing prizes. Once the clock strikes zero 21:59:59 on Sunday night, we know who the Grand Prize winner and the 11 Dogs of the Month are! The 12 Winners will be photographed by me https://pauliinasaarinen.com for the calendar, which will be available for purchase from the charity in the fall.

There's still time to enter your dog to win! To enter, cast votes, or to reserve a calendar date, visit the contest site at: https://www.gogophotocontest.com/freedompawscanada

The prizes in the overall contest are:

The GRAND PRIZE Winner (the dog with the highest number of votes overall)

- The Cover AND A Dog of the Month image in the Vancouver Island Dogs 2027 Calendar
- A 2-night stay in a Main Floor Triplex Cabin at Middle Beach Lodge in Tofino,
- 3-MONTH SUPPLY (3 bags) of Canadian Naturals dog food (your choice of recipes and bag sizes)
- A basket of assorted treats from Fresh Fetch

The 2nd Place Winner

- The Dog of the Month image in the Vancouver Island Dogs 2027 Calendar,
- 1-night stay in a Fairmont City View Room at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria
- A bag of Canadian Naturals dog food (your choice of recipe and bag size)

The 3rd Place Winner

- The Dog of the Month image in the Vancouver Island Dogs 2027 Calendar,
- A Prince of Whales Whale Watching sunset adventure for Two aboard Salish Sea Eclipse Catamaran (departure from Victoria)
- A bag of Canadian Naturals dog food (your choice of recipes and bag size)

The 4th- 12th Place Winners

- The Dog of the Month image in the Vancouver Island Dogs 2027 Calendar.
- A bag of Canadian Naturals dog food (your choice of recipes and bag size)

In addition, we have the following local prizes available for winners for Greater Victoria, West Shore, Comox Valley, Nanaimo, Cowichan Valley, Parksville-Qualicum, Ladysmith and Sooke.

A huge thank you to all the businesses who made these amazing prizes available. We couldn't do this without you!

(Facebook doesn't allow me to link all the businesses here but I have tagged you in the photographs attached to this post.)

Good luck in the contest!

05/29/2026

Here come the winners in Week 3 of the contest. Congratulations Ginnie, Kona, Coby, Ole', Chloe, Karma & Kodak and Cruz! We have notified the the winners as well as the businesses who donated the prize. You can arrange to pick up your prizes! Again, huge congratulations, Week 3 winners! 🏆

A heartfelt thank you to the businesses who donated these prizes. This wouldn't happen without you!

Grandpaw's Treats
Paws on Cook
Rascals Pet Market
Buckerfield's Langford
Pawsitive Dogwalking
Bosley's by Pet Valu
Buckerfield's Nanaimo
Buckerfield's Duncan
Woofy's at Willow Point
Bosley's Ladysmith
Sooke Bosley’s

All proceeds from this contest and calendar sales will go to Freedom Paws Canada Service Dog Program.

05/24/2026

It's Week 4, the final week of the contest! I sent my latest newsletter announcing Week 3 Winners and Week 4 prizes today. You can read it here: https://ckarchive.com/b/zlughnhkvzo0zb7qrr9qehwl4n5vru6h7mker

05/20/2026

Week 3 is running right now. You have until Friday, May 22nd, 8:59:59AM to put some votes in for your favourite contestant.

In Week 3 we have more fantastic prizes for your dogs to compete for. This week's prizes were generously donated by

Grandpaw's Treats
Paws on Cook
Rascals Pet Market
Buckerfield's Langford
Pawsitive Dogwalking
Bosley's by Pet Valu
Buckerfield's Nanaimo
Buckerfield's Duncan
Woofy's in Willow Point
Bosley's Ladysmith
Sooke Bosley’s

Thank you very much for your generosity! We appreciate your support very much.

To enter the contest, submit a photograph of your dog with a $10 donation and start collecting votes for your favourite contestant to win. Votes are $1/vote, $5 minimum. All proceeds from this contest will go to Freedom Paws Canada Service Dog Program.

Visit the contest site here: https://www.gogophotocontest.com/freedompawscanada

Good luck!

05/11/2026

This is Oakley, one of the 12 winners in last year's Vancouver Island Dogs Calendar Contest. To capture his calendar image, we headed up Mount Washington to catch the last rays before the sun dipped behind the mountains.

This year's calendar contest is running right now through May 31st. It's currently in Week 2. We have fantastic prizes for you to win again this week. Go to https://gogophotocontest.com/freedompawscanada for more information and to enter your dog in the contest. All proceeds from this contest go to service dog program. Thank you to our generous prize sponsors in Week 2. We couldn't do this without you!

05/11/2026

UPDATE: Here are the Week 2 Winners! 🥳 Congratulations Russell from Comox, Ginnie from Victoria and Opal from North Cowichan! We didn't have any new votes from the West Shore, Nanaimo, Ladysmith and Sooke so the prizes are up for competition again this week.

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It's Week 2 of the contest! You have until Friday, May 15th at 8:59:59 AM to add some fresh votes for your favourite contestant! Check out these fantastic prizes that are up for competition this week.

A HUGE thank you to our generous sponsors 🙏:

Malahat Skywalk
Canine Car Care
Paw Space Pet Boutique
Buckerfield's Langford, Nanaimo
Woofy's Courtenay
Pawsitive Dogwalking
Bosley's Mill Bay
Bosley's Ladysmith
Sooke Bosley’s

All proceeds from this contest go to Freedom Paws Canada Service Dog Program.

Please help spread the news about the contest by tagging your dog owning friends in the comments and sharing the contest link with people.

https://www.gogophotocontest.com/freedompawscanada

05/06/2026

UPDATE:
We have our first winners! Congratulations to Ginnie from Victoria, Bee from Comox Valley, Ellie & Beans from Shawnigan Lake and Ronnie from Nanaimo! Check your emails for a message from us.

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We are over half way through Week 1 of the contest! Enter your dog to win some of these wonderful prizes that

The Butchart Gardens
Otterandemma
VCA Canada Feltham Animal Hospital
Hot Chocolates
Pawsitive Dogwalking
Bosley's by Pet Valu fifth st
Bosley's Duncan

have generously donated. See you in the contest!

WEEK ONE ends on Friday, May 8th at 8:59:59AM.

Please share this post to spread the news about the fundraiser for Freedom Paws Canada

04/30/2026

Tomorrow is the day! The Vancouver Island Dogs 2027 Calendar Contest officially launches May 1st and I could not be more excited. This goodness started back in 2021, so it holds a really special place for me.

All proceeds from the contest go to Freedom Paws Canada, a local organization that trains and certifies service dogs for Vancouver Islanders living with disabilities. They do genuinely important work for our community and I'm so happy to be helping raise funds for them again this year.

So here's how it works. You submit a photo of your dog with a $10 entry donation, and then rally your people to vote for your favourite entrant (votes are $1 each, minimum $5). The top 12 dogs win a spot in the 2027 Vancouver Island Dogs Calendar and other incredible prizes.

In addition, there are weekly prizes throughout the whole month for all participants. We also have local prizes for different communities across the island, so no matter where you and your dog call home, there's something to compete for.

The contest is open to Vancouver Island dogs only, so this is really a celebration of our island and the dogs that make it so great.

You can enter and find all the details here: https://www.gogophotocontest.com/freedompawscanada

Feel free to share this with any Vancouver Island dog owners you know. The more the merrier, and every entry goes toward an amazing cause!