Canada Post strike could delay influencer pup’s holiday cards

Christmas cards are a cherished annual tradition for Percy. He sends out dozens of them every year — more than 70 last Christmas, each with a personalized message.

But this year, things might be a little different. With the Canada Post strike stretching into its second week, Percy’s dad isn’t sure when he’ll be able to get all those cards in the mail, or whether they’ll reach their destinations by Dec. 25.

Percy isn’t worried, though. “Cards might be delayed, but that’s okay!” he posted online recently. “Everypawdy who wants a card will get a card. That’s the Percy Promise^TM!”

Percy is a nine-year-old golden doodle with 33,000 followers on Instagram. Percy’s dad is Adam Barrett, a creative content lead at a marketing agency in Halifax who moonlights as a stage parent for his celebrity pup.

Barrett launched Percy’s Instagram account the day he got him, when Percy was just eight weeks old. For years, he posted on his dog’s behalf every day, cultivating a devoted following with photos and jokey, earnest captions written in Percy’s voice. Sometimes the posts feature his other dog and cat, Dolly and Herbie. But Percy, 85 pounds of blond curls sporting a bandana, is the star of the show.

Lately, Barrett has been scaling back on social media, but the Christmas card tradition, which began four years ago, is still going strong. Every year around Halloween, Percy sends out an invitation to his legions of fans. “Do you want a pawliday card from me and Dolly and Herbie this year?” he posted earlier this month. “Let me know in the comments below!”

Barrett sent out 72 cards last year to Percy’s followers (some human, some canine), and has plans for a similar number this year. Some go to folks in Halifax, but others go to followers all over the world, in Germany and El Salvador and Australia.

“Sometimes when I sit back and think about the idea that I pretend to be a dog on the internet and I send cards to people all over the world every holiday season, I just kind of take a deep breath and think that life has taken some strange turns,” he said in an interview.

This season’s card, designed by a friend, is an homage to the holiday comedy Home Alone, with Percy as a shaggier Macaulay Culkin. In years past, the cards have paid tribute to other popular holiday movies, A Nightmare Before Christmas, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and A Christmas Story.

Barrett said he personalizes the messages as much as he can. He’ll put on a Christmas movie, sit down and bang them out over a couple of nights, and send them out in early December.

This year, though, Barrett doesn’t know when he’ll get the cards out the door. He supports the 55,000 Canada Post workers who walked off the job on Nov. 15 — so does Percy — but he said he may deliver cards to local friends and followers in person if the strike continues.

He might also send out digital cards to people who want them, he said, though he would rather not. “I like getting mail and giving mail,” he said. “I think that’s sort of a lost art or lost joy.”

So this year, Percy’s long-distance followers may not get their Christmas cards until sometime after the holidays. But Barrett said there might be an upside to the extra wait, if it comes to that. “You know what it’s like … in mid-February,” he said. “And so it’s nice to get those cards a little later. It sort of gives you a little boost in the middle of the winter.”

Barrett doesn’t make any money off the Christmas cards, and the printing and postage aren’t cheap. But he said the tradition makes him feel connected to other people.

“I’m never going to be the prime minister of the country. I’m never going to be the leader of a company, or a president of something, or the CEO of anything,” he said. “I’m just a small-time guy on the East Coast of Canada. But I get to bring a little joy to people all over the world.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2024.

Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press