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Enjoying The Long Evenings

Sarah · July 14, 2013 ·

For fun we enjoy the evenings that carry on and on. The sun never sets the sky just fades a little. On days like this it is easy to fall in love with Seward. The weather has been great this year but recently hasn’t been able to make up it’s mind about what to do. We’ve had lots of interesting cloud formations hanging in the sky.

The best part of the day has been when they end like these in fun water-colored skies. We relax by making campfires and hanging out on the beach or bbqing in our yard with the dogs. You think that they would get noisy with people coming over or with the smell of steak sizzling on the grill but they never do. Our dogs are quiet because they are happy and loved. We let the puppies run around while we cook and that will stir up commotion but only for a little while.

The bugs have been the only bad thing about all the warm weather. They come in thick, heavy swarms and will suck you dry in minutes. Still, I think it’s a relatively small price to pay to enjoy such wonderful scenery and good times with our friends.

When the people go and the sun fades a little more, we return inside. I know fall training is right around the corner because Travis has been ending his days with Iditarod movies. We are itching for cooler temperatures so that we can run the dogs further and further and start in on training a competitive team for this year’s racing circuit. Still, those temperatures are still a month and a half away and we are enjoying what we are doing now. Our tours keep us busy but happy.

I don’t think it could get any better: working with dogs, sharing our passion, and seeing people’s faces light up in delight.

We are still amazed how every new day brings us something new to smile about and enjoy.

Changing Weather

Sarah · October 23, 2012 ·

It’s been cold out. When you walk outside in the morning the cold air hits you like a slap in the face. It’s a great way to wake up. We’ve been slowly building the mileage up on the dogs. They’re back to doing 20 mile runs again. You can tell they’re happy to be running further but our lack of trails means we are simply doing more and more loops of the same. We tried venturing out onto some of our old training trails early this week only to discover how badly they’d been hit. The soft, small gravel that once graced these paths was swept away and replaced by large rocks that are not good for dog feet or dog wrists.

So, with that, we decided to pack the dogs up and head twenty minutes down the road to another set trails. Unfortunately, when we got there, we discovered the same thing: wash out. It was a little demoralizing to say the least. On the drive home, the clutch on our truck went out. It seems like its just been one misadventure after another or as they say: when it rains, it pours. While we’ve seen our fair share of rain, I’m happy to report that we’ve had beautiful, glorious sun shine for almost two weeks now. The cold is good for that.

Turning Heads Kennel travels down Old Exit Glacier Road as a part of Fall Training

The winds have been picking up slowly too. We wake to snow covered peaks then watch, slowly, as the snow gets blown from the mountain tops. The dogs are happy in their houses, safe out of the wind, their own howls muffled by mother natures’. When we’ve run the dogs, we’ve been tremendously impressed by the cadence and rhythm of the team. They move with grace, style, and ease. We’re happy at their progress, not only in terms of miles covered but also in how they’ve become their own unit. They are a team.

Watching their gate, the subtle movements of their legs and hips and shoulders all in unison, it’s easy to get lost in the moment. On a dog team is a very peaceful place. As we pass the trees with their shriveled leaves, it’s hard not to think of all that’s happened this last year. Fall has always seemed to be a natural time for reflection for me. The stark change between summer and winter begins settling in, and it’s impossible not to reflect on all that’s happened, as you see the myriad changes unfold before your eyes.

Last October was such a pivotal month. Humbling, really. It’s hard to forget the things that bring you to your knees. The dogs who made you, who changed you, and who inevitably had to leave you. It’s impossible to forget the dogs who got you to where you are today, so we’ve been thinking a lot lately about both Hatchet and Chena who passed away almost a year ago. Even though we are in a completely new home and have a completely new dog lot, it’s still strange not seeing them here. They would have loved calling this place home. I don’t think the pain of losing someone whether it be a person or pet, ever truly goes away, but I do think that time can wash over it, dulling it a little. We’ve found new things to pour our hearts into: new dogs to love on and who loves us, but there are always little reminders — like the pictures we print and display or the paw print you so desperately cling to. I like to think that each dog changes us, whether you have one dog or forty of them, and when you lose that dog a part of you changes

We’ve come so far since last year. It’s hard not to be proud of our dogs or ourselves. We moved. I started my qualifiers for Iditarod and Travis finished his. We bought a house. We started a business. We reclaimed our back yard. We built a dog yard. Travis signed up for Iditarod. We built a gift shop. We built a garden. We did many, many dog tours over the summer. We built a bunch of brand new dog houses and then painted them whacky, fun colors. We had 3 (thankfully small!) litters of wonderful puppies. We flooded. With help, we built a new dog yard. We made new friends. We are rebuilding our basement. We are rebuilding our giftshop. We signed up for several dog races. We went to a tourism conference. We are conquering the obstacles that are in front of us. We are working hard. We are going places.

Max enjoys taking a hike with Sarah earlier in the week

Goodbye Antie!

Sarah · September 14, 2012 ·

We regret to say that on September 5th, our beloved Antie passed away. Antie was 17 years old and had a fighting spirit until the bitter end. Those who visited our kennel this summer, saw her teetering around the dog yard and a privileged few actually got to see her run. No, we didn’t hook her up to the team but Antie got to run loose in our dog yard and when she was feeling spunky she would run out with the team. On one occasion, she even passed the team.

“She ran by the team,” Travis told me after one of his runs, “and then she slowed down and ran in front of the leaders, like she was leading the team in single lead just like she used to.”

When Travis first started running dogs, Antie along with a miniature cocker spaniel named Chewbacca led him around the neighborhood on a red flyer radio wagon. You can only imagine the adventures they had together.

Antie was the mama-dog of the yard and enjoyed “doing her rounds.” Often times we’d see her pacing the dog lot, visiting each dog. Her favorite was a large male named Pilot who seems to be the dog everyone else in the yard looks up to. In the winter, despite having her own house, Antie would crawl into Pilot’s house and they’d stay warm together. No matter how hard we tried to get her to come inside and be a house dog, she just wouldn’t do it. She was a true sled dog.

It’s been strange not seeing her face in the dog yard — Not having her follow us while we feed, not having her bark with the team pacing up and down the line like a coach or a cheerleader, not having her curious, independent spirit watch us as we move about the dog yard.

Rest in peace old lady! Your strength of spirit and will to live will never be forgotten. You were a great friend and a true inspiration.

A Day in The Life of Our Kennel

Sarah · September 5, 2012 ·

This Article appeared in the August 29th Edition of the Seward Journal

The last two weeks have been jam-packed here at Turning Heads Kennel. Our puppies continue to grow, the leaves have, it seems started to turn, and the cold wind that signifies summers end has begun to blow again. On the rainier nights, we’ve begun taking our teams out on longer runs. They’ve enjoyed stretching their legs and seeing new terrain.

Our mornings start early. We wake to wagging tails and barks of enthusiasm as soon as we step out into the yard. Our oldest group of puppies, now five months old are let out of their pen first thing in the morning. They jump on us, happy to see us and then they tear across the dog yard to greet the big dogs, their excitement generally welcomed. We scoop the yard as the big puppies (there are 5 of them, 3 born in our kennel, 2 adopted, all boys: Max, Drew, Levi, Wrangler & Carhartt) wander and play with the dogs and, by the time we’re done, the puppies are generally ready to be corralled back to their pen.

Then, it’s feeding time. After feeding, we let the little puppies loose. The little puppies are now two months old and they are the sweetest little girls: Pinky, Brain, Pickles, and Porkchop. On nice days and days when we aren’t overly busy, we take them for a walk around our property letting them take in the sights and smells of Alaska’s foliage. The devil’s club and firewood are far taller than our young pups, but they run into it without hesitation chewing on leaves and branches as they go. It’s easy to tell where they’ve been in our yard as the vegetation has

been trampled. Our once beautiful flowerbeds full of daisies and forget-me-nots hang closer to the earth than they once did from all the puppy feet who have run over them, but it’s well worth it. Our puppies are happy, eager, confident, and fearless.

Once the girls are back in their kennel, we play with our newest additions, who recently turned a month old. It was a small litter — just one male and one female. We hadn’t had much luck with names until one of our guests suggested Bonnie and Clyde. It stuck. Though they’ve only taken to walking and wandering recently, we can already see their personalities begin to develop. Bonnie eagerly greets any new person, challenge, or dog headed her way. Clyde is slightly more reserved. We continue to work with both and are happy to see that with love and time, Clyde is continuing to come out of his shell.

When morning chores are done and everybody has been fed and played with for the day, tours begin for the day. There are always little projects to do throughout when we don’t have guests: building houses, raking gravel, scooping the yard, and then scooping it again. Time passes quickly and before we know it, the sun is going down and it’s time to feed the dogs again. If we’re lucky, and we have been, the weather is cool enough to run and we take a team out to train. Even after a full day of tours, they want to run and see new land. Somewhere in there, we find time for ourselves: time to eat, time to do a load of laundry, but not much. We go to sleep tired and wake up eagerly, like the dogs, to do it all over again.

Garden Relocation

Sarah · August 13, 2012 ·

Due to some work we have to have done around the house, we spent much of yesterday moving our garden. The only trouble was we had differeing opinions on where it should got. We ended up going with the easiest solution: a garden bed that was not in use. The bed sits at the end of driveway and will be a beautiful greeting for guests who have come for a dogsled ride to our home in Seward. We hope all the flowers survive their transition.

The other benefit of the new location? Fewer puppies will go romping through it! For whatever reason, the old spot right next to our front door seemed to be a puppy highway. We love the new spot and feel that guests coming for our summer dog sled tour will enjoy being greeted by our cheery flowers.