Dog of the Week

We heard the same thing over and over again this summer from our glacier guides. 

Penny is lazy.

Penny doesn’t pull.

You should find a home for Penny.

Travis wanted to find her a home. In fact, we had one lined up because the winter prior she had spent with our friends and had been a skijoring companion. On more than one occasion, they had told us if Penny didn’t work as a sled dog she was always welcome back with them.

But despite everyone saying she was lazy, I knew Penny. I also knew her mom, Fidget, had been lazy and unfocused when she was a young dog before sky rocketing herself into top-dog position.

She just needs time, I kept saying.

For a few weeks this fall, I wondered, however, if I had made a mistake. Still, I was determined. As a puppy, Penny and her litter mates had been some of the quirkiest dogs I’d ever raised. I loved them dearly for it. I knew she had it in her to succeed. It was never about her being lazy; it was about her being unable to focus on her job.

I will never forget bringing about 15 puppies inside to watch Harry Potter with me. Penny Lane always started the chorus of ferocious barking whenever Voldemort came on screen. She has always been a funny dog.

Now, it seems, she has finally matured. Like her mom, she’s discovered that one of her favorite places to be is at the front of the team. Like her mom, she has seamlessly mastered commands and appears to gain confidence with each run we go on. When not in lead, she jumps up and down almost non-stop with excitement. If the team is traveling too slow, she may just have to pop up and bark to show that yes she does want to be here.

She likes to bark at people and often hiwls when we pass other mushers. She has no problem with their dogs but feels she must announce herself to every human so they don’t try to get to close.

During the summer time, Penny did her fair share of sulking. Why are there so many people here? And, more likely, why must they insist on trying to get me to come out of my dog house?

She could be coaxed out by few which I always thought funny because this is a dog that thinks everything is fun. Everything, apparently, but meeting strangers.

Nonetheless she is working on her social skills as she continues to charge fearlessly down the trail.

Athena.  Her name could not be more fitting. This calm, even-tempered dog is much like the Greek goddess of war and wisdom she was named after. 

Athena has a can-do attitude and is always brimming with a quiet, excitement. She is always eager to put on her harness and get to work. Like the goddess of wisdom, she is quick to learn. She began leading this summer and although she doesn’t spend a tremendous amount of time in lead due to her age, she often runs in swing.

Athena is a consistent dog with a strong work ethic who is eager to please. What I love most about Athena is how carefully she seems to interact with all of those around her, whether they be dog or human.

I am excited to see what the strong, capable dog will bring and am excited to have her as a member of my team!

Athena’s parents are XENA and BOSTON. Her full siblings are Check and Zeus. Her half siblings, through XENA, are Shark and Hoover.

When you name a dog Zeus, you set up a certain expectation for that dog. Zeus, king of the gods. Or, in our case, king of the dogs. Zeus turned a year old this June and he is an absolute beast.

What makes Zeus special? The fact that he is out of Iditarod champion ZENA and our own super-star BOSTON certainly helps. Zeus is beautifully gaited, loves to run, and even though he is only a year old we anticipate seeing him on our race squad.

Yes, he’s that good.

In the team, Zeus is all work. He hits the line hard and, impressively, is able to budge our cart completely on his own. He’s strong for a year old dog. When we stop to let the team cool down on our runs, Zeus is one of the first dogs to start the chorus to keep running. This is a strong indication, for us, that we will train him as a leader. His sister Athena has already run in lead for us several times and done excellent — but females generally mature quicker so we start working with them up front sooner.

What we love about Zeus is although he’s all work in the team when he’s back at his house or free running, he is nothing but a big goofball. Zeus loves people. He’s incredibly friendly and tries to meet every guest that visits our kennel. His piercing blue eyes often mean that visitors to our kennel want to come say hello to him and take his photo.

Thanks for your hard work Zeus! You are the future of our kennel.

If you told me last summer that Hoover would be running lead, I would have laughed at you. Hoover? In lead? No way! She barely pulled! To me, Hoover’s success this season just goes to show how putting time into our dogs and developing each of them individually has really paid off.

First of all, Hoover has great parents. Her mother XENA was a 3 time Iditarod Champion with Lance Mackey. Her dad, PILOT, was an incredible dog who always gave his everything. Great lineage is always a good indicator that a dog will be a good sled dog but it certainly doesn’t guarantee it. Pilot and Xena both led, so seeing Hoover lead really shouldn’t be a surprise, but it is.

And here’s why:

Last year, Hoover was a total flake in training. She would pull and look incredible and then she would stop pulling. She was a dog who habitually had to look around. While her teammates heads were focused on the trail ahead of them, Hoover was bobbing around looking side to side. She was, it often seemed, more interested in the scenery we were passing by and less interested in running.

We thought she was going to flunk out of Sled dog 101. “Maybe we should find her a pet home?” We talked about it on and off. She seemed like she had so much promise.

Why wasn’t this strong, happy female interested in pulling? Was she not having fun?

And then, it seemed, sometime Mid-May something clicked. We hooked Hoover up and she was running. Not just running either — she was pulling hard. Over the winter it seemed, our little catipillar had found her wings. 
 

She loved running. And, more importantly, she excelled at it. In early July I made the decision to hook her up with our tried and true lead dog Zema. Hoover took to the front flawlessly, following Zema’s lead.

Now, she’s run lead half-a-dozen times. Her time up front totals close to about an hour of running time and during that she’s probably had to respond to GEE or HAW nearly 70 times. She’s slowly starting to get it!

We are so excited to see this great dog starting to succeed. She and her sister SHARK will be doing some pretty amazing things for us. Their mom had quite the legacy, we are excited to see the legacy they will create for themselves!   

Thanks Hoover! We are glad to have such a quirky dog like you in our kennel.