dogs

Where’s the Snow?

Sarah · December 12, 2012 ·

November seemed to come and go without any real excitement and, more importantly, without snow. It’s been cold the last few weeks but the skies have been mercilessly clear. Over the weekend we had our first snowfall. Unfortunately, it wasn’t significant and it rained after so Travis went north. At this point he’s spent more time in Knik training with fellow musher (and good friend) Wade Marrs than in Seward.

The Team out at Kenai Fjords National Park

I stayed in town and managed to put on about 70 miles on my team over the weekend and do some oddball projects. As we move into the heart of mushing season, we get less and less time to ourselves, to our families, and to each other so we’re doing all that we can now to make life simpler later on. Over the weekend I prepared a bunch of freezer meals for our crockpot. If you live in Seward and want to help the kennel out, this is a simple & cheap donation that makes our lives easier, healthier, and tastier. I made these meals for nights when we’re too busy or tired to cook. Simply thaw and throw in the crock pot. My type of cooking! I’ve started working on some pasta dishes — and no, I haven’t gotten around to making a lasagna yet — to bring up north with us when we train out of our friends house.

24 Buffalo Chicken Burritos ready for days when we're too busy to make lunch

I’ve also started making burritos. They’re good trail snacks and easy to eat one handed. We like every sort of burrito: breakfast, bean, chicken…they’re all delicious! I feel like I’m slowly winning the battle, but I’m not convinced that I’ve won the war just yet… Lots and lots more to do but slow progress is still progress.

The dog runs went well. It was our first trip out to Kenai Fjords National Park with the dogs and I was excited to get out there. They close the road to the park in the winter so people can mush, ski, and snowmachine out there. It’s such a beautiful place in the wintertime. We love seeing the mountains covered in snow and there is usually wildlife to be seen. We’re excited to do our first season of winter tours out there — what a beautiful place to share with our guests.

Travis took all the dogs contending for his Iditarod team with him North so I had mostly puppies and no real lead dogs. It made for an interesting run, especially because to get out to the park you have to carefully navigate the dogs through a gate about 3.5 feet wide — barely wide enough for my fourwheeler. I was impressed. We went out a total of 4 times and they did it flawlessly all but the first.

On my first run, I saw 5 moose including two bulls. When we see moose they’re almost always in the same spot: right by the park entrance. In heavy snow years they can present a problem but with so little snow they’re happy to stay away from the dogs and don’t try to hold there ground quite as much. We also ran into some cross country skiiers and the puppies on my team were terribly frightened by the strange humans with large feet. By the end of my trip, all but 1 dog had learned that the skiers didn’t present a threat. They all passed exceptionally well.

Travis did a similar trip up north with his dogs — though he camped out on the trail.He said the dogs did great but he was quite sick and is currently fighting the flu. Still, he went out and trained because that’s what is needed. “I only got real sick a couple of times,” he told me. He broke trail most of his run which made it tough for the dogs but was excellent training.

Everyone has got to grow up sometime, today it was their turn. Clyde (top left) Bonnie (Bottom Left) Brain (Top Right) & Pinky (Bottom Right)

Today, I tied the puppies up to their houses. It’s always bittersweet — it means they are growing up and becoming real sled dogs and losing that cute puppy charm. They whine and protest loudly at first, yanking on the end of their chains trying to get their collars to pop off their heads. Archie ran around while they were screaming and tried to calm them down. Today they were greeted by our neighbor, a large bald eagle who has made it a habit to come sit in our dog yard during the morning. His nest is in our yard and for the longest time we were afraid that our dogs would scare him away — but I think if anything, the dogs have become a source of entertainment for him and his young. He often sits and watches them and occasionally we leave a frozen fish out for him. You can bet he enjoys that.Today he came when the puppies started screaming and he started screaming back at them. It always interesting to watch different species interact and there was no doubt in mind that they were trying to communicate with one other. The puppies would whine, the eagle would screech and the puppies would whine back. On and on it went. Who knows what, if anything, they said to one another. The eagle’s son came and sat in the tree to for a while, though he was less vocal.

The last week we’ve been busy with events. On Wednesday we went to the Seward Elementary School and did a short Q&A on dog mushing. It was a blast. The Student Leadership Team, one of our sponsors, helped set it up. The team is composed of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders — they’ve been far too kind and it’s been great working with such a young, talented, enthusiastic, group of kids. They sure make us feel special and have been a wonderful sponsor to work with.

On Thursday we hosted a Family Night at the Seward Brewing Company. We played pin the booty to the dog, had dog mushing themed coloring, brought Archie and Bonnie to meet all the kids, and had hot cocoa. It was really fun to take a break from the lonesome dog trails and to get out and be a part of the Seward community. We feel really blessed to be part of such a wonderful town and we’re really happy to be able to do something for the kids.

Santa & Travis on The Green Machine. Photo Courtesy Of ASLC

The week before we delivered Santa Claus to the Alaska Sea Life Center’s Tree Lighting Ceremony. We drove the dogs through a parking lot (no obvious trail) and through a crowd of people. It went flawlessly. We were thrilled to see how well trained our lead dogs are. It’s quite impressive and I have to think that our summer dog sled tours really helped. Our tour is SO COOL because we use it as real training: our dogs are constantly listening to commands. We used it as an opportunity to fine tune their abilities and to train a few new leaders. We’d like to thank the Alaska SeaLife Center for sharing their photos with us and for letting us be a part of their holiday celebration. What a blast!

Ready To Go! Santa, his "Elf", and his "Reindeer." Photo courtesy of ASLC

In other news, our first race of the season, The Sheep Mountain 150, was cancelled yesterday due to lack of snow. While we are disappointed, we are not devastated. We have many other races to look forward to and are hoping that the snow will get here soon.

Well that’s it for now. We are looking for a few homes for some of our dogs who aren’t quite cut out for competitive mushing / life as a sled dog. If you are interested in adopting one of our dogs or know someone who may be interested, please email us at Info@TurningHeadsKennel.com All are friendly, good with kids, and are loved tremendously by us so we’d like to see them put in a good home. We’ll post more on this later with pictures and descriptions of the dogs but please keep us in mind if you know someone who is looking. These are AWESOME dogs.

Happy Trails.

Moe

Sarah · August 9, 2012 ·

Moe will be turning two years old in September and he holds a very special place in our heart. Travis got Moe as a young puppy and Moe spent most of youth inside. He’s a wonderful dog. When Travis and I were first getting to know each other, Moe was one of the first dogs I met. He came on many hikes with us. We once went for a walk out near Kenai Fjords National Park with him and Travis got very nervous because Moe wanted to go swimming.

“He doesn’t know how to swim,” Travis told me.
“It’s fine, all dogs know how to swim.” I said.

“You don’t know Moe,” he said.

I watched as Moe looked curiously at the river moving swiftly past his feet. He stuck his head in the water first and took a long drink and then plunged in after a large stick I threw for him. I was right. He didn’t sink, but swam gracefully back to shore.

Moe still enjoys the water and going for hikes but also enjoys romping around the yard with our other dogs. He’s done well in the team so far and we’re excited to have him trying out for our Iditarod team.

Moe received the “Dog of the Week” distinction for his wonderful attitude both in and out of harness. His happy-go-lucky attitude, his pretty boy charms, and his jovial spirt make him a guest favorite. He was also awarded this distinction for his skills as a drummer. Moe will often play with his dog bowl in the yard, jumping on it, pounding it — doing just about anything a dog can do really — to his bowl. His favorite game seems to be pushing the bowl around as quickly as he can throughout his entire circle without letting it get out of bounds (where he can’t reach). Travis and I often catch him at play and he must know we’re watching because he’ll always stop, stare at us as if saying “What? I’m having fun!” and then go back playing.

Age: Moe will be 2 in September.
Position: Team Dog
Interesting Fact: Moe has been swimming in Lost Lake! (Lost lake is at the top of a mountain just outside of Seward and is a rather long hike)
Relations in the Kennel: None.

When They Leave Us Behind…

Sarah · October 31, 2011 ·

We apologize for not updating sooner, but the end of October was not kind to us. We lost two dogs rather unexpectedly this past week and are still trying to recover.

Hatchet

Hatchet, was one of our mean lead dogs and spent the entire summer up in Anchorage keeping Travis company. He was an exceptionally friendly and intelligent dog. I remember one day this fall when it had been raining for several days straight, Travis and I went out into the dog yard to start digging ditches to clear some of the water. When we got to near Hatchet’s area, he took one look at what we were doing and, voracious digger that he was, he pitched in and helped out. He wasn’t digging just randomly either. He was an incredibly smart and talented dog who, on more than one occasion, walked leash-less in downtown Anchorage. All he needed was vocal commands.

Although he was primarily Travis’ leader, the few times I ran Hatchet up front I was nothing short of impressed. Travis had Hatchet since he was a puppy and, fortunately, we have several of his kids to remember him by: Larry, Curly, and Little Screamer. I will always remember how excited he was whenever he ran off leash or how excited he was simply to pull; Hatchet knew how to get the team moving. He will be terribly missed.

Chena

Chena was my pet dog. A ten-year old Siberian husky, she was incredibly devoted to me. To others, she was frustrating. Try as they might, Chena was difficult to befriend. She had an incredibly ambivalent attitude towards most people. A gentle-spirit, Chena was extremely shy, incredibly funny, and unbelievably loyal. I’ve never had a dog follow me around the way Chena would. My mother used to call her my lady-in-waiting. If I left a room, Chena would leave the room or if I stood up, she’d stand up. Simple things, but her love and devotion were evident. If I left her for the day, you’d never see a dog jump up and down with so much excitement upon my return — I will certainly miss that. I actually couldn’t even get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom without her following me to sit outside and, on more than one occasion, she simply barged her way in. She was a dog that knew what she wanted and often got it.

One time, Chena tried to eat my college diploma. She once ran around under the chairlift at Killington Ski Resort. When we went skiing, we used to tie her up outside and gosh, could she howl — we could here her from the mountain. She had two stuffed sheep that she liked to think were her puppies and that she’d do anything for. She walked into a lit fireplace, forcing us to coin the phrase “Chena-dumb.” But she was anything but stupid. She knew how to get what she wanted. She often felt like she needed to compete for my attention and, as a result, often didn’t warm up to the other people in my life. She routinely ran away when my parents watched her. She always barked like mad at my father. And, on more than one occasion, she tricked Travis out of bed simply to steal his spot and lie next to me. She is the only dog I’ve ever known to break into the pound and the only dog I’ve ever known who ran away from sheep. We used to live near a sheep farm when we were still in New England and I used to walk her out there. She’d sit and watch the sheep but, one day, her presence seemed to upset the flock and they started baahing. This terrified her. That dog high-tailed it out of there so fast I had no time to do anything about it; but I didn’t worry. I walked home and she was simply sitting on the front porch waiting to be let inside. She was incredible dog and moving forward will not be easy.

Saying Goodbye

The shock of losing both Hatchet and Chena within such a small span of time still doesn’t feel real. I still come home and open the door gingerly because Chena used to sit in front of it when I went out and, if I opened it too quickly, I’d hit her with it. I still look out at Hatchet’s house and expect to see him there — instead, there’s a young goofy looking pup because the sight of his house empty was simply too hard to see. Yesterday, putting away harnesses, we saw Hatchet’s harness and Chena’s. It’s the little reminders that they’re gone that are the painful ones. Not having to yell at Hatchet to line out when we first start hooking up or having to put him back on his house when we’re done with a run. Not hearing Chena barking with excitement because oh my god! it’s time to eat. It’s looking at Goblin and Gremlin who weren’t her puppies but whom she adopted anyways and protected from the other dogs.

Hatchet and Chena are buried next to one another in the back yard. To make things a little more bizarre, Chena was actually pregnant with Hatchet’s puppies. Unfortunately, the puppies did not survive — and Chena, who so desperately wanted to be a mother, I think died mostly of a broken heart. Although it by no means makes things easier, we take comfort knowing that Chena, Hatchet, and their puppies are together as a family in heaven.