Bridgett

This season, Bridgett Moore Watkins, Allen’s daughter, has become an indispensable member of the SP Kennel team. Bridgett grew up in Fairbanks, went to Arkansas to become an R.N., then returned to Alaska in late 2006. Bridgett and her husband, Scotty, settled in Nome, Alaska, on the Bering Sea. She works nights at the Norton Sound Regional Hospital and he is a personal banker with Wells Fargo Bank. Nome has become their home! However, since serious dog training began in September, Bridgett has been traveling to Two Rivers about every 3 to 4 weeks to assume dog care and training responsibilities for several days. To schedule this, she usually works 7 to 10 nights straight at the hospital. Yes, she is young and durable. At SP Kennel, Bridgett feeds dogs and cleans the dog yard. She helps with vaccinations, wormings and other vet care. She gathers, cleans and tests racing equipment. She exercises the puppies and takes senior racing dogs on long training runs. When it’s time to sleep, you can find her curled up in bed with Girlfriend and Stella. In mid January, Bridgett was Allen’s dog handler during the Copper Basin Sled Dog Race. For three days, she followed the race trail in 30 below zero temps, cleaning up at check points, caring for dropped dogs, updating the blog writers, cheering Allen and Aliy and dozing infrequently in the SP Kennel Ford F-350’s front seat. Her support was a big part of Allen’s Copper Basin win! On January 27 Bridgett got a ‘reward’ for all the hard work. She raced an SP Kennel team in the Tustumena 100! As a youngster she sprint raced in Fairbanks, but this was her very first distance race. We knew she would excel and she did. Bridgett finished 4th out of 16 teams. The following is a short photo essay of Bridgett’s activities during January 2008.