We conclude “Ron’s Ride” with Aliy talking about the development of sled dogs and considerations for which dogs will become SP Kennel racers and which will be given away as pets or “recreational” sled dogs. She continues with some commentary about how dogs learn from each other, then concludes with … Read More
We continue “Ron’s Ride” with Aliy talking about lead dogs, their qualities and the differences between them. She goes on to talk about the amazing capabilities of sled dogs and her view of the misunderstanding between people who don’t really know the dogs and those who do. Many thanks to … Read More
While driving back to the Kennel from the blood tests & EKGs, I was merging onto the local highway and noticed that traffic was stopped in both directions. The reason was because these two moose were crossing the highway. Just another little slice of Alaskan Life!
Despite what you may hear from rumor mongers among so-called “animal activists” and some sensationalists in the media, the well-being of the dogs is the paramount consideration in sled dog racing. This is true of everyone involved in the sport. Way beyond the fact that mushers know a dog who … Read More
As “Ron’s Ride” continues, we pick up with Aliy describing typical musher activities at an Iditarod checkpoint. She then does an inspection of the team and provides an extremely interesting and informative narration. Many thanks, again, to my friend Ron for this fantastic footage! (Note: Ron is exclusively a still … Read More
We’ve spent a few days looking at “Logistics” preparation for the Iditarod, so let’s turn our attention back to “Training.” One of the trickiest things I’ve noticed about what Aliy and Allen have to do in training preparation for the Iditarod is getting all the dogs “in-sync.” In other words, … Read More
As you recently heard Dr. Mike Davis say, there’s been a lot of scientific research on how much energy sled dogs burn during the Iditarod, and the numbers are consistently in the 10,000-12,000 calories per day range. That is a huge number of calories, and it helps explain the massive … Read More
Yesterday I gave you a “detailed” view of some of what goes into an Iditarod Checkpoint Drop Bag. Today I want to give you a bit of a “bigger picture” view. After several days cutting about 900 pounds of meat — fish, beef, horse, turkey skins, lamb, beaver, etc. — … Read More
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race is such a huge event in the annual cycle here at SP Kennel that it cannot be over-emphasized how much effort goes into preparing for it. As I recently mentioned, there are two basic “sides” to Iditarod preparation — “Training” and “Logistics” — and both … Read More
It was an especially fast-paced week here at SP Kennel, and practically every minute was jam-packed with Iditarod preparation. In the process, I shot and downloaded so much media so fast that I created quite a mess on my Mac. So, the boss gave me the day off from Kennel … Read More
