Some of you might have noticed a blaring name absent from the kennel family tree: Happy the sled dog.
As most of you know, Happy came to us with a lineage all of her own. Her mother was a sled dog that I met for just a few short moments as I walked around a village dog yard. Her father was a dog that Happy’s mother must have “met” for just a few short moments as well. No one knew his lineage, breed or even his name. Mystery man!
The first summer that Happy lived at SP Kennel she was certainly an anomaly. I wasn’t sure that she was even a husky. I had her spayed and she had another minor surgery in order to keep her healthy. My original reason for taking her was pure compassion – it didn’t cross my mind that she might be one of our Iditarod Dogs.
I realize that Happy has many fans, so I hope to do something for them this season. We will have a spot on the website devoted to a “Happy Corner”. And, I promise, I will come out with a Happy T-shirt.
So, even though we will not have any Happy genes added to our dog yard, I do hope that we’ll have all together happy dogs.
This is a photo that Jeanne Schnackenberg took of Happy resting during our Mushing Adventure Trips on Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in April 2008.
In the grand scheme of things we all have a special place and Happy has found hers as an ambassador of smiles.
Thanks for the Happy update! School started last week and I have already read The Happy story. My students have created their version of the Happy dance to relax throughout the day!