Girl Power!

We have a couple of very special fans, all the way over in New Zealand! Two young sisters, Chloe and Indigo Anderson-Melville have just become sponsors of two young SP Kennel sisters, Chica and Quito!

Their parents explain:

It was the story of Happy Dog during last year’s Iditarod that first got us hooked. Our kids are adopted, after a very difficult first 3-4 years of their lives and spending a year in foster care. They still struggle with some of the effects of their early childhood experiences.

Happy Dog had a less than perfect start to her life and was also adopted. The great thing about Happy is that she hasn’t let it spoil her life. She is still Happy, doing the best she can, having an exciting life, not worrying and making lots of friends. She is such a positive role model for our kids: “Would Happy Dog be feeling sorry for herself like that or would she just get on with it?” “Would Happy Dog worry about that or would she just do it anyway?”

Then we found the SP Kennel DogLog and Aliy Zirkle and Allen Moore — who, for some strange reason, we always refer to by both first and surname: never “Aliy” or “Allen”, but always “Aliy Zirkle” or “Allen Moore”.

We’ve followed your “virtual” lives ever since. Your enjoyment of your dogs, your lives and each other; your attitude toward set-backs, winning and losing; your hard work and determination. All are just what Chloe and Indigo need to see and hear about.

You’d be surprised how often we talk about you all: “Aliy Zirkle wouldn’t give up on that maths problem, she’d keep trying different things until she found a solution just like she did with her wet boots” or “I need to train like Allen Moore if I want to do well in my triathlon” or “I think Happy and Blue (one of our dogs) would be best friends, like Macgellan and Happy are” or “Allen Moore and Aliy Zirkle are probably having moose for dinner.”

Our message to the kids is that, yes, terrible things have happened to them that weren’t their fault, but they have a choice: They can waste the rest of their lives feeling sorry for themselves or they can be grateful that they are safe now and get on with having a great “Happy” life!

They have certainly experienced how horrifically humans can treat each other and how scary the world can be. Part of what we are trying to show and teach them is that the world is overwhelmingly full of caring humans, who are safe and trustworthy.

Normal parenting strategies don’t work with children like ours, so when we find something that helps them modify their behaviour, we grab it with both hands. This is why we decided to go overboard and sponsor a dog for each of them.

The point to all this is just to let you know that while you are all way over there, looking after and racing and enjoying your dogs, you are also over here influencing and helping our kids. We just wanted to say “Thank you!”

We are all so very touched by this story, honored to be role-models, and delighted to welcome two wonderful young fans to the SP Kennel Team!

The truth is that despite our positive outlook and “can-do” attitudes, sometimes when it is dark, cold and difficult we do wonder if it’s all worth it. Your story has given us a real boost, and in return we say “Thank you!”

Congratulations to Chloe, Indigo, Chica and Quito. We wish you all great success in life, and the strength to always overcome your obstacles. You are an inspiration to all of us, Happy too!

Girl power… “You go, girls!”