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September 5, 2016 by

Before the 2016-17 Dog Mushing season starts for us, we want to take the opportunity to go through the SP Kennel dogs in depth. This will be a Series of videos showing our Racing Dogs grouped by their age class. These videos are shot while Aliy and the dogs are in one of the kennel’s ‘Play Pens’.

Here are the 3 Year Olds

The Fire Litter:
Part 1

Part 2

Champ and Cayenne:

We generally say that our Racing Dogs are between the age of 2 and 9 years old. The youngest and oldest of these dogs will usually compete on the less competitive JV Teams, whereas the dogs who are between 3 to 7 years old are often on the Varsity Teams. There always have been, and surely will be, exceptions to the average.
The Yearling Class will also have a chance to compete in limited Races during their first season in harness. However, the Youngest Class — the Puppies — will not be in harness until they are mentally and physically able to succeed. This depends upon what time of year they were born and their genetics. They could be in harness as soon as Spring or as late as Fall.
Remember that all of our dogs are individuals and there are no “Age, Gender or Size Rules” at SP Kennel. Every dog gets a chance to race.

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16 Responses

  • Aliy,
    you have really done us a great favor by grouping and giving us a personal look at each dog by age and litters. Funny, informative and delightful interactions with each one. The future and present looks very exciting!
    What a novel idea to set up the cam and just interview each one in the play pen.
    Not many mushers take the time to personal.ly interact lovingly the way you do with each one of those dogs.
    I have first hand personal experience and I am amazed daily how you and Allen are so dedicated to them.
    Thanks so much for including us on this adventure.
    Padee Fairbanks

  • The Fire Litter….my goodness 3 years old already!! I remember meeting big baby head Nomex, handsome Tinder and powerhouse Commando at the Ceremonial Race in 2015….they are all so awesome!! And they will all continue to challenge our SPK ID talents…hopefully the more we see of them this year we can hone those skills to the max! it was fun to see Champ all filled out and Cayenne ready to race more this year! Momma Nutmeg looks very proud! Can't wait to see what they can all do as 3 year olds this year!!

  • WOOF, WOOF, WOOF!!!

    Ditto to everything said by our first poster in this thread!!!

    Perhaps Red Team musher is channeling her inner lion tamer??? In any event, they all love her and love to PLAY!!!

    WOOF!!!

  • Thanks again so much for these!!!

    Best,

    Margaret
    P.S. (I think I forgot to say "thank you" – and I am old enough to have known better)

  • I have a soft spot in my heart for the 3's! It was the first litter my fingers were crossed I would have opportunity to sponsor. Now my fingers are itching waiting for the 1yr olds video. This has been such great fun getting in depth with all the dogs.

  • Awesome review of all the talent that exists at SPK, the ones moving on to retirement, the ones that you will rely on this year and the newbies making their mark or growing into their power. Great and thanks so much. I know them all now!

  • There is a lot of background info coming through this video series that is so enjoyable, I.e. Breeding Nutmeg for her confidence, the fact that her sisters were a little smaller, seeing past/retired dogs in the previous posts, etc… Love it. It's cool to see the different development stages when comparing the different age classes. Thanks so much.

  • Hooray for the 3 year olds. What energy and enthusiasm. SPK will have awesome teams for years to come. And Wasn't Tinder the best behaved(ha,ha). Thanks Aliy for sharing about each of the different age groups. Awesome kennel, SPK! Go Aliy & Allen.

  • There are alot of stars in this group! Violet is a favorite of
    mine but they are all so talented. Thanks for the wonderful
    video and they truly love you Aliy! The behavior will improve
    with age and your guidance. Go—SPK!

  • You spoke to our group on the Princess Train August 24, 2016. I am a retired middle school teacher. I remember teaching about the Iditerod before we had internet and the information was limited. Thank you for filling in the holes of my education. Meeting you helped to fulfill my bucket list. Thank you for sharing.

    Adrienne

  • I was on the Princess Train August 24, 2016. I am a retired middle school teacher. Early in my career I taught about the Iditerod . This of course was prior to Internet and information was limited. Thank you for filling the holes in my education and helping check off things on my bucket list. I cannot wait to follow you on the "Big Race".

  • Thanks so much for all of the intro by age class videos!!! What a great and loving family at SP Kennel

    I was just watching video yet again, and noticed the "off-stage" action behind the main scene of Red Team Musher introducing the 3 year olds – FIRE litter #one – and she wasn't joking!!! At 3:16 Aliy remarks that Commando and Chena play wrestle and are "best buds" and then…

    Right there in the back-top of the picture is Chena and Commando play-wrestling for at least a whole minute (beginning around the 4 minute mark)!!!

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