SPK Dog Log

Karolyn first reached out to us while Allen, Aliy and 32 SP Kennel huskys were still trotting down the Iditarod Trail in March. Her e-mail said: “I have been interested in dog sledding for years, probably since I read “Call of the Wild” by Jack London.”

Karolyn, like many folks following the race, saw the awesome bond that exists between husky and musher and wondered… maybe that’s for me? But, she took the next step and dove in head first!

Karolyn and Aliy on a September ATV scouting adventure with Tig as a photo bomb.

Karolyn arrived at SP Kennel in early September for a month long immersion into the dog mushing world. As a young, recent college graduate a month in Alaska seemed like the perfect break.

So for the last month, she has donated her time and lots of efforts helping at SP Kennel: training dogs, building dog houses, weighing dogs, bull dozing the dog yard, doing endless kennel chores and of course… helping with new born puppies. She even held down the ‘fort’ when Aliy and Allen went to Sweden. We thank you Karolyn for your steady head, your dedication to our dogs and your happy presence.

The puppies will miss you!

Karolyn and Chipper during ‘kennel weigh in day’; Mac gets some luvin’!

Sibling Love: Decaf and Perky

The Coffee Litter is almost 3 weeks old! They are now curious about the ‘Big World’ outside the dog house door. Bean and Perky made a bold move this morning and climbed out the door and immediately back in. Knowing Mama Olivia desire to get back into sled dog training… she was probably nudging them out the door. “Come on kids you can do it.”

Our little runt, Bean, is growing up; Sanka is shy for the camera.

Remember when the Fire Litter were just a few months old in November of 2013? This was the first time they had played in snow and, as you can see, they are delighted!

This season they are in their first year as “racing dogs” and we’re excited to see them get even more confident and experienced as the season progresses.

You’ve seen this footage before but you get a new perspective when we slow it down.

Enjoy Slow Mo Sunday!

Music: Pendulum by Apple Inc

Check out these adorable pics of the “Coffee Litter” as they take their first glimpse of the world. Every dog is an individual and so will develop at different rates hence you’ll see the range of fully open to not quite there yet… In a couple days they’ll all be open and taking in all the world has to offer.

Barista and Bean

Creamer and Decaf

Perky and Sanka

The 2015-16 Dog Fan Club is now open!

Thank you all so much for your support for this programme over the last two seasons. The feedback we’ve received about how you’ve become “invested” in your favorite dogs and enjoyed following their season has been tremendous.

We are in the fortunate position once again this season that all our SP Kennel dogs will have individual sponsors, and for that we are eternally grateful; and we have a long wait list for that programme. Our policy of “one dog, one sponsor” meant that, in previous seasons, many of you could not directly support your favorite dog(s). The Dog Fan Club came into existence during the 2013-14 season after Aliy was trying to figure out how you can show your support for your special dog(s) outside the dog sponsorship programme.

Will you choose Ernie, Izzy, Nomex or someone else?

When you join the Dog Fan Club, your name is displayed on the Dog Fan Club page and every two weeks we make a random draw for a lucky winner. Last year we gave away prizes such as a signed CB300 poster, an Iditarod ball cap and SP Kennel merchandise. We may also have extra, bonus draws throughout the season so keep an eye out for those.

The winning dog gets extra treats out of the Dog Fan Club biscuit barrel that they often share with the rest of the yard.

Show your support for your favorite dog today! The Fan Club is open from October 3rd to the end of March. The first random prize draw is Friday, October 16th.

Aliy and Allen were invited to the Kiruna Sled Dog Seminar October 3rd and 4th in Northern Sweden. The seminar is hosted by the Kiruna Sleddog Club and will be a fun gathering of people from all around the world.

Aliy and Allen often race the Copper Basin 300, Yukon Quest and Iditarod with very talented mushers from Scandinavia. They look forward to seeing as many local sled dog kennels as possible during their trip abroad.

You may have noticed some freshening up of the DogLog as the season opens “proper”, and there’s still more to come!

We’ve cleared the Team, Dog Log and Fan Club supporter rosters ready for the season. A sincere thank you to all those who supported us during the 2014-15 season, your support is much appreciated by all of us at SP Kennel.

The Dogs page has been updated with new “blurbs” for each dog. We will be getting new portraits done later this month so we’ll update the team cards again – we’ll alert you when they’re done.

Red Team and Black Team memberships are now open for the 2015-16 season.

This season we’ve changed up the gifts that come as a “thank you” for joining the team.

If you join the Red Team you’ll receive a mounted and signed print of Aliy and Scout at the Iditarod finish line in Nome 2015. You will also have the choice of an iconic red SP Kennel fleece beanie OR, new for this season, a set of two booties. One bootie has our SPK logo printed on it and the other has been retrieved from our return bags from the 2015 Iditarod – so has been on an SPK foot along the Iditarod trail! We’ve had to launder them so they’re not quite so “authentic” (read: smelly). This is a very limited edition treasure so be in while stocks last!

This year, if you join the Black Team you will have a choice of a black ball cap or a black fleece beanie. The beanie is the same as the red team ones except… well… it’s black.

Check out our great new team membership certificates with photos by Robert “Alaska Bob” Parsons from Photography on the Kenai. Thanks Bob for letting us use these great pictures.

Click the button below to take you to the “Join the Team” page.

We have many other options for supporting SP Kennel including our “Dog Fan Club“, which will be open in a few days, Support the Dog Log and other sponsorship options. Check out the buttons on left hand side of the dog log for more details.

The forecast winter storm hit Two Rivers over the last couple days and it looks so pretty!

Everyone here gets enthusiastic for snow: dogs and humans. The temperature is hovering around freezing though, so we’re not sure how long it will last. There was enough snow for Allen to take a team of five out with a sled yesterday so we’re excited!

Luckily we managed to get the dog yard dozed just in time – we doze just before things start to freeze up in order to reverse the summer “landscaping” some of the dogs enjoy doing. Have a read of these two posts (this one and this one) from the last couple seasons that explain all about it.