SPK Dog Log

We are very pleased to announce that Comfort Inn Ship Creek in Downtown Anchorage is our new ‘home in Anchorage’. This dog friendly (and people friendly) hotel will be SP Kennel’s home during the Iditarod 2015. The location is absolutely perfect for the Iditarod dogs and mushers.

Aliy, Allen and Beemer stayed at the hotel several weeks ago and were absolutely delighted by the hotel staff’s generosity and hospitality. Beemer enjoyed strolling the creek side trail just behind the hotel and ‘claimed’ many of the bushes surrounding the property. He is thrilled to bring his team mates back in March.

Beemer in front of his new home — the Comfort Inn Ship Creek in Downtown Anchorage.

In addition to being SP Kennel’s hotel sponsor, the Comfort Inn has offered a “Friends and Family of SP Kennel” rate. If you need a place to stay in Anchorage during Iditarod or any other time of the year, choose the Comfort Inn Ship Creek. Click on their logo below to go to their website and book a room. We will see you there!

Another day, another stunning view captured by Spencer.

There are many trails in and around Two Rivers. From October until May they are winter trails and are predominately used by dog mushers. The occasional snow machine enthusiast will venture out on the trail system but more often than not there are mostly dog teams. One of the nicest trails was ‘closed’ most of last winter due to severe overgrowth and snowfall – the willows and tree limbs made it impassable.

So, quite a few of the neighborhood mushers gathered together a couple of weekends ago and cleaned up about three miles of trail. We didn’t get photos of the whole crew but we did capture a few hard workers:

Spencer ‘gets crazy’ with a chainsaw; Wes wrestles with a spruce tree; Wendy triumphs over willow bushes. All is a day’s work!

Apparently someone thought it was a wise idea to drive a compact car on the dog trail this past summer. Matt Hall was able to jack it up and move it off the trail but dog teams will get used to mushing “on by” this strange trail hazard.

Tig surveys the rouge car from a distance; Jezzie was tail boss but let Ryne and Derek use the chainsaw.

The whole crew put in a lot of work – sorry no photos of Ryne, Derek, Chase, Riley, Aliy or Allen!

This has to be one of the best views in the world! A 13-dog team chasing the last of the winter sun. Spencer captured this picture the other night during what he described as “22 miles of excellence”.

SP Kennel is fielding three teams in the 2015 Copper Basin 300!

With the race limited to 45 teams the race filled up in just eight minutes so we are excited to have our three teams compete in such a strong field. The race starts on January 10th – in just ten weeks time!

The Copper Basin 300 is tagged “The toughest 300 miles in Alaska” and there are many, many stories from this race that absolutely prove that to be true. This is what Aliy said about the 2014 race during a “pre game” post:

“The CB300 is known for it’s mountainous terrain, rugged trail conditions and, often times, large amounts of snowfall and bitter cold. From year to year, the race route and the conditions vary – which makes the CB300 an unpredictable challenge. The weather always has a say and no one knows if the temperature will be 50 below zero or 30 above. Only time will tell.

SP Kennel considers CB300 a “true test” of our season of training, the dogs’ fitness and a musher’s savvy. Some years we have had great finishes and other years… not so much.“

The race starts and finishes in Glenallen and goes through checkpoints Chistochina, Meiers Lake, Sourdough and Lake Louise. The exact route and direction changes each year and 2015’s route is yet to be finalised. Check out the CB300 website for more information about the rules, the route and other interesting stuff! With a total of 18 hours rest to be taken at any combination of checkpoints (with one mandatory six hour stop somewhere) there are as many different strategies as there are mushers! It makes for interesting spectating as you often can’t tell who is actually leading the race until right near the end.

As you may know, Allen and the SP Kennel Black Team (right) are the defending champs for this race. They have run it 12 times and are five time champs: in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2013 and 2014 and have placed on numerous other occasions. Aliy is also highly experienced in this race and is excited to field a strong Red Team. Spencer is a CB300 rookie and is looking forward to racing the Red and Black Team in this challenging race.

The draw for starting positions was held this afternoon: Spencer is the first of our teams to leave the start line in position 29, Aliy starts 37th closely followed by Allen in 39th position.

Team rosters will be posted on January 9th so watch the Dog Log!

Check out the Copper Basin 300 website for more information (click the logo below)

Thank you so much for loving our dogs as much as you do! We are so excited and happy to be able to say that every single one of our dogs now has at least one fan. We really appreciate you all for showing your support!

Congratulations to Kathy Schreck of Connecticut. Kathy is a fan of BOONDOCKS who got extra treats this morning! She even shared them with Mac so check out the video below to see how he’s doing after his recent surgery.

As today is Halloween, Kathy will receive some “Pumpkin Peeps” in her packet along with an Iditarod mug, a glossy glam shot of Boondocks and a Fan Club Winner certificate!

Our next winner is announced on November 14th and the names of everyone who didn’t win this time and all new members will be in the draw to win.

Click the button below for instructions on how to join:

Click this button below to take you directly to the Dog Fan Page.

Happy All Hallows’ Eve from the puppies of SP Kennel!

No puppies or bats were harmed in the making of this photograph. Original photo by Jeanne Schnackenberg, photoshop by Jack Hintz.

This past week, Aliy was invited by the L.I.V.E. program to talk with students on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The mission of the program is to “cultivate effective leaders for Alaska by creating and supporting a rich variety of student leadership development opportunities, partnering with academic departments and the community”.

One of these leadership development opportunities is a bi-monthly luncheon where students can meet with local community leaders and learn what makes them successful. Aliy presented a talk on three key characteristics that she believes makes a successful leader (human and dog):
1) Set a goal
2) Pursuing that goal with passion
3) Respect and Support your team members to achieve their individual potential

Aliy speaks to the Leadership Luncheon group at UAF.

The group listened intently as Aliy gave real life mushing examples of these three characteristics in action. She shared how she has used these characteristics in training and leading her dog team, and how they have impacted her races, particularly in the difficult conditions of the 2014 Iditarod race. At the end of the talk, the participants asked a variety of questions and provided feedback on the session. Many stated they enjoyed the unique perspective Aliy provided. Of course, everyone left the luncheon knowing a little bit more about the special dogs of SP Kennel.