SPK Dog Log

We have some exciting puppy news.

Kennel Superstar, Yukon Quest Champion and Iditarod Rock Star: Chica is expecting a litter of puppies on or around the July 16th.

We are absolutely thrilled that we can perpetuate these amazing genetics. Chica is the daughter of Lance Mackey’s Zorro and the talented SP Kennel’s Venus. Venus’ lineage goes back to Jeff King’s Yuski and an Erhart sprint dog named Cream. Of course, Chica’s siblings are: the ultimate lead dog and two-time YQ Golden Harness winner Quito; YQ Champion, Iditarod swing dog and SP Kennel’s current main stud dog: Nacho; and the always Iditarod favorite: Bonita. Chica has had one previous litter five years ago. That litter includes the long-legged and magnificent YQ and Iditarod star: Mac; and the handsome and talented: Boris.

The BIG question is: WHO IS THE DADDY?

We thought long and hard before the breeding took place. The successes that SP Kennel has had over the last few years have been partially due to very selective combination of genetics. The ‘Zorro genes’ have played a crucial role but the dog that has contributed even more to the successful SP Kennel gene pool is ChaCha.

ChaCha was born at Husky Homestead in the summer of 2001. Her mother, Alberta, whelped the ‘Dances’ litter: Rhumba, Lindy, Tango and ChaCha. Her father, Yuski, was originally born at Susan Butcher’s kennel.

ChaCha ran Iditarod eight times, won multiple mid distance races and was SP Kennel’s ‘go to’ lead dog for many years. She has always been smart, fast and ultra competitive. She would bark outloud for miles when she was excited or if she saw competition ahead of her. ChaCha is also exceptionally friendly and sweet. She wags her tail at everyone and kisses anyone who will let her. Even more amazing is the fact that during her successful years as a sled dog athlete she also had four litters for a total of 25 puppies. For the past 5 years, her puppies have been the core of every SP Kennel team. They are well known because they are smaller, happy and fast!

So… back to the BIG question:

WHO IS THE DADDY?

The sire of this summer’s litter is a ChaCha pup. He has an exceptional resume despite being so young. In 2013, he raced the Iditarod and finished in Nome at only 17 months of age. This year he became a Yukon Quest Champion and a 2nd place Iditarod dog at only at 2 1/2 years of age. He is strong-willed, loves to eat and gives ‘ChaCha kisses’ whenever he can. His sire is Paul Gebhardt’s exceptional lead dog, Lieutenant.

Clyde is the proud papa to the next generation of SP Kennel dogs.

We had a celebratory 4th of July BBQ at the kennel yesterday. We sat on the deck overlooking the dogs. Biscuit, Olivia and Spark were ‘Dogs of the Day’ and had temporary positions surrounding the deck. That also means they had the best potential for leftovers from the BBQ!
We were delighted that Bristol Bay Native Corporation delivered 25 pounds of fresh Alaskan Sockeye Salmon the day before the BBQ. As some of you might remember, Aliy was awarded the ‘First Fish Award’ as the first musher to the Galena checkpoint during the Iditarod 2014. She opted to wait until this summer to receive the most fresh fish possible. And was it fresh! The date on the salmon filet package was July 2nd, it flew to the kennel on the 3rd and was consumed on the 4th! YUMMY!

Salmon arrives Goldstreak from Bristol Bay Native Corp; Olivia settles for a tasty bone.

The SP Kennel Office goes public…

… pretty clean, huh?

Iditarod will start next year on March 7th in Downtown Anchorage. Allen and Aliy have both signed up for the 2015 race. The first day to sign up was yesterday at Race Headquarters in Wasilla.

Aliy was able to attend the event while Allen worked their regularly scheduled Princess Cruise presentation in Denali National Park. (Don’t worry… Allen was able to send his paperwork with Aliy in order to sign up for the race as well!)

Sixty mushers signed up for the 2015 race yesterday. Thirty-six competitors were at the picnic in person and another twenty-four mailed in their entries. Fifteen of the mushers are rookies. More entries will come in over the next five months until the race entry deadline at the close of business on Friday, December 1st.

It was an exciting day at Race Headquarters for mushers, fans and volunteers.

It was a gorgeous sunshine-filled day for the picnic which was catered by long-time Iditarod sponsors — the Golden Corral Buffet and Grill — This popular Anchorage eatery is a family owned business and a fabulous place to grab a quick and nutritious bite to eat anytime of the day.

Aliy was there to thank the many volunteers that make the Iditarod possible. Mushers are not always ‘approachable’ during the race, so she felt that it was important to really take some time out and thank the people who make it all happen!

Terry — a long-time volunteer who works tirelessly on the Iditarod Trail in and around the Rohn Checkpoint — and Aliy share trail stories; Doreen, Golden Corral owner and her granddaughter share a ‘pink t-shirt moment’ with Aliy.

Galena ‘Comms’ Director told Aliy “You were even smiling in Galena!”; Aliy thanks Jim for all his Iditarod service. He helped design the dropped dog transport kennels.

There were also many race fans in attendance. Folks came to Alaska for the event to meet mushers and enjoy the festivities. Race Headquarters played historic Iditarod race videos throughout the day and the gift shop was busy. Jeff Schultz, official Iditarod photographer, had his new photo book — Chasing Dogs — available for purchase.

Aliy gave out SP Kennel Dog Trading Cards to fans of all ages and signed autographs.

On a personal note, Aliy got to chat with long-time SP Kennel friend, Margie, who has opened her kennel in Knik to the SP Kennel dogs during the race for many years. Her generosity is overwhelming to us! And, it’s always a GREAT day when Aliy gets to meet a new canine friend!

Margie and Aliy shared future cookie recipes; Aliy meets a “new friend”.

Here are two more videos from the Atigan River in mid April when the SP Kennel Crew went north to take a little “down time” after a successful racing season.

We thought that all of you dog mushing fans needed an actual ‘dog mushing fix’. So here is a video taken during the middle of April while the SP Kennel crew were up on the North Slope of Alaska during their Spring Break!

So… who got the five brand new dog houses anyhow?
Viper, Clyde, Chipper, Chemo and Driver!

Clyde checks out all the houses as we transferred them through the yard.

Chipper’s legs are a little short so she posed like this for 5 minutes assessing the her “digs”; Viper said “This doesn’t SMELL like my house. I can fix that!”

This is a photo that was taken from a satellite at midnight during Summer Solstice. The blue dot is Healy, Alaska which is 130 miles south of the kennel. Yes, we are truly in the Land of the Midnight Sun!