SPK Dog Log

It has been raining much of the week in Interior Alaska. And it’s raining again today. Lots of rain! These are the first significant rain events we have had since the second week in June! And the temperature was 40 degrees when we awoke yesterday, a far cry from from recent 80 and 90 degree marks.

Rainbow over a damp dog yard. The dogs love it.

We are pretty happy to see this cool, moist trend because:

1) The Alaska wildland fire season may finally be winding down. It’s been way too intense this summer. Even after our return from evacuation on July 9, we frequently felt the effects of our smoldering Stuart Creek 2 fire. Last Sunday we could still see plumes of smoke from our lookout on Aliy’s balcony. When the wind blew from the east a veil of smoke and acrid fire smell enveloped us. Ray, Derrick and the other firefighters in our neighborhood, have simply been gone all summer, fighting the 592 fires that burned more than 1,300,000 acres of Alaska. We depend on their firefighting skills but we miss them at home. We need a fire season ‘ending event’, like cooler temps and the 3 days of rain forecast for this week.

Temps and humidity this morning.

2) Sunday, September first is the TENTATIVE date for the first day of training for the 2013/2014 mushing season. But without this cool, wet weather it is simply too hot for our dogs to run! The ideal scenario for early season runs is cool mornings, in the 30 to 40 degree range, and lots of puddles for the dogs to splash in during breaks. The forecast for the night of August 31 is 38 degrees and light rain. That could do it! The mushers are ready. The dogs are ready. The ATV’s and gang lines and harnesses are ready. We need a mushing season ‘beginning event’, like cooler temps and the three days of rain forecast for this week.

Allen and Tatfish are ready for this season’s training. Are you?

See the editorial in yesterday’s Fairbanks News Miner. Fall might really be coming to Interior Alaska, albeit it a few weeks late.

At four weeks, the Fire Litter is living in a covered pen with a puppy wheel, plenty of space and a large dog house. Their puppy excursions have mainly been indoor exploration with toys and treats. A larger, fenced puppy pen is nearly complete and outdoor puppy walks will start soon.

Mama Olivia tends to them, but has backed away from the constant cleaning and nursing routine. She is often resting on the far side of the 28 inch barrier separating her from the eleven youngsters or in her “non puppy accessible” dog house. We sometimes find Olivia standing, head over the barrier, watching the puppy ruckus, yet staying physically clear of it. She still has plenty of milk, but is only nursing them in the evening. This has enabled us to set up a perfect routine for feeding: early morning when they wake, afternoon and early evening. Olivia is still getting 3 to 4 meals a day and is honestly, a little chunky!

Many of the pups still have their original facial markings that made them distinctive: Spark, Tinder, Daisy, Coal, Commando and Nomex are all unique looking. The blue-eyed “Olivia looking” pups: Violet, Chena, Hotshot, Torch and Amber are more challenging to differentiate. Torch is the lightest in coloration and Amber is the smallest, but … good luck with Violet, Chena and Hotshot!

The question was: Can Aliy Keep up with her dogs?
The answer: Well… not exactly. But, if you use creative statistics, sort of.

The Anchorage Running Club’s Big Wild Life Runs half marathon was the test this weekend. It was a great event in a great city. The turn out was fantastic and Aliy was one of thousands of participants in the event.

The 13.1 mile course was awesome. It started in the heart of downtown Anchorage and went out along the Coastal Trail. Then for miles, the Iditarod Route and the marathon route were exactly the same.

However, Aliy’s pace was mildly slower than her Iditarod Team usually scoots down the trail. Aliy covered the same distance the dogs do in about twice the amount of time. Considering each SP Kennel dog has twice as many legs as Aliy, one might mathematically deduce that their paces were then actually the same. And if one tweaks the numbers a little more: there are twelve dogs running the Iditarod route and only one Aliy on the marathon route… So… perhaps that puts her ahead? (I’m sure Aliy will have a mathematical discussion with Quito and Beemer back at the kennel when she is asked to explain her performance.)

The same trail, just a different season.

Aliy’s running partner for the event, Linda Steiner, has been training for her first ever marathon in Portland this October. This half marathon was a step in her training progression. Aliy decided that since she was in Anchorage for several days anyhow, why not to show up and cheer Linda on.

And, why not do that right by her side?

Good luck to Linda in October. Sorry Linda, but Aliy will be busy keeping up with the dogs in October!

Aliy is in Anchorage this weekend. She is a participant in the Anchorage Running Club’s Big Wild Life Runs half marathon. Friend, and Clarion Suites Director of Sales and Marketing, Linda Steiner, convinced Aliy that this summer she should try to “keep up with her dogs.”

On Sunday morning, the half marathon starts two blocks away from the Iditarod Starting line in Downtown Anchorage. At Mile 4.5 Aliy will travel the exact same route as her dog team will during the Iditarod in seven months. Of course, she will get an entirely different perspective of the trail this time of year!

The Half Marathon Route and the Iditarod Route start two blocks apart but converge soon after.

Aliy’s goal is to travel the trail during a different season and earn a little more respect from the SP Kennel canine crew at home. So, be ready to pass out the Ibuprofen on Sunday evening!

As you can imagine, it’s hard not to spend all day, every day, with the puppies.
Why are puppies so darn cute?

The pups are now living outside in a covered dog pen with a wooden floor. They have a big dog house with a ramp at their disposal. The daytime temperatures have been in the 70’s and even 80’s (warm for us) so, they spend the entire day outside the house. In the evening, I put them inside after they eat. The nighttime temperatures have been in the upper 40‘s or 50‘s.

At three weeks, they are learning to walk and play. They are still nursing, but their first “solid meal” of moist canned puppy food was big hit at 3 weeks old.

Olivia is doing very well and hasn’t lost any body weight. She enjoys her three to four meals a day. The puppy pen is set up so that she can step over a 10 inch barrier and join the eleven youngsters any time she chooses. Likewise, she can escape from them!

Today, the SPK Dog Log passed a major internet milestone: A Million Page Views!

Thanks to all our faithful fans and other visitors who have pushed us past this milestone!

We will continue working hard to keep the SPK Dog Log as educational and entertaining as we can for your next million page views… and beyond!

This is the eighth summer that Aliy and Allen have been welcoming tourists to Alaska on Princess Cruises’ express train from Whittier to Denali National Park. Our mushers catch the train at a flag stop near Hurricane Gulch two times each week during tourist season. Each train day they see about 600 folks. Over the course of the summer they reach about 10,000 visitors.

Their mission is to impart a bit of knowledge about this vast state and the hearty souls who live here. They answer questions about surviving during Interior Alaska’s winters. “How cold does it really get?”

Aliy and Allen bring the Alaska state sport of dog mushing to life. They tell stories of their personal history, their Alaskan Husky athletes and their racing adventures. They chat one-on-one with visitors about dog breeding, training and nutrition. It’s during these conversations that Aliy and Allen are true ambassadors for Alaska and dog mushing.

As always, they have fun.
Here they are in action!

L-R: Aliy speaks under the glass dome of the Princess train; Aliy and the Conductor.

Allen poses with his Mom, Donnie, at the Denali Railroad Depot.