Aliy was asked to speak on AK public radio this week during a segment about Alaskan villages. She had a short spot about the Two Rivers community and of course, talked about dogs!
Here is the link:
Wes and Wendy’s Weather Two
Wow, it’s COLD! NOW we know what everyone is talking about when they say it’s cold in Alaska. We’ve experienced our first -20 degrees (F) weather, though the sun was shining brightly and it looked deceptively warm outside. Wes put on his cold weather gear and with Ryne, braved the elements and took the dogs on their 25 mile runs. He survived, and is looking forward to more cold weather dog runs.
We have had just enough snow to make us think about getting the sleds out of storage for a tune-up. Neither of us knows how to use a sled and we are eager to learn how they work. We are not too concerned; Santa makes it look easy. He has never gotten tangled or had his team leave him behind; he does not even need a snow hook.
In the meantime, we are keeping busy in the dog yard. Another round of bedding straw has gone out for the dogs, 3 tons of salmon arrived, the Latino litter had their first romp in the snow behind the ATV 4-wheeler, and the Outlaw litter has ventured out from their dog house to explore their world. We’ve enjoyed watching the Outlaw and Latino litters “talking” through the fence at each other. Izzy is quite bossy, and has decided to inform all the puppies just how things should be in their world. Nelson has decided to ignore her lectures and entertain himself on the exercise wheel. The Outlaw puppies are curious and confused by the whole thing. Especially when they were carried out to the field to play in the snow in a stock pot. All in all, it’s an adventure growing up, and they seem to be doing it very well.
Wes and I are learning how to cook salmon for the dogs. They were a good deal–left over research fish from the season. Once we learned how to cut off their extra head and third eye, the rest was easy. Our recipe includes delicately seasoning it with kibble. The dogs LOVE their new dish! The next dish we’ll learn is cubed beef snacks—can’t wait!
To top off our week, we enjoyed a great neighborhood potluck and bonfire. We were finally able to put names and faces to the parkas and 4-wheelers we see every day on training runs. It’ll be awhile before we recognize a musher by their dog teams though. We’re still working to learn the SP Kennel dogs. Who knew that Boondocks and Kipper looked so much alike; or that Scruggs, Honda, and Olivia are identical…aren’t they? Uh well, we’ll keep working on it, and hope to get it right soon!
Training Dogs along the Chena River
We took a video during one of the last training runs along the Chena River before “freeze up”.
As you will here in the background, the ATV 4 wheeler is still purring along functioning as our “make believe” dog sled. The dogs don’t seem to care what they are pulling down the trail. The mushers, however, start daydreaming of that elusive November blizzard as the miles pass under the machine’s tires.
Spring 2012 Mushing Trips – Returning to ANWR
SP Kennel is proud to announce its 2012 Natural Extremes Adventures. We are returning to the North Slope of Alaska and the highly debated ANWR – Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We will be running two trips: March 25 – April 1, 2012 and March 31 – April 7, 2012.
The Refuge, always a hot topic in Washington D.C., is a “No Snow Mobile Area”, including breaking trail in support of mushing trips. This means NO noise except the pattering of dog feet. This also means that this trip will be a true adventure. Therefore, each of these trips are limited to 3 adventurers.
Few places in the world are as untouched as the areas we will visit during these mushing trips! Wildlife such as moose, caribou, sheep, wolves and ptarmigan are the residents of this area.
For more information, please visit http://www.naturalextremes.com/ or email us at aliyz@naturalextremes.com.
And Mystery Dog Number One?
TATFISH!
Sponsored by Lynn Budzak
Congratulations to JQ for being the first correct guess! Send us an email at SPKDogLog@gmail.com with your t-shirt size, color preference (Red or Black), and address, and you’ll be sporting SPK gear in no time!
Well done everyone for the correct guesses! I was amazed when I checked the post at 8:30 AM Alaska time and already there were FOUR correct answers. Obviously, I need to make the clues slightly more challenging! Also, to make it fair for SPK fans across all time zones, I’ll post the next Mystery Dog at 1:00 PM EST (9:00 AM Alaska time). Check back in on Monday, November 14th for the next Mystery Dog!
Ready to Trick-or-Trick?
Never a dull moment at SP Kennel!
Guess that SPK Dog Week 1!
(Picture is not of the mystery dog)
Since each dog at the kennel has their own personality and history, we thought it’d be fun to see how well the SPK followers know the athletes. Every other Monday, we’ll post “Guess that SPK Dog” at 8:00 AM EST, and the first correct answer posted in the website comment box wins a SP Kennel t-shirt! Limited one shirt per person.
Game #1 Dog Clues
1. I’m a rock-solid wheel dog, although I’m definitely not one of the biggest.
2. Occasionally I get distracted and leap out, biting at pieces of grass as we run by.
3. I have more energy than a wind-up toy, so I’m often hooked up last.
Who am I?
The Outlaw Litter
Bridgett introduces the “Outlaws”….