Dogs

Chipper Wins Dog Fan Club Draw

November 2, 2018 by

Congratulations to Lisa Locke, who is a fan of Chipper. Thanks for your support Lisa!

We’ve been waiting ages for Chipper’s name to be drawn to win an individual dog fan club draw as we’ve had an extra “Chipper” mug hanging around for a while that we kept just for this occasion.  We will post that and some other kennel goodies out to you Lisa.

Chipper is one of a kind – she is very confident and at the top of her game. Despite her small stature she is a hardworking ball of energy and led the Red Team across the finish line in Nome last season. She has many fans, even if they don’t quite believe she really is the lead dog!

Find out more about our athletes at the “Dogs” page. To join the Dog Fan Club you can hit the “Become a Dog Fan” tab at the top of the page or click here.

Dogs

Happy Howlloween

October 31, 2018 by

We thought you’d enjoy this pic as much as we did. It was intended to be a peaceful Christmas scene with Tig the Lumberjack cutting down a tree and Lydia and Scout hauling it home. Instead it looks like Tig is an axe-murderer and Lydia and Scout are her next victims!

Happy Howlloween from all of us at SPK.

Dogs | Training

Early Season Camp Out

October 31, 2018 by

The crew and all the SPK Racers went on an early season camp out in late October.

First we exercised the three teams in and around the Two Rivers trails. Then we accessed a trail that we seldom use – this is a route that does not have any commonality with the Yukon Quest trail – then we parked the ATVs. After parking, we pulled the dog teams off to the side, gave them a meal and eventually, a straw bed.

Most dogs took the opportunity to lay in the sunshine. This was a great refresher about eating and resting whenever the chance might arise. Wes, Wendy and Mac made the entire experience simulate a Race Checkpoint as they greeted the teams and helped park everyone. We all relaxed and roasted hot dogs over the fire. We even had one of our neighborhood dog teams pass thru our camp spot. It was the perfect training experience.

After a short rest and fully bellies, the dogs and mushers continued their exercise program. We trained some additional miles and eventually returned to the kennel for an evening meal and a nice sleep back in their our own beds.

The Kennel

It’s Snowing!

October 30, 2018 by

We’ve had a day of snow – let’s hope it sticks!

Dr Bill and Wu are a bit uncertain about this new white stuff
Scout looking very majestic!
Dogs

Behind The Scenes on Portrait Day

October 28, 2018 by

We thought you would enjoy seeing some ‘behind the scenes’ action from Portrait Day. Thanks again to Wendy, Karolyn and Mary Beth for your help!

Scooby! Scooby! Scooby! Over here! Focus!
Olivia receives some last minute attention from her assistant (and dog sponsor) Mary Beth
Wendy and Violet share a laugh

 

Were you wondering how we got Dr Bill and Wu to sit still?

 

Although Jeanne is a fantastic photographer, not all shots go according to plan. We thought you would enjoy seeing a few out-takes.

Driver and Aliy take a moment to discuss which facial expression to go for “Do you like my serious face?”
Violet takes a quick break before “Action”
“I’ll be with you in just one moment, just… gotta… itch
Chevie gets into position – work it girl!
Training

Ride Along with Us!

October 25, 2018 by

Training has been going well despite the warmer temperatures. Aliy grabbed a camera and filmed for a few minutes during this exercise. This is really what it’s like to sit on the back of a noisy, bumpy ATV 4 wheeler. YES – the dirty windshield does always get in the way. But… when the temperature drops and the wind chill rises, that dirty windshield is also a blessing!

Dogs

Cayenne Wins First Dog Fan Club Draw

October 22, 2018 by

Thank you to everyone who has joined our dog fan club – we are so happy to say that every dog has at least one fan and we are so grateful to you all for supporting your favourite team mate!

We’ve made our first random draw (using spreadsheet ‘random’ function to choose). Congratulations to Ariane Remien who is a fan of Cayenne, and is a first time dog fan club member! Thanks for your support Ariane. We will post you out some mushing treats: a Van Zyle’s ‘Iditarod Memories’ book plus some fun sled dog sticky notes to use as a bookmark. Of course we’ll add some other kennel goodies.

Cayenne really came into her own at the end of last season. She is a real contender now and we’re happy to see her live up to her potential and superior genetics. She can run in any position and she’s enjoying early season training. As a five year old she is in her peak years so we are excited to see what happens this season. Go Cayenne!

Find out more about our athletes at the “Dogs” page. To join the Dog Fan Club you can hit the “Become a Dog Fan” tab at the top of the page or click here.

Dogs | The Kennel

New Portraits Are Up!

October 19, 2018 by

Year after year our kennel photographer and good friend Jeanne Schnackenberg outdoes herself taking the formal portraits of our canine athletes at SP Kennel. We are sure you’ll agree that they are fantastic as you check out our refreshed “The Dogs” page.

You might wonder why we go to the trouble of taking formal pictures? Firstly, we love to have a pictorial record of all the dogs through their life and taking a formal picture gives us a visual library going back many years. We can compare growth and development in the dogs from year to year as we compare a snap shot rather than as we see them every day. We can also easily keep a visual history of our genetic lines. Our dog sponsors love receiving “glam shots” of their dogs in their sponsor packets, and we know you enjoy seeing the formal and informal faces of our dogs on their own webpages. Last season we even supplied them to the Yukon Quest visual content team to display at the Yukon Quest Prize-giving when Dutch and Commando received their Golden Harness awards.

Photo day is a real team effort. Wrangling puppies, attracting focus and attention, and wiping muddy faces takes a good deal of time and patience. This year, along with Jeanne and Aliy, we had invaluable help from Wendy, Karolyn and Mary Beth. Thank you gals, we could not have done it without you. Really. We couldn’t.

Each year it is the yearlings that show the most change. Look at how these three gals have grown! It has been interesting for us to watch them mature as they are not our genetics so we didn’t have a clear picture of what they might look like all grown up. Check out these comparisons…

Peach

Razz

Cloud

Even with the same backdrop and similar poses to last year I reckon Jeanne has captured something different in each dog to show another aspect of their complex personalities. One year might show the playful, fun side of a dog then the next year we see a more serious side. It is fun to see the varying moods show through in picture form. Some of my favourites from this year are:

Felix

This shot really conveys a calm, friendly Felix with his sweet smile and soft expression. He was likely eyeing up someones lap to crawl into once the photo was done.

Jefe

Jefe is strong and handsome and in this shot looks to be telling us he is ready! “Let’s just stop this photo nonsense and get racing!” Check out that sparkle in his eyes. Good boy Jefe.

Daisy

Who can resist this sweet face? Daisy is a sweetheart and this picture captures an enigmatic, Mona Lisa smile and her beautiful brown eyes. I wonder what she’s thinking?

Sanka

Blue-eyed Sanka is very serious in this shot. I reckon she’s telling us she is ‘on it’ this season and we can count her IN! She looks so much like Supermodel Mama Olivia here.

You can become a fan of these dogs, and any others of your choice by hitting the “Become a Dog Fan” tab at the top of the page, or just click here.

Thanks again to Jeanne, Wendy, Karolyn and Mary Beth. Together you have made some truly special pictures!

Of course there are some out-takes! We’ll share them with you soon.

-Moira

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