Dogs | Retired

Hello From New Zealand!

August 23, 2018 by

It’s winter in New Zealand and, therefore, our dog racing season.

Much of the racing in NZ is sprint type racing but Fleur and Curt Perano of Underdog NZ (who also keep a kennel in Willow, Alaska) organised more of a “distance” type race a couple of weekends ago, to introduce teams to North American style racing. Fleur and Curt run sled dog tours up at the Snow Farm in Cardrona and asked me to be a race judge for the first (and hopefully, annual) Cardrona Valley Stage Race.

We had skijourers and sled teams competing over the same course at the same time and a skijourer with her two dog team even won the race! There were some gorgeous dogs competing; from Alaskan and Siberian Huskies to GSPs, Border Collies and Huntaways (one of our famous NZ farmdog breeds).

You may be interested to see who I bumped into while I was there!

That’s right! Torch and Waylon! They are having a blast in New Zealand with Sheryll and they competed in the race with Sheryll’s housemate Ilona. They hadn’t seen “proper” snow since leaving Two Rivers and when Waylon saw it he nose dived into the snow bank and rolled around, enjoying the sensation again. They are regular competitors in the North Island races and recently gained their “Sled Dog” titles giving them letters to put after their names: Waylon SD and Torch SD

Torch and Waylon LOVE Sheryll

Torch is still as happy and handsome as ever!

Here are some fabulous pics, courtesy of Underdog NZ, of Torch and Waylon (and their team mates Salem, Hook, Leap and Hatchet – and Ilona) on the spectacular trails in Cardrona.

And for you movie fans, check out the Media and Film tab on their website!

Moira

The Kennel

August Howl

August 20, 2018 by

Looking south from the upper porch at SP Kennel was absolutely gorgeous the other night. It was 10:30 at night and the sunset was spectacular. The sun doesn’t set much in interior Alaska during the summer months, so witnessing this dazzling display of brilliant colors as the sun moves below the horizon was special. It is truly a sign of the change of seasons.

The dogs (and humans) at SPK always enjoy a good howl. So… why not?

Puppies

Puppy Cam Test

August 17, 2018 by

Our First Scheduled LIVE PUP CAM will be tomorrow, Saturday at 2PM (AKT) or 6PM (EST) or 10AM Sunday (New Zealand). See you then!

Despite our amazing website guru, we still have very slow upload speeds in rural Alaska. So… our live video is going to look about like what you see here on the TEST. Of course we’ll have higher quality pre-taped videos for you to enjoy per usual, but to view the live fuzzies, you will get a bit of a fuzzy view! Here is a pre-recorded Test of Live Cam from yesterday:

 

 

 

Puppies

Welcome to the World! Puppies

August 16, 2018 by

We welcomed eight Junior X Rodney puppies on Monday, August 13th. We generally estimate a 63 day “due date” – which was not until the 16th. So… on Monday, we were a little surprised. 

Junior’s labor started normally. She whelped a dark tri-colored boy in the early morning. Aliy was nursemaid. She helped “Natural Born” learn to nurse and kept him warm as Junior continued labor. But… as we here at SPK understand and accept:  Nothing is easy. After four hours and no more contractions, as well as no puppy in the birth canal, Junior went to North Pole Vet Hospital. 

Junior had no contractions while in route or at the hospital. X-rays showed multiple pups high up the uterine horns. So Dr Lovely, assisted by Dr Dick, proceeded with a c-section surgery. The hospital was very soon full of squeaks and squeals from newborns. Fortunately, North Pole Vet Hospital employs many qualified and talented “Puppy Nannies.” The very rapid appearance ~ in less than 5 minutes ~ of seven husky puppies went smoothly. Anyone who has not witnessed a canine c-section would be surprised to learn that no less than ten people helped with this complicated, hands on whelping procedure. It is truly, a life saving process.

A huge THANKS to everyone at NP Vet: especially Dr Lovely, Vet Tech Alli, Vet Tech Crystal, Dr Brown, Dr Rouge, Dr Dick and the other caring assistants who cleaned, suctioned, tubed, nipped umbilical cords, rubbed, warmed and generally welcomed the newborns to the World. And also we owe an apology and a thanks to all the NP Vet patients and their owners who had to wait longer for their scheduled appointments. 

“Having puppies” can be a wonderful, planned event. Many, many husky litters are naturally welcomed to the World. But the reality is that complications can happen even to the healthiest, well cared for female. Junior had no obvious signs of pain or discomfort and had already whelped one healthy pup. It was a tight rope walk to know just when to make that 9-1-1 emergency trip to the Hospital. It is so important to have a working relationship with a Veterinarian who knows your dog. It is even more critical to have that Vet Hospital’s phone number plugged in your ‘Favorites’ (or into your memory). There was no obvious blockage, but Junior was certainly not going to have the remaining puppies naturally. 

Junior and the eight little ones are currently staying in the SPK living room. There are two quite small runts in the litter. We will be adding some milk replacement to their nursing and keeping our fingers crossed. The litter and Momma will move into the Puppy Room after Junior’s incision heals and all the pups show weight gain from their birth weights. Junior will appreciate the extra space of the Puppy Room with its cedar shaving floor, enclosed nursing house and doggie door to the outdoors. 

SP Kennel will not be keeping all eight puppies into their adulthood. Several will be available. This is not a common trend for us, but eight puppies is quite a handful and there might be one more SPK /Ryno Kennel litter possible in mid September. Of course, we will update the website about every pup’s future forever home.

We will have the Puppy Cam set up very soon.

Dogs | Puppies

Puppies on the Way!

August 9, 2018 by

It has been two years since we whelped a litter of Alaskan Husky pups at SP Kennel. In the next week (or so) that will change.

Junior is pregnant.

As all of you SPK fans know, Olivia “Junior” was born to Olivia and Nacho’s first litter six years ago this week! She is one of our most talented sled dogs with the sweetest personality. She will gallop down the race trail and make friends while doing it.

Junior is a first-time mother and seems to be handling the issues of pregnancy well so far. The whelping / puppy room is set up and she has claimed her favorite spot in the crate full of cedar shavings. This indoor dog room has a doggie door to the outdoor pen. She can go in and out to her heart’s content.

Who is Daddy-O? Rodney.

Rodney brings excitement, enthusiasm and attitude to the puppy genetics. And a lot of barking. (Junior is a constant howler – so pups the might be rather vocal!)

Rodney is from the Chica and Clyde litter born four years ago. Rodney and Junior are first cousins with common grandparents; Zorro and Venus.

 

We hope to bring a New Feature to the SPKennel Website: A Puppy Cam. The internet upload speed in Two Rivers, Alaska is not fast, by any means. Our website guru has taken this to task and is working on a set up this coming week.

The Puppy Cam will most likely not be functional on a 24/7 basis, but as soon as we have the kinks worked out… you will see:

P – U – P – P – I – E – S !

Races

ID: “Aliy Cam” 21 – Fifteen miles to Nome

August 7, 2018 by

Aliy took several short videos during her nine days on the Iditarod trail. This is the final video of the series. We hope you have enjoyed them.

In this video the team has passed Safety and is only 15 miles from Nome.

As well as videos, Aliy took photos while on Iditarod 2018. Here are three snap shots from the last day on the trail.

This is a photo of Johnson’s Camp telemetry site that records automated weather and wind readings just prior to the Safety Checkpoint. HERE IS LINK if you are interested. 

This is a photo of the team coming into the Safety Checkpoint. Who is more excited the people waiting to greet us or the team? 

Here is the last photo from the 2018 Iditarod. Sunset approximately an hour prior to the finish line.

To the right of the sun are the glowing lights of Nome. As it seemed throughout the one thousand miles across the Arctic, Mother Nature overpowered humankind in every way. Coming into Nome was no exception.

Races

ID: “Aliy Cam” 20 – The Blowhole

August 3, 2018 by

Aliy took several short videos during her nine days on the Iditarod trail. This is the second to last video in the series. We hope you have been enjoying them over the last few weeks.

In this video the team travels in the infamous “Blowhole” near Safety about 35 miles from the finish line. For Aliy, every year since 2001, she and her dog team have endured moderate wind to ridiculous hurricane force gusts while traveling this section of trail.

During this year (2018), there was no wind. Zero. This was an entirely new experience.

 

The “Blowhole” near Safety is created because there are uniquely shaped mountains just to the north of the trail.  When wind blows down through these mountains it is forced through natural wind tunnels. This tunneling increases the wind strength tremendously. When there is significant wind blowing south, the wind that channels out of the mountains and into the “Blowhole” can be Hurricane Force (over 72 mph). Even when there is only a little wind blowing from the north, the layout of the land usually keeps the “Blowhole” breezy.

The extreme wind danger in this area is almost unbelievable. Aliy experienced it firsthand in 2014 when she and her team endured the wind’s unyielding fury. And this year was no exception for two mushers: Jim Lanier and Scott Jansen were rescued by helicopter after they unsuccessfully struggled to guide their dog teams through the “Blowhole”.

In this video from 2011, the team travels the “Blowhole”. The wind gusts were over 40 mph.

 

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