In the first two parts of our “iditarod Checkpoint Drop Bags” series, we looked at the mountain of dog food — meat, fish, fat, kibble, etc. — that was converted into piles of dog food then packed into the Drop Bags. I mentioned at the time that in addition to … Read More
Despite what you may hear from rumor mongers among so-called “animal activists” and some sensationalists in the media, the well-being of the dogs is the paramount consideration in sled dog racing. This is true of everyone involved in the sport. Way beyond the fact that mushers know a dog who … Read More
As you recently heard Dr. Mike Davis say, there’s been a lot of scientific research on how much energy sled dogs burn during the Iditarod, and the numbers are consistently in the 10,000-12,000 calories per day range. That is a huge number of calories, and it helps explain the massive … Read More
Yesterday I gave you a “detailed” view of some of what goes into an Iditarod Checkpoint Drop Bag. Today I want to give you a bit of a “bigger picture” view. After several days cutting about 900 pounds of meat — fish, beef, horse, turkey skins, lamb, beaver, etc. — … Read More
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race is such a huge event in the annual cycle here at SP Kennel that it cannot be over-emphasized how much effort goes into preparing for it. As I recently mentioned, there are two basic “sides” to Iditarod preparation — “Training” and “Logistics” — and both … Read More
As the clock continues to count down, preparations for Iditarod are accelerating here at SP Kennel. The most obvious aspect of this preparation, of course, is the pace of training dogs. Because fielding two Iditarod teams requires 32 fully trained dogs — and you never know which dogs might have … Read More
You’ve no doubt noticed a small addition to the header above… That’s right, we’re now officially “on the clock” and counting down to Iditarod! As the saying goes around here, “We’ve got a lot to do!”: • At least 32 dogs must be brought up to Iditarod levels of fitness, … Read More
SP Kennel is a successful business as well as our passion. In order to adequately train and appropriately care for our canine athletes and ourselves, both of us make the kennel a full time occupation during the winter months. Neither Aliy nor Allen works any outside jobs from November through … Read More
HOME!Aliy, Allen and their teams flew to Anchorage, from Nome, late last Monday. After a few hours of collecting the dog truck and a trailer, our mushers loaded the dogs and began an 8-hour, early morning trek north to SP Kennel. All were ecstatic to be back home on Tuesday. … Read More
Home in NomeThe SP Kennel members, human and canine, are comfortably housed with our 2 host families in Nome. Allen recovered enough in the past 24 hours to eat soup and toast….his fever is gone. He and Aliy are trying to catch up on sleep. Both Aliy’s and Allen’s teams … Read More
