Spring
/Like many people, we’re enthusiastically following the Iditarod while also trying to do our part to socially distance ourselves during this COVID-19 scare. Our tourism company, Last Frontier Mushing Co-op, has been hit hard, and our season has ended early. Tourism is a major industry in Alaska, so many Alaskans are bracing themselves for a tough year. But, rather than focusing on the challenges and hardships confronting people at this time, I’d like to be the fun distraction with pictures and videos of adorable puppies and dogs. I’ve been known to say things like “I wish the world would just stop for a moment so I can catch up on everything,” and well…..here’s my chance! So rather than panicking, we’re taking time to cuddle puppies, run the youngsters, clicker train the reindeer, clean up gear, catch up on bookkeeping, update the blog, and hopefully take a trip north with the dogs and socially distance ourselves as far away as possible. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the posts and are taking this pause on life as a chance to read a good book or spend time with your immediate family members.
Beautiful views on our last 3-day expedition! We canceled the remaining expeditions for spring 2020.
Kalyn has extensive experience with clicker training and is currently taking an animal behavior course online. This means, the reindeer are learning cool stuff! Pilot’s favorite is learning to rear. He’s a feisty one and enjoys pawing and rearing. Sailor, on the other hand, is pretty mellow and has yet to be willing to jump off his feet for a treat. We’ll see what his favorite tricks end up being!
Did we mention that we named the puppies?! In honor of their great grandmother and Ryno Kennel’s first main leader, Fire, all three were given names that include Fire. Firefly (“Fly”), Foxfire (“Fox”), and Spitfire.
Sherlock and Watson ran in harness for the first time yesterday, and they were naturals! Watson is a bit more sensitive, so the hookup in the middle of the yard was intimidating, but once we hit the trail, he dominated. Sherlock is more of a “meat head” and just screamed and pulled, ignoring all distractions. Way to go boys! Did I mention they’re huuuuuuge? These two will easily be the tallest dogs in the kennel once they’re finished growing. They’re currently 8.5 months old. We also took Rose and Tobin on a run and gave each one a turn in lead. WOW. They’re going to be fantastic. Both where unfazed when in lead and pulled just as hard as if they were in team or wheel. We have high hopes for those two!
We finished up the Girls to Mushers trip! All the dogs did wonderfully. If you didn’t hear about it, the Girls to Mushers was a free 3-day trip around the Chena River Valley for six girls from all over the United States. Last summer, each girl sent an application essay, and six were selected for the trip. We had such a blast and hope to do it again next year!
