May 15, 2020

2020 Yukon Quest Movie

May 15, 2020/ Ryne Olson

Don’t miss out! For the rest of the day, watch the 2020 Yukon Quest Movie Born for This for free on Youtube. Or better yet, help support the Yukon Quest by purchasing the movie on Vimeo

(I’ve been unable to load the video in the website program, so just copy and paste the link in your browser).

https://youtu.be/Q4D2UqndkFo

And of course, during all this time, the puppies keep growing!

As do the reindeer calves!

https://youtu.be/wVO2HeevBeA

April 30, 2020

Brooks Range

April 30, 2020/ Ryne Olson

There are lots of memes circulating social media, joking about how Alaska has been social distancing since 1959 (when it first became a state). And while in some ways, our day-to-day life hasn’t changed (we still don’t socialize often and continue playing with dogs in the wilderness), we certainly feel the stressors. Oil (one of our biggest industries) is struggling. The $2.00 gas is great for the individual fueling their vehicle but not so great for the state that receives much of its income in oil and gas revenue. Tourism, another major industry in Alaska, has ceased completely. Many dog mushers are hunkering down, speculating about the future of tourism and racing. Will either happen next winter? So rather than sit at home and let my mind get stuck on a loop of uncertainties and questions, we loaded up the dogs and headed north to embrace the social distancing and live in the moment, at least for a short while. As May put it, we “recharged from the Mother Battery.” And wow, did it work. Upon returning home, I’ve been able to approach issues and uncertainties with new resolve and optimism. We’ll make it through these tough times. We will all have to be creative and supportive of one another, but I truly believe the future isn’t as dire as our minds can sometimes believe. We just have to be patient (which those who know me best, know that patience isn’t my strong suit). But now I’m just rambling and digressing from the main point of this blog post- entertainment for you all during this troubling time. Stories from the North.

All spring we’ve been poised to head to the Brooks Range for a final adventure. I kept a close eye on the weather forecast, looking for the perfect week of sun, cooler temps, and little wind. Finally, there was a break in the weather, and we jumped to action. We loaded the truck with dog food, human food, duralogs (there isn’t firewood to burn in the Arctic), Arctic Oven tent, small wood stove, harnesses, ganglines, hunting gear, snacks, warm clothes, and sleds. Since we can’t drive into the kennel, we mushed the dogs by ATV out to the truck. Their excitement level was borderline chaos. After a few trips back and forth between the truck and the kennel, the faithful dog truck was loaded up with Oryx, King Louie, Dolly, Badger, Etta, Cooke, Vanessa, Ernie, Bert, Elmer, Bull, Otis, Smoky, Thresher, Faff, Bowser, Mario, Petzl, Scarpa, Wombat, Avie (May’s dog), May, Kalyn, and myself. And we hit the road.

The drive to the Arctic is long and slow. The Dalton Highway is used primarily by truckers commuting back and forth along the pipeline and to Prudhoe Bay. Stretches of the infamous road are potholey pavement. Others are mud. Others are rock. Others are some combination that miraculously passes as a road. While I was eager to speed north, going 50 miles per hour, I’d have to be ready to quickly slam on the brakes and decelerate to 10 mph to gently navigate the truck through a minefield of potholes. I’d proudly exclaim “I threaded the needle!” Then about five minutes later we wouldn’t be so lucky, jostling everyone around and apologizing to the front end of the faithful dog truck. (Good thing Derek doesn’t read my blog posts… don’t tell him). Finally after about 10 hours, we arrived at the pull off.

Upon arrival, we discovered that we weren’t the only ones headed into the Sagavanirktok Valley. Another truck was parked at the pullout. It was only my second time down the Atigun Gorge to the Sag Valley, and I know it’s a popular access point, but we were still a little disappointed to discover that our 10 hour drive and 7-mile mush would put us camping in the same area as other adventurers. Little did we know, we were soon to be thrilled to have Robin and Chris as our new, backwoods neighbors!

26-Second Time Lapse through the Gorge. Grab your Dramamine!

Originally we planned on camping at the pullout and mushing in the next morning, but the sky was clear and we just couldn’t wait. We loaded up the sleds and hit the trail at about 9 PM at night. As we mushed up the Atigun Gorge, we were pleased to see the trail in perfect condition. Last year, the majority of the Gorge was covered in frozen overflow, sheets of ice, rocks protruding from the surface, and holes of water. This year, it was a glorious snowy ribbon with almost no obstacles, allowing us to look around and take in the grandeur of the steep hillsides forming the Gorge. About an hour later, we’d arrived at our campsite. We set up the Arctic Oven, bedded down the dogs, and settled in for the evening.

Leaving the truck, pipeline in the background.

The next morning we awoke to cloudy, snowy weather. WHAT?! This wasn’t in the forecast! That was my initial response; however, the cloud ceiling was just high enough that we could see the base of the mountains across the valley. We decided we might as well go for a mush and see if we could find any groups of caribou. At the very least, the dogs would enjoy getting out for a leg stretcher. Not ten minutes later, we spotted a small group of caribou on a mountainside. We mushed as close as we dared, secured the teams against the shelter of a bluff, and May and I slowly began creeping our way up the mountainside. Kalyn remained with the dogs to make sure they didn’t get into mischief while we were away. Fast forward a few hours, and May harvested her first caribou. We were ecstatic (and that’s probably an understatement). While I love hunting with Derek, there’s something about hunting with a group of ladies that forces us out of our comfort zone. It was invigorating to be with May as she stalked and harvested her first caribou.

The above photo shows Warbles, or larvae of the Warble Fly. The fly lays eggs on the caribou’s hair, then when the eggs hatch, the larvae go under the caribou’s skin and travel to their back. The larvae grow until early summer, when they exit the skin. You can often see where a larvae is located, even without skinning the animal, by a tuft of fur protruding at a strange angle along the caribou’s back. Warbles do not effect the meat and are in fact edible (although I haven’t been able to do that just yet). Our reindeer can get Warbles as well, so we worm them with Ivermectin to prevent the larvae from surviving. The larvae can grow to about 1 inch long….can you imagine that living under your skin? If you’d like to learn more, check out the Alaska Fish and Game Page : http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=disease.skin5

As we mushed back to camp, we met our wilderness neighbors Chris and Robin. They had a five-dog team of burly, fluffy Alaskan Huskies. They, too, had initially been disappointed to realize they were sharing the valley with another group, until they realized we were also mushers. And just like that, mutual camaraderie. Chris had already harvested one caribou and that day, had been on the hunt for his second (or limit). We briefly chatted, keeping distance between us per quarantine regulations, then May, Kalyn, and I continued back to our camp.

Even though we had copious amounts of food, May wanted to prepare the tongue and show Kalyn and I why it’s considered a delicacy. You can see Kalyn’s reaction in the adjacent video.

Cooking the Tongue

The next morning, the weather was once again cloudy and snowing. I was convinced that the weather forecast was completely wrong at this point. We decided to have a leisurely morning, and May would skijor up the Gorge to make sure the trail conditions were still favorable. Overflow can quickly appear and make travel through the Gorge a nightmare, so we wanted to keep tabs on the conditions during our stay in the Sag Valley. As May skijored up the Gorge, the sun finally appeared, and Kalyn and I hiked to the top of a knoll to glass across the Sag Valley looking for caribou. We spotted a group several miles away. We also saw Chris and Robin butchering a caribou down the Valley, meaning they were early morning hunters and had harvested their limit. Knowing that we wouldn’t be interfering with their hunting, we decided to head out that afternoon in search of caribou.

That afternoon was SPECTACULAR. We mushed the dogs high up into saddles, down rivers, across the tundra. We saw several small herds of caribou. Many times, May and I attempted to get within range but were unsuccessful. The farther down the Sag River we traveled, the more and more caribou we encountered. When we decided to call it a day, we glassed down the valley and spotted hundreds, if not thousands, of caribou milling about. Even though our hunt was unsuccessful that day, the views made up for it.

On our return to camp, we once again ran into Robin and Chris. Derek often jokes about how when hunting caribou, you’ll travel several miles in pursuit only to find caribou hanging out at your camp upon your return. This time was no exception. As we mushed back, Chris was standing on top of a small rise pointing out across the tundra as a group of 5-10 caribou browsed along. The caribou spooked when they saw the dog teams, and magically appearing in the middle of the herd was Robin, wearing an all white suit. The dogs barked in alarm, startled that a creature had appeared out of nowhere. Chris asked if I’d gotten a caribou, and upon learning that I had not, offered to lend us his white suit. At first I declined, but he insisted, saying that Robin just walked her way up to the herd, undetected. Chris said I could give the suit back to him in Fairbanks some day. Well, it did sound pretty amazing, so I wrapped up the suit, secured it in the sled, and mushed back to camp.

Otis preferred dinner in bed.

That night, we learned a winter camping lesson. Never point your stove pipe into the wind. As we soundly slept, the wind was blowing down the Gorge and directly into our stove pipe, forcing the smoke back into our little Arctic Oven tent. Intermittently, the stove would cough, sending dark, toxic Duralog smoke into our cozy tent. Cocooned in my sleeping bag, I buried my head deeper and continued sleeping until I heard Kalyn shout “Ryne get UP!” I pulled my head out from the sleeping bag and immediately began coughing. Throwing my torso out of the tent, I looked over at Kalyn and May doing the same, and we all began to laugh. Not sure why. Perhaps at the absurdity of us all hanging out of the tent, gasping and coughing, underneath a clear, beautiful Arctic sky. Well, whatever the reason, I was very thankful that Kalyn is a light sleeper. We readjusted the stove pipe and returned to bed.

The next day was stunning. Bluebird skies. No wind. We hiked up to a nearby knoll and glassed the valley. Immediately, we spotted caribou. Two herds were sprinting across the valley floor. As I scanned behind them, I spotted a grey wolf in close pursuit. For the next thirty minutes, we just watched the saga of the wolf and the caribou. The wolf would single out a caribou, chase it across the valley, yet never actually catch one or really even get close. We later thought perhaps the wolf was trying to tire a caribou and chase it into the waiting packmates. During this whole dance, there was a group of caribou remaining relatively stationary next to a bluff. We made a plan- May and I would go hunt, and Kalyn would explore a new drainage.

May and I mushed down the Atigun to the Sag, then along the Sag until we reached the base of the bluff that we believed was the approximate area where the caribou were located. May waited with the teams, I donned the white suit, and crept up the bluff. Sure enough, the small herd was browsing not far away. Well.. actually… that’s not true. As I crawled on my hands and knees in the white suit, I’m pretty sure the herd was about 10 miles away. And the white suit worked wonders. I was able to crawl practically in the midst of the herd and pick out a bull.

As I stood up after firing my rifle and turned around to look back toward May and the dogs, I was surprised to see a large herd of caribou rocketing up from the riverbed. I was completely surrounded. The tundra had come alive, and there were caribou swirling everywhere. The amount of life not just surviving, but thriving, in the Arctic is astounding. In the harsh winter environment of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we saw more wildlife than I had all winter. Hundreds of caribou, wolf, Dall sheep, fox, ptarmigan, eagles, porcupine… I felt honored and thankful to be there.

May later shared her story from the hunt, saying that as I was stalking, she was watching the grey wolf trot across the tundra, spooking caribou and occasionally gnawing on bones. After the gunshot, she walked up to look at me through her binoculars, only to be startled by caribou rocketing through her vision, much closer. When we returned to camp, Kalyn had her own stories of mushing through hundreds of spiraling ptarmigan and climbing higher and higher into the mountains. It was a magical day for all of us, and we never wanted to leave.

We returned the white suit to Chris and Robin, expressing our delight at how stealthy the suit allowed us to be and thanking them. The next morning we mushed out the Gorge to the truck to resupply the dog food. As we mushed through the Gorge, spotting Dall Sheep on either side, we were planning the other places we wanted to explore in the Sag Valley. However, as we got close to the truck, we were met by a wall of overflow. Rolling waves of slush and water were creeping out of Galbraith lake and visibly marching into the Gorge. Remembering our experience from last year when the Gorge was one long stretch of overflow, we knew it was time to call it. And while we wanted to stay forever, we were so appreciative of the few days we did get in that incredible valley. We returned to camp, packed up everything within fifteen minutes, and mushed back to the truck.

Overflow

As we drove home, we were sad that our trip was coming to a close but also had a new outlook on the upcoming months. We are energized and ready to tackle upcoming challenges. And we’re so thankful to have experienced even just a few days in the spectacular Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

April 20, 2020

Breakup

April 20, 2020/ Ryne Olson

It has arrived. I know I promised to always be positive during my posts this spring, but I have to admit, breakup in Alaska is probably one of my least favorite conditions. As you can see from the photo below, our property transforms into a wetland. Because the terrain is relatively flat, the snow melts into massive ponds that remain until the ground finally thaws and the water is soaked up into the ground. This is the main reason for our platform kennel set up. While it took days to lay out thousands of 2x4s to build three 24ft x 96ft decks, this is the time of year when they’re worth their weight in gold. So while we bust out the muck boots and wade across the property, the dogs frolic on their clean, dry platforms. This is also the time of year when we can no longer drive into the kennel. We haven’t been able to gravel our entire road yet, so the mud makes it impassable to vehicles. We park our vehicles at the end of our road and shuttle all our gear by ATV.

But truth be told, it’s not the water and mud and inability to drive to the kennel that gets me down. It’s just the end of my favorite season. Of mushing. Of adventuring with my friends. Of watching the joy fill the dogs’ eyes as they leap and bark and howl, then shoot down the trail with barely controlled excitement. It’s the freedom you experience by mushing by dog team.

So I pouted for awhile, and then decided, we’re heading north. Even though it seems late to keep mushing, we’ve heard there is snow in the Brooks Range, so north we’ll go. Saeward and Derek will remain at the kennel to play with these cutes (see photo below) and take care of the dogs who stay behind. Kalyn and I will head north in search of caribou, and truthfully, more importantly, adventure with the dogs.

Before heading north, we finalized a couple projects while the temperatures still froze at night. We collected the last loads of firewood and processed a caribou we harvested a few weeks ago. Jezzy is always close at hand to lend a helping paw.

I love mushing in wide open areas where we can work with leaders to dial in directional commands. In Two Rivers, the trails are clearly defined. Leaders learn “gee” and “haw” when they encounter a fork in the trail, but we need wide open spaces to really master our connection. Here’s a clip from last year’s trip. Lefty is a MASTER.

April 15, 2020

Babies

April 15, 2020/ Ryne Olson

There are lots of babies bopping around the neighborhood right now! Three you already know: Fly, Spitfire, and Fox. Every day, these three surprise me with how quickly they grow. A short walk to the treeline used to be enough to tucker them out. Now, we have to go all the way down the airstrip and up the driveway. Before long, we’ll have to take them on a 1000-mile race to tire them out!

And we have a new baby! Chisto gave birth to a beautiful calf a few days ago. Chisto knew exactly what to do, but I’ll admit, we were anxious nannies and regularly messaging our vet, Dr. McCrea, to confirm everything was normal. Within a couple hours, the calf was nursing lying down. Then in about six hours, the calf was standing. In 12 hours, she was running along behind mom. It was amazing! We can’t wait to start working with her and getting her socialized. For now, Chisto is doing a good job of finding the best resting places for her baby and diligently keeping the other reindeer away.

April 10, 2020

Lazy Afternoon

April 10, 2020/ Ryne Olson

Yesterday, each athlete enjoyed a meaty, tasty bone from one of the local butcher shops. Giving out bones serves many purposes:

1) Makes the dogs happy.

2) While chewing on the bone, the dogs give themselves a little teeth cleaning, chipping the plaque off their teeth.

3) For about two hours, the yard is quiet.

4) For the next couple weeks, the dogs can chew on bones (instead of their house) if they ever feel the desire to gnaw on something.

5) It creates excellent fodder for the blog.

April 08, 2020

And more puppies

April 08, 2020/ Ryne Olson

Cooler temperatures and snow have been holding on into April, and we’re PUMPED. Long, bright days. Deep snow. Perfect “human temperatures.” We’ve been regularly taking the dogs out on fun runs, trying new dogs in lead, exploring little side trails, and enjoying being outside.

The yearling class of Rose, Tobin, Watson and Sherlock run every other day for about 5-6 miles. Rose, Tobin, and Sherlock have all had turns running in lead and performed wonderfully. Watson is a little more sensitive and can get anxious with the crazy energy from the other dogs, so we’re taking things slow with him. Sherlock and Tobin are both on the far other side of the spectrum, lunging in harness and snapping in the air to get moving. For those two, we’re working on acceptable behaviors at hook up. Meaning, no, Sherlock, you can’t snap your teeth in your neighbor’s face in impatience. Rose is perfectly in the middle of the enthusiasm spectrum. She’s excited to go and screams her head off, but doesn’t pester anyone or chew the lines. Good girl Rose!

Tobin then Sherlock and Watson in wheel.

The Fire pups have (in what feels like overnight) turned for adorable, cuddly little fluffballs to rambunctious, razor-teeth monsters who want to eat your clothes. The following photos taken in the snow are at the cute stage. The ones in the house are when they decided they had a taste for blood. Literally.

All of these photos were taken by Kalyn, who has spearheaded the task of providing adorable photos to help everyone through this tough time. So a big thanks to Kalyn for photographing and editing so many photos!

April 03, 2020

Puppy Photos

April 03, 2020/ Ryne Olson

Kalyn took some glamour shots of Fly, Fox, and Spitfire yesterday. They’re 5 1/2 weeks old now and are becoming so much more animated and feisty. Right now, Spitfire is the most adventurous. He’s comfortable exploring on his own and taking on the big dogs. Fly is the most “playful.” I put playful in quotes because her playing sometimes comes across as pestering to her brothers. Fox is the laziest. He sleeps more than his siblings and during play time, he likes to stay close to the human. All that being said, they’re growing and changing so quickly that it’ll probably be different tomorrow!

March 31, 2020

What are we up to?

March 31, 2020/ Ryne Olson

Like many folks around the world, we’re pretty baffled by all that’s happening. In some ways, life hasn’t changed. We start every day by feeding the dogs, scooping the yard, feeding the reindeer. We end every day in the same way. We exercise the dogs, play with the puppies, and train the reindeer. We haul firewood to heat our cabins and enjoy the longer and longer days (13 hours and 28 mintues)! We mush the dogs to the post office to pick up the mail and chip away at projects around the kennel. People tell us we need to socially distance ourselves, and we change very little in our daily lives.

Then we open up social media and BAM! The world is in chaos. Our tourism season has ended. We must stay at home due to a statewide mandate to shelter in place. We feel the same pressures as everyone else. Will we have jobs? Will dog food still be accessible? Is it safe to go into town? Realistically, we’re very fortunate about our situation. We’re healthy. Derek has a job in firefighting. We have plenty of dog food. We have regular Zoom and Facetime dates with friends and family. Whenever I begin to pity myself, I remember all the healthcare workers putting in overtime to curb this pandemic, potentially exposing themselves to the virus. So in an effort to say thank you (and distract everyone else from their anxieties) I’m going to try to post more blog updates with fun things: reindeer tricks, puppy videos, dog runs, training videos. If there’s anything in particular you’d like to see, send us an email or respond in the comments. (Also, I recently mailed all Yukon Quest tags to the dog sponsors whose dogs raced. Keep an eye on the mail!)

Here’s a video taken yesterday of Fox, Fly, and Spitfire. They are getting sassy! Fly is definitely the sassiest at the moment. She barks at the big dogs and likes to terrorize her brothers. Spitfire is adventurous. He enjoys exploring behind the couches and searching out every nook and cranny. Fox is adorable and rather lazy. If Kalyn or I want a dog to cuddle with, he’s the one we grab. He loves to sleep.

The reindeer have been a real pleasure to work with. They’re goofy and fun, and make it very clear they only like to do tricks for food. Pilot enjoys rearing up. He just starts jumping around, even when not prompted. Sailor is lazy and prefers to keep all four feet firmly on the ground. He’s best at “giving kisses.” After my second slobbery reindeer kiss, I wonder if this is actually a good trick to teach them or not.

Pilot rearing for the target (the purple tennis ball).

We’ve been using the clicker training method, much the same way people train dogs and horses. We’ve been focusing on targeting, meaning the touch a particular target with their nose. We started with our hands as targets and now use a purple tennis ball on a stick.

Sailor has recently dropped his antlers. Both female and male caribou and reindeer have antlers. Typically mature bulls drop their antlers in the winter. Females drop them after they give birth in the spring, and calves drop them sometime in the spring. That being said, these are just guidelines, and it’s not uncommon to find a reindeer not following the rules of antler shedding.

We heat all the cabins (our home, Stormy Cabin where Kalyn and Saeward live, and Lakefront Cabin where Tom lived) with wood. Wood puts off an intense, dry heat. One of the biggest chores in winter is firewood collection. We scour the surrounding land for standing dead trees. Dead trees are exceptionally dry and burn the cleanest. Typically, we haul the firewood back by snowmachine. Sasha LOVES getting firewood and sprints ahead of the snowmachine. This is one of her favorite chores.

Derek and I flew out for a weekend camping trip and some social distancing! We harvested a caribou during the trip as well.

We flew out to the campsite and crossed over Rosebud Summit (one of the summits on the Yukon Quest) along the way. The day we flew it was clear and beautiful, but can you imagine mushing along the summit during a windstorm? Talk about exposed!

And the final video, a little bit of trail breaking down the Chena River.

March 17, 2020

Spring

March 17, 2020/ Ryne Olson

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!

March 06, 2020

Puppy Photos for Your Friday

March 06, 2020/ Ryne Olson

Here are some adorable puppy photos taken by Whitney McLaren. I know every puppy is cute, but these guys are too much sometimes. They’re hungry little monsters and eat non-stop. Because there are only three of them, they never have to share, so they’re enormous. Any day now, the pups will open their eyes. Do you think any inherited Wingman’s blue eyes?

February 27, 2020

Welcome to the Family!

February 27, 2020/ Ryne Olson

Loretta is the proud mama to three, big, beautiful puppies! Ryno Kennel welcomed two boys and one girl to the RK Team on Tuesday. Any ideas for names?

A bit more background on the parents:

Loretta is from Hey Moose! Kennel. She’s a mix of King and Scheer lines, and Loretta (as well as her littermates) have had great success in the racing world. One thing we look at when selecting potential parents is the success of the entire litter. Is just the dog an individual rockstar or does the whole litter stand out? In Loretta’s case, Loretta, Dolly, Cooke, Smoky, Otis, Hank, Buck (and several others) are all proven race athletes. Loretta has also had one litter before. All of her offspring will be racing with either Brent Sass or Tom Frode Johansen in the 2020 Iditarod, and a few just finished in Brent’s champion Yukon Quest team. As you can see, there is a lot of potential in her genetics!

Wingman is a Ryno Kennel standout. He’s a smooth mover, aggressive eater, and the biggest cheerleader on the team. He’d be happily barking and wagging his tail every time we left or arrived at a checkpoint. His litter doesn’t have quite as high of a success rate as Loretta’s litter, but there are still several strong thousand-mile athletes, mostly in Riley Dyche’s team. Also, there is a sentimental element to Wingman. He’s Fire’s grandson. For longtime kennel followers, you’ll probably recognize Fire’s name. She was THE LEADER of Ryno Kennel for our first few years. She led my entire rookie Yukon Quest and was a big reason for our successful Copper Basin finishes. And she’s literally the best leader I’ve ever met. She wants to be in lead. Nothing deterrs her. At ten years and 6 months, she’s the oldest dog at Ryno Kennel right now. These puppies are her great grandpups. Nowadays, Fire lives the good life mostly sleeping inside and running the occasional tour.