August 26, 2002

First off, I would like to congratulate Karen Yeargain of Tumnatki Siberians for the recent addition of NorthWapiti’s KitKat. Yes, we sold KitKat to Karen in Oregon. She was REALLY hard to let go, but I know she will fit in beautifully in Karen’s life and kennel. Karen has an awesome sprint team that is kicking butt in the western US and we are very flattered that she feels KitKat will be a strong addition to her team.

Karen has been in contact several times since KitKat flew out there on Tuesday to let us know how happy she is with her and how well she is adjusting. That helps make things somewhat easier for me on this end!

It was a really busy weekend around here. On Friday, my brother Jim and his girlfriend, Melissa showed up for a weekend visit. Mark’s youngest brother Brian and 2 of his children showed up for a short visit on their way to Mark’s older brother’s place. Older brother, Kelly and family live just 6 miles away, so they showed up too and we had 7 adults and 5 children in the house for dinner. For those of you that have visited our 950 sq. ft house, you know this was a tight fit! But a good time was had by all anyway!
The puppies got a lot of socializing with the nieces and nephews! It was terrific for them (the puppies, that is).

Mark got a cold on Saturday and wasn’t up to doing much, but Jim, Melissa, he and I puttered around the yard anyway. Jim and Melissa got out and did some blueberry picking – the crop this year is the best ever – the ground around our land is literally blue! I went out to round them up for lunch and took Visa and Fly out with me. Visa quickly discovered how tasty blueberries are and was gobbling them up off the bushes as fast as we were picking. Lucky there is LOTS to go around.

For dessert I did up a recipe from one of my Alaska cookbooks – fresh blueberries, sprinkled with brown sugar, topped with a scoop of sour cream! Sounds weird, but very tasty!

On Sunday we marked some of the trails for our Fall Warm Up next weekend. We put in a nice 1.5 and 2.5 mile loop that will be wonderful for folks with carts. Mark and I will guide the longer runs on 4 wheelers, so no need to mark those trails.

Well that’s the news for now! The temps have been warm and I only got one day of running in last week. They are predicting temperatures closer to normal for this week – my fingers are crossed!

Karen

August 19, 2002

All kinds of things happening around here last week (like what else is new?) 

First off, Lynn Alfino, who wrote that great article on me that appeared in Homemakers magazine showed up for a visit. Lynn is working on another project, which I let everyone in on at a later date, and wanted to do another interview with me. It was a lot of fun to do this one in person, rather then on the phone. Luckily, she stayed overnight, as we were chatting well into the evening – much past my usually 9:30 – 10 bedtime! 

NorthWapiti’s Alpha CD, SDX, TT (aka ‘Allie’) made a trip to the vet for surgery on Wednesday. Allie is almost 13 years old, so any surgery is worrisome at that age, but she has been having some coat problem that the vet thinks was hormonal and she had some mammary tumors that needed to go. Minus a few internal parts, she is back at home and doing well. Real well, in fact – I have lost my place on the couch, as she likes to hang out there with her Dad, who is her favorite person in the world. Oh well, she is entitled. For those of you that don’t know Allie, she was the last-born pup in our first litter. She was Mark’s obedience dog and finished her ‘Companion Dog’ title in only 4 tries. When we began doing longer races she and her half brother, Buddy were my main leaders (if any of you have seen our business cards or letterhead, Allie and Buddy are the dogs in that artwork). Allie was key in my 1994 Quesnel, B.C Gold Rush Trail win. She retired from the main string after the 1997 season, but for years after that helped train a number of the up and coming leaders in the kennel. We hope this surgery will allow us the pleasure of her company for, at least, a few more years. 

We were pretty excited; at least I was, to have the ‘Return of Psycho Coyote’ on Sunday. ‘Psycho Coyote’ is this brave, deranged, but entertaining coyote that lives on the ‘government land’ next to ours. Whenever we would go through what she perceived to be ‘her’ territory, she would charge down the trail after us barking and yipping. We didn’t see her at all last season and I was worried that she had moved on to torment someone else or that something had happened to her. On Sunday we were coming down a road a mile from home, when all of the sudden their was a bunch of barking, yipping and complaining from alongside the road – ‘the Return of Psycho Coyote’. True to form, she caught up with us and ran in the trees parallel to my team for a bit, taking short breaks to bark in her strange ‘psycho’ way. When we turned onto another trail, she fell in behind us. She followed for about 1/2 mile, even impatiently waiting 30 or so feet behind my 4-wheeler when I got off to undo a tangle. Then, I guess as we crossed out of her area, she vanished silently into the woods. I’ll be taking my camera on the next few runs to see if I can’t snap a picture of my favorite little weirdo of the woodlands.

The pups are growing like weeds – big, fat weeds actually. All three are wonderfully playful and cute - definitely my favorite age. As I’ve been leaving the yard with the dog teams the last few mornings, there has been a little line up of faces peering out from their house – learning by example, I hope! 

That’s all for now!!

Karen

August 12, 2002

I've been pretty pleased that I've been keeping my diary pretty up to date lately - that was until I actually went to look at the diary page and realized that it has been almost 1 month since my last real entry. Where does time go? Unbelievable! Of course, lots has been happening in the kennel in the last while. We are full swing in training. The weather has been cool enough that I'm running almost every morning. We are up to 8 - 9 mile runs and I can honestly say that I have never seen the dogs look stronger! All the teams are even getting up the hill on our driveway - and those of you that have visited know that that is a nasty hill - without any breaks or help. That has always been something that didn't happen till much later, if ever in a season - I'm excited! I'm continuing to work some new dogs in lead. I've been surprised at how well these dogs, some youngsters, are doing. Olena has got to be the star - she is amazing! The rest of the dogs don't seem to share my enthusiasm for her, though - she is so focused and driven that she can really carry on at the start (and during, for that matter) a run. I swear the other dogs throw me dirty looks when I hook her up next to them. This morning I had Denali up front. He did really well - lots of promise there too! Last week or so I had Freya up front. Freya is probably the smallest dog on my team, but she has a BIG work ethic that more then makes up for her size. We were running the ditch of Highway 2 for the first time this season and the tall grass had absolutely no trail in it. Little Freya was totally lost in the grass, but never slacked up on her tug line, blindly taking commands without hesitation. I would have been impressed if that were one of my fully trained leaders, for it to be a young leader made it that much more wonderful!

Joey's pups continue to grow and do well. We have named them (with some help from friends) - the black/white, brown eyed girl is NorthWapiti's Born to Run 'Lou'; the black/white, blue eyed male is NorthWapiti's Long May You Run 'Junior'; and the piebald, brown eyed girl is NorthWapiti's See Spot Run 'Spot'.

We are disappointed to report that Jumper didn't have any puppies. She had been bred to Orion, but maybe she was planning to go to Iditarod this winter. She is happy to be back in training!

One very exciting bit of news that I was saving for last - Smiley has finished his Canadian Championship. This makes him the second Canadian Champion in the history of the breed (the first was our 'Mannie' - Ch. Kainai's Anchorman) to finish Iditarod. It was a real chore to keep that white coat clean for the show ring and I'm very happy, as I'm sure Smiley is too - he was getting dishpan paws and I was getting dishpan hands from all the bathing, not to have to be working on it anymore! Watch for show pictures of our handsome boy to be posted on the site soon. Gosh, I'm proud of him! Next in the ring will be Nik - but we are only planning on one or two more shows this season. Things are going to be getting really busy really fast around here.

All for today!
Karen

July 16, 2002

First off the most exciting news - Joey (Alaskan's Georgio of Anadyr) whelped out 3 pups yesterday. Well, the first two on the 14th and the 3rd yesterday, but it all kind of blurs into one day to me! She was several days overdue and I had been hovering nervously over her for a few nights. The first two pups look a lot like their Dad, Grover and the third one is a very cool looking piebald - white with black spots. Joey is one of the most relaxed Mom's I seen and the pups are a content and quiet bunch. 

Joey and her pups enjoy a meal! 

Other then that, things are plugging along here. I managed to sprain my ankle in one of the 'human traps' that the dogs dig out in the yard. They are so pleased when you take a nosedive into one of their holes and instantly pounce upon you to cover you with kisses. It's an even bigger bonus if they get you while you are carrying bowls of food!! This was almost a week ago and the pain has now just turned into a dull throb. It better just go away, I have a dog show this weekend and need to be able to run. Ah well, learning to work through pain is always good training for Iditarod!


I had a tiring and trying run this morning. Cassie has been showing signs that she was going to really start seeing things my way. I let that lull me into a false sense of trust in her and hooked her up as my main leader this morning (she had Kaylinn with her, but Kaylinn has absolutely no clue about anything other then just running when up front). Behind them I had all the 2 year olds and then other 'A' team dogs scattered throughout. Cassie was awesome for the first few miles. Then we came to our watering spot and I wanted to go by it, do a small loop and then come back and then stop to water. Cassie failed to see the wisdom in that plan and went on strike. Man that dog can strike - she gets this disgusted look on her face and plants her feet firmly on the ground. As she sees me coming up the team, see throws me this look that clearly says "Talk to the paw - I don't care what YOU want to do.". I struggled through with her for another mile or so and then decided this wasn't in the best interest of the rest of the team. I got her working again and then stopped on a positive note and took her out of lead. Because I was still suffering sleep depravation, or because I hadn't had enough coffee this morning, I decided to stick Olena up front for the very first time. Now I had 2 leaders and 2 swing dogs that didn't know 'Gee' and "Haw'. Olena was a little STAR (as I figured she would be) - she never looked over her shoulder, just leaned into that harness and pulled like crazy. I had to stop and run up front to show them what I wanted on just about every corner, but Kaylinn even showed signs that she understood more then I thought about commands. She really, really tries hard to please!!

Things continued along great until we came into the yard. Now this is usually a time when the dogs are starting to think about their snacks and I'm thinking about that cup of coffee that isn't too far away. Distracted by visions of caffeine, I failed to see the problem brewing until we were wrapped around a kennel and tree at the edge of the dog yard - and then Fly came flying into the picture. Olena saw no reason she should go running with him and every time I got them straightened out and pointing the right direction - off she went, tangling us again. It actually turned into a great training tool for both Kaylinn and Olena - both finally got the idea and held the line tight while I ran back to the 4 wheeler, then pulled solidly and straight into the yard - despite the big 'Fly' buzzing around them! What good dogs!

Leaving the yard for our 'finishing loop' (I usually ask the dogs to leave the yard and do a small ½ mile loop before putting them away) was just as exciting, Olena dug into her harness when asked but then had some trouble understanding that this was not the time to chat with Dasher, Dancer, and the 'Race to the Sky' pups!

They finished strong though and did a really admirable job of coming into the yard the second time! Yeah Olena - the more I work with her, the more I'm excited about her potential! And YEAH for Kaylinn, she is really developing into a keen to please and responsible leader. As for Cassie….I guess it is back to the drawing board….*sigh*

Have a great day!
Karen

July 2, 2002

WAHOO! 

Training got underway yesterday!! It was actually a lovely and cool morning and I took a team out for a nice 4-mile jaunt. As a 'first run of the season' treat to myself, I ran Grover in lead - not something I often do in training, as training time is better spend on dogs that need training rather then a boy that has the 'leader thing' pretty much down pat.

The team was:

Grover and Odie
Gus and Denali
Kobuk and Chester
Olena and Nahanni
Nik and Striker
Oreo and Cassie

 

I'm inching Denali up closer to the front of the team, as I think he holds some real promise as a leader. Olena continues to shine and Cassie, well - she is still testing me!

I have to do a quick brag for a friend! I've been snacking with some treats given to me by my friend, Cheryl Liddle from California. She calls them 'Kona's Trail Treats - Energy Snacks for Dogs' and her company is 'Single Tracks Pet Snacks' (liddle1@ix.netcom.com). Under 'How to Feed' on the back of the package she states, "watch your fingers" and she is REALLY not kidding! I have no clue what she puts in the darn things put the dogs go NUTS for them! Cassie snatched the bag out of my hand yesterday! Two paws up from our team!!

Anyway, just a short post for today! I know Kim and Kelly Berg are whelping a litter of Grover babies in New Hampshire as I write. I understand 3 boys so far. I'll have more details up in the next day or so!

Too warm to run this morning!

Karen

June 30, 2002

Just a quick note to mention that Iditarod entries opened yesterday. All mushers that enter on the first day are guaranteed a starting position in the first batch (65 mushers entered yesterday - so my bib number will be between 2 - 66. Remember Bib 1 is always a ceremonial musher). You can follow the list of mushers, which will grow until the December 1 cutoff, on the Iditarod site.

The mushers entering yesterday were:

1. G.B. Jones Wasilla, Ak
2. David Straub Willow, AK
3. Ken Anderson Fairbanks, AK
4. Perry Solmonson (rookie) Plain, Wa
5. Frank Sihler (rookie) Wasilla, AK
6. Ray Redington, Jr. Fairbanks, AK
7. Aaron Burmeister Nome, AK
8. Ramy Brooks Healy, AK
9. Ted English Willow, AK
10. Vern Halter Willow, AK
11. Mitch Seavey Sterling, AK
12. Jason Cameron (rookie) Homer, AK
13. Dexter Kancer (rookie) Nenana, AK
14. Mike Williams Akiak, AK
15. Lance Barve Wasilla, AK
16. Judy Merritt- (rookie) Moose Pass, AK
17. Mike Suman (rookie) Big Lake, AK
18. Martin Buser Big Lake
19. Debbie Moderow (rookie) Anchorage, AK
20. Doug Grillot (rookie) Willow, AK
21. Carla Kelly (rookie) Anchorage, AK
22. Lynda Plettner- Willow, AK
23. Ben Stamm (rookie) Argyle, WI
24. Jessie Royer Fairbanks, AK
25. Cim Smyth Big Lake, AK
26. Jeff King Denali, Ak
27. Ellen Halverson (rookie) Wasilla, AK
28. Cali King (rookie) Denali, AK
29. Gerald Sousa - Talkeetna, AK
30. John Baker - Kotzebue, AK
31. Jim Lanier Chugiak, AK
32. Rick Horstmann (rookie) -Willow, AK
33. Ramey Smyth Big Lake, AK
34. Gerald Riley- Nenana, AK
35. Burt Bomhoff Chugiak, AK
36. Tyrell Seavey- (rookie) Seward, AK
37. Michael Goosen Wasilla, AK
38. Tim Osmar Ninilchik AK
39. Hans Gatt Atlin BC CANADA
40. Ed Iten Kotzebue, AK
41. Sonny Lindner Fairbanks, AK
42. Aliy Zirkle Two Rivers, AK
43. Karen Ramstead- Perryvale, AB, CANADA
44. Charlie Boulding Manley, AK
45. Randy Chappel - (rookie) Arlington, TX
46. Blake Matray (rookie) Two Rivers, AK
47. Robert Sørlie Hurdal Norway
48. Cliff Wang (rookie) Isabella, MN
49. Sandy McKee (rookie) Fairbanks, AK
50. Tom Roig (rookie) Shreve, OH
51. Karen Land Sand Coulee, MT
52. Jason Barron Lincoln, MT
53. Bruce Lee Denali Park, AK
54. Jack Berry Salcha, AK
55. Todd Capistrant-- (rookie) Emerald, WI
56. Paul Gebhardt Kasilof, AK
57. John Barron Helmville, MT
58. Linwood Fiedler Willow, AK
59. Rick Swenson Two Rivers, AK
60. Cindy Gallea Seeley Lake, MT
61. DeeDee Jonrowe Willow, AK
62. Rick Minard (rookie) Newberry, MI
63. Dave Monson Fairbanks, AK
64. Peter Bartlett Willow, AK
65. Melanie Gould Talkeetna, AK


*Note - there is no 'rookie' status after my name! That is so COOL!!

June 29, 2002

RAIN!!!! YEAH!!! 

Things have been so dry around here for the last few months - it has been downright scary. We have been on a complete fire ban, no campfires, no burning barrels, no fireworks (a real bummer for the Canada Day weekend) - but, finally, yesterday we got several hours of rain! I certainly don't think it has got us completely out of danger yet, but it is a start. We probably have Mark to thank for the rain - he was working on a small building project and wanted to get it painted when the skies opened up! Ah well… The project Mark was working on is one I'm pretty happy about. He built me a permanent grooming table out in the dog yard. Up to now I've been having to haul my show grooming table, air dryer, brushes, etc out there every time I wanted to groom - I spent more time hauling then grooming. Almost all the dogs are in full shed - it's nuts. If they were more polite, they would take turns shedding, so I could keep up with the grooming easier! Many sled dog kennels just allow their dogs to shed naturally and don't groom the loose hair out. I like the one on one time with the dogs though. I think it is a great opportunity to give them a complete look over and it is really good training for the youngsters on being handled and patient. Here are some 'before' and 'after' pictures of Howl. I picked up a handy new grooming tool on the weekend - a cordless Dremmel tool. Hmmm, carving patterns into my dogs you ask?? No, not quite, but with the sander attachment, it is very cool way to do nails. Most of the dogs really seem have more patience for that then for the clippers. In fact, I got Libby's nails done for the first time in MONTHS! She is a crabby old dog when it comes to be brushed and handled (heck, she is 15 - who can blame her) and usually tries to bite me when she sees the nail clippers. Being that she is mostly deaf and partially senile - she just sat there while I shaped and shortened her nails.

We 'officially' start our new training season on July 1st. Effective that day on all training miles get logged into our 2002/2003 journals. I also start to be serious about running again. The last month I've been able to come up with some pretty creative excuses as to why I shouldn't have to get up on cool mornings and run dogs - no more excuses now. Mornings that are under 10C will find me out on the trail! Iditarod here we come!!!

A little bit of show news to report - first off, I took Rosie and Smiley to Edmonton at the beginning of June. Smiley seemed to be a little confused and every time we were in the ring with another dog believed the goal was to be the fastest in the ring. Needless to say - he didn't do much winning and I got quite the workout! What a NERD! Rosie was much better behaved; in fact on the second day of the show, she really seemed to 'figure out' this whole game. On Sunday, she was practically PERFECTLY behaved in the ring - a true delight to show and took the Breed! Yeah!

Next off, it was to Grande Prairie. I had Smiley, Kara, and Dasher. Smiley and I had a bit of a 'chat' about the purpose of the show ring and he was actually a lot of fun to show. I am so proud of him (being one of my Iditarod finishers and all) and, win or lose, love being at the end of his leash. He actually picked up a 3-point win - which puts him only 3 points away from his Championship. I REALLY want to finish him prior to this Iditarod!

Kara picked up a couple more points and Dasher just had a fun time - which was all she was there to do.

Next off is the Prince George show in mid - July (just Smiley and I are going) and then the Westerly Show in Edmonton at the end of July. Rosie and Smiley are entered for that!

Before I sign off, I'll introduce a few more of this year's training pool. This time I'm introducing some of the 2 year olds!


NorthWapiti's Kobuk - Can you say 'TALL' or how about 'LANKY'? This big boy is all legs and build for speed! Both his Mom and Dad are from Earl and Natalie Norris' kennel, so it comes by it all honestly! Although some have described him as 'HOMELY' - I've always liked his look and he one of my favorite pups from our Keesa litter.

NorthWapiti's Denali - When naming the 'National Park' litter - we didn't give this name out lightly. Denali means 'the great one' and that he is. Like his brother, Kobuk, Denali is a big boy, but he is absolutely AMAZING in harness. Although I have toyed with the idea of selling him a time or two because of his size - his attitude and enthusiasm in harness are keeping him here. I wouldn't be surprised to see him leading teams this winter.


NorthWapiti's Nahanni - A prettier, more feminine version of her brothers (Kobuk and Denali). Nahanni is one of those dogs you put in the team and forget she is there. She just puts her head down and does her job. She is growing up to be a very dependable, solid sled dog!


NorthWapiti's Kluane - 'Klu' or 'Klu-less' as I've sometimes been caught calling her, has a wonderful build and a terrific gait. She does have one habit that she will have to get over if she wants to make the 'big' team this year - she is a very picky eater. A strong, solid girl though!


Alaskan's Olena of Anadyr - This is the 2 - year old that I think shows the most potential of making the main string. She is one of the most amazing youngsters I've ever driven. I cannot say enough nice things about Olena. She does need to be run next to another strong-minded dog, as she gets so worked up and excited in harness she can put off a more timid dog - lucky I don't have too many of those!

All for now!
Karen