Andrea is back !!! After 9 days in warm California I picked her up at the airport in Anchorage yesterday afternoon. She had a great time at the vet conference and enjoyed a few days afterwards with her friends Corey and Alison in Los Angeles. She had a chance to meet their new addition, Dillon, a mini-me of Corey. She still has a horrible cough she can't seem to get over but feels better than before she left for the lower 48. And of course she expanded her already wide knowledge about veterinary medicine. I hope she has some things to share with me so we can provide better health and care for our canine athletes.

Training is moving right along. Kevin, our handler is getting more and more comfortable with every training run and I already feel confident enough to send him on training runs by himself with half of my race team. It is so awesome to have 2 manageable teams to train this winter. 28 race dogs is my pool. Even if I would have all the money in the world I probably would never want more than 30-35 race dogs in my kennel. I believe in individual training where we can focus on each dog and work with them within the team. We train them to work as a well oiled unit but try to give each dog the attention and training it requires. 

Everybody is still physically sound and without any injuries. (knocking on my wooden desk as I write this ;-) The temperatures are still below average (10 above - 10 below) and allow for nice training runs. There is overflow, glare ice, other teams, hills and many more obstacles out on the trails, which is good training and builds character. We are still on 4wheeler but I absolutely have no problem with that. It builds muscle and gives us total control. In about 10 days we start thinking about moving to sleds which probably means that we have to relocate to some other place where there's snow. It always requires a lot of planning but it has to be done in order to train them to perfection. 

We are done racing for experience. This year we'll switch gears and race for victory at least in some mid distance races. Iditarod is a different story. I've set my goals for the 2009 race and a win is still a little bit out of reach. We are moving right along but I don't have a winning team "yet" for Iditarod. Again, patience will pay off. Rome wasn't built in a day either......

Iditarod preparations are moving along as well. This is the time where we actually can accomplish something. Our training runs are not taking all day so we have time to cut meat, pack booties and take care of various chores. My philosophy is; take care of things today what you can't take care of tomorrow. !

Even tough January seems a long ways away, it'll come upon us quicker than we want. The more we are prepared with chores, the more we can focus on our dogs, training, logistics for mid distance races and of course the Iditarod. 

I try to update this site a little more frequent so tune in and see what's up at Willow Creek Kennel and its Hotshot dogs. My picture program went to hell so sorry for no pictures. It'll take some time to restore that but I'm working on it. Thanks for "your" patience....

Oh, I wanted to mention something personal too. Obama is going to be the new president of the United States of America. It is absolutely awesome and I'm soo thrilled. I remember one of the reasons I came to this country; to live the American dream. To live at a place where a person can still do whatever they want and being able to hope to become whatever they want. 

Over the course of the last few years I thought it harder to live by that dream. Obama won't be able to restore that dream in a matter of a few months or even years but he gave us hope, he gave us motivation and he gave me the assurance that America is still the coolest place to live....Yeaahhh. Together we can move mountains!!! God bless the United States of America......Where dreams still "DO" come true...!!!!

Hi everybody out there...How is it going? First the big news; Discovery's new show, The toughest Race on Earth; IDITAROD ! will air this coming Tuesday, October the 14th at 10pm ET/PT and we are in it !! I feel really privileged to be part of such a production even though we're not the main guys in the show. I hope we can show viewers how much our dogs love to do what they do best; Run !! This race is not about us, it's about our animals. It always has and always will be no matter how much coverage the mushers have gotten. My biggest dream about this show is that it will convince the last souls out there who are still thinking that this event is cruel, that our dogs love to run, that they love the Iditarod and that we, the mushers, have nothing else in mind than to bring a healthy and happy dog team to the finish line. I hope you enjoy the show and don't hesitate to drop us a note and feel free to bomb us with questions. We are glad to answer them. 

What has been going on at home?

We've got snow here in Alaska. It rained right after the snow came down and temperatures are hovering above the freezing mark. That made it perfect for a muddy mess. Even the dogs retreat to their dry houses after the training runs in order to avoid the nasty weather. 

I'm not too concerned about it as longs as it doesn't freeze. If that happens we probably have to travel to train. Reason being is that whenever the slush freezes it'll create sharp edges which can really damage the dog's paw. We had the exact same scenario happen last year and therefore had to look for new training grounds. "Adapt and overcome" is my philosophy anyway and we just roll with whatever gets thrown at us. 

We love fall training and I think that with my team pulling a 500lbs 4wheeler they can really build muscle and strength. Fall training also means Quality over Quantity. I'm not too concerned about how many miles we are running and how fast (usually pretty slow anyway) but concentrate on really working with my dogs on an individual base and keep things very happy and positive. This is the time where I train most of my young leaders, change every dog's position and just really try to find the perfect harmony in my team. Fine tuning will take place at a later stage. 

Training is going strong and all the dogs are looking awesome. 26 Racers to choose from. I'm excited. It is nice to finally have 26 dogs in my race pool. I never had this many. It will also give us an opportunity to participate in some mid distance races around the state such as the Copper Basin in Glennallen and to actually compete in them. 

We were racing conservatively in all our races so far. We'll change that this year and start running more aggressively. In order to do that though we had to get the experience necessary for such a plan. My dogs are more mature and know a thing or two about racing now. We'll put it in high gear for 2008/2009!!

What happened at the Equinox Marathon in Fairbanks? Well, I couldn't participate due to a sprained ankle which occurred 2 weeks prior to the race. Since I didn't have much time to prepare I really trained hard for it and probably did too much. Andrea went up there without me and ran the race as a relay with her friends Nancy and Yvonne. She achieved a new PR for her leg of the race! I'm trying to stay injury free and go up there in 2009. 

OK, friends, sponsor, supporters, sled dog enthusiast, stranger and whoever else reads this page don't forget;

Go out there and VOTE; It is soo important. I'm not going to favor a particular candidate on this website but please VOTE!!

I just want to make sure that with the political and economical roller coaster that happens right now in the United States and around the globe for that matter, you keep a clear head and do what's ethical for you and your family. We got to stay together. Only together we can move mountains and make America a better place to live during times when the going is tough. Be active in your community, voice your concerns, speak up and don't forget to smile......

Finally, the 2008 fire season comes to an end. This was the slowest season since I started with this job back in 2004. Alaska was having a terrible summer with low temperatures, cool mornings and lots of rain. Other than a few fires in places such as Venetie and Bettles (those 2 villages are located north of the arctic circle and yes, there are fires up there !!) the Kenai and McGrath we enjoyed a pretty relaxed spring. On the upside I got to spend more time than usual with my dogs and wife and was even here for her birthday. 

On July 24th we took off for Northern California to help out with fighting fires down there. After relatively minimal fire behavior in Alaska we got thrown into devils kitchen and he was cooking. It was so dry and hot down there that a little spark would start the inferno. We were committed to the Iron Complex, one of the biggest and most expensive fires in Northern Cali. We did a lot of back burns and snag mitigation. Strategies are completely different than in Alaska. To construct fire lines we used big D10 bulldozers where as in Alaska we use chainsaws, hand tools and lots of men power, so in that regard it was a lot easier than back home. What wasn't easier were the temperatures. Holy moly was it hot down there. Like I mentioned before we had a pretty cold spring up here and so our crew almost melted down there where temperatures rose up to 102 degrees one particular day. 

Well 102 degrees might not sound to bad if you are on a beach with Bob Marley playing in the background and drinking an ice cold Pina Colada but with Nomex on, chaps for chainsaw protection, a 50 lbs pack, hardhat and leather gloves 102 degrees becomes a whole new meaning ; Pain......anyway we sucked it all up and finally got somewhat used to it. 

August the 24th was my last day of work. The rest of the crew got some replacements and will probably be back to the Lower 48 for another assignment. I left earlier than in the years past but to get the best possible training for Iditarod 2009 I had to boogie out of there. Again we had lots of fun and action and I will miss Pioneer Peak Hotshots a lot. 

Ok, what was going on at home? Puppies, puppies, lots of them !! We had 3 litters this summer with a total of 20 Puppies. The first litter was born June 28th, the second July 20th and the last August 8th (start of the Olympics). Our kennel counts now 50 dogs. We bred another female in the beginning of this month and it doesn't look like she is having puppies though. Which is okay, then 20 is a perfect number to take care of and to free run on a regular basis. 

The rest of the crew got some of the best summer training since I started the program. With Patrizia from Switzerland we got a very gifted and talented dog person who understood them quickly and whom I could trust with my dogs while I was gone. They were free running a lot and they tried to chase Patrizia's bike. Almost a week ago I hooked them up and could feel the incredible power and benefits of the summer training. Where the summer training really pays out is during the intensive and long training runs in January and February. 

Last week end with spent a few days outside Seldovia with our friends and Sponsors Dave and Mary Beth Beck. They have an incredible house a few feet off the beach. We went kayaking, cycled to Seldovia for lunch and had just an awesome time. What a different world the ocean in Alaska is. It just shows again how beautiful our great state is and what incredible variety in plants, weather and animals it offers..

After those 3 relaxing days I'm pumped up to train my dogs and myself. I had the glorious (but maybe stupid) idea to run the Equinox Marathon in Fairbanks on September 20th. I'm running like crazy and start to feel really good. How good I feel after the "Big Race" I will tell you another day..haha. As mentioned before the dogs are looking fantastic and the season of 2008/09 is going to be very interesting......         Stay tuned...

Finally, the big day was here. Restart in Willow, 2 miles from our house. Just this year I found out how nice it is to live so close to the start. The dogs can come back home, relax in their houses and conserve energy to the last minute.  We had a great starting crew. Boris with Jewel, Darron and Nancy, Keith, Shaemus and Bri and everybody I've forgot and of course my wife Andrea. They helped bootie the dogs, load and unload them and were just great to be around. 

It really means a lot to me to be relaxed at the start of such a big event. I hate it when handlers run back and forth when putting dogs in harness and on their tug lines. Everything has to be calm in order for the dogs to be quiet. Again, conserving energy is the key..

 
Excitement is in the air...
leaving with Agate and Maple in lead.

On the way to the starting chute I had to pee so bad that I had to run in the woods to take care of some business. I knew I wouldn't have a chance later on because there were people spread out everywhere over the course of the first 10 - 15 miles....3,2,1....Go !!  was all I heard and off we went. 

The run out to Yentna is pretty easy without any major obstacles other than a lot of fans who usually come out and barbecue and cheer everybody on...Maple, one of my lead dogs was obvious a bit hungry and wanted to say Hi to everybody and ask for a Hot Dog. He almost jumped in everybody's camp fire, until I ran out of patience and replaced him with Aspen, his sister. She was consistent and had no problem to resist to all that food, barbecued by all the spectators..:-)

Then came the first surprise. Spruce, my main leader and rock star stopped pulling. I have never seen this dog not pulling so right then I knew something was up. I put him in the sled and stopped in Yentna to talk to a veterinarian about his condition. I didn't plan to stop in Yentna, so right there I already was off my schedule but Spruce's health was more important than any race plan and I really wanted to know what was going on with him. after a thorough exam the vet's came to the conclusion that he was on a early stage of aspiration pneumonia. With that diagnosis there was no way I would take him any further. 


Agate, taking a well deserved nap at the Finger Lake checkpoint. 

To tell you the truth I was bummed. I really would have loved to take Spruce with me and my spirits at that point were pretty low. 35 miles into the race and I already had to drop my main leader. But, being a guy who doesn't let anything slow him down I regrouped, reevaluated, looked at my dog team, got myself up, told myself to stop being a whiner, get my spirits back up and take Iditarod by its horns....and that's what we did......

Iditarod will punch you in the face over and over and all that matters is how many times you can get up and fight back........Attitude is everything in this race....

So we blew through Skwentna went for another few miles and camped. My strategy was to hold them back the first third of the race in order to keep strength and speed for the Yukon and the Coast. This might sound pretty easy and doable but it was really hard for me. By nature I'm a very competitive person and seeing all these people pass me was a little depressing. patience, patience I told myself........"we'll pass them later". 

The Alaska Range was ahead of us.....Yeahh,,,that's the stretch I was looking forward to the most. Looking back now, it was definitely the area where we had the most fun...Going down the "Happy River Steps" and thru the Dalzell Gorge was very exciting. After about 80 teams had gone through, the trail was all messed up and a 6 foot deep trench became the talk among mushers at the Rohn checkpoint. Just as I entered the 2nd step I could hear somebody yell below me. I immediately stopped my team, set the snow hook as good as I could and went in front of my team to see what was going on. Fellow musher Heather Siirtola was all wrapped around a tree with her sled, asking me to help getting her sled untangled. 

Of course I helped her getting the sled 'unstuck" but my biggest worry was my team on top of the "step" pulling the hook and coming towards us with full speed. (my snow hook wasn't that secure). It just shows again and again how important it is to have a well trained team that listens well and doesn't slam in their harnesses without me telling them to. After Heather was taken care of I  climbed back up the hill to retrieve my team. Since they had a pretty good rest up there, we came down it with full speed.....that was action.....and we were loving every minute of it.. 

Arriving in Rohn was great. My friend and race judge Rudi and Joe May were there to greet me. Rudi is a fellow country man, also from Switzerland and Joe May is a guy I really started to like during my 2 Don Bowers participations. He also is the 1980 Iditarod Champion and always has some great stories from the trail back when he was running the race. My dogs up to this point where looking fantastic and I was really surprised that nobody got hurt during my descent down the gorge. We also encountered 2 water crossings. On my whistle my team jumped right in it and we went through it in a few seconds. (We have a little swimming pool in the puppy pen so the dogs can get used to water at an early age)

We rested in Rohn for about 6 hours and took off for Nikolai some 80 miles away. We went straight through and posted one of the fastest times on that stretch. 8 hours and 31 minutes. We rested in Nikolai for another 8 hours and I even had time to visit with some of my firefighting friends John and Marty Runkle and their son Andrew, Bobby and some other folks. Villages have their own fire crews and we work with them on fire assignments quite a bit around the state of Alaska. Takotna was our next destination and the place where we wanted to take our 24 hour mandatory layover. My goal was to come in our "24" tired so I put 2 pretty long runs on the dogs. About 20 miles outside McGrath I had to drop Ash due to a shoulder injury. Nothing bad but I didn't want to nurse a shoulder and develop any chronic problems for her future.

In Takotna we ate and ate and ate and I think I gained about 5 lbs within 24 hours.....No joke.. The food there is fabulous and the hospitality of the people is priceless..... for sure a good place to "24". It was a balmy 45 degrees out, a good time to lay down on the straw with my dogs and give them a lot of TLC. Preventative massages were well received and appreciated. Our bond grew and grew and I felt really close to my animals. 

After 24 hours of rest my dogs were pumped up and it was like taking them out of the dog truck down on 4th Avenue. We did the 23 mile run to Ophir in 2 hours and 9 minutes and I was on the brakes.....no joke !!! even uphill....it was incredible...they were unstoppable and soo much fun to run...again...we had the time of our life....they knew I was really pleased and they fed off my attitude. A dog team is the reflection of the musher and Iditarod confirmed my theory. I saw many depressed or unhappy mushers during this years' race. Well, guess in what kind of mood their dogs were. Easy to figure that out right! it was fascinating to see that.....

The run from Ophir to Cripple and Cripple to Ruby was uneventful and rather boring. A spark for my team was passing Ryan Redington, Robert Nelson, Karen Ramstead, John Korta and Lachlan Clark. The dogs picked up on my happy attitude and we were cruising into Ruby full throttle. Arriving in Ruby was very pleasant. My buddy Billy was there to greet me and ask me a lot of questions about the race and trail. He calls me about twice a week at home to see how things are and does so with a lot of other mushers running the Iditarod. It keeps him happy and I'm glad to tell him some funny tales from our exciting winter training. In Ruby we took our 8 hour mandatory layover and I even called Andrea with some quick updates while the dogs took a well deserved nap. 

Half of my dog team has been on the serum run with me in 2006 and half of them with Tony Schmidt in 2007. And Ruby is the checkpoint where the Serum Run trail meets the Iditarod trail. Now my dogs knew where they were. That is a huge advantage and part of the reason why I signed up for the Serum Run. Here we tried to step it up a bit. Our run from Ruby to Galena was the fastest in the whole Iditarod field. 5 hours and 13 minutes for 55 miles. It was incredible... the northern lights were dancing in green curtains above us, the dogs were running fast and happy and the Yukon River trail was smooth and hard packed. In Galena we rested for 7 hours and 45 minutes and with that I was in the positive with my rest, to which my dogs responded really well. All the way down the Yukon we posted very fast times. It was just unbelievable to see what these dogs can do. they eat, they run, they rest....I would just whistle them up after a long nap and without any hesitation or second guessing they get up and go...it was beautiful. I didn't have a single moment where my dogs had a hard time leaving a checkpoint. 

It'll be probably a little different next year, when I cut more rest...Maybe not, we'll see...

Arriving in Nulato was very nice. I fought fires with Bill Ambrose, a checker and good friend of mine. He was asleep when I got there but somebody woke him up when they heard the news that I got there. He came shooting out of the school to greet me and so did his wife Karen and his daughter Leslie. It is hard to describe how it feels to end a long run on the Yukon with such a warm welcome.....it almost brought tears to my eyes..... That was the beauty of the Serum Run. We always had such long brakes in checkpoints that we could make friendships for life and it was nice to see familiar faces along the trail. It warmed my heart and lifted my spirits...
Unfortunately I had to drop Agate. She was showing some signs of fatigue since leaving Ruby and I didn't see any reason why I should take her any further. She just wasn't having as much fun as anybody else so I dropped her. 

Nulato to Kaltag was our last run on the Yukon and I was sad to leave the mystic river. There is something about the Yukon which I cannot describe but it always makes me feel alive, connected with mother earth and in harmony with my dog team. I get goose bumps just thinking about it ......

Oh well, leaving the Yukon behind was sad, on the other hand one of my absolute favorite sections of the Iditarod trail laid ahead. The Kaltag Portage!
It is where you leave the Athabascan Indians and head towards Eskimo country. It is a steady climb with rolling hills and beautiful scenery. We stopped for 6 hours at Old Woman Cabin and I had my first 2 hour long nap since leaving Takotna. I had the whole cabin for myself.  It was awesome. The run from Old Woman to Unalakleet is usually pretty easy since it's mostly downhill. the mission at that point is to keep the team happy and injury free. 

We were rolling into Unalakleet in very good spirits. I fed everybody and they all ate very well. I had my feeding routine all figured out and my animals responded well to that. They were losing weight a bit but other than that maintained their strength and appetite. After talking to Joe May and John Schandelmeier about possible future race strategies I bootied my team and off we went. Shaktoolik was the next destination. One of the most remote places I have ever been to. There's many climbs over the "Blueberry Hills" and my dogs loooove hills and so do I. We passed John Korta on the way and had another great run. Red, who I thought would have a tough time with the heat, surprise me the whole race with his performance. A consistent worker, great eater and lovable dog, he was a big asset to my team. He doesn't look very smooth while running but could hold up all the way to Nome and finished with a smile on his face. I love him !! Thanks Red....

I consistently moved up the standings. It is funny how you actually don't have a clue what's going on with the race standings. You're so in your own race that there is really not much time to see where everybody else is. We got to Shaktoolik and I just got a quick glance at  Rick Casillo, Rohn Buser and Scott Smith's teams leave the checkpoint. It was all I needed to see. They were moving but tired. 

In Koyuk I had to drop Pirat due to a dislocated toe. I don't know how the heck it happened but there was no way I would keep running him. Thanks for the hard work. Pirat is another dog who turned out really good on the trail. A little bit of a slacker in training, he showed me his talents and I forfeit any thoughts of selling him after the race. 

So we got to White Mountain. The checkpoint where every musher is required to take a mandatory 8 hour layover. After visiting with Nikolai and Rohn at the community center and another 1 hour nap, I saddled up the horses and off we went, heading towards Nome, the finish line. On the way to the Safety checkpoint I passed Cindy Gallea, whom I called the trail princess. She was always so nice to me and her dogs and was a lot of fun to be around. It was a good nickname for her.  Checking into Safety I saw that I made up almost an hour and a half on Rohn Buser. We were cruising...On Cape Nome (the last hill of the race) I also passed Louis Nelson Sr. and his crew and Rohn shortly after. 

Nome was in sight and with that it started to get emotional. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race was soon over. This incredible life experience, the roller coaster of feelings, the connection with the great land and the bond between musher and his love = the dogs.....     WE MADE IT !!!

My dogs switched gears as we followed the outskirts of the city. The finish line was close. We crossed the Burled Arch with a total time of 11 days, 6 hours, 37 minutes and 50 seconds. I am soo proud of my dogs....... At the finish line they looked like they could run to Russia.....

We will be back for IDITAROD XXXVII in 2009 for sure. With a better and stronger team and a more educated and driven musher. This is going to be our life. We now know what we needed to know...Training for the Iditarod 09 has already started and we won't stop till that week end in March 2009....

Thanks everybody for your support. We couldn't do it without you. I hope you had fun following our progress.

Note;

Our friend and neighbor Donna Quante filmed the dogs and myself during training and for the next few months is working on a DVD, which should come out by the end of July 2008. We'll keep you posted so you can order it. Discovery Channel is coming out with a new show in september /  october of 08. Everyone who liked the Deadliest Catch will like this one even more. I'm one of the primary characters in the show and we are looking forward to see it.

See you all soon.... Thanks sooo much

Sven and Andrea and their dogs.........            take care 

Well, here we are just 5 days since the last update and Sven is almost into Unalakleet- He left Kaltag about 10-11 hours ago. The fastest run recently has been by Melissa Owens, about 12 and a half hours. Sven's been racing down the trail since he hit Ruby- Home turf is what he and the dogs are saying so they might just put in an even faster run.  I got a chance to talk with him for about 3-4 minutes when he was in Ruby. He sounded tired but upbeat- dogs were doing great, no major problems. He confessed to not much sleep- too many people to talk to. I imagine it's heaven for him- 8 hours behind a sled, then he pulls into a checkpoint where tons of people are sitting who love to talk about dogs as much as he does. No rest for the obsessed :-)
Little Ash was the second dog dropped in McGrath. She came back because of a sore shoulder- looks great now, good body condition and happy to be home if not on the trail. She confided to me that she was mad her sister Willow was still out there and she wasn't. He has dropped another dog in Nulato but we don't know who yet. Hope to pick 'em up tomorrow sometime. 
It's been great getting e-mails and good luck from everyone- thanks for all the support. We have also been e-mailed some great pictures from both start days. Due to my lack of proficiency on the computer, I am having a hard time getting some on here. Once Sven gets home, we will add a gallery for you to see some good ones. 

Can't wait to get to Nome- see you all there!

-Andrea

Well, Wednesday night and Sven is up and over the Alaska Range and into Takotna where he has been saying he would take his 24-hour layover. Takotna is known for great hospitality and a steak dinner for every musher through- hard to pass up! This is hopefully the first place Sven has a chance to call me. May still hear from him tonight, maybe in the morning- you guys will be the first to know.

Spruce is back home in the dog lot- dropped for vomiting and possible aspiration Pneumonia- all healthy upon arriving home and looking no worse for wear, other than somewhat irritated that his buddies are still on the trail without him. Sven did drop another dog in McGrath. This is a hub for commercial flights so hope to get them back soon. Thanks to Suzanne and Richard for picking up Spruce in Anchorage!

The weather here in Willow has been painfully warm with rain and ever-deteriorating trail conditions- punchy and slow-going. The weather out on the trail is not much better- poor visibility for flying out and warmer than normal- makes for slower pace and less injuries to dogs overall.  I heard news of a helicopter going down in Dalzell Gorge- nobody hurt, totaled helicopter, though. Yikes. 

There are a couple of good pictures in the Iditarod gallery for today- a great head shot of Ash, and Sven taking off from Nikolai. Finally a picture from the start- thanks to everybody for sending me pics via e-mail. Keep 'em coming...

Sven crossing Crystal Lake in Willow

Day 1 on the Trail....

Well, Monday is almost over and Sven is well on his way down the trail. Last I checked, he spent a little over 5 hours in Finger Lake and headed out around 9PM for Rainy Pass with our friend Sue Allen right behind him. She is running a puppy team of Martin's this year. He's starting on one of the most talked about, dreamed about (nightmares, I think!) and anxiety-ridden parts of the trail for the next couple hundred miles- over Rainy Pass and down the Dalzell Gorge. Knowing Sven as we all do, I'm sure he's looking forward to the challenge and fun of driving the dogs over some crazy trail- in fact, he said before he left that he's excited to see some new, heart-pounding trail. He's an excellent sled driver, so I'm not too worried. I expect news directly from him to be fairly sparse- too many mushers on the phone last year put a stop to much communication home. I plan to hear from him while he's taking his 24-hour rest. 

Drop dog news: Looks like Spruce was dropped in Yentna- quite early in the race. We had been trying to get him over a wrist injury- looks like not enough time. Sometimes mushers try to nurse these dogs through with "sweats" and wrist wraps, but if the injury is bad enough it's not worth risking a chronic, long term lameness on one of your best dogs like Spruce. All of our dogs are young and have extremely good long term potential- we want to keep them around a long time! Spruce will be back in the kennel first thing tomorrow morning. (Dropped dogs get flown back to the Millennium Hotel on Lake Hood in Anchorage. Then, depending on extent of injuries, get taken straight to a vet, or in Spruce's case get picked up at the hotel or get transferred to the Prison, where inmates are assigned to take care of the dogs. Seriously. They do a great job. They'll have their hands full with Spruce, he's not going to be tired enough to just lay down and sleep- he'll keep somebody good company until Suzanne gets there. )

Last but not least- I think we have the most photogenic dog team in the race- once again we made the Anchorage Daily News FRONT PAGE- Maple and Agate in lead across Vera Lake, right here in Willow- check it out in the gallery online at www.adn.com.  Yvonne has given me her camera to download some pictures- I think I need someone with more computer savvy to help me figure it out- so Start pics coming soon. If anyone else out there took some pics, just e-mail them to us so I can post a couple.  

The re-start today in Willow could not have been more beautiful, though a little warm.  It was a nice, relaxed atmosphere with help from a lot of friends. Thanks to everybody who showed up to give a word of support and help get us to the starting line. Sven was the picture of calm, cool and collected (you're all surprised, huh?). The starting lineup was Maple, Cedar, Spruce, Willow, Ash, Aspen, Red, Agate, Oriole, Yankee, Cardinal, Padre, Pirate, Lucy, Mabel and Heet. He started Agate and Maple in lead, two good, strong dogs who don't typically set a very fast pace. It was warm for the start and keeping an even, slower pace is important.  There were no mishaps (aside from a quick snowbank bathroom break) and the team took of down the trail on fire. 

As friends send in photos, I'll post some here of the start and re-start. Keep an eye on the Anchorage Daily News website for daily articles and plug in to www.iditarod.com for updates as well. Jon Little has excellent and very insightful daily blog entries-make sure and check them out. I'll try to update routinely, check back daily for any new info and some pictures. Lastly- shoot us an e-mail with any questions, pictures, and good luck- I'll try to post as much as I can. 

Iditarod is getting closer and we are really getting excited now. The last 3 weeks were crazy again and we really had to dodge the bullets. Peter, who was in charge of the yearling training started to run the Don Bowers 300 sled dog race on the last week end in January. I went up to Joe May's cabin to bring the drop bags and retrieve any injured dogs. I didn't really have to retrieve any injured dogs, rather an injured musher. The dogs were still looking very good and I decided to mush them back to Willow and told Peter to drive my truck back. 

Andrea and Sven at the Willow Carneval Stampede Race

Peter hurt his back in training and completely screwed it up on that race. A visit at the doctor confirmed a dislocated disc and he wasn't able to lift more than 5 lbs. I lost my handler and training partner during the busiest time of the whole winter. February 1st. 
I just talked to him a few days ago. He is in the hospital in Germany, getting physical therapie in order to be able to avoid a surgery on his back. We sure wish him luck for a smooth recovery.....Thanks for your help.

We started a very quick search for a new helper and got lucky. Shaemus from Ontario got to the kennel within a week and we were rolling again. 

We are also very happy to report that Andrea and I won the always very fun Stampede Race in Willow. After coming in second last year we improved and claimed victory. Having fun and work as a husband / wife team was far more important than any winnings though. 

Denali, standing tall

My calendar is full with school visits, vet checks, musher meetings and other logistical commitments. Just last week we had a camera crew from the Discovery Channel at our kennel to interview us and visit with the dogs. It is not for sure yet, but they might follow us on the trail with a high tech camera attached to my sled for some cool action shots when I descend the famous Happy River steps or the Dalzell Gorge. We'll see what happens. I would be honored to do that and with that bring our sport to the public in a never before seen format. 

I think that this will be my last update till after the race. Be sure to visit this site after Iditarod and hopefully I will not have too many horror stories to tell you. Till then be safe, have fun following us and wish us luck.....

Iditarod..........................the haltmann hotshots are coming              See ya Sven

Racing !!! What a wonderful thing! Running the Copper Basin 300 was a blast. Preparations went smooth and so on Friday morning the 11th we started heading towards Glennallen. We stayed with Cynthia and Eric (who was also the Race Manager), checked our drop bags and went for a nice community lunch to chat with fellow racers, volunteers and locals. The race is a pretty big event in Glennallen and it really brings the community together. 

The banquet was at the Brown Bear Lodge with me drawing bib number 20. I was pretty happy with that. I like starting at the back and let everybody else go first. After a nice meal my dogs and I took our last long nap before the race would start at 10.38am Saturday morning. 

The start was pretty exciting. As we came up to the starting line, Humpy broke his toggle on his line and took off down the chute. Thanks to some fearless spectators Humpy got tackled like a running back from the New England Patriots !!!:-) I ran down the chute to retrieve him and put him back in the team. Just as the announcer yelled 3,2,1, go I was standing on the runners pulling the hook. It was awesome!!!!

The first stretch was flat, fast and I had a hard time slowing my team down. They were running like idiots. With a few days off prior to race day, a light load and fast runner plastic, they were out of control. We stuck to our plan and rested 6 hours in Chistochina, the first checkpoint. The second run was at night with some hills and open water. It really went smooth and nothing spectacular really happened other than Freedom getting dragged through open water getting completely soaked. I dried her with fresh powder and we soon were on the run again. 

In Paxson we completed our mandatory 8 hour layover. The run from Paxson to Sourdough was the most incredible of them all. After our rest I asked my dogs to get up, which they did but they really looked tired to me. But after about 2 minutes in our run all of them started screaming. My team is known to be loud and bark at various things along the trail such as other dog teams, reflective markers, vehicles and whatever looks a little unusual. But this was different. I had about 10 - 11 dogs who were barking and screaming out of sheer happiness to be on the go again. Right then, I knew the following run would be full with action. This was another step to getting to know my dogs better and to fully understand when they are really tired and when not. 

We passed about 5 mushers on the way and got to Sourdough with the 2nd fastest time. We took another 6 hour break and took off towards Wolverine Lodge, 50 miles away. After about 3 hours, Padre started to limp and he showed a sore wrist. Immediately I loaded him in the sled to avoid further damage and dropped him in Wolverine. 

Here came my big mistake; I rested for 2 hours and 20 minutes instead of just blowing through. That rest made a lot of my dogs stiff and with me not knowing that something like that would disappear after a few miles of running, dropped another 4 dogs. That took the wind out of our sails and we finished in 8th place. I learned a lot of valuable lessons I otherwise would have never experienced and this race will just make me train more, dedicate more to the sport, fine tune my techniques and give everything I've got to the sport of mushing. I never slept the whole race but I think I've never felt as alive as running the Copper Basin 300 ! The toughest 300 mile sled dog race in Alaska !!

Iditarod is almost 4 times longer than the Copper Basin 300 so that would mean it should be about 4 times more the fun !!! We can't wait........

Andrea went to visit her family down in Missouri and Peter and I stayed at home, trained our dogs and prepared our Iditarod drop bags (we pack our dog food, equipment and all the essentials which we need and send them to the checkpoints prior to the race). We even enjoyed a crab leg dinner one night!

To follow our progress you can go to;  www.cb300.com but of course I will write a short report on how everything went. Wish us luck.......

We haven't missed a beat. Our philosophy for the 2008 Iditarod is;
Train like we'd want to win it but race it easy. I think that the end result with that philosophy is going to be a very happy dog team by the time we get to Nome. 

We also just completed our mandatory Rookie meeting in Anchorage and at Happy Trails Kennel in Big Lake. On Saturday we all met at the Millenium Hotel in Anchorage where we got to hear some very solid information from experienced mushers, vetennarians and race officials. There were a lot of interesting people to meet and me and my dogs are excited and privileged to be part of the Iditarod 2008. Yeah !

I'd like to welcome Rolf and Irene with their business GoNorth Alaska Travel Center. They have graciously offered their support of our kennel. Check out a great oppurtunity through GoNorth to see the Iditarod trail race with Sven and his dogs on our "Vacation" section

The lucky cabin, surrounded by black and burnt trees. Picture was taken from a Bell 212 helicopter. 

Ash, chewing on a rock. Just don't break a tooth, girl.....


Peavy, one of our youngsters. A very hard driven, tough dog with an incredible desire to run...

September the 25th was the day I got back and of course things have been crazy and I have been living in the fast lane ever since again. Anita, our dog handler for the summer 2007 left. She did a great job training the crew and taking care of business while I was gone. 

Then my sister visited me again (it cannot be often enough) with her new boyfriend Richi, who I really like and accepted into the family. They were staying 10 days with us and then left for Hawaii. Not bad, hm, well, they deserve it and some time off will refresh their brains and prepare them for busy Swiss life. 

Then last but not least, Andrea left me, too,,, No,no, not for good, fortunately just for for 5 days. She had to go to a Vet Conference in Reno and is going to meet up with her parents, whom she hadn't seen in a while. On Christmas, both of us are going to Missouri to spend the holidays with her folks. I'm excited about that...

So here I am. The only human being left at Willow Creek Kennel. But I don't feel lonely at all, I'm really enjoying the quality time with our dogs and cats. I'm training 42 dogs right now, try to run in order to get in Iditarod shape, build a snow machine shack on Nancy Lake for some friends of ours and clear some property in Big Lake for our friend Tony Schmidt. October is usually the time where I wish the day would have 36 hours. I train and take little projects here and there to fill out my afternoon hours. 

In November the training runs are getting longer and it pretty much takes all day to train all the teams. Peter, our friend from Germany is coming Nov. 10th, to work with the yearlings and help run things here at the kennel. It is going to be the first time that we are having a winter handler. I'm excited as hell and can't wait for him to get here.

Alright folks, stay tuned            Sven and Andrea

Hi everybody ! Sorry for no signs of life on this site since a few months. July 07 is slowly coming to an end and I hope everybody out there is having a great summer so far. What has been going on at Willow Creek Kennel ? Here some info on what we have been up to;

Well, firefighting this spring had a pretty slow start mostly due to weather and humidity but it picked up rapidly the last 8 weeks. The job again brought me to various parts of Alaska which I otherwise probably would never visit. We had a little fire near a dump in Skwentna, which is an Iditarod checkpoint. Then went on to fight fires on the Kenai Peninsula, where we lost about 88 structures on the 'Caribou Hills Fire" caught the fire and saved and protected many more houses and cabins. And finally I just got back from a 2 week firefighting tour close to another Iditarod checkpoint by the name of Ruby. As always fire - fighting in Alaska's bush is loaded with action and adventure and gives me the opportunity to make money for the winter months. 

It is always weird to come back to civilization after being out in the wilderness for 2 weeks with 20 guys. We sleep in tents, eat military ration food (MRE's), work 16 hour shifts and simply; fight fires. We are leaving for Idaho tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock to fight fires down there. Fighting fires in the lower 48 is a complete different ball game. Always dry feet, no mosquito's, the food is sent in by helicopters and there is even the possibility of taking showers every once in a while. After 2 weeks of fighting fires in Alaska without a shower, my wife Andrea usually tells me to get in the shower immediately before I even can give her a hug. (just joking) 

So for the next 2 months I'm going to be away from my dogs and my wife but pretty soon I will be back for the whole winter. Yeahhh !!!! I'm soo excited just thinking about winter 2007/08. Iditarod 2008 we are coming....
The dogs have had incredibly good care thanks to our dog handler Anita, who is training them almost every day. We have had some injuries due to some fights with each other. Nothing serious at all but some professional care from Andrea had to be implemented. We free run them, swim with them and train them with the 4-wheeler. The training right now is just to get their minds and brains going, to socialize within the group and we'd like to reduce the loss of muscle mass during the summer months.  

In a few weeks we start our training in preparation for Iditarod. It will be a set schedule for all the dogs (yearlings and adults). So by the time I will be back from the lower 48 the dogs will be in very good shape, well conditioned and I can jump right in where Anita left off and keep going. 

Andrea is enjoying a short vacation in Ambler on the Kobuk River with our friends Tom and Ruth Nighswander from Anchorage. She will keep her eyes open for Bears, Caribou, Arctic Foxes and whatever her camera lens can catch. She was very excited to go and hopefully is having a wonderful trip. She deserves it. 

Everybody out there; I would like to say thanks to you, who visits this site every once in a while. I hope everybody is having fun reading it and don't forget to stop by whenever you are in Willow, Alaska. The doors are always open.....

Training puppies with Blaze supervising.


California dreams. Short vacation to visit Andrea's friends Corey and Allison.



April 1st, what a great day to be on the trail !

 
Bullet. One of the male pups out of the weapons litter.

On top of Mount Baldy on a beautiful day.

Tony, who ran our puppy team to Nome with the Serum Run, returned happy and pretty healthy (he got some frostbite on his nose and chin) and the dogs looked great. The Serum Run is a training run for young dogs like nothing else. I always say; they are leaving Nenana as puppies and get to Nome as adults. This year has been a Serum Run of the elements, from what I heard mostly from Tony but also from friends who ran with him. The average temperature was around 25 below and during the first third of the run it got down to 55 below during nights. The dogs actually dealt really well with that. Of course they need an incredible amount of food and depend on their blankets to keep them warm while resting. 

They learned how to deal with extreme wind, glare ice, no trails, wide open spaces with no trees, the checkpoint routine, how to conserve energy and just the pure knowledge and experience of such an expedition. We are very proud of Tony and the yearlings. 

Everything I planned so far has been working out great and everything is lined up for the Iditarod 2008. Every dog in my Iditarod 2008 team has been to Nome and knows the basics of long distance travel. (Check out my goals for Iditarod 2008 in the mushing section)

To wrap up the season of 2006/07 I took 18 of my core dogs out to Yentna Station Roadhouse (official Iditarod checkpoint) in order to have some quality "us - time" and be alone with my dogs before busy firefighting season starts. As I was lying next to my dogs enjoying the sun with them, a plane landed right in front of us and Andrea got out saying; hey honey, I guess you didn't expect me? She got a ride with Ken and Hilary, our friends here in Willow. What a nice surprise that was........

We are also very happy to have found a handler for the summer. Her name is Anita. She is a 24 year old girl from Switzerland and will take over our summer training and is going to take care of business at home while I'm gone making dog food money for the winter 2007/08. 

The 21 puppies, who were born last summer are really busy learning how to pull and run. They are a very promising bunch and a lot of fun to work with. 

Have a great spring wherever you may be.....!!!
Hopefully we see you soon....................

Sven and Andrea 

 
Astro and Willow ready to go...

Getting gear all packed up to set up winter camp 

Blaze, dressed up like Santa, :-) she didn't think too much of it as her facial expression explains...

Shawn and I,  butchering up a road kill we picked up not far from our house. Mmmhhmmm......delicous!!

Winter 2006/2007 has been another great Alaskan experience. Ever since coming to Alaska one highlight chases another and our life's are full with adventures and challenges. One of this winter's main events was the Don Bowers Memorial Race. A 300 Mile Iditarod Qualifying Race which started in "Down Town Willow" and went up the Big Susitna River, across frozen lakes and swamps, over rolling hills, back to Willow. Our dogs proved to be the toughest out of the bunch and we could claim victory with a 3 hour lead over second place. This was our first competitive race and therefore had a ton to learn, which we did. 

It seemed to me that our dogs were smiling all the way and even improving their performance as we went. taking thorough and detailed care early on in a race like that eventually paid off big time in the later stages. we went in that race with a strategy. Sticking to it is really easier said than done especially when teams passed us while we were camping out. Again, patience will always pay off.....

it was a pleasure and filled me with pride to see how our dogs started clicking and getting into that flawless harmony of what I'd like to call the "sewing machine trot". They were barking at every raven which landed in front of us, pulling the hook after a short snack break and chasing every scent of a moose who was hiding in the woods around us. All that during the last 65 miles of a 300 Mile Race !! Of course we are all happy to have won that race but we also know that we still have a long way to go to where we want to be. Proving ourselves in different races next winter with tougher competition will be a lot harder but I think we are on the right path. 

Serum Run preparation have taken up most of my time the last few days and the drop bags are finally packed up and sent to the various checkpoints along the Serum Run route. For the next 10 days, all our focus goes into dog training, preparing Toni's team for their 750 mile journey.  

Firefighting season '06 was a  blast.....!!!! Thanks Pioneer Peak, you guys rule!!!


Bucket work with a Skycrane Typ 1 Helicopter, able to lift up to 15'000 lbs

Out of the water and onto the bikes...Very serious triathlon with our friends at Andrea's birthday !

A star is born!!!

Let's gather behind the house, so nobody can find us....

Michael, our friend and helper this summer did a great job with all the dogs. we'll miss you...(He even did his own dishes..)

Puppy - wheel with cash in action...

Finally, things are back to normal at Willow Creek Kennel AK. It was my 3rd summer working with the Pioneer Peak Type 1 Crew and the fire season couldn't have been better. It started out crazy in spring around the Mat Su area with a long drought period and a lot of wind. Then rain followed, which meant, we took off towards Alberta, Canada, Nevada, Montana and finally Idaho. Unlike at home, they had little rain down there and we had lots of work to do. Nobody was seriously injured and by the beginning of September we all made it back home safely. We learned a lot about new fuel types, topography and that we Alaska boys are totally not used to elevation. Fighting fires at 8'500 Feet tests your level of fitness pretty good! 

It has been the first year that I was gone for such a long time (4 1/2 months), so how satisfying it was, to know that at home everything got taken care of. We had help from Michael Jost, from Switzerland, a 32 year old traveler who thought it would be fun training 24 Alaskan Huskies and socializing / free running 21 Puppies. He had his hands full.....

Yes, that's right! 45 dogs. Willow Creek Kennel is growing rapidly. After 2 summers of bad "puppy - luck" we were overwhelmed with puppies. Aspen had a litter of 7 (5 boys, 2 girls), Kochee had 2 big females, Freedom had 5 (4 boys, 1 girl) and Agate had 7 little monsters (5 boys, 2 girls)!!! Michael and Andrea were pretty busy, especially since Aspen wouldn't let her puppies nurse. They had to separate them and supervise Aspen while they were nursing on her. All that about 4 times a day / twice at night. Time and patience paid off and the 7 youngsters grew fast and healthy. 

Like I mentioned before, this summer was pretty wet and cold. Andrea's garden didn't bloom as she wanted to but the dogs loved it. Michael kept a tight schedule with our summer training and 5 weeks ago we started training with the dogs already in good shape, ready to tear it up!

What are our goals for the winter 2006/07 ?:

Right now, we've got 3 groups of dogs to train

Group 1: the 15 dogs who are mostly 2 1/2 years old and finished the serum run or other long distance events. Training this year is going to be pretty serious with them. We're definitely going to tighten things up a notch. We'll participate in various races around the area to see what they've got.....

Group 2: 7 puppies born October 4th 2005. Our friend Tony Schmidt is going to take over training with them and teach them the basic of long distance running. He'll hopefully be selected to do the Serum Run in February with them along with 5 other dogs out of Group 1 who couldn't participate in the 2006 Serum Run, due to injuries. 

Group 3: 21 crazy pups, who's first lessons are going to be; listen, obey commands, follow our voices, form tough characters and have fun while doing all of it.  As soon as they're 7 months old they'll get harness trained with me and Andrea. 


We are also proud and happy to announce that we have a hamster wheel for our puppies. They run in there like crazy already training for the Iditarod. Chlick here (under construction) to download a short movie to check out how that thing works. It's really, really cool......enjoy !!

_______________________

Beaver Point Lodge, an incredible nice checkpoint !!

To protect the dogs from wind, we shoveled little holes in the snow for them.

Alaskan Taxi ;-)

Lovely Appenzell

After 5 incredibly exciting weeks I finally got back home to wife, dogs and cats. The Serum Run 2006 was a success from start to finish and I couldn't be happier with the performance of my dogs. Since my best 5 dogs (Spruce,Maple,Chinook,Chum and Humpy) couldn't participate due to injuries, my spirits right before the trip were pretty low, but got really high again because of what I saw during the run.

As soon as we hit the coast, my dog team was able to perform to its full potential and my duty was to just hang on for the ride and keep the incredible happy attitude alive. They developed a harmony within the team, which so far I just was dreaming about. 

They climbed hills like they would be straight stretches, glided through powder as it would be a hard trail and made 50 miles seem like 25. We started with 12 dogs and finished in Nome with 12. Mission accomplished. The future looks really bright and I wish it would be October 06, so we could start training again. But, patience is everything in this sport and all the dogs deserve a couple of months of rest before we start doing free runs anyway.

I'm writing a diary about the whole trip and try to get my pictures ready so keep checking out the website for a detailed prescription of our adventures..!!!!!

After the Serum Run we got back home for 2 days and then: Culture Shock !!! Zurich International Airport. After 4 years of being in Alaska, I visited my friends and family back in Appenzell. Oh boy! How nice it was !! Not that I could ever live there again, but to see people I haven't talked to in such a long time was sure nice and good for heart and soul.

I was busy visiting friends, eating all the Swiss dishes I grew up with (I must have gained about 10 pounds), snowboarding with relatives and just having a great time. Meanwhile, Andrea took incredibly good care of the critters at home and as soon as I got back she was heading for Costa Rica, traveling around the country with her High School friend Adelle. That's one of the things when operating your own kennel. Separate vacation!!

Anyway, winter 2005/2006 was good to us and brought more experience to mushers and dogs. After all the excitement of the last 5 weeks, daily life is catching up with us again and of course fire fighting season is just around the corner with classes starting April 16th. Making money and working hard is the mantra for the next 5 months and I'm looking forward to have some action on the fire line and working together with 19 awesome guys in different parts of this INCREDIBLE STATE !!!

I just have to thank America and especially Alaska for letting us live our dreams.......

See ya......

    
      Our Skijoring Team:
         Onyx and Andrea

Grabbing as much money as possible......

Sunday, 2nd Heat, it gets serious now!

Bob, our friend in Big Lake is flying his "homemade", very reliable plane.

Enjoying a delicious burrito on a recent camping trip.

Only 3 days till we finally start our adventure; Serum Run 2006. It has been a crazy winter so far with a lot of ups and downs. As expected, working with animals is unpredictable and injuries occur of course exactly right before the start. Maple ate a huge rock and had to have surgery from which he is recovering really well but will definitely not come with me to Nome ;-(

Freedom got into a tangle with another dog and had to be stitched up on her side. Humpy is having trouble with his front right wrist and will be out of the game as well. I probably could take him if I really would have to but I don't want to cause any worse future problems with that wrist , especially since he is such a Rockstar in harness. Chinook and Chum are still suffering from a earlier shoulder injury and Spruce's rear right leg is lame and sore, so he needs some time off.  

And of course, those are my best dogs. Oh well, Positive thinking is our mantra and we'll be ready this Saturday for the start of the Serum Run NO MATTER WHAT !!. Life as a musher is unpre- dictable and usually just getting to the starting line of the Serum Run or any other long distance event can be a bigger challenge than the race/expedition itself.

Dealing with problems along the way, finding new ways to improve dog training, work efficiency, winter training strategies and all the logistics of running and operating a kennel is a ton of fun. It gives me a goal in life, something to work for and something to dream about. I guess working as a handler my first years in this sport I never truly understood the commitment and sacrifices it takes in order to get a smooth operation going. 

I'll never regret the step to start on our own though. It's hard work and it costs everything but it's an absolute blast especially since I can do this with a partner like my awesome wife, Andrea.

Enough of the philosophy. January and February was Race Time!! We were competing in various events at the Willow Winter Carnival and actually did not too bad. Our dogs and I were competing at the Earl Norris Sprint Race. A 17 Mile, 2 day heat race which was held here in Willow. Exposing the dogs to race atmosphere was the main goal and that got accomplished perfectly. We finished in the last third of the field with a time of 1 hour and 14 minutes.

Andrea kicked some serious butt at her cross country ski race. She came in 2nd in  the classic division with a time of 2 hours over a stretch of 11 miles. The skijoring race got cancelled due to temperatures below 10minus. The Hardcore Skijorer's showed up anyway and went for a fun run out to the Willow swamps.. Way to Go.... Willow Skijorers...

        
          on the go  !!! Yeahh

Leo trying to steal food from Andrea's 'Dad.... bad table manners..hm

What an awesome Christmas and New Year start we had. At this point we'd like to thank everyone who visited our house during holiday season. How lucky we were to be surrounded by such a nice bunch of happy people: people who shared stories, laughter, food and gifts with us. 

Andrea's Family was great company. Ed's eagerness to help out wherever he could is missed long after they left, Christina, with her humor and energy was always fun to be around, (miss you too, sis.) and Verena and her friend Elisabeth worked in the kitchen like they would have to cook for the Military.

We had a great time with our dogs. Of course everybody wanted to come for a ride and check it out by themselves what it's like to fly down the trails with a bunch of Huskies. 

For almost 3 months the trails around Willow were solid as pavement and that had a bit of a negative effect on joints and muscles.

Out of our 13 dog Serum Run pool we have Willow, Humpy and Sockeye with some minor lamenesses and Chinook with a pretty bad shoulder injury. But we'll baby them through and I'm  pretty positive that we have a good and solid 12 dog team for the start in February. 

We just finished our Shake-Down Run out to the Yentna Roadhouse. What a good time we had. The dogs were looking really good even though I had to leave 4 of them behind. It was only about the 5th camping trip this winter,  which means that they still have to learn the whole routine, eating their dinners, lay down and get some quality rest. While we were resting at the Roadhouse we got dumped on with snow. I expected the trail to be really soft and slow but to my amazement 2 snow machines with heavy trailers made all the difference. Kent and Darron left about 15 minutes before me and laid a red carpet for smooth going.

Back home it's all about chores and Serum Run preparations again. Andrea was also very busy over the weekend. She was cooking all the meals for the Serum Run and by just looking at the packages I can't wait to enjoy some Breakfast Burittos or Pasta with vegetables and cheese. 

A week before Christmas and we still don't have a Christmas Tree. That's one of my duties today. Getting a nice tree from our property. Winter has been crazy again. Warm, cold, rain, sunshine. Mother nature is shooting at us with all she's got. Most races have been cancelled and we haven't been able to attend any of them so far.

The Serum Run schedule is coming along really well and we are looking forward to have a shake- down run in January out to the Yetna Roadhouse. Pictures will follow. 

We extended our training runs to about 35 miles and are doing free runs in between on our property. The dogs are just getting through a bad virus, which we pick up somewhere, but other than that are in great shape. As always, patience is paying off and most dogs in my team are on their way of becoming strong leaders. That's the beauty of training pups and yearlings. We can form their character and personality easily with the correct training and right methods.

Andrea's Family is coming this weekend which means I have to get rid of all the doghair in my face and the dogpoop behind my ears!!;-)

 
  Our property from the view of a bird
  (Birds by the name of Bob and Peter)

Training Run 

Running with Peter and his Team                                     


Hey, check out how big I am !!


We wish everybody out there a:

WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON ! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A GOOD AND SMOOTH START INTO THE NEW YEAR; 2006!!!

May all your wishes come true !!!