Rogues Gallery Kennel Blog

Last weekend was our annual Memorial Day canoe trip down the Swanson River. This isn’t the most scenic waterway in Alaska, but at 24 miles long, it allows for a long, fun-filled day with family and friends. We would like to have had a dog in every boat, but this river can at times have some tricky rapids, so it was not too be. Only Shagoo came along. The cool weather this year really kept the bugs down, though, so we were able to have an extended lunch. Cole’s brother grilled up hotdogs, while Shagoo helped herself to a bag of Skittles when she thought no one was looking. Here are a few photos of the trip. The girl in the middle of our canoe is Madeline Michaud, she is the daughter of a good friend of ours named Mitch who came along in another boat with his son. Madeline’s extra paddling power really helped out when we would get hung up on rocks.

While the number of dogs we have has grown over the last few years, we never forget about the companions we had before we got into sled dogs. Tatika (the Shepherd) and Snickers (the Boston Terrier) we’re our first two dogs (not ever, but from the current dogs that live with us). They’re getting up there in age as these two girls will be 12 years old this year. Snickers has lost her voice, all her teeth, and the vision in one eye is starting to go, but she still has the spirit of an alpha dog. It’s not uncommon to see her dangling from the loose skin of the neck of one of the sled dogs that has made her angry — which isn’t tough to do these days. Tatika has lost her teeth too, but she is holding up well otherwise. She guards the house and yard the same way she has her whole life, and looks out for the yonger dogs when she sees someone getting picked on. All the puppies love her. Summer can be boring since we’re not doing as much with the sled dogs, but it is a nice opportunity to spend more time with our house dogs, giong for long beach walks, hikes in the mountains and a few light jogs on the mushing trails. We hope these two stick around for many more years because the house, kennel, and our lives wouldn’t be the same without them.

Nothing new to report. The yard is drying up, but trails are still a little too muddy to run on without risking blowing out a shoulder. Ice is off the onds, but the water temps is still too cold to swim. Dogs and humans alike are bored, so in the meantime we are still just letting different individuals in the house for fun, and we’ve been on a couple of play dates to our canine physical therapist’s.