Ripper

My absolute favourite photo of Ripper.

Thanks to Tamara for taking this lovely shot back at the 2005 Dash for Cash. We dashed, but didn't get any cash!!

Ripper came from another local musher when he was about 4. I've had him 2 years now I guess? He's an awesome dog! As you can see below, he's clearly insane while running in harness!

This year was really his year to step up to the plate and take on the main leader responsibilities. He's done really well and we've worked well as a team this year.

He's really a sweet dog. Here he is on a skijoring trip with Loki and me.


He loves the skijoring. So much, in fact, that slowing him down for the gravelly road crossings is impossible.

His submissive side:


The crazy, slobbery faced Ripper. Looking through my thousands of dog photos, I'm really hard pressed to find more than a few where his face isn't covered in his own saliva.

Ripper is a great worker. His former owners referred to him as one of those "honest dogs" - dogs that just work their butts off. If he's slacking a bit, then there's something wrong with him. Pretty reliable guy.

He's been in lead a lot and keeps up a speedy pace. He's a bit stubborn though, so we're working on commands. He often feels HE knows better than I which way we should go at times.


Shake it Ripster!!

Octane

Floppy eared, houndy Octane. He's a big sweet dog. I got this guy when he was about 6 (he's about 10 now). He was apparently from Doug Swingley's yard, but sold to the Sonny King/Ross Adam Iditarod team. Ross and Clint (who ran the team for them a few times) were heading back from Iditarod and passed through. There was a lot of dog swapping going on between a few of us, and I got Octane out of the deal.


He's a totally reliable sled dog and I use him in lead quite a bit. It turns out he really knows commands well, but isn't too forceful with the other dogs he's leading with. He's consistent and a hard worker.


He is also a happy, somewhat goofy dog at times. Every once in a while he'll go zooming around the yard, for no particular reason - just by himself. He's easily entertained I guess. And here Ripper is chasing him, joining the Octane game.


The other dogs sort of pick on poor Octane once in a while. Kate really likes to give him a beating. And the thing is - is that once in a while, it's like he's just had enough and he'll stick up for himself and fight back. When he does that, he comes out ahead - it's usually the other dog who ends up hurt. He can be a tough bugger. But most of the time he's submissive and quiet. That's one reason I think him and Loki are so good together, they're both the shy, submissive type.

Kate

Kate - the older, wise one.

Looks pretty regal here eh? Well, she should. This old girl is 13.5 years old now and really, knock on wood, shows no sign of slowing down. She is completely unbelievable. She still loves to scrap it up for no particular reason in the yard other than to show the other guys she's still got it. Problem is, she isn't as strong as she used to be, but most of the other guys haven't figured that out yet. She's fiesty and full of energy.

I got Kate from another musher when she was 9, because he thought she "might still have a good couple years in her" - no kidding. He told me a great story about her as a yearling - he was walking a few dogs out on the lake - and Kate when let loose just started ripping around the lake, circling it dozens of times. I couldn't imagine her energy level as a youngster! During one time around the lake she came screaming up behind him, didn't even attempt to slow down or avoid him - instead she plowed right into the back of his legs, knocking him on his butt! And she kept on going. She is still like that to a degree. When I go to hook her up, she bounces on her front legs like she is totally incapable of standing still. She walks beside you like she is attached to your leg and I'm always tripping over her or stepping on her. But, she's a sweet gal.

She is a great leader, and here she is with her son, Rupert. They run really well together - mostly because she is the only one who can stand him as he's screaming his head off and doing backflips while we hook up.

I've attempted to retire her a couple times now, and put her on a slower, shorter distance team. But after she comes back from those runs barely breathing hard, I put her back on the faster team. In lead. And she keeps those youngsters moving!!

Ivy and Kate share the couch. They never let the males on it. Females rule.

Rupert

Rupert - by day he's a mild mannered, calm, sweet, quiet dog. Slap a harness on him and he becomes a screeching, uncontrollable maniac who drives everyone and everthing within a 10-mile radius nuts with his high pitched whine. I think his former owner gave him to me just because of this annoying noise. He practically becomes posessed when he sees the harnesses come out. I've grown used to it and tend to tune him out at these times.


See, he looks so sweet and calm here.


And here. Don't be fooled though!

Rupert is about 10 now, and is still going strong. He's one of the main leaders, is great with commands and holding the line out. He's a sweet dog who gets along with other dogs. The young pups kind of try his patience a bit, and he doesn't waste any time putting them in their place.

This was when Rupert was fascinated by the dogsled computer game! He couldn't tear his eyes away. Neither could Ivy, you can see - she looks ready to tear his head off.


Rupert pretending to be calm once again:


Stretching out after a run:

Jack

A happy, slightly demented looking Jack down by the river.

Jack is a pretty independant dog. He also has a good handle on the three girls, who he, Harris and Kuna share a pen with. They can be bossy as hell, but for some reason, they LOVE playing with Jack. They also love humping him, but that's another story... Quite often he's just trying to sleep and they'll bounce up and down in front of him, bark in his face, paw at him, until he gets going and joins in the game!

Here's Jack running with someone other than Harris - Lucy! He always jumps and stands on the gangline for some reason.


Jack looking out at the beauty of the Yukon River.

If you didn't read the Harris post - these guys are four years old now. I got them at 8 weeks old and they were fun little guys. Still are. They are great listeners, who I can take pretty much anywhere off leash and not have to worry about them taking off or ganging up on other dogs. One day while biking, they were loose and we came across this little old lady walking this teeny tiny dog on a leash. She was frightened as these two came bounding up. They are about 65 and 70lbs each. They then looked at her wee dog and sniffed it, totally curious as to what the heck it was! All I did was ride by and call them and they followed. Them's good dogs.

Jack on our big 20-mile run. A bit tired here near the end and ready for a good nap.


The two leading together. Jack was pretty good in lead last year, but seems to have an aversion for it this year. Not sure why, so I'm keeping him in the middle of the team making sure he's having fun and wanting to go. He seems to be ok on shorter distances and in smaller teams. Maybe once they're in really good shape and he gains a bit of confidence, he'll be up for the job again. If not, oh well. He's great skijoring though.


My two lookouts down by the river.


Jack and his little alien-shaped head.


Doing what they do best:

Harris

Harris and Jack, now 4, came to me as 8 week old pups from the kennel I worked at. They were the first pups I had, and really bonded to each other. They are always together, which is one reason I don't have too many pictures of just one of them without the other. Here they are skijoring, with Harris looking back.

How to tell them apart - Harris has floppy ears and Jack's are straight. Harris is a big boy, about 70lbs but is a big sweet baby.

As you can see here, they really love each other. Harris is always resting his head on his brother and Jack doesn't seem to mind one bit. The funniest thing is that still, at four years old, I often find these two in the same doghouse together!! It's very rare that loose dogs share a single dog house, but these two have a high tolerance for each other.

It's funny when they are hooked up beside each other as we're getting ready to leave. They will jump and attack each other, and to an innocent bystander, they may look like they're about to kill each other. It may sound and look nasty, but they've never fought. They seem to have an understanding on how far to push each other. And sometimes, Jack is the annoying instigator, but Harris can deal with him pretty good.

And, here they are again.


Harris with Gabe in lead.


Harris has been pretty good in lead. I run the two of them together in lead a lot, until Jack preferred to be further back. Here is Harris with Ripper, however these two barely tolerate each other. I have no idea why they can't stand each other, so I run them without a neckline so they don't have to be too close. But once they're running, they're fine. This is at the end of a run.


Harris practices his cliff climbing.


Harris can go anywhere in the team. Yes, he's just that good!

Gabe

So I don't know what's up with Gabe's breeding that gives him this weird labby look. All I know is his father was a winning Quest dog (a leader) and he produced some pretty lab-like looking pups. They all have these big floppy ears, Gabe is golden/white, one brother is more golden, his sister is orange/golden/brown, just weird. But they all have big, sweet personalities. He's may be a candidate for my "geriatric/slacker/short attention span team" this winter since he's around 10 now.


Gabe came along as dog #5. I had no way to run the three sisters, due to a lack of leaders. So I begged the owner of the kennel I worked at, and annoyed him for months before he gave up the Gabester. Gabe hadn't been running much anyways, because he was said to have epilepsy. When I first got to the kennel, I'd take him on walks and he did have a few seizures that first year. We figured I could just manage it with short, easy runs and see how it goes.


Well, it's gone really well! I realized what a great leader Gabe can be. Here he is way up in front one day when I was bikejoring and forgot he was loose. Well, he motored along on this whole run in front of us the whole way. Totally loose, but never straying away from in front of us. In fact, he was booting along so fast, at one point he was looking back at us dropping further and further back, as if to say "C'mon! Keep up!"


Gabe loves the truck.


Gabe and his buddy Octane.


Gabe is the freakin' cheerleader of the team. He NEVER shuts up. Even if he is tired and not pulling (which he's only recently started to do), he'll bark his head off the second we stop to break, annoy the heck out of me, get all the other dogs all fired up until we get going. Ah, but you can't fault that enthusiasm. Gabe has done the 1000 mile Yukon Quest before my time with him and he's got that inner sled dog buried way down deep.


Yeah, kinda like this!

One thing he excels at and we are TRYING to teach Ripper (pictured at left with Gabe) - is lining out at hookup. That is, keeping the lines tight and staying in front. Sounds easier than it is maybe, but when you see all the other maniacs behind jumping and bouncing around, some pulling on the lines because they're so impatient, it can be pretty stressful for the leaders. But Gabe is a pro.

Lucy

Lucy is the furry, mellow sister to Gracie and George (all 5 years old). Those two make her look like the most laid-back dog in the world, mostly because they are so in-your-face all the time. Lucy is her own dog. She has moments where she'll demand attention and harass me and crawl all over me, pawing at me for an hour straight. Then will totally ignore me for a day. This is one of my favourite pics of her, and pretty much sums up what she does a lot of her time. Just sits there and stares off into space...


Lucy loves her mud puddles!! Always the first to flop down in them.


Lucy at the river while out skijoring. Love the frosty look these black guys get. She seems to like the skijoring thing. At the same time, I can put her in a 12-dog team and she'll do just as well. She's very versatile that way.


She gets pretty excited before we go for a run. Here she is pre-run "woo-wooing" at me to get going!


No, really, she IS excited!!

She's a pretty decent little sled dog these days. She is pretty consistent, and you only notice her if she's not pulling, 'cause then something must be up. Due to her furriness though, she tends to get warmer than the rest of the dogs quicker so I have to watch her in warmer temperatures. A quick snow bath usually helps!!

She also has a tendency to get into things as you can see here there is a big white-ish stripe on her head and around her ears? She got into a bucket of egg powder.... bad dog...


Here she is in her usual early fall post-run spot - hording the water bowl.