Husky Creek Kennel

Busy as the Bee’s would be summer here at the Anderson’s house! JR and I were able to go to Alaska a few weeks ago with Bruce and Monica Magnusson. It was an incredible trip, we came home with Cash a dog from Egil Ellis (see the May / June 2008 Mushing Magazine to see Cash in the super 16 article), Snow from Joee Redington’s main team, and Swell a 10 month old pup also from Joee. We are very excited to have these new dogs in the kennel and look forward to the upcoming season.

It has been either crazy hot or down pouring this month. But here are some photos of the Dice / Austin litter. They love playing with toys and going on walks.

JR walking the pups in the field.

I scrubbed all of the water buckets for our dogs! Now they need filled back up and put back in the dog yard.

Yikes a message just came through from my sister that they have postponed the annual mushers potluck due to the nasty weather. The camp that the potluck is held at got 24 - 30 inches just a few days ago and are now getting hammered with yet another blizzard. Who would have thought that April would be this snowy! Anyway here is the official report from Rebekah.

—————

The Mushers Potluck is Postponed!

Old man winter just doesn’t want to give UP! After 24 inches of snow and now another
8 inches and still more coming we had to make the call to postpone. We will
reschedule the potluck for May. I don’t have a new date yet but will let you all
know very soon!

Thanks, Rebekah Chapman
Cell# 218-248-0978
#218-666-2512
#218-666-2487
sugarhill149@yahoo.com

We left for Yellowknife on Sunday the 24th, and had for the most part excellent roads. JR wanted to get up north as soon as possible so we did the trip in 3 days. Wednesday we hooked up the team at Warren Palfrey’s kennel to get the main dogs out on a short 5-mile run to let them stretch out. The team looked great and we were excited to see that they had started to pick up their pace from the Stage Stop 7 – 10 mph blahs….

Sam and Petra Perrino had invited us to stay with them at their home during the race, and we had a blast! A huge thanks to Sam, Petra, and Quinn for the fun time and great talks.

Thursday we were able to spend some time with the dogs and then we went into town with Sam to have the dogs microchips checked. Every dog that is entered in the race has to have a microchip scanned and have his or her number registered with the race. As every day during the race a vet tech. will come and randomly select a dog from your team to have it’s chip read. Once the vet check was finished we headed over to Grant and Carol Beck’s home to see if we could visit with them. Both Grant and Carol incredibly involved with the race organization so they were busy. But we were able to say Hi, log on to the Internet and respond to our real life before the race! Just hours before the musher’s meeting Thursday night Aaron Peck and Jason Smith pulled into the Beck’s home. Both mushers’ were entered in the race, thus pushing the original field of 5 musher’s to 15 teams from all over Canada and the US.

Friday morning dawned crisp and clear… incredibly crisp and clear this years race beaconed cold temperature and perfect conditions for a sled dog race. The weather held cold for all three days of racing, -14c Friday, -16c Saturday, and –19 on Sunday. Thankfully there was no wind on Great Slave Lake and frostbite was not an issue.

It was rumored that John Beck was driving the best of his dogs along with the best of his dad Richard Beck’s kennel. Friday morning we learned that it was true together they were pooling one incredible team of canine athletes.

15 teams and their supporting dog trucks fanned across Frame Lake and the starting location. Each day the race stages start at 1 p.m. allowing to plenty of coffee time ). The first day is always one that sorts the teams apart, yet day 2 and 3 show what teams are able to continue their domination and who can not. The Diavik 150 allows for a 12-dog pool and no more then 10 dogs in the team on any stage. The 12 dogs we chose to race with were: Austin, Tex, Ellie May, Bowing (Ryan’s main leader), Cooper, Apple, Clem, Tang, Dew, Bull, BJ, and Superman. Friday BJ and Tex stayed at the truck. We were confident that the team could hold a faster pace but unsure about how fast the sprinting teams of John Beck, Dave Hockmen, and Brent Beck would be able to go with the cold temperatures. As a usual rule of thumb the Diavik has warm temps and slows some of the teams down, allowing our dogs that run in the southern winter climate to excel.

If we were worried about the possible speed, well we saw the record smashed by John Beck. John was in the front or only a stride behind the front team from GO (it’s a mass start race) and after 30 miles set the pace, and dared teams to follow. Our team held a strong average of 13.5 mph but didn’t even crack top 10. The team looked great on the trail and JR was able to keep them traveling at a constant speed. After JR and team crossed the finish line we quickly worked on checking them over for any stiffness. There were some very slick spots on the trail and we didn’t want to let a dog race day 2 or 3 who was sore. Bull slipped on the ice day #1, so we made the decision to keep him on the truck as he is a big dog and JR didn’t want to have to possibly bag him. Cooper’s age was catching up with him at 7 he was the senior of the team, and struggled with any speeds over 14 / 15 mph. In years past he would have pushed our team faster (much, much faster) but not this year.

Saturday’s stage JR ran 8 dogs and left Bull, Cooper, Clem, and Austin at the truck. Bowing and Tex were the leader. Just like last year day two the team barely slowed down, but they did conserve some and were able to bounce back Sunday for the final run. The last day we picked the best 9 dogs and JR left the starting chute with a quest to achieve the Rookie of the Year award. He needed to make up 10 minutes on the highest rookie in the race. So my job was to time teams through checkpoints and feed him his placement as he passed through. Math on the fly, yikes…. JR made up 10 minutes and some odd seconds to capture the title of Rookie of the Year, and 10th place overall. We were very excited to get this award!

In the end John Beck smashed the track record and the team looked excellent. JR enjoyed learning the race and agrees with me that it’s a race we will continue to participate in. For times about the race check out their website: www.Diavik150.com

Eva Kolodji racing in the Wolf Track Classic with Caribou (spotted dog) in lead. Eva got Caribou from us as a team dog but has trained Caribou to be a great little leader!

All of the Cooper x Dice Pups: Expresso, Ginger, FireFly, Folgers, and Starbucks have started training. They took to running like ducks to water! I plan on working more with this crew of dogs when we return to MN in April.

The newest leaders in training are: Fox, Fisher, and Dew. They are all doing awesome and driving like fools. It will be some time before they learn any commands but man do they know how to go and drive….. it’s just built into these dogs.

JR and I have been busy getting ready for the Diavik 150. There are 16 dogs in the main team training for the Diavik: Austin, Bowing (one of Ryan’s dogs), Tex, Cooper, Ellie May, and Dew are the leaders. Apple, BJ, Bull, Tang, Clem, Superman, Duke, Badger, Spot, and Raisin.

We are looking forward to our trip up north, not only do we get to race with some great teams but we will get plenty of visiting in also! Currently there are 5 teams signed up but I’m sure there is going to be a last minute group of mushers signing up. So I will post the musher list after the musher meeting on the 27th.

March has come and the cold weather still lingers, it is suppose to be -20º tonight! We got 3+ inches of snow Sunday and Monday so JR is out grooming the 25 mile trail. The main dogs are looking very strong for the Diavik 150. Here is a photo of half the dogs in training, Dew and Ellie May are in lead.

The Wolf Track Classic sled dog race was a great event. Saturday the vet check started at 1 p.m. and went till well after 5p.m. as only one of the official vets was able to make the vet check. Chip (the vet) got to see each and every dog that raced, what a job. Thankfully Chip has worked with many sled dogs and was very fast and efficient.

After the vet check we all had dinner at the local community college and then attended the musher meeting where we learned about the trail. All in all it was a very smooth evening!

Sunday morning dawned bright and early I should know as we were up before the sun was! I was able to spend the night with a family friend Kelli Hansen. We loaded up her race team dropped my team and headed to my families kennel to reload our dogs into their truck along with my sisters two race teams! Yikes we were packed to the brim. Once all was loaded we headed off to Ely.

The weather was very warm to be racing with the temps in the mid 30º range all of the mushers were concerned about their dogs and the possibility of them overheating. Thankfully by 9 a.m. clouds started to roll in and stopped the sun streaming down on us.

The 8 dog / 60 mile race started at 9 a.m. Ryan (bib #7) and my sister Rebekah (bib #23) both raced in the 8 dog class. My older sister Elizabeth (bib #24) and I (bib #15) ran in the 6 dog / 30 mile class. 26 teams were entered in the 8 dog, and 29 teams in the 6 dog.

What an exciting and well-groomed trail we were able to race on. The course had nice rolling hills that gave way to flat terrain the last 5 miles before we arrived in Tower. Even though the temps were warm in the hills there was a breeze that really cooled off the dogs and allowed them to run normally for most of the race.

I raced a young team of dogs and they did awesome. I was so proud of them and all they have been able to learn this year is incredible. Badger is a natural sled dog she glides over the ground and never lets off her tug. She also didn’t have any problem with the heat! Goliath and Fox left the starting chute like rockets and simply need to learn how to pace themselves. They are both going to be key dogs on the team next year I know. As Goliath’s brother Superman has been racing on the main string all season as a yearling. This was Doc’s first race and wow what a hard working boy. We were going to sell Doc, but JR and I have decided to keep this guy in the kennel and teach him how to lead. He drives like a machine and never struggled with passing teams so I’m confident that he will pick up leading with ease. My front end consisted of Tex one of our main leaders and Spot a new leading recruit. Spot has only been leading for a month but has been improving daily. So I decided to use her, as she needed to get a longer run on before Yellowknife. This young team pulled off an impressive 3rd place finish!

All in all a great race and a fun family gathering. Here are the family placements:

8 Dog:
Rebekah Chapman - 1st
Ryan Anderson - 2nd

6 Dog:
Anna Anderson - 3rd
Elizabeth Chapman - 6th

Let’s hook up some dogs! Yippee, the truck is packed and we are heading to Ely, Minnesota to race in the Wolf Track Classic sled dog race. Ely is about 2 hours away for us so it’s a nice short drive!

I (Anna) am racing in the 6 dog / 30 mile class with a young group of dogs. Tex is the main leader and my rock to show these youngsters the ropes. Spot is running lead with Tex, Doc (2yr) and Fox (1yr) in point, and Goliath (1yr) and Badger (1yr) in wheel. We are going to have a blast I’m sure. The goal isn’t to “race” the goal is to finish with a happy team. I really want these young dogs to have fun and learn about a race in a playful setting.

You can follow the race at the following link: http://www.wolftrackclassic.com

One last run before the Wolf Track Classic.

Ah, what fun to race close to home. Only 7/8 hours of driving to get to the race was a very sweet feeling. JR raced the team from our kennel. We had some dogs get a flu bug from the Beargrease via Ryan’s team the week of the race. So some of the dogs were recovering from their sickness hence they stayed at the kennel to rest. Thankfully the kennel is deep enough to allow us the ability to let some of our key dogs stay home. The dogs who raced were: Austin, Tex, and Ellie May in lead, Raisin, Bull, Dew, Tang, and Clem rounded out the 8 dog team.

I (Anna) had volunteered to run a team for the Magnusson’s kennel. Bruce needed some dogs trained for the Can-Am 250, so I was the driver. I was driving the team to have fun and what an experience using an all new team. It was hard for the dogs to have someone new on the runners, but they were troopers.

The Mid-Night Run was a great race. We had heard terrible story’s about the trail, but put your mind at rest the trail was great. Use some strong leaders, manage your dog team, and you will have a great race. The trail was excellent compaired to some of the race’s we have done. So our hat is off to the trail committee.

JR’s team was just coming off of the Stage Stop and deep punchy trails. So we were very excited to see the dogs pull out of the Stage Stop hum drum and put down two great runs. 2nd place was the final result for the 2008 Mid-Night Run! Once again Austin and Tex were the men. Bull and Dew are coming into their own. Ellie May, Clem, Tang, and Raisin are the best of the best to round out the team.

Both JR and I enjoyed the race and being able to run with some people who we have known for years. Once the Mid-Night race was finished we went and watched the Jack Pine 30 mile race finish, raced back to our awards dinner, then jumped into the truck and went to the UP 200 checkpoint to handle for Ryan. Ryan’s handlers Miki and Rebekah needed a rest so we went to help give them some extra hands )

Ryan finished in 3rd place with all 12 dogs! Congrads.