Thank You!

We would like to take a minute to thank a few people.

 First off Thank You to Jan and Don in eagle for the donation of dog booties, we go through a lot of them and we really appreciate them.

Second we would like to Say a huge Thank You to Tupper at Becker Sewing & Design for our new sled bag and matching leggings for the team. Tupper's work is among some of the highest quality I have ever seen and his customer service is some of the best around.

Winter is here!

Winter is here! Dog training is in full swing, there is snow on the ground, and temps are often dipping down below 0f at night. We don't have enough snow yet to run the dogs on the sleds so we are still on the four wheeler. We have to use chains now on the front tires to help with traction in the snow, mainly to keep the dogs from just pulling the four wheeler where ever they feel.

The dogs are currently running about 16+ miles a day. And are very happy. We are running them on a 2-3 days on and 1-2 day off schedule. This gives them the milage they need for the up coming race season while still getting some time off to keep things exciting and to ensure they get enough rest in between runs. We have been running a lot with our friends at Dome Creek Kennels, working on skills like passing, running from the truck, and running past the truck during training runs. All very good skills the dogs will need while racing this winter.

We have 7 yearlings in the team this year and they are all doing fantastic. They are starting to blend in seamlessly with the more experienced members on the team and it is getting harder to tell the young dogs from the older race dogs. I have been working with a couple of the youngsters in lead, mainly  Matrix and Drift. They are doing an excellent job and seem to be naturals. We are also working with some of the slightly older dogs such as Chupa and Pip up in front of the team, and they are also doing great. Showing improvement every day.

All in all the team is doing awesome and we are looking forward to the upcoming race season. We are currently planing on running the following races: the Solstice 100 and the Top of the world 350 in december and the Two Rivers 200 in March with hopefully some other races in between.

Below I am posting a few recent training pictures.

And until next time Happy trails!

Good Bye Dog Camp. Hello Fairbanks.

As the green leaves turn to gold, and the cool nip of winter returns to the air it is time to pack up dog camp and head home again. Our Summer at dog camp on the Denver glacier just out side of Skagway has been an eventful, beautiful, and exciting adventure. It is a bitter sweet good bye to all of our new friends and the beautiful mountains of coastal Alaska. But it is with excitement we head home and prepare for this coming race season, full of hope and high expectations.

It was a two day trip from Skagway to Fairbanks with three people, and 49 sled dogs. We found a beautiful grass covered hill side off the road far enough to let the dogs out for a stretch and dinner, and also to let the puppies run around and play for a bit. The puppies were born on the glacier and had never before seen anything, but snow, they had quite the time running and playing in the knee high grass in the golden glow of the evening sun.

We have been very busy since arriving back home in Fairbanks. We are in the process of moving further out of town to have more room for the dogs and a bigger trail system for training. We have been working a lot on construction, building 15 new dogs houses, building an out house, preparing to put up a yurt, building a feed shed and so on. We have also been keeping up with the normal busyness that is our life caring for the sled dogs and meat rabbits, and this time of year getting things ready for winter.

Below are a few pictures of what has been happening around the kennel, some from our drive home and also some from the glacier. I hope you enjoy them and they hold you over until I can find enough of a break in our hectic lives to post again.

Fresh snow on the mountains near camp, on August 28. This
snow fall completes our summer with it officially snowing at
least once every month while we were in camp. 

The dogs hanging out in camp just a few days before leaving
the glacier. 

The view from our campsite in Canada on our way home.

Four Wheeler training back in Fairbanks, getting the team back in race shape for this coming winter.

Taking a break to cool off and get some water while four
wheeler training. 

During a tour on the glacier, towards the end of the season.
Photo courtesy Jim H.

If you went on a tour with us this summer and have a photo
you'd like to share please email it to
boundaryfursewing@gmail.com

Cooking up some goat scraps for the dogs.

Part of the new dog yard. 

Inside of our freshly finished feed shed,
newly stocked with 2,000 lbs of Inukshuk. 

One of the new dog houses we just built. 

Introducing Sparta's Puppies

Venture

Eaton

Dana

Axis

Rockwell

Spicer

Strange

Sterling

Sparta's Puppies

Strange & Dana

Sparta's puppies are growing nicely and doing very well. They are a month old now and getting more and more playful and adventurous by the day. I started them on solid food about five days ago now and they are really liking it.

Within the next week or so I'll start taking a few out at a time to go and walks. And I have been spending some time taking them into the tent to hang out and get some time with me with out any other puppies around. They are really neat puppies full of personality and I am looking forward to watching them grow and develop into sled dogs.

The theme for this litter is Axel manufacturers and their names are:
Males: Rockwell, Spicer and Axis.
Females: Eaton, Dana, Venture, Sterling, and Strange.

Axis

Venture, Eaton, and Strange. 

Life at Dog Camp

I find peace in the raw beauty that surrounds us every day, reminding us how small we really are and how blessed we are to experience life on a glacier with 250 amazing canine athletes and 16 unique people from all over the world brought together because of the lure of adventure and the love of sled dogs.

One of my teams harnessed up and waiting to go to work.

Part of the dog yard, with tour teams in the distance. 

 Sparta demonstrates how a hinged roof makes for great puppy viewing. 

The view from my tent on a mostly clear evening. 

This is the north side of camp, where there are 160 sled dogs,
only about half are pictured here. 

An early season avalanchewhere the snow runs down the rocks just like water.

Some of the tents we live in. 

Spending the Summer on a Glacier

The dogs and I are spending the summer on a section of the Denver Glacier just out side of Skagway Alaska doing sled dog tours for Alaska Icefield Expeditions. The dogs are enjoying the snow and being able to run every day and I am enjoying being able to run them with a sled in the summer time, plus I am getting to meet a bunch of really cool people from all over the world. I am only in Skagway once a week with limited internet so please be patient with me about getting pictures and updates posted. Six days a week I am up on the Ice with the dogs.

On May 23 Sparta gave birth to eight healthy puppies, 5 females and 3 males. All are growing quickly and are very healthy. I will have pictures of them up in the next week or two.