Nature's Kennel Sled Dog Racing & Adventures

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Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

Nature's Kennel

PO Box 5
McMillan, MI 49853
Tel: 1-906-748-0513
Email: info@natureskennel.com

Dog Blog

Adventure Journals

Welcome to the Nature's Kennel Dog Blog! Check out the latest kennel news, stories of your favorite sled dogs, Iditarod training adventures, and more!

Sunday, February 27th, 2011 The crew and dogs arrived in Alaska in record time this morning. There was only one slight mishap along the way, Ed ran out of gas while driving the midnight shift from Haines Junction to Tok, Alaska. He gambled, figuring that gas would be cheaper in Tok, and ran out around midnigh, about an hour from Tok. After waiting for an hour along the highway to be picked up, he got a ride with a semi truck driver who was making his 600th drive to Alaska from Washington state. Ed had hoped to be dropped off at the gas station, but he was reminded by the driver that it was 1 am and the station was closed. They did have a 24-hour pay at the pump, but Ed had no gas can. The driver said the liquor store was usually open, it was not, but next door the lights were on at the bar. He got dropped off there, went in and asked the bartender if there was anyone with a gas can and a car who could take him back to the truck. She yelled across the bar to Jeremy who took Ed to get a gas can at his house, got gas, and then drove Ed back to the truck. Two and a half hours later, and the crew was back on the road. Ed had a bit of "down" time over the past three days will sitting in a pick-up, and wrote a few notes about each of the dogs on his team: This will not be my year to significantly improve in the Iditarod. My team is good but not great. They are trained specifically for Iditarod but I do not feel I have earned enough trust from this team to be able to run long enough and rest short enough to compete with the front runners. Even with that being the case, I am still looking forward to the race start. It will be my first race in two years and it is long overdue. The team: "Ayn" 40 pound female, 3 years old, out of Maple and T.C., 1 Iditarod, raised at NK She is a naturally gifted leader. She first proved this when she lead Trent Herbst through the nasty storms in the 2008 Iditarod. She was 17 months old then and has gotten even better. "Judge" (full name-Judge Charlie) 60 pound male, 3 years old, out of Maple and T.C., 1 Iditarod, raised at NK He is a dog that shows little emotion. His build and gait are perfect but he will occasionally miss a meal and that is less than desirable in distance racing. "Krister" 55 pound male, 3 years old, out of Maple and T.C., 1 Iditarod, raised at NK He is a good leader but has moments of insecurity that may not get us through tough trail this year. I predict him to be a main leader in years to come. "Flynt" 60 pound male, 3 years old, out of Maple and T.C., 1 Iditarod, raised at NK One of the most athletic dogs I own and he trots and lopes perfectly. He tends to be bossy but by mile 500 we should have him settled down a bit. "Clark" 60 pound male, 7 years old, out of Maple and Raven, 4 Iditarods, raised at NK He may be one of the best sled dogs I will ever own. In 7 years he has never missed a day of work. He is amazingly fast and loves to have fun. "Gus" 50 pound male, 5 years old, out of Clark and T.C., 2 Iditarods, raised at NK He is one of my go to leaders this year. He is very efficient and seems to always get the job done. "Rhu" 40 pound female, 5 years old, out of Clark and T.C., 3 Iditarods, raised at NK Also a great leader but she was favoring a shoulder on the last training run in Michigan. I really need her healthy! "Banjo" and "Fiddle" 60 pound males, 3 years old, out of Ero and Ladybird, 1 Iditarod each, raised at NK They have tons of energy but they still run like puppies at times. If they can stay focused and run smart, they may be big contributers to the team. "Alaska" 45 pound female, 4 years old, out of Maple and Ladybird, 1 Iditarod, raised at NK My class clown that also can shove while waiting in line. She loves me but needs constant monitering so expect her to be in wheel for much of the race. "Erie" 65 pound male, 5 years old, out of Maple and Pie, 2 Iditarods, raised at NK He pulls hard and loves to eat. He does not like to run lead but he makes up for it by pulling twice as hard as any dog on the uphills. "Vixen" 45 pound female, 4 years old, out of Curry and (cant remember), no Iditarods, purchased from Zack Steer She eats, sleeps, and runs smoothly (and is adorable) I will know in a couple of weeks if she can do it for 1,000 miles. "Max" 60 pound male, 5 years old, out of ? and ?, 2 Iditarods, purchased from Rich Corcoran He is the happiest dog in the team. Not only do all of the dogs love him, all people do too. "Cupid" 60 pound male, 5 years old, out of Yooper and Hedgie, 3 Iditarods, raised at NK He is one of the dogs that always gets the job done. At times he gets moody but, hey, don't we all. "Gremlin" 50 pound female, 4 years old, out of ? and ?, no Iditarods, purchased from Ryan and Erin Redington She was just added to my main team a few weeks ago because Jess kept bragging how good Gremlin was performing on tours. Jess was right, this dog is excellent. "Swann" 50 pound female, 1 year old, out of Cupid and Gremlin, no Iditarods, raised at NK She is the best young dog I have run in 20 years. I will be watching her closely to make sure it stays fun. Planning for the future. I have not done the math but I think this is one of my youngest Iditarod teams. Most of them have experience but as I mentioned, the bond necessary to compete is lacking at this time. We will be running a very conservative 11-13 day pace. Posted by Ed

Thursday, February 24th, 2011 They're off! Ed, Jim Levline, and Cliff Henning headed out at 8 am today with Vixen, Alaska, Gremlin, Rhu, Ayn, Swann, Banjo, Fiddle, Krister, Mad Max, Clark, Cupid, Gus, Erie, Judge, and Flynt . They should arrive in Anchorage sometime on Sunday. A huge thanks goes to Jim for the use of his truck, and to Cliff for his (I believe) his 6th Alaskan Road Trip with Nature's Kennel. Cliff can fix just about anything along the way, so he's a huge help to the operation. Also thanks to Ron Cleveland for his gas sponsorship, we hope he can join us for the drive home. I'll keep posting any updates from the road, and I'll be in Nome March 16-22 with the latest from the trail. Nate kissed dad good bye, and he'll be one year old (and probably walking on his own) by the time Ed returns. In addtion to watching the Iditarod start on March 6th, be sure to log on to the Can Am Crown website to cheer for Krister and NK dogs who have been at Sunday River in Maine this winter. Krister has been busy with rides and also training his race team. Here's a bit more about the Maine crew http://www.sunjournal.com/oxford-hills/story/990068 Posted by Tasha


Monday, February 21st, 2011 The Good: Cliff Henning and Jim Levline arrived today to prep for the big trip to Alaska. The crew is scheduled to leave Wednesday (or possibly Thursday) or as soon as the dog boxes are built, the packing list is checked off, the sled bag is finished, the dogs get one last run, and Ed believes it's time to leave. Jim Haibach is also here to assist in dog box construction and tours, and Michele Seng arrives on Tuesday for tour support. We have a full schedule of overnight and ½ day tours here at the kennel all week so Jess, I, and the dogs are resting up for the craziness! Good thing Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Mike have moved into Michele’s Newberry house for “Nate’s Personal Day Care”. The report from Maine tonight was that Kirster and Chase had a full weekend of rides and are going like gang-busters with a full schedule of tours all week! The Bad: We have great snow up here at the kennel, but we are waiting for mother Nature to sprinkle a little more snow over Harbor Springs. Come on snow flakes…just a few more weeks please!! The Ugly: The snow DID fall over southern Michigan and Tasha’s parents are stranded here in da’ UP as their road at home has not been plowed and all the neighbors laughed when they called today asking if they could get down the road. I’m sure dad’s driveway is UGLY! Posted by Tasha

Saturday, February 19th, 2011 We survived with winter warm up last week, had a day or so of drizzle and mucky weather, and now have beautiful trails with 4-6 inches of fresh snow! The trails are better than ever and everything is back to it's wintery whiteness. Ed and Jim Haibach ran a 50 mile run today, and while they were out exploring the trails, Lynne ran her Copper Dog team (in preparation for the race), and then helped me run the 9 month old puppies. I even got Nate out for his first dog sled ride with my mom in the sled. I think he liked it, he was pretty quiet the whole time and didn't wiggle around at all. So either he was terrified or happy! The grandparents are all still in town to help on the baby-front, and Jim is here to help with the busy tours during the week. We had hoped to be at Boyne this weekend, but they didn’t fare so well with the warm weather down there so we are hoping for a few more inches of snow to fall tonight. Ed is working on Iditarod packing, dog box building, and last minute training. It’s a good thing Jim is here to do all the little things (and help open the occasional beverages!). We have started to receive letters from schools around the country who are cheering for Ed, and I’m putting together our spring Iditarod speaking tour…so the pressure is on!! Posted by Tasha


Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 We are enjoying a little winter warm up here this week. Don't worry, we still have PLENTY of snow, but the dogs are enjoying the warm temps as they bask outside. Jess is doing "dog checks" today where we check over each dog's weight, clean their teeth, clip nails, check the straw in their houses, and make notes on each dog. Ed is unpacking from a busy Boyne weekend and clearing out Jim Haibach's driveway (yeah!! Jim is coming to visit!) and I'm catching up on computer work...which is NOT my favorite job. I was hoping to run a few groups of pups today but it's already nearly 4 pm, and I told my in-laws I'd be in town around 5:30 to meet them for dinner and to pick up Nate. Where did the day go? I'm working on a few final Iditarod plans...calling shipping companies to ship the kennel crates to Nome, booking flights for humans and dogs, and purchasing the last minute gear. I think I need a brain break and will head outside. Here's the link to the TV 6 (Marquette) broadcast from our Wounded Warriors Trip this past weekend. A big thanks to the awesome Warriors for their service to our country, and to Pat Moon and Michele Seng for their help at Nature's Kennel! http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uppermichiganssource.com%2Fnews%2Fstory.aspx%3Flist%3D195904%26id%3D579983&h=9d04e Posted by Tasha

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 It’s definitely a winter wonderland in the UP today. We have not received a ton of snow this winter, but the four inches we got last night certainly made things beautiful today. Ed, Jess and I are running a few short tours this week and then have a group from the Wounded Warriors Project coming in for the weekend. Our friend, Brian Wisebaum has help set up the program, and we are thrilled to be helping out these amazing Americans. The group will be doing an overnight trip, followed by a wrap-up lunch at Chamberlin’s on Saturday afternoon. Ed and Jess will head down to Boyne for the weekend, so Pat Moon and Michele Seng will be here helping with the tour. Pat claimed that we could have just done the trip in Chicago as there is more snow down there than here! We do have one new kennel helper, Nate loves to “help” mix up the dog food in the mornings and learned the word “no” after trying to eat the dry food and mix the meat with his hands. Posted by Tasha


Friday, February 4th, 2011 I almost had a great journal entry about the Iditarod drop bag saga as I received a phone call yesterday that the bags/boxes were “stuck” in Boise, Idaho. Not a good sign. They were supposed to arrive in Tacoma yesterday in order to make the barge today. However, after a phone call to Iditarod and Horizon Van Lines I found out the barge was not scheduled to leave until late tonight. I just got word the boxes made it there this morning. At least I don’t have to deal with scheduling that anymore. I’ve been “scheduled out” this week as on Monday three of our guides told us they were leaving. Lovely news to hear mid-season. Luckily, we’ve been in the business long enough and have dealt with such things before. Jess has been great this week, making sure all the tours go on and the chores get done. Ed’s parents have been up to help with Nate (and I think are ready to move in indefinitely!) and I have finally had the chance to be on the sled some. After being pregnant last winter and breaking my leg in January while skijoring the winter before, I’m ready to run some more dogs! (Believe me, loosing staff is MUCH better than breaking a leg!). Ed, Jess and Tim V. are at Boyne this weekend, and I’m running the shorter trips here at the kennel. We will also have a guest visit from Pat Moon later this month for several trips, and Michele Seng will be on hand during President’s Day week as well. It’s great to have friends who can step in at a moment’s notice. They are all looking for excuses to get out of , as Michele says, “The indoor drudgery” and spend some quality time in the woods! I’m sure they can relate to many of our guests! There are only a few of us so lucky to be able to be outside everyday. Posted by Tasha

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