Second Chance League

Devlyn finished up the second part of this weekend's Fun Race with FJDMA today. He is very proud of his 3rd place finish, which netted him his very first trophy! After a slower run with Duchess yesterday, Devlyn decided to run Missy today. Though Missy is with Bob Hale now, she is from our kennel (Radar, our GSP x Scorpion, Stamm/Iverson lines) and has proven herself to be a great little lead dog. Ironically, Missy could be considered a 'shelter dog,' because originally she went to a home as a pet. But instead of honoring our agreement that if a dog does not work out, we take them back...the folks dropped Missy at the shelter. We immediately recognized the sweet little girl and adopted her back. After that, Bob saw her in our yard and asked to give her a try. She's been with the Hale's ever since and has become a very valuable junior dog, who runs in the 1 dog class, the 2 dog class and the 4 dog class! Bob has even raced Missy in some adult sprint races, as well. Way to go little Missy!!

Next week, Devlyn has the Jr North American Champioships. He'll be gearing up for that and plans to use Missy again to round out the season. Devlyn & Missy make a good team and should have loads of fun over the 3 day event. After that, Devlyn is going to start training for the 2 dog class. Should prove interesting and fun for all! We are going to try Munchkin out for the 2 dog. So look for her next season at the track with Devlyn!

In the meantime, Manny is hoping to get the dogs out for a few fun runs this week. The snow is good and the trail is opened up again, so he'll be able to hit the trail from home. I'll keep you posted on Munchkin's progress in the team/in lead. It's so exciting! Though I can't be out on the sled, I still can't wait to hear how Munchkin does with Manny. I'll keep you all posted!
-Tammi

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the junior mushers are gearing up for their season ender, the Jr North American Championships. This year, the races will be held March 4th-6th over at Musher's Hall. As practice for the "main event", the junior mushers will be participating in a Fun Run this weekend. Devlyn has been preparing for his 1-dog class and will be running his races with Dutchess. He's hoping to better the 2nd place finishes that he's been having so far this season. He has his sled out, his gangline ready and Dutchess's harness hanging by the door. He wanted to try Munchkin, but she's a smaller dog than Dutchess and so darned friendly that she likes to stop and say "Hi!" to the halfway person (not that that's necessarily a bad thing!). However, next year Devlyn plans to move up to the 2-dog class, at which time Munchkin would be a great candidate for the "team".

For now, Munchkin is doing well. In fact, she's actually gotten fat! I look out in the dogyard and can see her belly pudging out. Manny has backed off on her feed, but it is obvious that this little dynamo easily packs on the pounds with good care and good food. She looks much better and once I get my digital camera fixed, I'll post some new pictures of her. We decided that Munchkin will be a permanent member of our kennel. She's such a sweety, loves playing with the "pups" (though she's working on the "quiet" command, as she gets quite excited during feeding/play time) and enjoys cuddle/play times with us very much. To top it off, she's a hard driving dog in harness. In fact, I can't wait until this summer, when I will be allowed to run the dogs again (with doc's permission, of course), as I look forward to having Munchkin up front in the team. Munchkin's build/stature match a few of our other dogs, so it will be nice to see how she does paired up in lead.

I'll post an update on how Devlyn does during his races. Thanks for visiting!
-Tammi