On 'Making Room for Puppies': Changes in the team

Puppies in the front: Riptide, Bruce Springsteen, and Wocket, with Loki in the middle and then Jumbo photo bombing. Photo by Joe Klementovich.

‘Making room for puppies’ is a phrase I have heard, often, from mushers when asked why they are placing dogs. That statement shows up in ‘dogs for sale’ postings, most often, a comment that distinguishes a dog for sale from other things, like ‘kennel sell-out’ or ‘downsizing.’ Every year, from the start of the team, I have placed dogs that have either not quite fit in or have aged into a phase of life where racing just isn’t where or how they can shine anymore. So many teammates and friends are now living happy full lives as pets, and some continuing on as sled dogs in tour kennels or with other teams. 

This year, the phrase ‘making room for puppies’ really was the force and guiding light between some serious deep thoughts I had to take, about the future of the team. While I do rely on a network of friends, realistically this is a one-person-at-a-time kennel, and I firmly believe the best person to dog ratio is 1 person for every 25 dogs. Beyond that, it is tough to support the emotional and physical needs of the dogs. Not saying one can’t have a larger kennel, but a 50 dog kennel thrives with two dedicated mushers, and so forth. 

So, this year, with 9 puppies staying here, three yearlings coming back home, and the 18 dogs I’ve trained all winter, the numbers added up: there were some tough decisions that I had to make. I had to get down to less than 25 dogs, and for the first time I really looked long and hard at the dogs, knowing I would be placing some really good athletes and team members who still had years of running ahead of them. I also know I’d be placing dogs that I had raised from puppies, dogs that I have raced with for years. It also meant that in keeping all the 9 puppies, I was ultimately taking a chance on an unknown athlete and moving out a known athlete. In all cases, this was a really tough decision.

One of the ways I was able to discern who had to go, was looking back at where dogs ended up between the two teams I trained all winter. Thanks to Sean de Wolski who was willing to drive a second team in all our races, this meant that I wasn’t only trying to prepare 8-10 dogs to race, I was looking critically at the entire team, looking at every single team members ability to race. In past years, training just one team, the mentality I held was ‘one team, and the spares.’ It was a very different mindset this year, and it meant that I was able to more deeply evaluate each dog and consider their placement between the competitive team and the slower team, and what kept them from being on the competitive team. As you’ll probably notice, for each of these dogs who raced, they were all on that second team.

Victor: Victor Hugo let it be known early in the season that it was time for him to just relax into pet life. Little Victor started showing signs, a few months into training, as we focused and grew more competitive and driven, that he really wasn’t having a good time. The pressure of competition wasn’t for him. I moved him out of the racing team, and then out of the second slower team, and eventually he was staying in Shelburne with his puppies and Chuck. As a small, housebroken, playful and toy-loving, and off-leash dog, I knew Vic would make a superb pet, it was just a matter of finding the right home. Sheridan and Debbie, who have always been fan of Victor, because of his name, met him and fell in love. I can say the love was mutual, and Victor is now living his best life with them, where he has the free run of their house, an array of toys including the shark, the lobster, and now an entire family of squirrels, and happily lives among the animals around him, including the birds (which is super important because Sheridan and Debbie are avid birders). 

Swing and Inferno in lead

Swing: Swing, as a lead dog with unbelievable discipline and drive and such a sweet personality, was tough to let go because lead dogs are always tough to let go. Born in 2013, when I got him and his brother Foxtrot last year I knew they would only be in the team for a short time, but that was ok. Swing was and is a superb sled dog, and as a solid hardworking lead dog who is great loose, I really did want to keep him for one more year to train puppies, and he led many puppy runs this spring with the positive hardworking attitude, and dragging the pups along when they didn’t know what to do. I had no intention of placing him, although he was showing signs that he would have a hard time keeping up with the race team next year. However, it was one of those things where a great home pops up and it’s tough to say no. A fantastic small tour kennel reached out looking for quality retirees, and I immediately reached out to her about Swing, knowing that good leaders are tough to come by and that Swing’s personality would be perfect for tours. Thank you Kate at Dogsled Maine! Foxtrot is looking forward to joining his brother next spring. Swing raced this year in Sean’s Can Am 30 team. and was sponsored by my friend Pam Laflamme.

Fauna on the right with her mom Aurora, leading a ATV training run in late November.

Joan Didion: Joan was a tough decision because she really is an incredible sled dog. Joan is a perfectly built sled dog, a tough dog with a relentless appetite, also with unending energy and drive. Joan is also fearless and friendly and intelligent, possessing a desire to please that she always struggled with balancing with her frenetic energy. She would also run anywhere in the team, including leading, and was the only dog I’ve trained to poop on the go who could poop without breaking stride. But yet, over the course of the year, Joan never really hit her stride and found her place, wavering somewhere between the race team and the slower team. I reached out to Dawn and Steve, who have her brother Swamper, who after some thought added Joan to their team. Dawn and Steve are superb dog parents and it was great to see photos of Joan with her brother. Joan was sponsored this year by Joan Fullerton. Joan raced this year on Sean’s Blue Mtn 20 mile team. 

Fauna: Fauna was a tough decision because I had raised her as a puppy and she has always shown so much potential. Fauna, one of the group of two year olds, also never fully found her stride, even in the slower team. I worked with her so patiently all winter, meticulously tracking how she succeeded and struggled, and combining that data with what she seemed to be telling me is that Fauna really wanted to do tours: she wanted to constant stop and start excitement, the fast success of short runs, and leading within that controlled environment. Fauna spent her yearling year doing tours at Muddy Paw, and rather than thinking that experience ‘tainted’ her, I prefer to think of that she just happened to find out what she wanted to do right away. Fauna is at Unlimited Dogsledding in Maine, a large tour kennel similar to the large tour kennel of Muddy Paw. Fauna raced in Sean’s Can Am 30 team. Fauna was sponsored this year by Deb Rodgers, who I thought would always identify with Fauna’s vocal opinions. 

Inferno: Inferno. The famous Inferno. Sweet, fluffy, steady, reliable Inferno. Smart as a whip. An effortless floating trot. And, also, my hiking and swimming buddy and the flamboyant snow reporter. Deciding about Inferno was a wretched and tough tough tough decision. He’s been in the team for years, finishing every race he started. But objectively, looking at where he raced and what team he did better on, Inferno was not cutting it on the more competitive team. Of course, he is still an excellent sled dog with perfect manners and a perpetual potential as a lead dog. Choosing to place Inferno was, of all the choices I made, taking a chance on the incoming puppies over Inferno’s experience. What made it easy was that Inferno joined other Shady Pines dogs, Nibbler, Hyside, and Fanzine with the fantastic home of Lea Allen, who promised to take him swimming in the summertime. Inferno ran on Sean’s Blue Mtn 20 mile and Can Am 30 mile teams. Inferno was sponsored this year by Heidi and Liam Weymouth, and my brother in law Ben Grossman.

Hawkeye: Big Hawk. I knew this year was Hawkeye’s last racing year, as he turned seven and I saw him slowing down and becoming sore for the first time. As a large (69 pound) dog, I knew he’d age out sooner than smaller dogs. This decision wasn’t super hard to rationalize, but it was tough to see as it’s always tough to see long time teammates retire out of racing. It was heartbreaking and I shed a tear when I did the simple thing of removing his profile from our main team website page. (but as I did that, it inspired me to make a new page to host some memorable dogs, which you can find here.) Hawkeye has been here since a yearling, maturing and growing into his prime entirely on the team. Hawk is at a fabulous home with a former musher who is helping his teenage daughter get into the sport, and Hawkeye is already a cherished member of their family. Hawkeye ran on Sean’s Blue Mtn 20 and Can Am 30 mile teams. Hawkeye was sponsored this year by his longtime supporter Ryan Surrette, who also sponsors the team through his business RMS Ironworks. I’m so glad that Hawkeye will be living on in the Mahoosuc puppies, who all possess elements of his personality and physicality: Wocket’s insistent bark, Page’s facial expressions, Speck!’s calmness, and of all of them Marian inherited his long, lanky and powerful physique.

Jumbotron in Michigan with Lynne.

Jumbotron: My mama’s boy! Jumbo came back from Michigan a confident and calm two year old, thanks to the patient nurturing leadership of Lynne Witte. As a large, gangly, inefficient dog he struggled all winter with figuring out how to run and pace himself. Lynne was unbelievably patient with him. When he came back, I was able to take both Jumbo and his two siblings out for some short runs, and on the second run Jumbo had a seizure. While not common, seizures in harness do happen, and I talked with friends of mine who have had it happen on their teams. Some mushers choose to continue to run the dog, but I decided that the risk wasn’t worth it. As a gangly dog that still hadn’t matured into his shape, and might not ever do so, it was an easy decision to find a pet home for Jumbo. Jumbo also was fully pet-ready, eager to please, sitting on command, great loose and getting along with most any dog. Jumbo has found his perfect home with Amy and Brian right here in Shelburne! They loved him immediately, for his smarts, willingness to please, and his respect of all things. Jumbo was sponsored this year by Terry and Connie Eddy. 

It makes it a little bit easier to let go of these beloved dogs, when you know they are going to fantastic homes. I feel really lucky to have built such a strong community over the years. Thank you to the humans who now care for our former teammates, and thank you Victor, Swing, Joan, Fauna, Hawkeye and Jumbotron for giving so much.