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Orchid in lead with her bestie Ariel, in her first race—first place with Brianna driving!

Orchid in lead with her bestie Ariel, in her first race—first place with Brianna driving!

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Orchid

Sponsored by Gina Romano, Pam Laflamme, Margaret Mcnamara, and Andy Deegan

As a puppy, I used to joke that Orchid was my ‘little Siberian’, as she is this solid tank with a curly Siberian tail. Orchid definitely has a grin like her mama Fanzine, and a solid build like her papa Bolt. Bubbling with energy and enthusiasm, Orchid is the one of the four puppies that always struggled the most with the ‘sit’ command, and with learning how to not crawl all over me now that she’s a solid 55 pound girl.

Orchid is what we call in mushing an ‘easy keeper,’ as a few bites of food and she’s able to maintain her layer of chub. She inherited this from her mom, and paired with the appetite of her papa she’s going to have no problem maintaining her weight in long races. As a puppy, Orchid was usually spotted hogging the warm spot just under Fanzine’s tail, and right behind her brother Jumbotron in pushing forward for food. As a three year old, Orchid has often been mistaken for pregnant because of how fat she can get. I often refer to Orchid as our ‘body positive’ role model, reminding us to make space for all body types to excel as athletes.

I was never quite sure what to make of Orchid as a puppy, as it took her a long time for her legs and body to come together, inheriting her mom’s chubby seal-like layer of body fat obscuring what kind of athlete she is. Her bright energy always shone through, her energy bubbling all the way to her toes and the tips of her semi-floppy ears. There was a brief phase in her puppydom, where she was off exploring on her own and developed selective hearing, but she quickly became the pup with the best recall and focus. Orchid is an honest and loving girl. 

Orchid spent her yearling year with her brothers with friend Lynne Witte in Michigan, and it was sometime around October or November when Lynne sent me a video of Orchid leading the team. That video stopped me right in my tracks, and I watched it over and over, looking at Orchid’s pure joy and confidence. While her sister Freckles had the intelligence and drive to lead, and her brother Hoss had the natural athleticism, I had never looked at Orchid in that way. For the rest of the winter, Orchid spent a lot of time leading teams, learning the ropes from two pro lead dogs Missi and Puddle, and training with Lynne’s race team. 

As a two year old, Orchid continued to grow and excel in lead, ending her season pretty much as a main leader. I found myself relying on her to get us around the trail home, and she started challenging me on trail decisions like young leaders can. Orchid loves to lead because it suits her happy, joyous nature, and because of the confidence cultivated over her early years. From Orchid I’ve learned how to never judge a puppy so young, and how important it is to carefully cultivate youth.

'Orchid' was a science station on the island in LOST, and I turned to the science stations as Sawyer's nicknames for girls were a little demeaning, but I had also kept a list of the science stations as a possible litter theme as well. The Orchid station was one of the last to appear in the show, and was a science station where the Dharma Initiative studied time travel, and also grew flowers.

Born: 2018
Bolt (Mackey) x Fanzine (Tremblay)