Razz

I slipped Razz into the team in fall 2020, without a big announcement, as honestly I wasn’t sure what kind of team member she’d be. Razz came from a local musher here in NH, who had bought her from Brenda that summer, and decided to let her go. I struck a deal with Brenda, and with the other musher, and Razz joined the team in October.

Razz is from a mix of Brenda’s dogs that I hadn’t had in the team, the closest being Razz’s dad Outlaw was Bolt’s brother, making her a direct cousin of Orchid and Hoss. She was also the right age, same age as Willie Jr, Spiller and Flora, an age class that could use more members, and was driven enough to run in the front end of racing teams. A compact dog with a silky smooth coat and a big voice, when she arrived in the yard I wasn’t sure what to make of her.

With so much mental and emotional energy sucked into the nine yearlings last year, it took awhile for me to realize that Razz is a nearly perfect sled dog. Tough, durable, driven, happy, always hungry, and with a spunky personality undimmed by anything around her, Razz has a self-contained confidence.

Razz runs anywhere in the team, from the back to leading in the front, and grows stronger as the trail goes on. Climbing the hills in the last few miles home, if we stopped for whatever reason Razz was the one who barked to bring us home, her chest almost on the ground as she pulled uphill. At 3 years old, she was continuing to mature, and it was a joy cultivating her discipline in the team, and moving her towards the front into leadership.

As the season neared the end, I started pairing her in lead with Orchid, two driven happy cousins, and watched her step up and correct Orchid on a command. I swear she and Orchid spend most of their time up there giggling, based on their faces when we stop. Razz takes awhile to warm up, and doesn’t always start out well when she’s in lead, it takes her a few miles to settle in.

In 2021, I bred Razz to Jameson and she had a litter of three, the AMC Trail litter. Razz is a good mom. She’s relaxed and calm with her pups, and is caring but not overprotective. Three pups are easy to deal with, but also could be boring (as I learned with Page who destroyed most of her environment in bored frustration). Many times I walk into the puppy shed to find Razz rousing herself sleepily from a nap.

While it was an unplanned and spontaneous decision to add her, I’m so glad she’s here. Welcome, Razz, and thank you.

Born: 2017
Outlaw x Oreo

Mom of the AMC Trails litter: Norkin, Hutton and Woodchuck (now Allie with the Evans family).

Race REcord

2022:
Wilderness Race 35: 6th place