Shucker

‘If you keep looking at me like that, and I pick you up every time, there is no way you’ll be a sled dog.’

Shucker was the one most at risk as a puppy of being a mama’s boy, toddling up to me and putting his paws on my legs, staring up at me with those giant brown eyes. Some mama’s boys come out of a friendly nature, which Shucker certainly possesses, but in his case I think it’s emotional dependence, drawn from his dad’s side of the family. I had to work really hard not to indulge him, knowing that eventually he’d grow until a giant dog and I wanted him keeping all four paws on the ground when he wanted attention.

Always the calmest of the four pups, Shucker has grown into a long leggy dog unfortunately possessions a combination of his dad’s intense vocal excitement paired with his mom’s high-pitched noise. Sometimes, it starts to sound like he’s being strangled out there in the yard. Sometimes, I hope he grows out of it. Shucks is a friendly good-natured dog, and is obsessed with his neighbor Gem Gem and in trying to get Bruce to play with him instead of Willie.

In the team, as I expected, Shucks is focused and hardworking. Both Page and JB are forward-oriented and front-end dogs, possessing a natural confidence. Shucks, and his brother Fauci, have that in spades. Shucker was a natural from day one, never touching his harness and never flailing around and focusing 100% forward. Shucker respects his running partner and doesn’t try to mess around.

Shucks is the slightly more socially awkward one, which I think comes from his mom’s side. I’m looking forward to seeing if Shuck’s hookup excitement can be controlled with many many hookups—during a short run in the spring, I hooked Shucker in first, and he was so amped he got Aurora going and they almost left the yard before I hooked in other dogs. The slightly-less intelligent one, Shucker is also the one who has stayed the more focused of the two bros when they did longer runs. Shucker will grow into a big strong powerhouse in the team, and I can’t wait to see him race this year.

Born: 12/8/2020

Page (Manikian) x JB (Bath)
Best of 2020 litter: Fauci, Kamala, AB, and Shucker

'Why ‘Shucker’?’ In April, when COVID all started, one of our community members posted on Facebook that he wanted to keep his oyster farmer friends in business, and was buying up their stock and wanted to pay it forward into our community. 'F*ck COVID' Peter said to me when I met him in the parking lot of the Post Office to pick up the first 6 oysters. Over the course of the spring, summer, and fall, I'd get an occasional email from Peter about a new order, and I'd pick up at his house. One of the last orders I picked up just before these pups were born, and Peter helped brainstorm pup names. Thank you Peter for building this new 'oyster cult' in our small rural area in the midst of a pandemic.