Squan

As the only light colored one among the pile of dark bodies, Squan has stuck out from birth. Perhaps because I could always tell her apart, she was one of the ones who most quickly developed a distinctive personality from the constantly-moving puppy pack that earned them the nickname the Lilliputians. 

As a little puppy, Squan always had the best recall of the bunch. She was usually the first back, and coupled her returning with launching at my face, another of her dad’s traits. When I take her siblings for walks, they never leave my orbit but they also don’t stand still long enough for me to put my hands on them, much like their mother. In contrast, the big bear hug I receive from Squan is always a surprise.

Squan, like her siblings Jameson and Riptide, made it clear early on that she needed to learn at a slower pace. Communicating this via constantly shaking things off, Brianna summed it up well by saying that Squan was ‘almost never not pulling but also almost never focused.’ The steady and stable presence of her aunt Ariel helped anchor Squan. With young dogs, sometimes it takes a lot of hookups, and for Squanny it took 30 hookups. I don’t remember how Squan persistently ended up in lead, as the first few times were a complete disaster, but as a yearling she grew stronger in lead and more focused. Squan as she matures is starting to show more of her mom Aurora’s personality, the seriousness, waiting until the moment I put on my helmet to start harness banging, and usually found napping in her house until the second you need her.

As a two year old, Squan grew in confidence, and when it came time to race something totally clicked for her. In the Wilderness Race, Squan would look behind and offer a single bark when a team came up behind, and then she’d put her head down and try to stay ahead of the passing team. When I took her out of the box at day 2 in Laconia, Squanny was just so freaking pleased with herself, looking around and ready to race. A sled dog is a sled dog, but a racing dog is a dog that understands competition—and Squan does. Get it Squanny!

Born: 7/26/2019

Aurora (Stielstra) x Zippo (Hendricks): Jersey Shore, also known as the ‘Lilliputians’

Race Record:

2022
Wilderness 35: 6th place
Open Class World Championships Laconia: 8th place
Can Am 100: 1st place

Squan, short for ‘Manasquan’, is a quiet beach town in the Jersey Shore, where I spent many teenage summers at my family’s beach house. ‘Manasquan’ itself is an appropriated garbled Lenape phrase, on land taken from the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribe as part of colonization and genocide. The Lenape are federally and NJ state recognized. Learn more here.

The Jersey Shore litter was named in memory of my cousin and godmother Suzy, who died the same night these pups were born after two years of fighting cancer. Suzy was a relentless cheerleader for me, and loved all the dogs, and took great pride in her Jersey Girl-ness.