2 Weeks To Go !

Just two weeks to go before we see the little ones that are nestled in Rosie's belly and we simply cannot wait.  Rosie was bred with Tumac's son TJ a spectacular athlete and devoted friend to us and his team mates.  Both are so driven in harness, both leaders and sweet, gentle souls.

Rosie carries the Redington line which is a line that I have loved since experiencing it through our dogs.  Most recently we have seen this old genetic connection reborn in Linda Newman's recent litter. The sire was Rosie's father, Illo and the dam, Irish, was from Linda's Zulu (Butcher/Beargrease) line.

We since discovered that Joe Redington's famous leader, Feets,sired a litter from which a pup went toSusan Butcher's kennel, so it is possible that Joe's old school line is showing up through Illo and Irish and perhaps soon, through Rosie.  Looking at photos from that era and Joe's dog Feets, we see such similarities in Linda's two black and white pups, one being Miss Squish (Rosie's half sister) who now lives with us.  Linda and I are looking further into this possibility and trying to attain more information .

 

We just love this line, we love the history and we love everything about these soulful, hard working, devoted, mild mannered sled dogs.

Miss Squish and Linda's Visit

Jumping into March with the arrival of Miss Squish out of Points Unknown in MN where some of our initial Hedlunds came from.  Miss Squish is out of Irish x Illo, bred by Linda Newman, our long standing friend who graciously flew over with her. This was Linda's 3rd visit to NH and we were grateful to have her escourt Miss Squish safely and at the same time, get to spend some quality time together over the period of a few days.  Miss Squish shares the same father as our beloved Rosie, so she is half-sister to Rosie and brings a bit more of the Zulu and Redington genes to our kennel. She is a smart pup with a super build.  An easy keeper who has settled quickly into an indoor/outdoor routine.  She's a cuddle bunny to boot!  We had a fab time with Linda even though we did have work some and tours were scheduled on Squam Lake during Linda's visit which enabled us to take her out there so she could see some of our beautiful area and experience one of our tours. She was able to take some awesome photos which we have yet to fully display, this will be a fun project once we are done with tours perhaps.  With many thanks to Linda and Neil for their gift of friendship and Miss Squish.  Somehow.... I'll get to MN next !

Photos courtesy of Linda's talents.

Miss Squish or 'Missy' for short
14 weeks old

Miss Squish plays with TJ while we get

our sleds ready for tours

 

That's one hard working team!

 

You really get a good sense of the weather

as we cross the lake

 

I love this photo that Linda took

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dogz from Valley Snow Dogz took some time out to race and took part in a local event at Hill Village, Bristol NH as part of the PSHR race series.  18 teams showed up, it was a great day with coolish temperatures and lots teams supporting the event.  We ran a 6-dog team in the 12.5 mile race and 2 pups in the puppy/old dog race.  We were very happy with the dogz performance and our 4th place finish with a time of 1hr 54 seconds... fastest time was 55 mins 30 seconds by Sydney Plant, then 2nd place was Kim Berg at 58 mins 34 secs, 3rd place was Kelly Berg at 1hr 51 seconds... just 3 seconds between us and Kelly Berg.  It was close and so much fun!

 

We were but a 'blurr' to quote Richard..
18 teams took part in the PSHR at Hill Village
We took 4th place with just minutes, seconds, separating the top teams

 

 

White Feather and Dougie, aged 9 months took 3rd place
in the PSHR Race at Hill Village
With no adult to guide them, they did an amazing job
What hard working, smart puppies they are

February passed as a blurr, we were very busy with tours and training runs.  Dogz were running very well, a couple of fissures on some of the dogs but all in all, a healthy and vibrant month with lots of activity and enough snow to make all our Waterville Valley and Squam lake tours successful.  Valley Snow Dogz also appeared in over a dozen publications along with several appearances on WMUR.  Some of the races we were training for were canceled due to insufficient snow which was really a shame because the dogs had a lot of miles on them and aside from our tours and rides, the training schedule we set about to achieve was well underway with hopes of being at the Can-am 60 this season.  Anyway, if there is ever a good reason not to be somewhere... we certainly had one.  We decided to breed Rosie with TJ and as Rosie had lost her last litter, it was only right to remain home with her and monitor her progress.  She came into heat a bit sooner than hoped for but as it turns out, we will know have the blessing of Rosie pups on our tours next season.

Loon Mtn Resort Kidz Event February 2013

Conditions were excellent, temperatures stayed favorable, dogs were ready and so were the 90 kidz who came for a sled dog experience over two days.  We couldn't have been more proud of the dogz and their patience and willingness to provide such a positive and memorable experience for the kidz and their families.  We were a family of mushers sharing our passion and our dogz with those who sought to experience it. 

Kidz loaded, dogz hooked up... 

Mushers ready!

 

One of my favorite photos
Team Uktousa and Kelim lined up side by side
what good doggies they are!

 

 

 

Happy kidz and dogz
Peanut Sofiel always gives it 200%

 

 

 

Taking it in turn to lead and follow
with some fun passes along the way