Nature's Kennel Sled Dog Racing & Adventures

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Thursday, May 23rd, 2013

Nature's Kennel

PO Box 5
McMillan, MI 49853
Tel: 1-906-748-0513
Email: info@natureskennel.com

Dog Blog

Adventure Journals

Welcome to the Nature's Kennel Dog Blog! Check out the latest kennel news, stories of your favorite sled dogs, Iditarod training adventures, and more!

Sunday, June 28th, 2009 After running the puppies each morning, it was time to run the human yesterday. The first annual Curt Knierim Memorial 5K run was in Newberry yesterday morning. I had talked Ed into doing it with me, but he was doing a bit of sled dog research on the internet this week and found out that the ISDRA (sprint-racing) sled dog symposium was going on in Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday. The Iditarod sign up was also today. Instead of being in Alaska for sign-up, he was at a sprint racing symposium…hmmm…I wonder if he’s trying to tell me something. Anyway, while Ed contemplated his racing strategies, I headed into town to go for a run without puppies under my feet! The run was great and took place on a new hiking/biking trail just outside of Newberry. There was a great turnout of about 150 runners and walkers, and although it was a bit warm, it was a very successful community event. In the evening, we headed down to Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn near Curtis for a songwriter’s concert. No, we are not songwriters, but the concert was great. We met up with Jamie-Sue Seal, who participated in one of our beginning mushing programs about twelve years ago that we taught through MUCC at the McMullen Center near Higgins Lake. Jamie-Sue now owns Smokin' Sled Dog Records and promotes musicians thorough out the country. She still remembers her first sled dog experience with Nature’s Kennel, and even remembered the dog she helped take care of for the weekend, Creek. It was fun to share old Nature’s Kennel stories since we did the presentation just before we were married and talked of plans to move to Duluth. We have since been to Duluth, found jobs, quit jobs, moved back to Michigan, expanded the kennel, run five Iditarods, said good bye to Creek, and celebrated our 11th Anniversary. What a ride! Posted by Tasha

Thursday, June 25th, 2009 We are trying to beat the heat here at the kennel. After two summers in Juneau, I'm definitely NOT acclimated to HOT weather! We’ve had a bit of a break in the temps this morning…it didn’t get up to 80 degrees until noon instead of 9 am! The humidity did finally decrease, but it’s still hot. The dogs have begun to “hibernate” for the summer. Most animals only do this in the winter, but sled dogs tend to sleep a lot, eat a little, and dig very deep hibernating holes once the temperatures hover around 75 degrees. We even buried Momo in the cool dirt to cool her off…she loved it! We are continuing to keep up with projects: re-wiring the generator and moving it outside (thanks to Mr. V.), filling the woodshed with wood (it will get cold again) and entertaining puppies. It was too hot to play with puppies outside this week, so we brought them in to the cool house. Darlene and Mark Henning from Wisconsin brought their young musher friend, Michela, over for a kennel visit. Since the dogs were all hibernating, we had to make do with puppy playtime. The black bears in the area are definitely out of hibernation and made their way into my camp shed looking for any left over hot chocolate. I had to do a bit of clean up this morning! We are off for a road trip to Grand Marais…Momo likes to drive around in the air conditioning on these hot days!! Posted by Tasha



Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 Way to go dad! My dad just completed a 100-mile Strides for Life run this week! When I asked him how many times he had done the run, he thought that this was about his 20th anniversary. The run is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, and takes place in the Holland /Grand Rapids area over the course of four consecutive days. He has always reminded me that this event is not a race, it’s a “running experience”. Well, race or not, I think my dad must have been a sled dog in a previous life. At 8 ½ years old (in dog years), he’s still in great shape, has a good attitude, great feet, and eats well. I guess we’ll keep him around the kennel for a few more years. Posted by Tasha

Monday, June 22nd, 2009 Sorry about the delays in journal updates. We have had some satellite “issues” combined with website “issues”. It’s amazing how dependent we get… We are back in the U.P. after a great Colorado vacation. A big thanks goes to Kal and Laura Ghayur for hosting us and arranging and our speaking engagement in Boulder. I had never been to Boulder and had only heard stories about it’s “green living” and it’s bike friendly metro areas. I have to say I was blown away by the amount of people walking, running and biking around town. Kal and Laura lent us their bikes so we could explore the city on our own, and what a treat it was to be able to literally go anywhere by bike path or in a designated bike lane on the road. There is no reason every city and town in American isn’t that bike friendly. We had a lot of fun playing games with Charlie and Sophia (Ed was on a loosing streak thanks to Sophia, until he swept the last Apples to Apples game, thanks to Charlie). It was actually a perfect vacation, with time to visit friends, get a little exercise, and enjoy exploring new areas. I had actually not intended to write a journal entry tonight. I had intended to watch a bit of TV before heading to bed. Yes, we do have a television here in the backwoods. A very nice one mind you. It’s new (a Christmas gift from Ed’s parents) with a 24” flat screen, HDTV, built in DVD player, great sound and picture. We have a giant antenna on the roof of our house that once connected us to the rest of TV watching America, allowing us to tap into two (and sometimes three) major networks. CBS-5 from Green Bay, NBC 9&10 from Traverse City, and on occasion ABC from I’m not sure where. I admit it was rare, but I did enjoy an occasional episode of Dancing with the Stars, CSI or Survivor. Or it was even nice to catch a late night news broadcast or Letterman. Well, no more my American friends. The only connection we now have with the TV watching world is with our favorite neighbors, the Canadians. Thank goodness for Canada. They have not forgotten about the rural TV watching citizens who live too far from civilization to retrieve a weak digital signal. They have kept their ANALOG service. I know it’s probably just another tactic to encourage those of us living near the Canadian border (especially those of us with a multitude of sled dogs) to assimilate into Canada. Canada does have other benefits, besides ANALOG television, of course. There’s hockey, Tim Horton’s, polar bears, a great flag (who doesn’t like maple trees?), hockey, the arctic, an easy to sing national anthem, hockey, snow, icebergs, and more hockey. Now that I found out which country really cares about those of us who don’t want to or can’t afford to attach a satellite to the house to pay for a few TV channels, I have to connect with my new friends. I’d love to write more, but the 2009 NHL hockey awards are on in Canada and I need to catch up on my new favorite national sport. Or at least make sure my Netflix account has good movies in the queue. For those of you who are also without your TV fix, I have some recommended reading: The Art of Running in the Rain, by Garth Stein. I picked it up at the airport in Denver, and finished it in bed last night. I could not put it down. If you have ever had any connection to a dog in your life, this will make you smile (and cry). Posted by Tasha



Monday, June 15th, 2009 The dogs are home at play while the parents are on (a somewhat working) dog-less vacation. Thanks to Pat Moon, Mamma Moon, and Aunt Lynne, Ed and I are having a worry free, dog-free vacation with friends in Colorado. We headed out last Friday from the airport in Escanaba (with all 6 passengers on board), did a quick stop in Iron Mountain (to pick up 4 more passengers) and then had what was supposed to be a brief layover in Minneapolis. We then boarded to giant jet, taxied to the runway and then had to turn around due to engine problems, de-board the plane, get to a new plane, wait for stewardesses, and then leave two and half hours later then scheduled. It all worked out well in the end, but poor Bob had to pick us up in Denver around 1 am. We stayed the weekend with Bob, Heather, Kian and Taya Reynolds. Bob and Ed grew up together in Ludington, and we rarely see them these days, so it was a great visit. We are now in Boulder with Kal, Laura, Charlie and Sophia Ghayur. Ed is doing an Iditarod presentation tomorrow for Kal’s company here in Boulder, and we going to spend today biking around town and doing some hiking. It’s quite strange having no canines to plan our day around. I believe this is our first dog-free vacation since the Bahamas trip a year ago. We are handling it just fine! Posted by Tasha

Thursday, June 11th, 2009 "It's easy to make a buck.. It's a lot tougher to make a difference." Tom Brokaw Tasha and I headed out to the big city of Marquette yesterday to attend the Upper Peninsula Sled Dog Association annual meeting. The UPSDA Board is made up of all volunteers that work their butts off to put on our favorite race, the U.P. 200. I still do not understand how and why they do it. There are nine board members, none of them mushers. There were about 15 people in attendance, with only three of us being mushers. These people spend crazy amounts of their own time making sure it is safe for us to run our dogs across Michigan. Why? I don't know, but I thank them all!! A quick summary of the meeting: Budget Report: The UPSDA is about $10,000 lower than they were last year at this time. This was not a pout festival though. The Board is already starting some new fundraising techniques and seemed optimistic. Jim Reeves and the Mining Journal have already committed to returning as the Charter Lead Dog Sponsor. That guy is Awesome! By-Law Changes: None Board Positions: Barb Matson retired from the Board after filling out her term with excellence. Most of you probably do not know Barb because she is stealthy. She has been the organizations driving force in the city of Gwinn which is where the Midnight Run race starts. Ron Hewson was elected to replace Barb.. Ron has been a very active fan of the race for years. He not only contributes time but also is an AT&T rep which has been a Lead Dog Sponsor for the past few years and hopefully will continue to be for years to come. Web Page: As many of you know, Bev Stroh one of our favorite race volunteers passed away recently. Bev almost single handedly kept the UP 200 website up and running. If that is not amazing enough, she lived in Tennessee! Traveling up to the UP and spending the race week in Marquette all at her own expense. Bev can never be replaced but two people have already stepped up as volunteers to get www.UP200.org going strong again. Craig Adams and Nathan Lyle are the two. I do not know Nathan yet but I know anything that Craig is involved with is world class. Thank you two! 501C3 update: blah, blah, blah Government paperwork mumbo-jumbo that is really important to make the race even better. Carol Steinhouse and Linda Storms have grabbed the bull (and I mean there is a lot of "bull") by the horns and are making it happen. People needed: The race is already recruiting new people to fill the positions of; Gwinn checkpoint coordinator, Mile Club Membership coordinator, Midnight Run trail coordinator, and people to help sell Merchandise. If you would like to help, there should be contact info on the race website. If not, give us a call and we can get you in touch with the right person. My opinion: The race Board seems stronger and better organized than ever! There were a few suggestions made at the Post Race Musher Meeting last year and Terry and Cathy Sleeter are already making those things happen. It should be another great race in 2010!!! Posted by Ed

Sunday, June 7th, 2009 *"If you spend your day knee deep in manure, you better hope you don't walk on water."* --Ed Stielstra Since I chose to spend 10-12 days a year staring at dog butts while they pull me across Alaska, some people ask me for my autograph. I am honored when people ask me but at the same time uncomfortable. To explain why I am uncomfortable I will use this past Wednesday as an example of a day in the life of Ed Stielstra. I started the day off as a Waste Removal Specialist (scooping the kennel). I then changed uniforms and spent the next hour as a day care provider (walking the puppies). The apron and hair net went on next as I became the lunch lady (fed the dogs). After that I changed back into the Waste Removal Specialist (scooped the kennel again). From there I fired up the tractor and played farmer for awhile (dug the winters worth of compost(dog crap) out of the hole and spread it around at camp). That project only lasted 6 hours, so I decided to be a landscaper too (built a retaining wall out of rocks). While I was playing landscaper, I became a fireman (burned a pile of brush). Then I repeated my first four jobs of the day in the evening. Still want my autograph? I promise to wash my hands first. On a serious note though, this summer has been......... AWESOME!!!!! The only problem so far is I have had a few nights when I have not been able to relax and get to sleep. I keep allowing myself to get trapped by this paranoid feeling that I am running out of time to get all of my business improvement projects done. In a sick way, it is a great driving force. Tasha and I have already accomplished a lot. If we can keep this production level going all summer we will be set for an amazing winter! Posted by Ed

Friday, June 5th, 2009 We had a minor glitch in our computer system this week. Spring is finally here, the leaves are finally out, and the dish for the satellite internet was blocked from transmission with the mother ship in the sky. We’ve had our dish for six years, and each year have to trim a few more branches in order to clear the obstructions for a clear view of the southern sky. Well, the trees have finally grown enough to really interfere with transmission. So, the age old question arises…cut the trees or cut the internet. After a bit of family discussion, brainstorming and a last ditch effort by tree hugger Ed to save the forest, we came up with a reasonable solution. We heightened the dish and raised it toward the heavens. After digging through our scrap steel post pile, borrowing a section of pipe from our neighbor Harry, and spending an hour trying to re-adjust the satellite ourselves, we are once again connected to the rest of the tree hugging internet savvy world. Feeling so advanced technologically, I also decided to replace the keyboard on my computer. This was done out of necessity, not for the fun of it. My return key has been stuck for the past three weeks, pretty much driving me insane and forcing me to write long and annoying paragraphs. After a bit of internet research (after project #1 above), I disassembled my computer and used parts from an old laptop upstairs, and VIOLA! I now have the capability to bullet, space, and enter. It’s the simple things in life that make me smile. Since the weather has been so nice (and the major swarms of bugs yet to come) I moved my “office” outside and shared it with Edison this week. He’s pretty good at keeping me distracted! Posted by Tasha


Monday, June 1st, 2009 We had a wood splitting extravaganza this week with Ed’s dad, and now have ALL our firewood cut and split for our house and for winter camp. YEAH!!! I have no idea how many cords we have done, but it should certainly be enough to keep us warm this year. That’s a really good thing since we are still building fires in the house as it was 29 degrees Saturday night…it IS June first today, right?! We celebrated our accomplishment by taking a couple of days “off” of work this weekend. There were two auctions in our area on Saturday and Sunday, so we headed out to shop for bargains! We did pretty well at restraining ourselves from too many deals, but I do have to admit, I got caught up a bit in the action on Sunday! We had debated about going to the auction on as the ad listed mostly knick-knacks and household items. We certainly don’t need any more of those, but we decided it would be a fun way to check out the local entertainment. We stayed until the bitter end and I think we ended up with some great deals! I was on eBay all Sunday afternoon checking out my finds…and I think I may have scored big on a few last minute comic books that I bought for five bucks! Time will tell…but maybe Ed’s Iditarod will be funded through eBay sales and comic books this year! Posted by Tasha

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