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!

Saturday, June 26th, 2010 Nate is now an official road runner. Well, I should say road sleeper. Nate and I participated in a 5k race this morning in Newberry with Ed acting as our official handler and photographer. Yeah, he got some great photos of mom running, a few of which will not be posted here for all to see! We had a great run, and I'm sure Nate was the youngest participant. He's showing off his new medal bellow! I actually think he was more engrossed in the Detroit Lions football camp that was happening on the football field. I'm not sure if he'll be running the races with mom in the future or throwiing the football with dad! He loved the whistles and kids. I'm sure he never imagined that there are so many children out there in the big wide world! Our participation in the event almost didn't happen due to a "shoe" mishap earlier tihs week. Coach and Pringle were wandering free in the kennel one day, and when Kelsey came walkiing through the dog yard she asked why Darc was chewing on a shoe. She brought the (muddy, slimy) shoe to the door and I realized that it was my running shoe I had left on the porch to dry. The other shoe was no where to be found. After 1/2 hour of searching in every dog house, every path to and from the dog yard, and watching Coach's (the prime suspect at this point) behavior, I traced the shoe to the center aisle of the kennel. Yep, it was located, a bit chewed around the tongue, and missing some lace pieces, but still useable. Thank goodness...it's not like there's a shoe store nearby and these were my only pair! Guess I may need to invest in a spare, or at least keep them under close watch! Posted by Tasha



Thursday, June 24th, 2010 I just got back from a great trip to the L.P. The first stop was in the Traverse City area to help Tim Vandermeulen cut some trees down that were in his front yard. I was 5 for 6 in trees falling the desired direction. Fortunately the one I erred on still went away from the house. Thank you Tim for the baseball ticket, the bike, the campfire, and the relaxation. The next visit was with Harry and Mary Putney in Frankfurt. Harry has made parts for my sleds for the past few years and this year I wanted to learn some of his craftsmanship secrets and work with him. Not only did Harry and I "hammer" out the parts we needed in record time but we went fishing on the big lake twice. A huge THANKS to Pete, Hook, and Charlie who captained us to about 20 King Salmon in the boat and one Lake Trout. They all thought the fishing was just marginal but I had the time of my life. Also, thank you Mary for the delicious food and the warm hospitality. You always make me feel so welcome when I visit! From Frankfurt, I drove down to Ludington to visit with my Mom (my Dad is in Alaska fishing) for a wonderful day with one of my favorite people in one of my favorite places. Once again, a huge thank you to all of you for spoiling me on my vacation. It was great to take a break from the projects of the kennel. The only bad part of the trip is I missed Nate's first laughter. I am sure there will be a lot more of it to come in the future. Posted by Ed

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 CLIFF TOOK SECOND! Back on May 3rd we asked for your help in voting for Cliff Henning as he was one of three finalists nationwide for Golf Course Management Magazine's "Most Valuable Technician." Well he took second and is thrilled with the honor. He thanks all of you for voting. With his new title it looks like I will have to pay him ten times more this year for help in getting to Alaska. Congrats Cliff!!!!! Posted by Ed

Sunday, June 20th, 2010 Happy Father's Day and Congratulations to my dad for finishing his 20th 100-mile Strides for Life RUN! Yes, you read correctly, my dad just finished running 100 miles this week as a 4 day run for the American Cancer Society. Way to go dad! Happy Father's Day...to both Ed and all our "fathers" in the dog yard. Our most popular father this year was Clark, with the birth of 19 puppies. Hope he has his father support account up to date! Ed is celebrating his Father's Day (and our 12th Anniversary) with Tim VanderMeulen. Tim's family is out of town so guess it's "boys time" for the two of them. I'm sure they were more than happy to celebrate together! Nate and I had a nice visit with Mike and Debbie Varley this weekend. Michele Seng made a surprise trip up as well and decorated the kennel for us with new flowers! We took Flood, Ivan, Rosebud, Tasha Canine, Hedgie, Momo and Love to the beach at Deadman's Lake with Nate. He got his toes wet in the lake for the first time and actually seemed to like it! As you can see, we had a tired, naked baby for the stroller ride home. It's definately summer time in the kennel, with warm weather, trips to the ponds, and flowers everywhere. Maliko and Kelsey are ready for summer kennel tours, so come on up and enjoy the UP with us! Posted by Tasha



Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 Oops! I was supposed to send these photos to Maliko to put on the Nature's Kennel facebook page. It is too late now so I will just put them up here instead. The first phot is of Aleut trotting along. The second is Chug sitting nicely. Third is Magma, Dust, and Lava. And on the bottom is lovely Tulip next to lovely Nate. Posted by Ed



Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 Maliko is back! Although Tasha, Kelsie, and I did our best, I think the pups are all celebrating the return of their leader. While Maliko was gone we brought in some reinforcements on our puppy walks. In the picture below is Rosebud and she is the perfect puppy walker. She sticks close by and teaches the pups manners without being too nasty. I hesitate to mention this because it is so sad but Rosebud does not have long to live. She has a severly damaged heart and is on meds but it is only a matter of time. The specialists gave her about 6 monthes to live, about 3 monthes ago. At this point she is still going strong though and loving every day. One of the reasons we love working with dogs is they unconditionally love life! Posted by Ed


Friday, June 11th, 2010 Ahh..a couple of mintue's peace to do a brief journal update! Ed is in town for lunch with Joe Gutowski and Blaine Danley, and Nate is FINALLY taking his afternoon nap. He (Nate) got his first series of vaccinations yesterday, and instead of making him sleepy and cranky, they have made his wide awake and bubbly. Great entertainment! he's sporting his official "Yooper" attire in the photo...his Blatz beer onesie...thanks for passing it back to us Dave and Stacey! Jennifer has emailed with a report from Alaska Excursions, where she has 18 dogs (9 from us and 9 of hers). They are all doing fabulous. She said that Erin and Ryan Reddington are doing a fantastic job managing the operation in Skagway. The dogs are all doing well and she loves the work. Here is Gremlin in lead. As you can see, the other dog is doing all the work and Gremlin is socializing! Thanks Jen for taking such good care of everyone! We have a new summer intern here with us for the summer. Kelsey is an MSU pre-veterinary student so she's here to help with puppy training, dog chores, and summer tours. She'll probably never want to see a sled dog again after her induction into kennel life this summer! She's been working hard with all the puppies to keep up Maliko's "sit" training. So far, everyone is doing well and listening to their new instructor! Posted by Tasha


Monday, June 7th, 2010 Tasha, Nate, and I have been enjoying a very busy summer so far. There have been a steady stream of visitors and family which has been helpful in getting Nate properly socialized. He has gotten a lot of chew toys which helps keep him from being destructive. Vaccinations and deworming are all up to date and we are excited for future harness breaking. Maliko has kept us updated on her adventures in Texas and she is having a good time. We miss you Maliko! Posted by Ed

Saturday, June 5th, 2010 Message from the dogs, "We Miss Maliko!" Maliko is on vacation (how dare she) for a couple of weeks. She headed to Texas to visit friends and pick up her mom and brother to bring back here for a visit. Ed and I are covering dog chores, which reminds us that we certainly like to have summer help these days. Nate has had lots of visits from Grandparents, Ed's parents were here a few days last week and mine are here until Thursday. Nate is going to be so spoiled we are not sure we will be able to keep him entertained after everyone leaves! The puppies are all fantastic, still keeping up on their "sitting practice" and love their walks and bike rides. The weather has finally cooled off a bit so we've been running the kennel crew in the mornings to get them out and stretch their legs. Posted by Tasha

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