Nells and Rose were formerly called Julius and Belle. These two nine-month old pups are a very generous gift from Dillingham musher Kyle Belleque, who offered them to me for the cost of shipping. They arrived late last night (see yesterday's post) and are getting settled into the Stardancer Historical Freight Dogs yard. Their brother "Bruce" is settling in at Miriam Cooper's Lead Dog Spock kennel in North Pole.
These pups are from Kyle's bitch "Lucky" and Kim Fitzgerald's dog "McKenzie". Lucky is a leader from Will Forsberg's yard from a breeding of "a big Mackey dog" and one of Will's 70 lb. black dogs. McKenzie is a Hedlund husky. I'll be learning more of McKenzie's pedigree later on.
Traveling is very stressful on pups, especially the first time around. I currently have them in a free-run pen so they can stretch their legs a bit after their flight. From this pen they can interact with my older leader, Daisy and my "mega-mutt" Sheenjek. I also have Seamus in the pen with them as Seamus is a younger dog who probably appreciates having playmates closer his own age. More importantly, Seamus is a love-muffin treat-slut who runs up to me the moment he catches my scent. I'm hoping that his example will help the newcomers become more confident in their new surroundings.
When I took Bruce over to Miriam's yard, he attached himself to her right leg straightaway. Within minutes he was playing with other dogs near his swivel so it looks like that beautiful little guy feels right at home.
All of these pups are healthy, beautiful specimens. Judging by looks alone, I think that once they hit their full growth they will be of a size to fit perfectly with my little team of big dogs.
Kyle, thank you once again for the generous gift of these pups. I'm sure they are going to make a great addition to my team and help me achieve my mushing goals. They are AWESOME pups.
Swanny
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