Retirement

Beemer and Viper have officially retired as SP Kennel race dogs. They will live the rest of their lives together as pet dogs with Tom and Cindy in Pennsylvania.


This "Good-Bye" photo is not very glamourous of me but please note Rambler's photo bomb nose under my left arm pit. He wanted to say his good byes as well.

The boys were born in 2007 to ChaCha and Oddball. They started racing in 2009 and were tremendously successful for the next 6 years. They combined for nearly 20,000 race miles; including twelve Iditarods, four Yukon Quests and numerous mid distance races (all before the age of 8 years.) Beemer is a two-time Yukon Quest champion and both dogs raced on 2nd place Iditarod teams.
The brothers’ last race was together on the Iditarod Black Team with Allen in March 2015. Tom and Cindy came up to the start and wished the boys good luck on their final sled dog adventure. Ten days and one-thousand miles later, Viper finished in lead and Beemer finished in team. Congrats boys!

This video is a celebration of the 7 1/2 years that Beemer and Viper were SP Kennel sled dogs.



This past week, Tom and Cindy came up to SP Kennel bonded with the boys, bought airline crates and all four of them flew back to the Lower 48 yesterday.


Retirement PARTY!!

We had a grand retirement party earlier in the week. Everyone got a chance to give their congrats, good byes and plenty of butt scratches. We had a celebration cake for the humans and rawhide chews for all of the SP Kennel dogs. (And, yes... Cindy I did see you sneak some frosting to Beemer when you thought no one was looking!)


Tom was supposedly in charge of the BBQ however Beemer's needs won out; Viper tries to get moose burgers from Linda; everyone enjoyed the 'Retirement Video'.

Often I get asked “Is it hard to retire dogs like Beemer and Viper?”

Oh my goodness... yes.
But, is it the right thing to do?
For them? Yes.
For our overall kennel management and the young ‘up and coming’ dogs? Yes.
For Tom and Cindy? Yes.
For me? Yes and No.

I won’t lie. I cried when I made the celebration video and I cried when I said my final good byes. Will I miss them? Yes, I will. I will miss their unique personalities, their super sled dog abilities and their constant tail wags. I have a very personal connection with both of them. I am sad that they will not be at SP Kennel anymore. But, at exactly the same time, I am happy that they have graduated to a new life. It's almost like my kids have moved out and gone away to college. Beemer and Viper will be part of an incredibly loving and happy family. I could not have computer generated a better retirement home for these boys. I believe that there is a “right time” for retirement for dogs (and humans, for that matter.) Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to retire at that time. For Beemer and Viper, the time is now. So I need to let them go. This makes me happy because they will retire at the top of their game and the younger dogs left behind must now rise to fill these two enormous spots. Who will it be? That’s exciting just to think about...

Do I think they will miss me? Yes, I do. I think in the back corner of their doggie brains, they will always remember me and when they see me again it will be awesome. But, they will not long for me. That I know for sure. These are very select humans who adopt my dogs. I have known Tom for over 15 years. And getting to know Cindy has made me like Tom even more. They are dog people and if Beemer and Viper aren’t in love after this past week, then they will be within the first day of moving to Pennsylvania.


Tom and Cindy take the boys for their last romp in Alaska; Arrival at their new home in Pennsylvania.

So, this is not a time for tears. But, if it happens, then at least cry with a smile on your face. I am!