December Dog Update

As we welcome December and a few inches of fresh snow we wanted to update the world on the condition of all the SP Kennel Racers. Instead of doing an alphabetical update, we'll talk about everyone from the most senior dog to the youngest.

All of the Race Dogs have been in harness since September 1st. Their training mileage is recorded individually. All dogs have had very similar training regimes for these three months; however an individual might sit out a training run or two for a variety of reasons: stomachache or not eating well, neutering or other minor health issues, Mac's surgery or even tooth cleaning. Beemer was in Anchorage for several days and missed a few runs. It is all individual.

L-R: Kodiak and Scruggs lead a training team from the yard; a view of the team from a "Musher's Perspective"; Waylon at the peak of health, fitness and confidence during a 2014 race.

The two key elements in successfully training sled dogs is to maintain their overall health and continually improve their fitness level. How do we measure these elements?

A good indicator of overall health is a dog's body weight. So we monitor and record each dog's monthly weight throughout the season. As dogs gain more muscle in training, they also gain more weight. We look at these weights as a gauge of health. Each dog has an ideal weight.

A good indicator of overall fitness is a dog's mileage. At SP Kennel we have a strict regiment of training runs. We use different training techniques at different times of the season. Some times we use a "day on" / "day off" schedule and other times we "push" the dogs three days in a row. We try to increase their fitness levels gradually and positively. As you can imagine, each dog has his or her own rate at which they improve their fitness. So, you will notice in the comments below that each dogs has different mileage. This makes sense since each dog is different.