Renewed life...

Spring is my absolute favorite time of year. We finally get to go outside without an extra 15lbs of clothing, the dog yard always seems to get a facelift, the evenings are SO much longer, and new puppies seem to be everywhere!

While it is all work, it is also quality time spent in the kennel. Grooming is my favorite. All that under-coat is exahuasting, but I love doing it...especially on a cool, breezy, evening. There always seems to be a handful of houses to replace or repair (and this year I think I may actually get to paint all the houses). We also use the spring to evaluate the tie-outs, collars, snaps, and anything else that wears over time and breaks when you least expect it...


My MOST fav is the puppies. Although we take great care in maintaining the kennel in such away to avoid accidental breedings, they do *occasionally* happen but the culprit is always caught in the act! We had one due to training-run-love and another where a determined Romeo broke a snap AND scaled 2 6ft fences! Ok so it looked like he dug under, but idea of such determination is romantic, right? Of course, he was not motivated enough get himself back out before we came out to see what the other dogs were tattling about. Even though the potential father was caught in the female yard, it is always a long, drawn-out wait to see who the lucky mom is!

In anycase, I thought I'd share this year's puppy photos! We have had so much fun with all of them!

Winter is finally here

We've had a terrible year for snow. Casper Mountain trails were useless most of the season. But the last couple weeks (following a teasing bout of warm windless days) we have had storm after storm, 18 inches, 4 inches, 4, inches, 3 inches...too bad the County already retired the groomer for the season,the mountain trails would be ideal. However, down in the plains, where our home sits, the sun quickly melts off the wet heavy snow and quickly turns to mud. So if your gonna go, you'd better get up and go!

That being said, we thought we better get the young dogs in harness to see if they remembered the lessons of the previous weeks. I gotta say they are an impressive bunch. They all inherited the wonderful personalities and work ethic of both Madonna and Marshall. Marshall is the easy going guy who gets his job done. He doesn't bother anyone and no one bothers him. He also possess a muscular build and very nice front shoulder angulation which gives way to his flowing movement and beautiful reach.

Madonna has a daintiness about her that just makes you love her. She is very affectionate and has passed this temperament to her puppies. But when you put Madonna in harness, she gets the *crazy* eye--I love it! Both Madonna and Marshall are incredible, smart leaders. You can actually see them *think* about their decisions...I hope the puppies show this intelligent trait as the build their racing careers.
Sunday's hook-up went very well and the pups all ran and pulled as if they were season veterans. All of them are so easy and natural. I spent lots of time this year just free running them either behind the 4 wheeler or letting them chase the border collies across the endless, rolling fields that make up our landscape. Usually, it is more fun to use my kids to run the puppies, er, maybe it is the puppies running the kids.

Looking for a home...

I regularly check rescues and shelters in the Rocky Mountain states. To some degree, we all have a responsibility to do our part. That isn't to say we have to take in every stray or abandoned dog, but we can do a little extra when the opportunity presents itself--I really think that is innate to any breeding policy. Our basic policy is to never turn a dog away if it came from our kennel. Additionally, many times over the last 12 years (and to our own determent), we have fostered a number of dogs in order to find suitable homes.

Lack of time and the cumbersomeness of updating my site has kept me from posting our rescues or others looking for homes. However, now that I have this blog, I will try to be much better about it!


In any case, I found this sweet looking rescue named Jazz in a shelter in Fort Collins. The description says she is from Seppala racing lines. I have no idea what this girl's pedigree background is, but she certainly looks like she could be part Seppala--possibly Howling Spirit lines. I'd imagine there is a good chance that she'd make a great recreational dog for someone even though she has been raised as a pet. So if you considering a pet to get in the snow with, give her a second look before you "buy".

Sping is in the Air

Spring is just around the corner and I can't wait! I especially love it because I work for an accounting firm as a tax accountant and the busy season ends just as the weather turns sunny. Spring and Fall are my favorite--especially Spring because the new babies start showing up from puppies, to calves, right down to the baby antelope. The daylight lasts longer and the temps set just right allowing conditions to take a team out. We all especially enjoy spring runs as they are shorter without the bitter cold. The *green* doesn't last long around here. The bottom picture was taken over Memorial weekend a couple years ago, the top picture was taken just a few weeks later.


Each spring we come up with a few major projects to get done before the heat of the summer hits. Last year we did a major expansion to the dog yard. We increased capacity of the kennel; replaced all fencing that was less than 6 feet tall, replaced any depleted gates with brand new 6 foot walk through gates (with latches that can not be lift with a nose--sorry J. Lo). The biggest part of the project was putting in 100' of a solid, 6ft wooden fence. It sure has cut down on they way the wind and drifting goes through the back side.

So this year we'd like get in a second exercise pen, the original yard has turned into the puppy area. The hard part is going to be deciding how to set it up...I have an idea, but I think it will take a little arm twisting to convince Allan :-) There is also still about 60' of chain link on one side of kennel we'd like to swap out for the solid wood fence. I suppose the majority of the work will come through general maintenance--painting and replacing.

Just for fun, here is our first kennel (and my first Seppala, Bristall). Yes, just three pens! I'll never forget Allan's declaration as he finished the third pen, "...now this is it, no more kennels or dogs!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Say again?

Even though he started his racing career with Alaskans, it was really Bristall that won his heart :-D

I love my Frankie dogs!!

Riverdance's Frankie

I have yet to meet a "Railroad" Frankie prodgeny that I haven't fallen in love with. They have the sweetest personalites, they eat like there is no tomorrow, and they love to run! Something about her really adds a certain quality to the Seppala line. Maybe the quality is a kind of quality we need in our dogs to counter the legenday *aloofness* of the Siberian Husky in general.

Even the cross-breed Piranah litter shows an uncanny ability to be lovable, yet work hard. Frankie babies take the old adage, "work hard, play harder" very seriously. I am always surprised at how many pedigrees show Frankie in them, yet she was no super sleddog herself. What she produces are definitely something to admire.

Frankie was definitely meant to make a difference. She survived as nursing puppy who prematurely lost her mother which is seen in her undying loyalty. She survived being hit by a train which seen in the odd scar across her back. And she survived a terrible dog fight that nearly tore her throat out as heard in her whispery bark. Frankie is now living the life in a wonderful retirement home, enjoying the laid back life of family, hikes and just being a dog. However, her progeny lives on in so many pedigrees today. We are happy to have had the chance to love Railroad Frankie!

This is my tribute to Frankie prodgeny!



Xaire of Seppalta--Owned by Doug Willett

Hartum's Eden

Deer Creek's Leno

Deer Creek's Katie

Seppaltas Monkey Owned by Doug Willett

Seppaltas Xafod Owned by TJ Schrader

Wakita - Owned by TJ Schrader

Articsepps Wing-Owned by Tabetha Berge





These are just a few of the Frankie progeny out there running down the trails. I will post more pictures as the become available.

Great Photos from Ashton Dog Derby

Kirk Griesler was kind enough to forward a few spectacular photos of Allan's team in Ashton. Thank you very much for thinking of us, Kirk. You did a fantastic job. There is also a website of photos from the race by James Allan. If you flip through them, you can get an idea about how much Ashton loves this race.
Oh my goodness, is that Allan running...naw, must be photoshop!

A friendly, Hello!

The Last Race...

Deer Creek Sleddogs finished the racing season with Allan heading off to Ashton, ID to run in the 100 mile class (two 50 mile heats). The cool thing about the Ashton race is that the entire town shows up to support the race. If you want to know how early Iditarod finishers feel as they come into the finish line--with their thoughts drowned by the roaring cheers of the crowd who line the streets--then Ashton is the place for you.


From the onset, Allan was determined to go into the race treating it like a training run with no expectations to place. For quite sometime now, the team has regularly finished 35+ mile runs happy and with lots of enthusiam. He entered the race with his only expectation being to finish the race and show his team a longer run. He was pleasantly surprised to see how well they ran the entire run the first day even though he spent a lot of time on the drag fearing he would burn them out for the last 10 miles. To his surprise the dogs ran the 50 miles like they have done it a thousand times. Day two was no different. He was quite pleased and very proud of his team as they finished the second day in 2nd place!

We want to wish Jerry Bath a BIG congratulations on 1st place. It was a well deserved win!! We also wanted to congratulate him on 5th place in the Wyoming Stage Stop race...being Wyoming natives, we know how difficult that race can be!

Photo Courtesy of Kirk Geisler