Reintroducing The Pack - The H Litter

The "H" Litter - Runner, Hawky, Chasey and Huggy Bear

These four siblings are the oldest athletes in our team at the moment. 

They have turned 11 years this past September, so they are 11,5 years "young" and they are just as driven and athletic as they have always been.

H U G G Y   B E A R 

Huggy for short, is one of the most special characters among all the dogs in the kennel.

He is a smart, no non-sense kind of guy, who loves to work and just does his job without a fuss, except for the start, when he lets his enthusiasm get the better of him and he often chews through several necklines before we even take off, if we are not fast enough with team hookup.

Huggy is one of our main lead dogs, but started to lead at a later age, when he took on the job of teaching youngsters very seriously.

He is a real charmer, very easy going, but if you are a dog and provoke him, he won´t put up with your, ehm...., well, he will put you back in your place :)

Huggy has such funny antics - he is more than well known by not just us, but also our kennel helpers, for his anorectic moments and some seriously annoying eating habits. But truth to be told, Huggy always knew best how to regulate his energy and simply said, when he works in the team, he eats. When there is too much or too high calorie food compared to the amount or lack of activity, he drops his appetite. He has never been a chunky dog, but he has never had issues of being skinny either. Huggy simply knows how to keep himself just perfect! :)

R U N N E R

Runner, oh Runner!

Every single one of our dogs is special and loved deeply, but truth to be told, Runner holds a very special place in my heart.

He has always been that cool, no-nonsense, serious and gentle dog. Not really sticking out of the "crowd" of his litter mates, yet there has always been something extraordinary about his "normality". 

So Runner was chosen to stay at the kennel, when we decided to keep three boys and two girls for our team, he was also the pick of the litter in terms of his built and overall appereance, and he started making his way to our hearts with his absolute passion for work and his super kind heart. He became such a great friend, and later on a staple dog on the main string, and my race team. 

He´s also able to run in lead, but his most preferred job is in the team or wheel.

And that is where he always shone, be it on long, hard tough runs in the hills, breaking trail, traveling fast on lakes. Never complaining, always delivering, extremely athletic, capable, focused, determined. 

Runner´s always positive, always happy attitude and huge athletic talent is something every kennel dreams of in their sled dog, and we feel so blessed that he is still in great shape and still loves running and performing, not really slowing down as of yet.

Runner is one of the last two remaining dogs from my race dream team still actively running. 

H A W K Y

Everyone who ever visited our kennel remembers Hawky - the tallest, longest legged dog they have probably seen in their life! Or at least the tallest and leggiest husky :)

And he sure can put those legs into use, especially jumping over fences! 

Hawky is a fast and totally driven dog, just like his favorite brother Runner, he lives for the trail and a good workout, which he is definitely more passionate about than food, although he is not quite as picky as his brother Huggy.

Hawky took a little longer time to grow into his body and long legs, but he sure got into quite a bit of trouble along the way :)

His hot head made it a bit difficult at hook ups and training starts, so he ran most of his younger-adult life beside Runner, who is his best friend till today.

C H A S E Y

Aka Monkopuss (because she is a monkey, and an octopuss) aka the little Shrimpy.

Chasey holds another record in this litter, for being the smallest and fastest little dog. And not just in her litter. 

With her 17kg (about 36 pounds) she really isn´t much of a dog, but don´t let that deceive you! What she lacks in size and height, she surely makes up for with, well, pretty much everything, attitude mostly!
The fastest, most flexible, driven, life loving, trail swallowing, team driving little thing with the heart of a warrior and the most human oriented dog in our entire kennel.

Chasey moved to a new home as a puppy and lived the first three years of her life with our friend Rikke in Norway, but life sometimes has other plans and Chasey returned here and became one of our main lead dogs.

I will never forget her first full season with us, running long distances. We went on a 90km (56mile) training run in a hilly and pretty tough terrain and it was Chasey´s longest run so far. She kept pushing and doing everything for us to notice she wants to run in lead. We put her there. She drove the team like a mad woman. On each little snack break, about each 2 hours of running, the moment we put our snow hooks down to anchor the teams, Chasey made a super fast roll in the snow, leaned into her harness and begin to whine and scream, trying to convince the whole team to continue running. 

She has this attitude even now, at 11,5 years, when she is the main leader, together with her friend Rapid, and remains to be one of the fastest dogs dogs, even with so many younger talents in our team! 

(In memory of) R I Z E Y

Although Rizey is no longer with us in her physical form, and resides on the other side with the spirit Kipp d´Amundsen Team, and thus is not available for sponsorship, she deserves to be mentioned and honored here, at the re-introduction of our husky family.
She gave us the "Northern Exposure" litter and became a grandma to a future generation of our kennel and team.

Rizey was a sensitive, sweet gal, very athletic and fast, super cuddly with us but totally shy with strangers, as the only one in the litter. 

We could literally tell how kind and genuinely good people who worked as our kennel crew were, by just seeing who did Rizey eventually decide to trust!
Rizey taught us yet another important life lesson, via her death - to live every day as if it were your last and to enjoy what you have in life, and to live in the present moment.  

She was a very special dog and is a very special soul we have been so blessed to share our physical lives with and to be guided by in spirit. 

And that concludes the H Litter-mates, who reside at Nordic Husky Farm.

Next up: The CH Litter - Chip, Chisana, Chilkoot and Lucky. Stay tuned!