What does it mean to grow a team?

Well here at Dew Claw it means a few select breedings to produce the litters of puppies that will grow into future Dew Claw race dogs. This year we had 2 wonderful litters. The Little Buggers (out of Guppy by Elias) and the newest editions, which are collectively known as the Monsters (out of Jody by Chase-um). Although the Monsters names are not all actually monsters, the puppies them selves are already a handful! Loud and outgoing, exploring everything, they quickly outgrew the confines of the living room pen. We had to move them to the garage where they have more room to roam and run.
*See the Monsters in photos through out this post~

It also means building relationships with the amazing people and businesses that sponsor our kennel and make our race dreams and goals a reality. This year we have been very fortunate to have a great group of people and businesses joining the team; either though our “Join the Team” program, or by generous gifts from our Christmas Wish List. We have some amazing sponsors and I want to thank some of the newest that are helping us grow our team for the 2011-12 race season.

Returning this year: Pendra King and Orren & Judy Brownson.
Pendra and I met last year as she was wanting to get involved with a female rookie. And thus a friendship was born. We discovered that we shared some common goals, a fitness lifestyle, a love of good home made baked goods, and a realization that although chronological aging is a fact of life; growing up and growing old are optional! We Met Orren in 2010 when Dan was doing his rookie run of Iditarod.  Since then we have stayed in touch and he and his wife have been great supporters of Dew Claw.

Halliburton Returns
A major corporate sponsor returns, we are very proud to be working with Halliburton again. You may remember last year it was the generosity of Halliburton, Usibelli, and Fort Knox – Kinross that helped make my historic rookie double run possible. We are so very pleased they are joining us for another season.

New to the team, we are excited to welcome Mike Pickell and Lou & Fran Varndell.
Mike may well have prevented major marital arguments by purchasing a second Piko light for Dew Claw. The Piko is our light of choice to mount on the sleds. It provides excellent light to run a long strong of dogs. And the sled mount means consistent light for the team, without the mushers having to constantly point a headlamp beam out in front of them. Making night time mushing mush more relaxing and comfortable. Currently the one we own has been mounted to my sled, and Dan has commented on that during many a nigh training run. But with the addition of a second Piko both sleds will be lit, thanks Mike. And Lou & Frans generous Cold Spot gift certificate allowed us to purchase this year vaccinations for the race team.

Please join me in Thanking our Sponsors we could not do this without them.

Now the promised puppy pictures 🙂
The Monsters names have been chosen; and a huge thank you to Marlys Sauer for her constant encouragement and help with puppy naming. From her excellent suggestions we have the following names. Pepsi & Topaz for the girls. Neptune, Wizard, and Gremlin for the boys. Gremlin is especially fitting as they were born around midnight. And then there is MK, Dan named that one, and it stands for Mr.Kink. Now let me explain. MK was born with a slightly stubby kinked tail. Quite distinctive, and although we hoped the kink would straighten up as he grew, it appears to be here to stay. Kinky tail aside he is a bright inquisitive pup with real character.