Feeding the Monsters

It’s that time of year when the dogs really start to burn some calories. We’re hitting -20F tonight, and the colder temperatures combined with longer runs equals FOOD, FOOD, FOOD (and lots of poop). During a race, the dogs burn anywhere from ten to twelve thousand calories a day, which is like consuming 20 Big Macs in a 24 hour period. I weigh three times as much as these dogs, and I can’t imagine eating that much food. Yet they do!

On a daily basis, the dogs eat a morning broth of beef stew. For the yard of 40 athletes, we thaw about 25 pounds of beef per day. For the entire season, we use about two tons of beef between morning broths and snacks on the trail.

The bulk of their calories come from kibble. While there’s definitely more waste generated by kibble (aka dog poo), I like that the kibble already comes balanced nutritionally, versus a solely meat diet would leave out lots of good vitamins and minerals. For the last several years, we’ve fed Inukshuk 32/32, meaning that the kibble is 32% fat and 32% protein. At dinner, the dogs are fed a heavy meal of kibble with lightly flavored meat water. Each dog is fed a different amount of kibble. For example, an easy keeper like Oryx Beast only needs 3/4 of a scoop versus the Sherlock Monster needs a HEAPING scoop plus two scoops of water. If you put too much water in Goblin’s, he won’t go diving for extra kibbles at the bottom, so you have to make sure his water amount is just perfect. Otis, Smoky, Dolly, and Etta also prefer just a dash of broth with their kibble.

Shortly after writing the blog about salmon, our fish guy in Valdez reached out saying there was an unprecedented late run of silver salmon in Valdez. We were THRILLED with this news. Tucker and Sam (a handler at ATAO kennel) did a marathon drive down to Valdez to pick up several hundred fish to be split between ATAO Kennel, Squid Acres Kennel, Smokin’ Ace Kennel, and Ryno Kennel. The salmon are really important snacks for the dogs. If temperatures start getting a little too balmy on the Iditarod, the only food the RK athletes like to eat is salmon, so we were so excited to get salmon from Valdez. Longtime kennel supporter Mary Ver Hoef also graciously donated fish from her freezer, so we are now SET. Thank you Mary!

The days of cotton candy colors are back!

This snow and cold also means changes for flying! My focus is primarily on the dogs, training, racing, and tourism at Chena Outdoor Collective, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be ready to fly if timing allows!

I recently swapped the tundra tires for skis on the plane. 99.9% of my flight hours have been on tires, so I spent an afternoon practicing flying with skis with Derek in the backseat. Taxiing requires a bit of skill since there aren’t brakes with which to pivot and turn the plane, but otherwise, the flying felt very similar. It was a wonderful afternoon- I was able to practice landing at a couple different strips and even spotted wolves and caribou from the plane!