November 29, 2019

Thanksgiving

November 29, 2019/ Ryne Olson

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with friends, family, and delicious food!

We have SO MUCH to be thankful for at Ryno Kennel- wonderful dogs, an amazing team, generous supporters, the list goes on and on! So thank you!

We decided to spend Thanksgiving lounging about and visiting with friends. Activities included sleeping, watching football, skijoring (with Boone, Scarpa, and Cartel), eating copious amounts of food and….reindeer mushing! For the past few weeks, Kalyn and I have been doing little training sessions with the reindeer. Our sessions are short and fun with lots of treats. We’ve been getting them used to wearing a harness, walking in a halter, and having someone be immediately behind them while they’re moving. Yesterday, we decided Sailor was ready. We hooked him up to the sled and off he went! Sailor did wonderfully. Pilot is a bit more highstrung, so he’s still at the harness wearing/ground driving stage. For dogs, we can take the easy route by hooking them up with an older, experienced dog and having the puppy learn from the older dog. Since we don’t have that option with the reindeer, this is a slower process with lots of baby steps. Regardless of whether the reindeer decide they want to pull sleighs or just eat and sleep about, we’ve had lots of fun working with them!

November 19, 2019

November Snow!!!

November 19, 2019/ Ryne Olson

November is a transitional month. While there’s always some snow, it’s not guaranteed to be enough for sleds. Looking back at training logs, some years we were on ATVs late into November, while others we were on sleds by Thanksgiving. This November is shaping up to be fantastic with good snowfall and SLEDS!

November 12, 2019

Denali Highway

November 12, 2019/ Ryne Olson

Last weekend, we headed down to the Alaska Range and the Denali Highway to go play with the crew. We actually do have a decent amount of snow here in Two Rivers (especially for this time of year), but it’s fun to load up the team and go on a little vacation and adventure. Plus- our good friends Paige and Cody with Squid Acres Kennel purchased a little sliver of paradise in the heart of the Alaska Range, and we had to go visit!

On Friday, we packed the truck with enough food and gear for 28 athletes and 2 humans as well as sleds, straw and of course, LOTS of candy! We drove down to Cantwell and found a quiet, private pullout along the Denali Highway. The Denali Highway is unmaintained in the winter, making it a favorite spot for mushers, snowmachiners, skiers, and any outdoor enthusiast. We “dropped” all the dogs (meaning we took them out of their individual dog box), fed them dinner, and then snuggled in the straw with the team for the night. First thing Saturday morning, we hooked up all 28 dogs to the front of the Ford and began the “drive” into Squid Acres new homestead. As you can see from the video, the dogs LOVED running as one massive pack/mob. We don’t often truck train, so the dogs love the change and find it exciting to all run as a gang. While we do gas assist (the Ford is quite heavy), you could feel the team rocking the truck back and forth when they were harness banging to run!

We stayed a couple nights at Squid Acre Kennel, during which time Paige showed us some of their “backyard” trails. WOW. I mean WOWZA. WOW, WOW, WOW! The weather was perfect with blue skies and about zero degrees. We saw a herd of caribou, vegging out on the tippy top of a mountain. We watched almost a dozen moose trot through the willows. It was spectacular. I like to think the dogs were enjoying the scenery, but it could just be they liked chasing all the animal smells!

On Sunday, we once again hooked the team to the truck and slowly drove out to Cantwell then home. We’ll miss the Alaska Range and the massive peaks and expansive landscapes and mountains, but I do love arriving home to our puppies, oldies, and reindeer. To our little slice of heaven in Two Rivers. Until next time Denali Highway!

November 01, 2019

Class of 2019 Pupdate!

November 01, 2019/ Ryne Olson

The pups at RK are growing up fast!

Tobin and Rose are both six months old. If their current size is any depiction of how big they'll be in the future, then Tobin will be enormous and Rose will be adorably petite! Tobin is playful and adventurous. He likes to push the boundaries of how far he can roam on puppy walks. Rose is LOUD. Like ear-splitting loud. Whenever we return from a training run, Rose welcomes us with high-pitched yips and howls.

Sherlock and Watson are also getting tall and leggy. Originally, Sherlock was the fearless one with lots of spunk. He's going through a self-conscious stage where he prefers to stick closer to the human and let the other pups and dogs romp about. Perhaps it's because of his hilarious ears? Just kidding. Watson is going to be a big fella. He immediately rolls over for a belly rub whenever he's near his human family, but he's also composed and confident around his canine family.

And once again, these fabulous photos are brought to you by Kalyn! Thanks Kalyn!