Pupdate
As the puppy cam is up and running again on this year's litter, we are fielding a lot of questions about the puppy cam stars of 2011: the Freighting litter. Now that Tatum, Koven and Carpe are almost 11 months old, we thought we could give you a little update on the dogs. How time flies when there are puppies around.
Pingo gave birth to the Freighting Litter on July 27, 2012. Cache, their adopted sister, joined us from Eagle, Alaska last fall. The pups had a very busy winter growing up and continuing their training to be working sled dogs. The girls, Tatum and Cache, both weight about 45 pounds and the boys, Carpe and Koven, both weigh over 50 pounds. They grow up fast!
Tatum
Tatum is a near replica of her mother, Pingo. Not only did she inherit her mother's beautiful blue, soul captivating eyes, she got her attention loving personality as well. Tatum has mastered the bow to lure visitors to her circle to give her belly rubs whenever she wants them, which is all the time. She loves her kibble and leaps and squeals at feeding time. She also loves her walker, Brian, and jumps several feet in the air in anticipation of joining him for a walk or run when she sees him arrive in the kennels.
Tatum was always the pup leading the pack this winter on puppy walks and skis. She is a natural leader and loved skijoring as fast as she could on the park road this winter. When she finally got to join the big dogs on a three day patrol this spring she settled into harness just like an old pro. We are really looking forward to seeing what she can do next winter when the snow flies again.
Carpe
Carpe is almost always the center of attention during pre demonstration visiting time. He has developed a dance on his hind legs that instantly captures everyone's attention and gets them all laughing with his silly puppy antics. He also uses this trick at feeding time, just like his uncle Tor used to, just in case it earns him his kibble a bit sooner. Carpe is in love with summer kennels SCA, Julie. She feeds him and walks him and trains him to have good manners. He literally lights up every time he sees her walk by. He inherited a beautiful fur coat from his dad, Wilson. He also has an excellent conformation.
Carpe was an explorer all winter on puppy walks and skis. He was curious about everything and was most likely to wander off on his own explorations following the scent of a snowshoe hare or moose or ptarmigan. We hope that this curiosity and independence will serve him well as a lead dog when he gets a little older. He, too, loved to skijor with us and joined the big dogs on patrols in the spring as if he had been pulling a sled his whole life.
Koven
Koven is our striking redhead. We are sure he will be taking Muddy's place as our must unusually colored dog in the yard, guaranteed to have lots of photos taken of him in the years to come. It is hard to say whether Koven or Carpe more closely resembles their dad, Wilson. Koven is an old soul, the most mellow and serious pup of his litter. While his brother and sister are full of hyper energy and silly puppy antics, Koven is sweet and serene and always willing to sit and snuggle. He does shriek and squeal with delight when his walker approaches and he knows he gets to go out and explore. His favorite summertime past time is to run through the deep puddles of water on the side of the road.
Koven's favorite activity on puppy walks and skis last winter was tormenting his siblings, chewing on them and wrestling in the snow. He thought culverts were fascinating places to explore. He loved skijoring all winter and running with the big dogs in the spring time as well.
Cache
Cache may be the smallest dog we have ever had in the yard at just over 40 pounds, but she has a big heart to make up for it. Cache joined us last fall at the end of the puppy cam so some folks may remember her. She captured everyone's hearts with her sweet personality and adorable floppy ears. Cache grew up fast to keep up with her adopted siblings who are a month older than she is. She caught on to skijoring right away and this girl loves to move. This summer, she can't get enough of going on long runs with Jayme, our kennels staff member who has adopted Cache for the summer season. She gets jealous any time Jayme is with any other dogs. Cache spends all of her free time palying with any bones or toys she can get her paws on.
Anyone following the puppy cam this summer will recognize Cache as the sweet dog in the pen next to Sultana and her pups. Cache is a wonderful auntie who loves to play gently with the little pups through the fence. Soon we will have the new pups socializing with the older dogs in the yard and you can bet that Cache will be one of the first that they get to meet and play with.
It is always fun to watch our puppies grow up into wonderful and unique adults. Each of them has a very distinct personality and working style. This summer the pups are focused on learning how to be good ambassadors of dog mushing to all of our park visitors. They are working on having good manners with everyone. Soon we'll let them try running with the summer sled and see what they think of that. If they like it they may join the demonstration team for some runs this summer. Come fall they will begin their first full season of being full fledged team members running with the big dogs.
