4,701 miles

OH MY GOSH! What else can I say. I stepped out of the RV and this is the greeting I got. 120 pack animals telling me I am NOT one of them. I was SO intimidated! I was quickly led to a pen by Manuella, the intuitive German girl who is the kennel manager and carpenter. Things quieted down after that.

The owner says there are no alpha dogs. Only he is the alpha. If you ask me, they were all alpha dogs compared to me....

Mom and Dad took a 3 1/2 hour tour of this sled dog musher's operation. Frank Turner has finished 22 of the 25 Yukon Quest races from Fairbanks to Whitehorse. He is plumb nuts about his dogs. There are 120 of them because he keeps his retired dogs till they die. Every dog has a name, and Frank knows them all. I think after a while he has to get creative on names. One litter he obviously named for spices. Teregon, Ginger, Nutmeg.... Really! Almost as bad a my litter named after a TV show.

It takes $3,000 a month to feed the dogs. If he did not have an army of volunteers, I am sure Frank would be eating kibble himself. For example, there is a French girl there who is an attorney at home. But she is on sabbatical scooping poop and hauling water. When Frank does the race, he does get some sponsors, but not like those in the Iditerod. This race is 1,050 miles long, in February, at 50 below.

In the summer, Frank does not run his dogs taking tourists on sled runs on wheels, like some kennels do. It is too hot. Instead, he does these three 1/2 hour tours. In the winter, he does dog sled tours. He has row upon row of parkas and sleeping bag and bunny boots for the guests.

Let me tell you about boy vs girl sled dogs. The boys pull harder, and they are stronger. But they run willy nilly, looking for squirrels and moose. The girls keep the team on track. They are focused. When the humans went on the walk with the sled dogs, it was the boys turn, so Frank Turner, the musher, warned them to leave room between for the boy dogs to run. The boys just run without looking. I saw it for myself.

I was a little concerned when Mom picked up a 7 day old puppy. It went to sleep in her hand and I was afraid her motherly instinct would kick in. She said not to worry, I don't have to be a pack animal. I can remain the only dog. But I am a little concerned about food. Frank felt my ribs and said I needed to be on a diet.

After the tour, Mom asked him to look at my paw. I have been chewing my back paw. He found a red spot where I have licked it to death. He said to put my medicine on two times a day and keep it dry. Then he put a bootie on my foot so I could not chew! I had to humor him. He was a dog whisperer.

All I can say is, I am just fine with being an only dog. This pack mentality is for the birds.