Movin' On

Blogger has been swell, but we've moved! HPK is now at:
http://hodgepodgekennel.wordpress.com/

Dog Dance

Oreo

Oreo is a 10 year old sprint dog from Rex Jones lines. He is just awesome all around: very friendly and happy, loves everybody, mostly well behaved. He does tend to chew up stuff, but oh well. Oreo has always seemed super healthy, but several weeks ago this tumor popped up overnight out of his hind leg:






Our vet said it's very malignant and is a highly aggressive cancer. The pathologist report wasn't bad, but she said the sample was too ulcerated to tell for sure (Oreo bit into the thing, which didn't help. So Oreo underwent surgery; tissue had to be removed from 3 inches all around. He is healing up beautifully. Hopefully the thing won't grow back.

CHARLIE ADOPTED!!

Charlie got adopted yesterday, October 1st, to a good home :)
Best of luck to Charlie and his new owner!

Charlie Needs a Home

Charlie is a big, handsome youngster at Fairbanks Animal Control. He arrived with 9 of his friends and relatives; their owner had to move suddenly for her job. Charlie is only 22 months old. He's underweight right now at 82 pounds...and he also will fill in more as he matures.
Charlie is physically very strong, and will need a strong handler. He is probably too big and boisterous for young children. Also, he is not good around cats. He is fine with other dogs however, and is playful.
Charlie does have a little mushing experience. Shelter volunteers Carol, Don and Leslie took him out for a run with a four-wheeler in an 8 dog team, and Charlie did well. He even ran up front a little bit and did a good job.







This is a big, friendly guy who is a lot of fun. He is good in the dogyard and likes visitors. He will give you his paw CONSTANTLY for attention, pat me! pat me! Very affectionate guy.





You can read more info on Charlie here:

Charlie



And you can see his siblings, Grandma, and kennelmates at:

www.fnsb.petfinder.org

The Kids Are Growing Up

You may remember the post about Junior, the puppy I got over the summer. He is now 11 months and grew some more. His coat turned more blonde, and his tail is now a big plume.
Another shelter puppy has come along; Casper was found in North Pole as a stray. He was adopted, but the new owner couldn't keep him due to landlord issues. So now he's here and having a blast playing with Junior! Casper just turned 5 months old.

Jerry

Jerry was a retired sled dog from a local resort. I rescued him this summer along with 4 other resort dogs who were too old to work anymore. Jerry was a handsome fellow, all white except for the brown on his ears. No one knew what his history was, except that he was a trained sled dog (and had no dew claws, so he was from a mushing breeder), and he didn't want to run anymore. Jerry was well socialized and nothing seemed to surprise him.

I noticed as winter started that he was experiencing a lot of pain when trying to stand. His hips were shot. Medications helped a little. I assisted Jerry going in and out of the house, or up the stairs. More recently he was in great pain and having more difficulty; for a while I put off the terrible decision. But yesterday it was finally time and I put him to sleep. The resort thinks he was 11 years old. I think he was about 9. Jerry was very good with our other dogs and had a gentle way about him.

Dog Cam

Some of you may have heard that I had surgery recently and have been laid up around the house. Michael installed a couple of surveillance cameras downstairs (really cheap from Sam's Club). So now, instead of racing up and down the stairs to see what the dogs are up to, I can monitor them on the TV when upstairs! Complete with sound! I've been able to save a lot of things (my desk, my computer, the cameras, plastic airline kennels) from getting chewed up by Clifford, since I can now catch him in the act. Here's a shot of what my office looks like on-screen (clockwise, Snorri on HIS Kuranda bed, Forest entering the room, Blackie on the floor, BamBam under the desk).


Below, the second camera catches Forest, Glacier, Walker, Cliffie looking for trouble. Bootsie and Winter are on the Kuranda beds. PS: We had plenty of pretty dogbeds, the fluffy pillow-type with fancy fabrics -- all of which were destroyed during the week I spent in the hospital. Guess they had some anxiety. They have not tried to destroy the Kuranda beds, yet.

Snow Dogs

First snow storm for this winter, about 5 inches. Suzie likes it!

Do I Go Home Today?

My family brought me home,
Cradled in their arms.
They cuddled me and smiled at me,
And said I was full of charms.
They played and laughed with me.
They showered me with toys.
I sure do love my family,
Especially the girls and boys.
The children loved to feed me.
They gave me special treats.
They even let me sleep with them,
All snuggled in the sheets.
I used to go for walks,
Often several times a day.
They even fought to hold the leash,
I'm very proud to say.
They used to laugh and praise me,
When I played with that old shoe.
But I didn't know the difference,
Between the old one and the new.
The kids and I would grab a rag,
For hours we would tug.
So I thought I did the right thing,
When I chewed the bathroom rug.
They said I was out of control,
And would have to live outside.
This I did not understand,
Although I tried and tried.
The walks stopped one by one.
They said they hadn't time.
I wish that I could change things.
I wish I knew my crime.
My life became so lonely,
In the backyard on a chain.
I barked and barked all day long.
To keep from going insane.
So they brought me to the shelter.
But were embarrassed to say why.
They said I caused an allergy,
And then kissed me goodbye.
If I'd only had some classes,
When I was a little pup.
I wouldn't have been hard to handle,
When I was all grown up.
"You only have one day left,"
I heard the worker say.
Does this mean a second chance?
Do I go home today?

--author Sandi Thompson

Only once before have I been tempted to get a puppy. I figure puppies are more likely to get adopted, so I steer toward older adults and seniors instead. But this little guy was too darn cute. His whole family was at the MatSu Shelter; his mom Dusty was a small white husky mix, and his dad was a longhaired White German Shepherd.

It didn't dawn on me until a few days later, but he looks like a little Cliffie! So I named him Dusty Cliffie Junior, or just Junior for short. He is only 4 months old, but is already as tall as some of my adult dogs! And boy does he LOVE to run!

Puppy points!

Child's play!

Pyrenees Power!!
Still not tired yet...

Nibbler

Nibbler (a.k.a. Hannibal) 1994-2007. He was a lovable little guy. Dumped at the shelter when he was 9 years old, although the owner claimed he was 12 at that time. He was barky and a bit nippy, but only when he felt threatened. Nibbler was good with our other dogs, and really enjoyed dinnertime; he was the head cheerleader for meals.

Cutest Moose in the World!

A moose family was hanging around our house for 2 days, lurking in the trees. The dogs knew that they were there, but I couldn't see them. Finally, they decided to come out of hiding.

One of the calves had an unusual face, thin and llama-like. And he had pink lips! So I named him Pinky. He was very curious about me and came closer and watched me for a while.

His sibling was quite shy and preferred to linger in the trees. (Pinky is on the left.)

Here's Pinky again -- what an odd little moose!

Mom and Pinky decide that they are ready to move on.

The other calf rushes to catch up, he does :)

Michelle Phillips & Paul Geoffrion

Phillips' Leaders

Hugh Neff

Neff's Dogs

Yukon Quest 2006

Ok race fans, for all you folks who just can't get enough of the Yukon Quest, here are pix from last year's race. The race started in Fairbanks last year; I really missed it since it started in Whitehorse this year. Many of the mushers actually stopped for pictures, or slowed down! Not Mackey or Gatt though, they trucked right through. We couldn't even get down the river bank fast enough to get closer to Gatt, he was already gone!

The teams are on the Chena River going thru Fort Wainwright, just coming into North Pole.

Jen Cochran Strikes a Pose

Kyla Boivan