Activities at home

  While we have been back home we have been busy. Ben managed to fall while snowboarding and has a green stick fracture on his collar bone. This has put him out of the action for awhile. We sure miss his help around here.

 Rachel has been harness breaking puppies. Mom and Dad help out to make sure the pups behave properly and to help Rachel to learn how to harness break the pups. It isn't hard to do but there are some things that we have always done that I would like to see Ben and Rachel learn as well. I think Rachel and Ben know pretty much how to harness break the pups but what you do early in life with them seems to stick for the rest of their lives. Doing it right the first time is pretty important for future runs. This litter of pups just took off running. No problems with running forward and pulling hard. One of the pups is so excited it bites the one beside it. Rachel had to stop and correct the dog for biting it's running mate. This happens often but you don't want to let it continue until puppies are fighting one another.  They are the best litter of pups we have had for a long time. These pups should have as many runs as possible on them before the snow is gone. This way it makes it so much easier next racing season to run them. The pups will already know how to behave. This makes the next season so much easier with the pups.

   Last years yearlings really came into their own this year. We have super dogs out of that litter. It looks good for the next four years. Raising the cash to keep racing is the problem now. 

  Rachel Ben and Leanne have been keeping the race dog in good shape as well. The family and kennel had a super season.  We will do what ever we can to get ready for next year.

  talk to you all later.

Fairbanks Jr. North American Championship. Rachel Kinvig 1st Place 4-Dog

Junior Yukon mushers hit the podium in Fairbanks

Thursday March 12, 2009
By Tom Patrick
Submitted Photo/Yukon News

Eric Engman/Fairbanks News-Miner… Rachel Kinvig drives her team out of the starting chute during the four-dog class on day one of the 2009 Junior North American sled dog races on March 6 at the Jeff Studdert Racegrounds in Fairbanks.

Three weeks ago, Ben Kinvig took gold and his sister Rachel took fifth in their respective fields at the Junior World Championship Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska.
Last weekend they both made the podium.
Racing in the Junior North American Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska, Rachel, 12, finished first in the four-dog event while Ben, 15, took third in the six-dog competition.
“I had a much better race (than in the World Championships),” said Rachel.
Anchorage’s race last month took mushers through an urban setting that caused both Rachel and Ben complications, with dogs being distracted by spectators. Rachel also encountered setbacks with her dogs hesitating to cross bridges or enter tunnels.
“My dogs didn’t stop (this time),” said Rachel.
In the days leading up to the Championships, Fairbanks had about 20 centimetres of fresh snow dumped on the trails, causing difficulties for both Ben and Rachel.
“Going out of the start chute it looked like a Ski-Doo trail - there were Ski-Doo trails all around the field,” said Rachel. “I didn’t really know where I was going cause the trail didn’t look like a trail. But my dogs took me the right way.”
“It made the trail a lot deeper and punchier and it’s a lot tougher for them to run fast in it,” said Ben. “So the first day was pretty slow going.”
Deep snow continued to be an issue the second day when one of Ben’s dogs went off the trail and sunk deep into the white stuff.
“One of my dogs fell into the deep snow at the side of the trail and all my dogs ended up getting tangled up,” said Ben. “But I was able to untangle them pretty quickly and get going again.
“The last day I had a pretty clean run and everything went well.”
However, Mother Nature’s influence was not limited to weather. Ben was forced to use a different dog-team than he did in Anchorage, leaving three of his female dogs at home because they were in season.
“They’ll try to get bred while you’re racing them,” said Ben. “That wouldn’t be good.
“For the dog team I had, I thought it was pretty great.”
Winners in Fairbanks were determined by adding up mushers’ times from the three days of racing. Rachel raced 7.2-kilometres the first and second days and 9.5 on the third day. Ben covered 9.5-kilometres the first two days and 12.7 on the final day.
Currently they are undecided whether they will attend, but Ben and Rachel might be competing at another meet in Taylor, BC, called the Taylor Sled Dog Races at the end of the month.
“It’s against adults and they sometimes race that one,” said Darren Kinvig, president of the Junior Association of Mushers in the Yukon and father of Ben and Rachel. “It’s usually held in December, but it was postponed due to lack of snow.”
Then at the start of April they might travel to Tok, Alaska, for the Junior Tok Race of Champions.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com

Running Away

Now, now we haven' t really run away, but isn't that a catchy title?? sometimes, we might want to run away too. ..... But the dogs were doing the running yesterday. Ben and Rachel trained 6 miles, 8 dog teams each. It was a slow run, which is what Dad said to do. Ben put Gee Whiz in lead. She is a yearling and running well. Ben said she ran well with Willow. Willow is an awesome dog and her pups will be running the races next year. These "pups" (they are not quite 1, but are still called pups to us)..........anyways, they will be harness broke in the next few weeks with some runs on before the snow is gone.........awwwwwww just when we get going, it is over just like that. The kids are in good training routines and have enjoyed going to races in alaska and seeing all their Alaskan friends. Rachel ran Slick and Overtime in lead and did well too. Ben ran the second team of 8 while rachel prepared the food for the dogs. Right now Rachel is making some popcorn, and we are having a movie night. She also made milkshakes, too bad Dad isn't home to join us, but we think of him all the time. Tomorrow the kids want to down hill ski and train their dogs after skiing........stay tuned for the further adventures of Ben and Rachel.

Wolf Bait

Ben was busy today trying to get the snowmachine going. The one normally used wouldn't go, so he used the smaller Bravo. It did the trick, but Ben says he almost got stuck out there. The groomer was full of snow, so Ben went to lift it and the heavy groomer with snow, landed on his legs. He said it was really difficult to crawl out, but he managed. "I thought I'd be wolf bait if I didn't get out", Ben said with a chuckle.

We had a significant dump of snow last night and while mom went to town for groceries and errands, Rachel and Ben stayed home to look after the dogs and groom the trail. They are hard working kids and did a good job of looking after the place while mom and dad were gone. Their hard work shows at the races. Most kids have their parents to train their teams and do all the trail grooming and looking after the dogs. Ben and Rachel manage to do this themselves. Way to go team!

Back home

We are all back home and the kids are on spring break. This will give them time to do some cleaning and organizing around the dog yard. The dog yard and feed shack need attention. There are some options for the next few weeks. Taylor, Tok. Back home then to Tok again. The Taylor race did not happen during our time in Ft. Nelson. It has been changed to 20/21 of March. The kids will be racing adults for money. I don't think that Leanne is able to go. We might have to miss that race. Then there is the Tok race of champions. Adult races. Leanne has spoke of interest in going to this race. She will race the kids dogs. Then the kids would go to the Junior Tok race of champions in April. The kids would be able to race the same dogs as Leanne on the same course. The dogs may have a big advantage over other dogs by doing this, they will all be familiar with the race track. That would be the end of the racing season.

I want to go to them all of course. After these races it is back to feeding dogs to go no where to race. It is sad how fast the season goes by. Money, health and time are all factors to getting to the races. We will do our best to do as many as possible.

There is many pups to train. We have a litter of seven that need to be harness broke and ran as much as possible before it gets to hot. I think Rachel and Ben are looking forward to this. We are going to remain as active as we can with the dogs this summer. The free running will be very good for the dogs. The only problem is that the kids cannot ride the four wheeler fast enough to keep up to those dogs! We are all looking forward to training all season.

We are in the process of looking for a new food. The food that we started with has gone through the roof. It always does. We have changed so many dog foods for this reason. A new product will come along. People selling the product will be excited to have you use it, prove it then they sell lots of the product. As soon as it becomes popular the price goes up and it becomes too expensive. We have been treated really well with our dog food producer. We will wait until we purchase our next pallet to see what it costs. He has been sponsoring the kids by providing so many bags free a year. We would like a full sponsorship someday. That would make a huge difference to our budget. It would make it possible to race more often. That is the whole point is to get to the races.

Rachel got her report card back and her marks have gotten better! That is good after missing all that school. She can do it on the road. The best thing to do would be to home school so we can stay on the road without coming home so often. That would be great! We shall see what the future brings.

It is winding down and we have pups that are a week old that will need our attention as well. Ben and Rachel look forward to seeing these pups run. If they run like Natty, the mother, then there will be no stopping Rachel and Ben in the future races.

I am away from the kennel until next week so I hope that it will be a little more organized when I get home. For now I will enjoy my trip to Sask.

on the way home

  Hi we are on route home. We stayed the night at Arleigh and Donna Reynolds house last night. We had a good visit and learned more about dogs. Rachel had borrowed Neo, a leader that Arleigh lent her for the race. He also lent me a work mate work bench to make it easier on the back for waxing. They are really nice people. 

  We have stopped in Tok Alaska for a bite to eat and then we will drop the dogs and take off for home. We are still six hours from home. Yesterday we had stopped at the ice sculptures in Fairbanks. Ben, Rachel, Leanne, Deb, Rachel, Morgan, and Baily walked around to look at the ice sculptures. I made a nice bed in the back of the truck and rested until they were done looking. 

   Ben and Rachel sold a dog named Slapshot to the owners that we had bought her from. She was a tiny little dog but a good leader. The Callis family were short on leaders so she bought her back from the Ben and Rachel. Slapshot would not have made it for the limited class teams that Ben and Rachel are running. She has a good home that is for sure. SO we are home soon. Talk to you all later.

The banquet

  The banquet was quick. There was no eight dog teams this year.  All the other classes are dwindling down to hardly any kids. The smaller classes are filling up. The one and two dog classes have more kids than usual but the older and bigger the class the less kids. It was sad to see the starting area with hardly any trucks parked there anymore. It would be sad to lose it all. That is what has happened in Whitehorse Yukon.  I don't know what to do. The sport is very important to us. We don't want it to die off. What to do ? I just don't know. Maybe I can blame it on the down turn of the economy. The price of fuel and dog food has gone up allot in the past few years these may be reasons but not cures for the problems  facing the sport of dog mushing. It is a sport that takes the whole family to participate in racing. I guess not many families want to be together in the way that it takes to run a kennel. What ever the reason the key is to find a way to boost it up again. 

  The meal at the banquet was spagetti. And a cake at the end. Lots of fun and we hope we are able to come back again to race soon. Talk to everyone later.

day three and final day of Junior North American championshipsionships.

     Hi everyone. The race is done. Rachel was first today and had a great time. Rachel's team looked awesome on the way in off the race trail.. The mileage was a mile or so further today. This really shows who was training in the dark days of mid winter. The times when no one wants to go out and train with their head lights on. It can be difficult for sure. Getting the team out on a regular basis is hard but we stick with a schedule during the training season. It can be very difficult telling the kids to get training when the temp is cold or windy.  Getting the dogs out and trained is the key to being successful. Rachel had a clean run and is the North American champion. Congratulations to you Rachel.

  Ben had troubles all week-end and we struggled to keep his team together. One dog was lame and we worked on her for hours. Rubbing her foot. We walked her lots. Gee-whiz (the dog) did not want to put weight on her left leg . Just before race time Ben walked Gee-whizz  and I looked at her and told Ben she looked better and she could probably run. I left the decision up to Ben. He decided to run Gee-whizz and she did awesome.  A Little sore today but she made it OK. His leader who is the oldest dog in the yard and probably running his final year led Ben to his great finish today. Ben was in fourth. He was having troubles moving up from fourth and was stuck in a rut. I kept telling him little things he could do to make a difference in his team .

  Today the six dogs ran further as well. Now the time Ben spent out training when he didn't want to will pay off.  The teams that missed training will suffer on the third day and will travel slower. Ben had a good run didn't have to shut down. Ben and his dogs ran a clean race and Be n moved up to third. ON the podium sort of speak. Awesome great week- end to Ben and Rachel. Thank to all the volunteers and trail groomers. The volunteers put allot of work into the trail and putting on the race. We all had a good week-end.  Talk to you all later.

day two in Fairbanks Alaska

  Well it was another day come and gone. The days fly by when we are out racing. The kids did the same today. Ben had to stop his team shortly after he left the starting chute. Not sure what happened.  The stop cost him third place today. His leader is barely hanging in due to a bite on his shoulder less than a week ago. The bite happens to be right under his harness. not good. Another dog came up lame today on his team so he will likely start with five dogs tomorrow. His team is just hanging on. Ben has to run farther on Sunday so it will be interesting how they look on their way in.

  Rachel had another strong run but had to stop today also. The dogs took a wrong turn. Thanks to our friend Areleigh Reynolds the dogs are running good. He gave a leader to Rachel to run with. Rachels leader is in heat and the only other leader is a male. This weekend has been fun but we have had alot of things not go our way.  Some organizing at the truck will help also. The Callis's are running strong and Gracie is winning by a long shot. Congrats. to Gracie Callis.  I will let you know how things go tomorrow. Talk to you all later. 

Rachel Kinvig drives her team out of the starting chute during the four-dog class on day one of the 2009 Junior North American sled dog races Friday afternoon, March 6, 2009 at the Jeff Studdert Racegrounds.

day one in Fairbanks

   Day one is in the bag. Windy, snowy day. The snow has fallen. There is lots of snow and more on the way.  The groomer started working at 2 am to get the trail in shape. He has a big tracked machine. Something that you would see on a ski hill. There was so much snow that it even got stuck. He did the best he could and it ended up to be a pretty good trail considering. Slow but better than what we imagined

   Rachel ran the four dog race. She ran two new leaders. One we borrowed the day before the race from Arleigh reynolds and the other one is one that ran on lead in training but then the dog was taken out of lead for various reasons. She also ran a yearling on wheel with an older dog. We were not totally sure about these two either. Rachel had a great run all the dogs did great and looked good on the way home today. The team ran a 4.9 mile. Rachel won it today. Can' remember the time. I think it was 16 minutes and change. 

Ben also ran a good race with six dogs. There is five in his class of racing. He had a pretty clean run but poor overtime had trouble with the speed. The trail is soft after all the snow that fell and the dogs struggle to hold speed on it. Overtime is an older dog and was a team dog most of the year. He leads okay but his best position is closer to the sled. He struggles on lead the most today. Ben's main leader is willow and we left her at home because she is in heat. His world championship team this is not. It is the best that he thought he could put together for the Jr. North American Championships. He was in fourth today but only a couple of seconds back from second and 55 seconds off of first. If the weather cools off and the trail gets hard it will be better for Ben's older leader. It is suppose to cool off and the snow has slowed down now. He ran the race in 21 minutes which is slow for 6 miles. That distance is usually ran in 18 minutes and change. Ben may change out his leaders tomorrow and see if that helps his speed any. The race is not won on day two so the kids will have to bear down and keep up the speed. We know the dogs can handle the speed and the distance so it is not unfair to ask it from the dogs. 

   I will let you know what happens tomorrow. 

Trip to Fairbanks

  The drive to Fairbanks went well. We stayed at Tok Alaska last night and drove here in the morning. The drive went well today until we hit the snow. It snowed and snowed. It has snowed 6 to 8 inches since eight am this morning. 

We stopped to see a friend Arleigh Reynolds in Salcha. It is about 30 miles from Fairbanks. He gave Rachel a well needed lead dog to use. He also gave us some Vet supplies and some egg powder that we have been using this season. The chickens that produced the eggs have been injected with diseases. This made the chickens make antibodies. The chickens then produce twice the  antibodies in their eggs. The eggs are then made into egg powder which is mixed with the dog food. The dogs receive the antibodies through their food. This then strengthens their immune systems so they don't pick up any sickness on the racing circuit when the dogs are exposed to so many other dogs with sicknesses. IT works, we have not had a sick dog all year which usually isn't the case after this much exposure to other dogs. 

   Ben and Rachel race tomorrow. The race itself starts at noon. Rachel and Ben  will go sometime after noon.  Ben is in the six dog. Two dogs from his world championship team are at home. Anna and Willow. They stayed because they are in heat. Rachel is in the four dog. She will have the best team we can possibly put together. Not sure yet what Ben or Rachel is running for dogs but should know by tomorrow morning or by the last time the dogs are dropped (let out of dog  box). They should be able to field two pretty strong teams. Rachel is taking the chance by using a dog she doesn't know but her other option is to use a female with a male on lead. The female is starting to come into heat so it isn't worth the problems that she could have. She will take the chance of using a new leader. I will do my best to keep everyone informed as to what the races hold as the week-end proceeds. Talk to you all later.

Jr. North americans next

  Hi everyone. We have been home training. Rachel has been working to make a new front end for her team out of what ever leaders she can find.  We  have females coming into season faster than we can count them. This is really changing things. Rachel might have to run all males and Ben all females or something like that. It is near imposible to mix any females that are in season with males in the same team with out a big problem. Ben and Rachel do not need any accidental breedings while in the middle of their race.

  Natty just had six pups last night four males and two females. Nice litter. Unfortunately it was unplanned. She had ate her way threw a fence to get at a male. The male happened to be Spare. Spare has bred many of our females to produce some of our best dogs and dogs that have been successful in the quest and iditorod.  So as far as Spare goes he seems to be somewhat proven as a sire. Natty is from excellent breeding and is very tough headed.  What a eater and drinker. Never misses anything to eat ever. She may be a little on the small size. Spare usually produces nice size dogs so the pups should be a good size. 

  We did some small training runs at slow speeds to maintain the teams during our time at home and the teams look ready to travel to Fairbanks for the Junior North American Championships.  I will try and update the blog from Fairbanks. Talk to you later.