Whiteout Working Dogs

02/21/2024

A piece of the Whiteout family participating in a race in a different way! Go mom!

You… Sid Robinson, Marshals Jim Cunningham & Emily Gibson

01/28/2024

Handsome beasts.
They’re 9 months old and I’m starting to feel like a tiger tamer. Some big boys with big attitude. We like to see it though 🤙 big attitude now makes all the difference down the trail later. As long as we channel it appropriately. 😉

Druid and Chickadee, from Whiteout’s B Litter.

01/27/2024

An update is long overdue!

This year has been a year for taking a bit of a hiatus from the team’s social media, at least in the way I’ve kept up with it in the past. It’s been a year for significant change and growth. My grandmothers passing has held a lot of grief, and is something I tangle with each day. She was a huge positive light in my life and the lives of those around her, and she was a huge part of this team. Many may not have realized it looking in, but in the day to day lives of myself and my dogs, she was a constant. My first pair of pups, Robin Hood and Rubicon, were raised with her in the same house, and their reverence to her throughout there lives was notable. To my first litter of pups, she was a grandma to them as much as she has been to me, and in the second litter, she was as present in the process of her death.
There have been more runs than not this season that I haven’t made it through with dry eyes. It’s been difficult to continue the process of training the team while facing such an incredibly vast and unexpected hole. Her loss is felt through and through by us, and by the dogs.
Her love is felt too, and I hope one day to live enough life that the light and love she shared with me and my dogs, can pass to others.

Many of you know that we made the move away from home to Wisconsin to help out some good friends of ours, Ryan and Sarah, at their kennel while they get ready for this years stage stop! They have been more than generous and our stay in the Midwest has been nothing short of a grand adventure! It has also been the perfect opportunity to evaluate the potential of running dogs for other kennels, as well as keeping up with my own team and goals, and for Aidan and I to pause and reevaluate where we will head next in life. While I’m traveling back and forth from wherever we are to school in North Carolina, pursuing a continued all around career in dogs, the firefighter is also continuing to pursue a career in his passion. Learning to incorporate both of those things into life with sled dogs, while lovely to be pursuing things in life we love, has taken some finagling.
It is worth significant note that the two of us leaving home in Washington has meant a bit of a split in the Whiteout family in the way you all have known it. Emily Gibson, also known as mom, and head handler for the team, has taken a shot at her own career in the sled dog world! She is pursuing a presence in the community as a race judge and all around helper! I happen to think she’s going to make a fantastic marshal one day. Our sport is lucky to have her and her priorities of putting the dogs far above anything else, and her want to work with mushers to bring PR for our sport into a positive light. Go mom!!!
I may have to steal her back from you all on occasion to handle for me, but for the foreseeable future, you will be getting her attention at races more than I will!
My mom has been a constant presence at all of my races over the last ten years, and all of the team’s successes can trace back to her being a piece of the picture. We all know how much having a truly skilled and organized handler can make or break whether a team crosses the finish line at the front of the pack or not. I think I have a fairly good argument for nomination of the best handler award. Thank you, mom, for all you have done for me and my team over the years. There are no words to truly grasp how monumental your support has been and has meant to me, but I think everyone knows.

I’ve had many people reach out and express that they miss our updates and social media presence. I am continually floored by the outpouring of love and support around this team year after year.
Worry not! The team updates that you know and love will be back when the time is right. Some phases of growth are meant to see the light and be shared, and others are a little more internal, particularly when the process of grief is involved. For now, think of this as the process of a seed while it is still underground.

As for race plans this year, many know that races coast to coast have been cancelled. Lack of snow has been rather brutal this year, and as I sit looking out the window, while we had wonderful trails and made it onto a sled last week, I’m currently looking at a sloppy mess of slush, and temps that look to be in the 30-50 range over the next ten days. And to be honest, for us, there couldn’t be a better year for it. Taking the time to spend with my dogs without the pressure of races has probably been the biggest blessing it could have been. While Midnight Run and CopperDog150 are still on our roster, we aren’t dead set on going yet, and are just feeling out what feels right. Taking care of ourselves and the dogs is always our top priority.
This season has been a beautiful and needed reminder that, while sled dogs and races are a key part of life for our family, that it’s important to step back and tend to the bigger picture.

Some photos of the woman who was closer to me than many grandkids ever get to be with their grandparents. A remarkable light that touched so many people. The kindest person I’ve ever met. Marilyn Gibson.

01/20/2024

Eddie Divín Castle Cave ‘Edo’
Pretty cute for a one year old dragon 🐉

12/05/2023

A baby Gambit in the wildflowers.

12/04/2023

The newest member of the team putting in the work 💪🏻

11/30/2023

I live traveling and exploring with this crew no matter what form it’s in ❤️

09/25/2023

Druid ⛰️

5 1/2 months and already the size of most of my adults. This boy is really growing into his own. He’s got a really wonderful personality and attitude. The kind of thinker that I like to see.
With Lilly, his grandmother once removed.

🎥 by

09/25/2023

The brothers, Percy and Bill, playing tag with their mom Windshear and racing it out during our free run today… and I’m not 100% sure she can catch them. These two made the main race team as yearlings. Can’t wait to see what they’ll show this year.

09/08/2023

I’ve been getting a lot of questions from people recently about the basics of finding a reputable and solid breeder to get a puppy from, and how to spot the red flags. This is a great place to start!

09/07/2023

Chickadee 🩵

It’s hard to believe this guy is almost 5 months old. This pup has stood out from the beginning. Monster eater, nice build, super social and solid personality without being too focused on anyone else. Times flies and I feel like with this litter in particular I’ve blinked and they’re grown. Their age means it’s also been almost 5 months since my grandmother died. She had a very joyful and appreciative outlook on life, was always happy to see anyone and everyone, and she was kind in ways that I’d say are hard to find. My grandmother loved Chickadees for as long as I can remember, and I’m very grateful to have a piece of the joy she held for the world in this pup that she had the chance to name before she passed. He’s a got a big personality and if those paws are any indication he’s got a lot of growing to come. A superstar in the making though, there’s no question about that one.

07/01/2023

One of the biggest things I tell potential clients during their evaluation!
I want to help you, but YOU have to want it MORE than I do.

05/08/2023

The beginning of crate training!

For the next few weeks it’s purely getting used to the crate. This includes going through it, eating in it, having bedding inside so pups can sleep in it, and toys to play with. The doors aren’t shut, and the crate is not in use, they are just learning to have some positive association.

Step one: Going in and out of the whelping box to eat, one must go through the crate. This also adds an element of problem solving as they learn to navigate!

Why is crate training important?
Crates have a variety of uses.
#1 on my list is emergencies. If there’s an emergency, and I am not home, it makes it much harder for anyone to help my dogs if they are not contained, or if they cannot be contained. There are many different kinds of emergencies where this could be necessary, but the primary one where we live is wildfire.

Young dogs are not left unattended without supervision. It gives them the opportunity to fail.
One of the biggest things I teach in class is not giving your dog the opportunity to fail, until they’ve learned the ground rules and really have them down. If we do not give them the opportunity to fail, it prevents a lot of the behavioral and training issues that we often see in the dog training world.
The crate allows a young dog to be contained in the house while I am at work, or unable to pay attention to them and what they’re doing. This prevents a lot of potential for distructive behavior!

Crates also give them a safe space to eat, and it allows dogs to decompress if they are feeling a little overwhelmed from group play, or if I need to remove them from a situation where they’re getting a little too rowdy and disruptive!

I train my dogs to secure them a good life for the rest of their life. This means that if anything ever happens to me, or if for any reason my dogs need to live in a different household, they are much easier to place, and easy for their new families to manage.

Crates are not ever used as a punishment, and the dogs have a very positive association to their safe space ❤️

04/30/2023

Tacoma area friends please share so we can get these two home!

Just found these two heading down the street in south Tacoma. If they’re yours message me with genders and what collars they have on, and photos.
Both are safe with us, and we are heading to the vet to look for chips.

UPDATE: No chips. We live out of the area and I don’t want to remove them from the area they are most likely to be reunited with their family again. They are with family in Tacoma, because the Humane Society can’t take them until Monday and then they will be taken to the Tacoma Humane Society.

04/21/2023

Puppy nails get clipped every three days, or more often as needed. Not only does it get them accustomed to having their nails clipped, which they’ll be doing for the rest of their lives, it also helps to reduce the risk of mastitis, and makes things more comfortable for mom. No complaints here getting to spend all this time with sled puptatoes!

Follow along on Instagram too for more updates!

04/21/2023

04/21/2023

The B Litter at 2 weeks old!
04/18/2023

04/21/2023

The B Litter at 1 week old
04/11/2023

03/28/2023

Whiteout’s Hatching a Plan ‘Sarah’, at 3 weeks old 💕

We’re going to have puppy noises around here again pretty soon ❤️

03/24/2023

“𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒．“
－ 𝐴𝑑𝑎𝑚 𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑟

Every time you step into it it’s you against you.
The cold, the sleep deprivation, the strategy, the joy, the competition, the care of the dogs, the tears, the love, the management, the little decisions, the trail.
Every time you step into it it’s you against you.

We don’t prepare for these races so that our first plan works every time. We prepare so that we are ready when it doesn’t.

Prepare your mind too.

Photo by Canadian Challenge Sled Dog Race

03/09/2023

Way to be team! A race well done!

02/07/2023

And it is a wrap. The 2023 Pedigree Stage Stop Race banquet concluded. More pictures to come.

02/04/2023