Top of the Hill Huskies

11/05/2024

Our 4th dryland race of the season was a blast! Redpaw’s Dirty Dog lived up to it’s name with rain all day Sunday! We heard this dryland race had more participants than any other dryland race anywhere ever. We did our part and brought 15 teams!!

2 RNB 6 dog teams, Amelia ran Hilaria Stanley lead, Juniper Fraser and Only Torch, they got 🥇 🎉 Anne ran Monty Pointe lead, Siren, and Nelson, his first race since I got him back, and Preakness, they got 🥈 🎊

We had 2 RNB 4 dog teams Ellyn ran Charlotte Moe lead and Joker Shenanigan, they got 🥇🎉 Amelia ran Spruce Derby in lead and Eddie Clark, they got 9th we are definitely noticing Amelia’s heavy rig makes a difference especially in 4 dog.

We brought 5 RNB 2 dog bike teams, Amelia ran Love Cedar, they got 🥇🎉 Anne ran her Meteor and Dovey, they got 5th because Dovey wasn’t feeling it. Ellyn ran her Yeti and Eclipse, they got 🥈🎉 Krysten ran Preakness and Belmont and it was Krysten’s first race dryland and they got 6th. Heidi ran Pointe Queen and got 3rd 🥉 🎉!

We had 4 -1 dog RNB bike teams: Ellyn ran Shenanigan and got 5th, Anne ran her Ginger, and placed 🥈🎉! Heidi ran her Juniper (Madeline), and they placed 7th, Amelia ran Timber, for his first race they placed 8th.

Murray ran wheeled Jr 2 dog bike with feisty Queen and Belmont, they placed 🥇🎉!

Ellyn ran women’s canacross with Joker and placed 6th out of 17.

We are so proud of our wonderful Top Of The Hill Huskies teams! We are in it for the dogs and to have fun and by the look on their faces they definitely did! Extra proud of 9 year olds Preakness and Belmont running in two classes and also Shenanigan, Joker, Queen, Pointe, all in two classes.

Thank you Rich Besler 📸 for these amazing photos!
And Cassidy Pokallus 📸 one dog bike photos.

10/25/2024

It’s finally here! The IFSS Continental Championships at Minocqua “Almost” Winter Dryland Dog Dash is this weekend and all of Top of the Hill are so excited! Amelia, Ellyn, and Anne will be representing Team USA, with Murray and Ben joining us in afternoon.

If you’re free this weekend, head to Minocqua Winter Park for some of the most competitive dryland racing in the country. This is all in preparation for the Worlds taking place same spot next year.

Also representing Team USA are our awesome doggies!

Continental Championship Teams:
Amelia’s 6 Dog Team - Hilaria, Stanley, Eclipse, Fraser, Only, and Torch
Ellyn’s 6 Dog Team - Derby, Spruce, Yeti, Eddie, and Clark
Anne’s 4 Dog Team - Monty, Charlotte, Siren, Pointe
Ellyn’s 4 Dog Team - Preakness, Moe, Joker, Queen
Anne’s 1 Dog Bike Partner - Ginger
Ellyn’s 1 Dog Bike Partner - Shenanigan
Afternoon ISDRA Teams:
Amelia’s 2 Dog Bike Team - Love and Cedar
Anne’s 1 Dog Bike Team - Dovey
Murray’s 2 Dog Bike Tram - Belmont and Ginger
Ben’s 1 dog Canicross Partner - Moe

Good luck to all our competitors! We’re so proud excited to share the trail with you!

09/14/2024

Happy 5th Birthday to Top Of The Hill’s Madeline Island Ferry Boat Litter! Their Moto is: Let Us Carry You Away! La Pointe and Island Queen had a fun day, early morning training run, Playtime in the yard, and a trip to the beach!

Happy Birthday to Juniper, Madeline, loving her best life with Heidi Duket and Nichevo loving his best life with Benoit Cya. And Bayfield with his loving family!

09/13/2024

We are excited to announce that Top of the Hill Huskies will have a strong representation at the IFSS North American Continental Championships taking place at Winter Park in Minocqua, WI on October 26th & 27th.

Amelia has been selected in 6 dog rig RNB
Ellyn has applied in the second round and if selected will also be running a team of Amelia's dogs in the 6 dog rig RNB
Both Anne & Ellyn have been selected in 4 dog rig RNB running Diane’s dogs
Ellyn has been selected in 2 dog scooter RNB
Amelia, Anne, & Ellyn have been selected in 1 dog bike RNB, though Amelia has withdrawn to focus on training 6 dog teams
Benjamin Braunel has been selected for canicross juniors

We are so excited for this opportunity to be a part of Team USA with so many other amazing teams and drivers. Here's to hoping the weather cools down soon so we can really get into training.

09/08/2024

Then there were three of Amelia’s beautiful babies at her kennel and Krysten has 2 at Diane’s kennel.

09/07/2024

Happy Birthday Sugar, Royal and Bob! Canes Boreae Sugar Island, Isle Royal, and Bois Blanc Island. 13 years old already!!
You three dogs have been at our kennel for over 8 years now and what a joy you have brought us! Sugar came last and is exactly like her name. Mostly just training for fun now. But a sweet silly girl! Bob and Royal are so different from each other in personality but have 💯 given us their all as sled dogs! Now Royal no longer runs and Bob just for full!! We love you Islanders!!!

08/27/2024

Happy National Dog Day!

08/15/2024

To celebrate Top Of The Hill’s Meteor and Eclipse’s 7th birthday, Anne Small sent a doggie birthday cake and treats. Meteor was kind to share with Laika, Salem, and his brother Eclipse, Juniper, Nox, and Violet. Meaty says he misses his family very much and can’t wait to be reunited! Happy 7th Birthday to all the doggies from the Celestial Events litter!

08/15/2024

Missing Moon on his 7th birthday.

08/15/2024

The remaining six puppies here at Top of the Hill Huskies are 9 weeks old and growing all the time.

Amelia will be keeping Trillium, Susan, and Lupine.

We’re thrilled that our handler, musher, and bestie Krysten will be keeping Sweet Joe and Aster and boarding them at Diane’s kennel.

Phlox, now Outlaw, is adjusting to his new home.

That leaves just Spider who is looking for his forever mushing or active home. Please send us a message if you’re interested in more details! EDIT: Spider has found a new home and will be making his way to SC with his new family soon!

08/12/2024

The coyotes and huskies were singing to the lights last night.

08/10/2024

8 weeks old!

08/02/2024

7 weeks old! These little Wildflowers aren’t so little anymore. It’s been a blast watching them develop into small dogs with big personalities.

Considering this was their first time getting stacked, they were (mostly) pretty patient and tolerant. Being held for close ups? Not big fans.

Thanks to Krysten for helping with pictures, puppy shots, and snuggles on a hot and muggy day!

07/10/2024

4 weeks old today! Puppies in the summer are a lot of fun! 🥰 🌸 ☀️ Despite the rain, they have adapted well to being outside puppies. This bunch gets braver and more interested in their surroundings every day. It’s so much fun to watch their little brains process and adapt to new things.

Two are still looking for their new working or active homes. Send us a message if you’re interested!

07/02/2024

Happy Independence Day week from the Top of the Hill Wildflowers. These babies are officially three weeks old. Time flies when you are busy having fun!

Each baby has open eyes and ears and little teeth mostly in. They are getting comfortable mowing down on mush and have been officially moved to their outside kennel (for Momma Hilaria’s sake more than theirs).

While the puppies are just barely starting to make their personalities known, we have a loudest (Phlox) and a bravest (Aster) and a hungriest (Sweet Joe). They are such a fun and adorable group - picking who will stay will be hard!

A couple of these babies will be available, though Amelia won’t make her final decision until around 8 weeks. However, if you’re interested in a lovely working line Siberian, please reach out! We’d love to chat more.

07/01/2024

Moe is very excited to have a new much younger roommate!
Thank you Brandy for trusting us with your beautiful sweet Lovey Dovey!

06/28/2024

Lots of trail maintenance lately. No shortage of wet areas for the dogs to cool down.

06/25/2024

06/22/2024

Happy 4th birthday to Yeti and Stanley and all of their wonderful litter mates! Ellyn has been enjoying these two as her 2 dog scooter team!!

06/18/2024

Well I’m embarrassed to say we forgot to wish Charlotte and her Brontë sister’s Emily now Army living with Jeanne, and Anne now Mazikeen living with the Wierzba family a happy big 3rd birthday! 🎂🎂🎂

We can’t believe it’s only been three years. Charlotte was a natural from the beginning jumping to leader early on. Army did the same for Jeanna.

Another thing Charlotte and Army had in common was having an unauthorized tie. Charlotte is the only tethered dog at Diane’s kennel because she’s a fence climber. She gifted us Unauthorized TOTH’s Moe and Nelson and Moe stayed with Diane and is an amazing addition!

Army had a beautiful litter recently, also unauthorized. Jeanna still has 2 females available.

To celebrate Charlotte got to go on an adventure and go swimming! Her favorite thing is to play in water.

06/13/2024

It’s been a busy start to the summer for all of us here, but one of the highlights was Hilaria’s delivery of 7 healthy puppies on June 11.

One of the pieces of advice we received many years ago that’s really stuck with us was to breed our best dogs. If you were to ask us who our best dogs are as far as drive, leading ability, appetite, personality, etc., we would probably start by listing off dogs from our 2020 April Fools litter and our 2015 Triple Crown Litter.

So when Hilaria (out of Snow Spirit’s Milly and Alydar of Stari Nite, and also the go-to leader at Amelia’s kennel these days) came into heat in April, the thought of a summer litter wasn’t so unappealing. Another top leader at Amelia’s kennel is Derby, and with his age and lack of breeding this far, it was decided he would be the perfect match.

Welcome our newest litter of summer babies named for native Wisconsin wildflowers.

Unfortunately we won’t be able to keep all 7, and some of these babies will be available. If you have any interest in the breeding, please feel free to reach out with questions!

05/28/2024

We have 3 dogs that are 14.2 years old, Laika, Maple, and RedWing. Each show their own signs of aging.

Maple has doggy dementia. She gets unsure during free play and walks in a circle to the right. And she is very bitey. We can no longer harness her, but she enjoys pacing around her kennel with Monte and eating.

Today was hysterical because she grabbed the back of Diane's shirt and wouldn’t let go. Thankfully she only ate half of the chunk she stole.

05/08/2024

Happy 10th (!!!!) birthday to Nox! Galant Fox of Stari Nite came to us in November 2014 when our dear friend Addy Jane reached out to Amelia and asked, "Can you think of anyone who might be interested?" and Amelia said, "ME!"

Nox has been a dependable, consistant worker for us in these past years. He is a hard righty, but he'll run anywhere and with anyone. Age has slowed his gait down a little, but he continues to impress on the mid team.

He's a loud and obNOXious guy to this day, but Nox really set the bar high for what Amelia likes in a male sled dog. His sire Chlouts Grizzly of Velikaya has become the foundation stud of our kennel, and Nox himself has produced two amazing litters (our best ever, the Triple Crown litter, and Amelia's Tree litter), all of who reside with us now.

Without Nox, our kennel trajectory would have been quite different, and we can't say enough good stuff about this guy.

Happy birthday, Nox. Can't believe you're 10 already!