Runember Recreational Racing

Runember Recreational Racing A recreational/semi-competitive New England dog team

More of dogs past: Foxy Lady was part of this page originally. What most don’t know is that she was supposed to be a beh...
09/12/2025

More of dogs past: Foxy Lady was part of this page originally. What most don’t know is that she was supposed to be a behavioral euthanasia, and I think that’s important on several levels

The first is that her previous family was not wrong. Behavioral euthanasia is stigmatized, but some dogs just are not right and it is dangerous. Fox had multiple homes already. She had severe resource guarding issues. I had to utilize barriers at meal times in the beginning. She was severely dog aggressive, taking the other dogs in the home on 2 at a time - and she was winning. By a lot. When we took her in we had to finish treating a scratch on her eye. The other dogs had drains in their wounds. This family was dealing with all of this with young children in the house

To be frank, I wouldn’t have taken her on. But she chose my then boyfriend. New to dogs in general, he did not fully understand the depth of her issues. So we started working on it

And this is the second important part, that I think a lot of people who want to place one of these dogs need to hear:

We could not fix her

There was something wrong in her brain. She was also being mismanaged. She did improve. Once she was in a stable environment and simply left alone, she began to trust. After some months of work I could safely hand her food and trade with her. Eventually she started to just avoid other dogs rather than reacting. We never stopped working on everything. Training, handling, muzzle conditioning… She relaxed into a happy dog and due to her preference of being left alone she was easy to rotate with the others. I’ve always said we weren’t the right home for her, but she thought we were. And there sure wasn’t anyone else. Who is out there with behavioral training experience and only wants one dog who is kinda a liability and doesn’t really want to do anything?

Still, she never gave appropriate communication signals, which made it nearly impossible to socialize her with dogs. She could walk in a group muzzled but if left free something silly would eventually trigger her and she’d launch, which wasn’t healthy for anyone so I gave it up. I had to manage her anxiety. She walked in circles, just compulsive circles to the right, sometimes tight, sometimes large

So it went. She was also a very fun dog in many ways. For the most part she loved people. My only dog to ever care for her toys. She would line them up or sort them by type. I couldn’t get her to do anything else with that behavior, it was her terms only, but it was fascinating. Loved her walks, always. Loved snow. When she was much older she did accept a couple very specific dog friends. Just a couple. She would work cooperatively with Ember even though they were never free together

I do miss her all the time, but I do not miss living with her. It was just luck our paths crossed when they did. Anything can happen raising dogs but I will never knowingly enter this situation again

Much rain. V sad. Plz give snuggles
09/07/2025

Much rain. V sad. Plz give snuggles

I introduced the team but I want to talk about the old dogs too. The dogs that came before. And before everyone, there w...
09/05/2025

I introduced the team but I want to talk about the old dogs too. The dogs that came before. And before everyone, there was Vance

Vance is why you do not buy from backyard breeders, ever

Vance is what you get when everything that could go wrong, goes wrong. You can’t control every factor in breeding, but you can do a lot, and someone here just didn’t care. Neither one of us deserved what he went through

People will tell you they “don’t need a fancy show dog” for a pet but structure MATTERS. Vance had terrible angulation, with a roach back that snapped into a tail he usually carried tightly curled over his back. He could not wag it normally. He did have good hips though! OFA is not everything

Vance was always loved but he had a rough start regardless. His first owner had chronic health issues and when he was 4, they destabilized and could no longer keep him safe. He was rehomed, but the existing dogs in that household rejected him and giving it time was making things worse, not better. So he came to me, severely depressed. I had recently lost my childhood dog. I thought we could make this work

It took him a long time to come around, but he did. And as he settled and became more active, the problems revealed themselves. He would wake up at night screaming from his back locking up. He would take one wrong step and be howling in pain. I had him in chiropractic care and low impact exercise routines for the rest of his life

He hadn’t been eating after being rehomed, which is not terribly uncommon for a stressed Siberian. It became apparent this was not actually just depression. This dog had IBD. The more I experimented the more it became apparent he could not digest kibble. Canned food wasn’t much better. So I started making all his food myself, and treating flare ups as they occurred. The internal medicine specialist offered diagnostic testing but at that time, it cost thousands of dollars, came with serious risks to him, and would not have changed his treatment plan at all. All it would have provided was an official name to the problem. I didn’t go through with it

Then the tumors started. First there was the one on his wrist, firmly anchored. We knew it was almost certainly benign but its location was a big problem. You can’t bend your wrist with a giant mass on top of it and there isn’t much there to close a wound with. I had a couple other superficial ones taken off at the same time

When he was 6, his eye turned yellow. Nothing else apparently wrong, just suddenly it was yellow. A very stressful week and scramble for funds later I was dropping him off for surgery. It was a tumor on his retina. That was when I knew that someday, this dog was going to throw a tumor somewhere I couldn’t remove it

Thankfully, he handled everything like a champ. I think he just knew how to navigate his body being crappy because it always kind of was. He still wanted to go with me everywhere. He loved his friends, so so much. He loved agility, even if he had to do special courses set for the small dogs height and I made him go slow

We carefully balanced everything for two more years, and then the liver stuff started. For the next two years, we entered a slowly losing battle of supplements, special diets, and diagnostics that were always inconclusive every single time. He started getting bouts of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. I would bring him to the ER, certain this time was it, and 48hrs later he’d stroll out like nothing was wrong. Finally when he was 10, an ultrasound showed the truth: there was indeed a tumor I could not remove. Growing off his duodenum, it had been hidden until now, when it grew around the side of his liver

It wasn’t fair, and it didn’t need to have been this way. But this is what happens when breeders don’t care. When they’re “good enough for pets.” No, he didn’t need to be in a show ring, but he didn’t need to break down at age 4. IBD can happen, but it is also genetic. Tumors can just happen, but they are also genetic

Ultimately I did everything and I still wish I could have done more. He was a good boy, moody but sensitive, and so playful. His cool indifference with “staring” eye markings and naturally upright stance actually helped a lot of dogs work through reactivity issues over the years. He does show up in my dreams still, and he’s always complaining about something every single time

These two ❤️
08/31/2025

These two ❤️

Myth: Alaskans are Siberian Husky mutts bred for competitionFact: Google AI is trawling incorrect information and parrot...
08/31/2025

Myth: Alaskans are Siberian Husky mutts bred for competition

Fact: Google AI is trawling incorrect information and parroting it to people who do no deeper reading, perpetuate the misinformation and the cycle starts again

Alaskans are a landrace/village dog that predate the arrival of Siberians in North America. They have a distinct genome. Since they have open stud books, outcrossing may occur, but we are far past the point where Siberians excelled over heavier freight dogs. Most modern Alaskans have no quantifiable Siberian admixture at all. If you run DNA on most Alaskans, it will simply come back “100% Alaskan Husky”

While outcrossing in general is accepted, it’s much less common than people think. When you have a highly specialized, succesful population, outcrossing becomes a risk. You’re adding something that’s not specialized and hoping for certain traits, but you may get others you don’t want. The most successful offspring end up bred back to the existing pool of sled dogs and the mix is diluted back to Alaskan. There are situations where it’s worth it, depending on your program’s goals, and those inital generations are recognized as outcrosses

So no, you cannot mix a Siberian and a Malamute and a German Shorthair and a Greyhound and “make an Alaskan.” Even if you breed that project for generations. It doesn’t work that way. You only get Alaskans, from Alaskans

We all know how the evolution of dog names goes… so now that I’ve formally introduced everyone, here is Ray, Gigi, Greg ...
08/29/2025

We all know how the evolution of dog names goes… so now that I’ve formally introduced everyone, here is Ray, Gigi, Greg and Goob

08/18/2025

Do not criticize rescues for how they handle situations you yourself want no part of

I absolutely loved raising 2 puppies at once. It’s a lot of work and can have challenges but I’d do it again in a second...
08/17/2025

I absolutely loved raising 2 puppies at once. It’s a lot of work and can have challenges but I’d do it again in a second if I had the time and space

Intros day 2! Raven Rae is a 5 yr old female Alaskan/Siberian mix. I was going to cap my team at 2, then my husband aske...
08/15/2025

Intros day 2!

Raven Rae is a 5 yr old female Alaskan/Siberian mix. I was going to cap my team at 2, then my husband asked for “the tiny black puppy” out of a female he adores. Far be it from me to decline a dog who fit right in!

Raven was tiny due to a virus that struck mom and pups at birth. She stopped nursing and fell way behind her littermates, rallying at the last minute and beginning to grow. And grow. And grow. By 8 months she was larger than both her parents and topped off at 53lb. So much for the myth of the runt!

She is what we call an “invisible dog” in harness. I don’t need to watch her, I don’t need to talk to her, she’s is always just there, doing what she needs to do. She is my strongest, fastest dog with the best stamina. She almost always runs wheel and she loves it there. She’s close to me and able to see what the whole team is doing. While I’ve worked her up to be capable of leading when paired with a strong leader to guide her, she would rather watch and dissolve into the team, steering from wheel. And frankly I’m fine with that. This type of dog is invaluable and doesn’t get nearly enough credit

Ravens weakness is all of her ✨feelings✨
She can really get into her own head. She has an odd way of viewing the world and notices patterns most dogs would never pick up on, which requires some creative thinking on the human end

Her superpowers are stored in her floppy ear, which recharges by bouncing when she runs

She will bring you gifts of dead worms (no regrets)

Final team intro is the most recent addition Bronn, a yearling SiberianBronn showed great promise in short runs last sea...
08/15/2025

Final team intro is the most recent addition Bronn, a yearling Siberian

Bronn showed great promise in short runs last season. He happily runs wheel and never showed signs of tiring

At this point Bronn is 90% reckless puppy, with glimmers of brilliance that peek through. We’ve been spending summer working on impulsiveness and focus. I think he could lead someday after gaining more experience and wisdom

Bronn LOVES working, and his favorite thing is being out and about. He doesn’t care where, he just wants to come along. Running errands will make his day. Home is boring, and instigating is fun

For all his recklessness, he wants to please people and his feelings are hurt easily. He looks for daily hugs and never outgrew making puppy grunts while snuggling. There’s a decent chance of waking up with him sound asleep on top of you any given night

More intros!! Gale is a 5 yr old female Siberian. She is as serious when in harness as she is unserious when out of harn...
08/14/2025

More intros!!

Gale is a 5 yr old female Siberian. She is as serious when in harness as she is unserious when out of harness. When she was 5 months old I took her out with some friends to start building positive experiences with harnesses. I hooked her up, she ran to the end of her line, visually located the trail entrance, and looked back at me over her shoulder, waiting, and I said “well damn you’re a leader, huh?”

She is almost always in lead, and doesn’t seem to want to be elsewhere. She has a job to do, so get out of her way. I rotate her out occasionally only to keep things flexible and keep her from feeling burn out

In typical Siberian fashion, she is mostly concerned with working with me. She is always keyed in to where I am and what’s going on. When she deems it time for attention, she requests belly rubs by head butting me then somersaulting so she’s upside down and on her back. If you want Gale snuggles, you get the hind end, always. She bashed 3.5 teeth out being bonkers as a yearling and loves to show everyone her special ($$$$$) smile

Also in typical Siberian fashion, she is pretty sure she knows better than me, always. While she is right a great deal of the time she will try to take the team off downhill trails for a chance to sprint, or fake seeing an animal in the woods to get everyone charging forward (no remorse)

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Boston, MA

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