Yukikaze Siberians

28/12/2024

Our first 30 miler of the season officially in the books!

23/12/2024

We finally hit 500 miles for the season. Despite the constant setbacks, we keep moving forward. And no we don't let subzero real feels stop us either! While 3 hours on an ATV isn't super fun for us humans in these temps, the dogs have no complaints and are loving it!

20/12/2024

Some photos from Ethan Howard. Such good pups ♥️

09/12/2024

Gone entirely too soon is our sweet Solstice. Bred by myself and owned by Jaye, Solstice was a shining light in our lives with a pure and gentle soul. He got along with anyone and was the easiest, quiet boy to live with. We are currently having a necropsy done to hopefully shed more light on why this tragedy happened, but in the meantime our hearts are entirely broken to lose a beautiful life so young.

28/11/2024

My last run with the dogs for November was certainly a beautiful one! They'll be getting the next two days off, and then Saturday I'll be working so the team will go out without me. Then it's onto December where we really start plugging away at the miles. 😎

22/11/2024

We have nearly 300 miles so far accumulated for the season, and we have many more miles to go! All of my dogs in the race pool are still handling the 20 mile runs with ease and finishing every run with tight tugs. I am officially entered in Midnight Run and Can Am 100, and will submit our entry for Wilderness soon as well. I just hope the snow is a little kinder to us this season so all these beloved races go off successfully, and am eager to hit the trails provided they do! :)

18/11/2024

We had a great weekend at the Ethan Howard Memorial Dryland race! I entered in 4 dog rig and 2 dog bike. I was so proud of how my dogs did! I had Rukia and Deku in lead and Shirou and Brida in wheel for 4 dog rig, and then I had Tira and Comet for 2 dog bike. All six had just come off 3 days of training 15-20 miles Wednesday-Friday. I feel this was a big ask to have them then spend a weekend doing 2 mile sprints, but all of them eagerly took to the trail. Day 1 was 2.3 miles, and day 2 was 1.5 miles (due to the temps). I
My team ended up 9th out of 13 overall and 2nd out of 2 northern breed for 4 dog rig, and then 10th out of 14 overall and 2nd out of 3 for 2 dog bike. Not bad for some mid distance dogs! I also have to shout out that this was Comet and Shirou's first race ever and they both handled it like total pros, and this was the first time I'd ever hooked Comet up to a bike but he handled it like he was an experienced bikejor dog and didn't miss a beat. The race itself was super well organized, it had a great crew of awesome people and I had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone. I'm going to give all my dogs tomorrow off to finally rest, and then we'll be back at it prepping for the longer stuff ;)

10/11/2024

A reminder to listen to your dogs. ♥️

Yesterday we went out to run as usual and hookup itself was uneventful. Jaye usually goes out first and I go out behind her, and we're always swapping the teams each run so the dogs are used to both of us.

Jaye had my Rukia in swing on her team, and as Jaye took off Rukia was braking as hard as she could. Full on sitting down, head back, refusing to budge. I left my team and tried to encourage Rukia forward, thinking perhaps her partner had just scared her but unsure as this was NOT something she'd ever done before. After a couple minutes I decided to pull her from Jaye's team, and I was either going to throw her in the trailer and leave her behind or try her on my team (I had an empty spot as I was running the 15 dog team). Ultimately, I knew something was off with her, and though I couldn't place it I just knew I needed to pull her off Jaye's team and try to figure it out.

Just as I was pulling Rukia off the team, a small tree broke from the wind and fell right over us. I heard a crack and looked over to see the tree coming right at me, though in hindsight it really wasn't that big of a tree, but it still surprised me! I threw the dogs aside to get out of its way and flattened to the ground, but luckily the branches caught on another tree and everyone was ok. I truly believe Rukia heard the tree breaking and was trying to prevent the team from taking off due to that. We were cutting branches right as Kim and Kelly arrived (thankful to them both for helping!) and then I helped Jaye get her team off and running. I returned to my team and Rukia was banging in harness, ready to go like nothing happened.

The dogs all looked great, we ran a brisk 15.5 miles with the wind cold in our faces and the trails gorgeous as ever. I couldnt be prouder of my Rukia for looking out for her team, she really is one in a million. ♥️

04/11/2024

Up to 11 miles - really happy with how the dogs look!

28/10/2024

All our dogs are looking great this season! :)

27/10/2024

We had a great day at the NCM Branchbrook camping weekend. We took small five dog teams to really focus on new leaders with commands and passing. I brought Chise, Tira, Rukia, and Comet as my leaders who I felt needed the practice (purely commands for the first three, and overall experience for Comet). Everyone did a really nice job! I was proud of how they handled all the passes and really felt they were improving through the morning. Then in the evening I brought Saphira just to socialize as we hung around the campfire with great friends. Overall a lovely day ♥️

06/10/2024

Very proud of Solstice from my Yona x Shaman Galaxy litter who got his first time in lead today. Solstice has a wonderful natural gee over and is very focused, so we figured we'd give him a shot and he was a natural. :)

05/10/2024

Squinty eyes = eye clinic day! Today Jaye and I took several of our dogs and everyone passed. I had all four of the Galaxies (Astral, Comet, Stellar, Solstice) cleared and Rumple, Chise, Deku, and Rukia cleared again.

28/09/2024

I want to thank my beautiful friend and work bestie Darian Chapman for sponsoring my handsome Deku! Arguably my current #1 race dog. ♥️

Deku is 3 years old and a silly sassy male. He hangs out in the day with his uncle Shirou and loves to give roos roos whenever I walk by. He also gives the best hugs!! Deku is from my friend Tasha and has been an absolute force in harness. He has been on my race team the past two seasons and moved his way up to lead my Wilderness 35 team last season, and thanks to his enthusiasm and drive with his co lead Flint we had a good time despite the heat. Deku doesn't injure and doesn't seem to tire. He can go forever! He logged 1017 miles last season and has been just such an impressive youngster. Deku is a reliable leader on training runs and is shaping up on his commands. He is over halfway to his SD title and should earn it this season so long as the races go off! I plan for him to lead a lot this season as well and expect to see him leading my team as I move to the longer races. ♥️

https://yukikazesiberians.weebly.com/meet-deku.html

04/09/2024

27/08/2024

Happy International Dog Day ♥️