Christmas

Well Christmas couldn’t have gone any better. It was so rewarding to watch Peyton open her presents on her first Christmas. Although I think she enjoyed the wrapping paper more than what was inside, she has plenty of new toys to play with for a long time to come. With time spent with family on Christmas day, the evening was spent running the dogs on a new 18 mile trail we scouted out. It was an amazing night to be out under the stars and each dog pulled their hearts out truly enjoying their Christmas run. I couldn’t be more proud of the group of dogs we have in our kennel.



Peyton enjoying the box more than the present.



On the 23^rd we had a wonderful family come out for a tour. It was a blast having the kids (Landry, Kellen, Peyton and Tonna) around to spoil our dogs, rabbits and chickens! Bridget and Paul were naturals on the sleds, not one wipe out. It was also Tonna’s birthday and we were hoping Lucite would have her puppies while they were here, but unfortunately she is still holding out and is as big as a house!

Schneider family

 

Lucite enjoying some couch time

Yesterdays tour was with Becky and Larry from Southern Indiana, who were in the area snowmobiling. Larry bought Becky a tour as a Christmas gift. With plenty of Laughs, we had a good ole’ time! 

Becky learning to drive a sled

 Thanks everyone who has stopped out and given us the opportunity to take you out with the dogs. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a great New Year. We will be at Treetops resort in Gaylord New Years eve, so if you don’t have plans come on out to see the dogs, go for a ride and do a little skiing.

Take care,

Briea, Tim and Peyton

                                                           

Christmas Already?

As usual I sit here less than a week until Christmas not knowing where to begin with all there is to do. The Christmas tree I scouted out during deer season needs to be cut and decorated, puppy pen needs final touchups for our upcoming litter, the dreaded shopping and wrapping of Christmas presents awaits, and of course as much dog running as we can.

We had the pleasure of Jill and Ian Welsh join us on a dog sled adventure this past weekend. The day was perfect for running dogs and Ian proved to be a natural on the runners. Jill too by the end of our journey had it down and looked like she could have gone on forever. It was such a nice day we too didn't want it to end. Thanks for the great times Ian and Jill.

Spent yesterday finalizing the trail at Treetops resort in Gaylord for our rides this winter. They open up full time on December 26th and we will be there with the dogs December 31st, January 15, February 19, and March 12. So come on out to ski and take a ride with the dogs while there. To check them out or book your winter fun check out http://www.treetops.com/

Work is done for me for the year so I am pretty happy about getting to run dogs full time for a couple months. It does seem like I am busier and work a lot harder when I am off in the winter.

We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. We are really looking forward to spending our first Christmas with Peyton!

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton Riley

A True Musher!

Well the snow is slowly coming and I think it may be here to stay. Although we had only a few inches this past Friday, Tim and I decided we would hook up a four dog team and go clear the trails. Being new to this, I was pretty excited to be on a sled. However, the adventure didn’t come without a few bumps and bruises along the way. Tim and I dumped the sled three times while out and about. Tim’s advice went a little like this, “Briea, whatever you do don’t let go of the sled!” So each time I fell, I was thankful to still be gripping the sled handle. Now, the next day was a different story… while out on the sled, Tim hopped off and told me to take the turn, only when I did I hit a fallen tree and the sled was ripped from my hands, oops! There went the dogs barreling down the trail with no driver. Tim finally caught up to them almost two miles away. Thank you Tim! He came back and picked me up after gathering the team. All he told me was, “you’re not a true musher until you’ve lost your dog team.”

Quinn getting family time

Briea, Tim and Peyton

First Snow!

Well as we know December is right around the corner, with Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas near, we can only hope for lots of snow! With the first day that the snow actually stuck, we were sure to get the dogs out for a run. And as usual, they loved it. Every time we stopped for breaks they were all screaming at Tim and I to let them keep on, turning around and looking at us with what seemed like a big question mark hanging over their heads asking “why are we stopped?” when stopping for a water break, we turn the four wheeler off and tighten the breaks so we can water and tell each one how great they are doing….only on the day of the snow, we got the water dishes from the back of the four wheeler and to my surprise, they took off! Glad to say they didn’t get too far as Tim grabbed the machine and jumped on to put them at a halt.

First snow

Hopefully the snow will be here to stay real soon, as we are itching to get on the sleds! We are booking more and more winter festivals and tours and can’t wait to be a part in teaching people all about the sled dogs and everything in between.

Tata for now,

Briea, Tim and Peyton

                                                                                             

Thanksgiving!!!!!

Sorry to all you dedicated blog readers, I know its been awhile since our last post. Can I use the "super busy around here" excuse again?

Well today is Thanksgiving, my absolute favorite holiday in the world, and I have so much to be thankful for. First the two most beautiful girls in my life. I don't know how I ever got olong without them. A close second is my extended family who are always here to support us in all our endeavors. Third I am very fortunate to have some of the best dogs in the world always happy to see me and put a smile on my face. Oh and I guess we can not forget to mention how thankful I am that MSU is 11-1!

Lil girls first Thanksgiving today!

To get caught up on the happenings around here, when I say we have been busy that is no lie. First we are excited to announce our partnership with Treetops resort in Gaylord, Michigan. We will be giving dogsled rides up there several weekends this winter. A couple weeks ago we were invited to meet with their golf and ski pro to discuss the potential of us doing rides there and scout out a trail. The meeting went great and we set some dates to make it happen. We are looking forward to spending time up there this winter showing off the dogs and meeting new folks.

With winter fast approaching we are feeling the time crunch on getting last minute projects done. Finally got a new dog box built for the truck (just needs paint). Built the "retirement" yard for our faithful elderly dogs, prepped the puppy pen for Lucites pups (yep gonna have a December litter), and continually helping Ma and Dad move into their new place down the road.

Dog Box almost done

With the weather cool we can run dogs longer and about any time we want. So we have been opting to run more towards mid day to avoid conflict with deer hunters. All the dogs are looking good and I think this is one of the strongest, no doubt the fastest, dog teams I have ever had. Sure wish we were planning on racing some days. Also got the dogs switched over to their winter diet of meat and kibble. Sure is cool watching them enjoy eating so much!

Speaking of Deer season, we have been working pretty hard at filling the freezer. Unfortunately the deer have not been cooperating with me much this year. Don did have some success taking a nice 6 point out back one evening. Briea and I helped him cut up and package it yesterday and he was super generous in giving us a share in the meat for our help!

Don's Buck

That should about get us caught up for now. I am sure in the blur that November has been I am forgetting a few things here and there but that is the bulk of it. Off now to brew another pot of coffee, get Thanksgiving dinner on the cook, wake the girls, and watch Peytons first Macey's Parade on the TV. Gonna say a little prayer too for the Detroit Lions game.

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

Getting Cooler....

We woke up this morning and it was 12 degrees out with a slight blanket of snow on the ground…wonderful. Although this week will be great for training dogs, I have been told it will warm up next week to almost 60. I’m hoping by the next week we will get snow snow snow! We have the new dog yard all finished and pretty much full. Thanks to mom and chuck, we were donated a small shed that makes perfect for harnesses and other such dog equipment.  

New Dog Yard Finished

                                                            

Tim has been pretty successful trapping the past week. We’ve got two beavers, a raccoon, and a mink so far and who knows, he may come back with more as he is gone checking traps right this moment. Tim decided to hike the couple miles back to the lake from our cabin the other day to check his beaver traps. I get a call about 45 minutes later from him asking if I would come get him off the road where he had hiked out and said he had left the beavers in the woods. So we went back, got a couple bungee straps and a back pack and I dropped him back off and waited for him to come back. I was confused about this as I had always pictured beavers to be small and about 15 or 20 lbs….until he came out of the woods with two HUGE beavers! Just the one weighed about 60 lbs. needless to say, I was confused no more!

First Catch

                                                                      

On another note, Tim and I went on a double date with my brother Timmy and his gal Sarah to the see a movie on Thursday. We decided to see paranormal activity 2. Scary is an understatement! I never thought I would watch a movie that would actually stress me out. The anticipation of the “jumpy” parts was sickening! If you like scary movies, this is the one for you!

Briea, Tim, and baby Peyton   

                                                                                

       

                                      

First Runs With the New Cew....

Thankfully the temperatures cooperated a couple nights this week and yesterday morning to allow us to get the new recruits out on a few runs. This in addition to trucking the dogs to a new trail made for some very pleasant running. Thursday night as we hooked up at sundown we were fortunate enough to get a little moonlight running in. I almost forgot how beautiful running a team of dogs at night is.



I must say the 4 recent additions to our kennel are truly spectacular dogs. Spelling and Nome run a very nice lead and the yearlings, Lucite and Zircon work their butts off. Not only that, just like the rest of our team they are super happy dogs and just love to be out running. I am also excited at how well everyone seemed to mesh and work together almost instantly like they have been a team all their lives. I should make special mention one dog that we have had for a bit now who is surpassing all of my expectations. Dove is just 10 months old and is already looking like a seasoned vet in the team. She is remarkable in every way although goes unnoticed often as she just does her job without any flair or drawing attention to herself. I hope some day to start grooming this girl as a leader. But for now we will just let her sit back and keep doing her thing. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised as we also have her Grandad Quinn in the kennel who is an exceptional dog in his own right.

First runs with the new additions.



Dove

In other news Michigan State barely squeaked by Northwestern Yesterday. But a win is a win and being 8 and 0 is pretty sweet!

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton Riley



4 New Additions to SBK

With 4 new additions to our kennel we are approaching a full dog yard. Let me tell you that it’s an amazing feeling! With the tour bookings already coming in for this winter, we anticipate a great winter with new friends. The days are getting colder as we wait for the snow to fly. I imagine when we get to harness and hook up a couple more dogs to the fall training line I will have the break on at all times as they drag me on the four wheeler like its nothing!

Lucite

Nome

Zircon

Spelling

Yesterday began with quite the adventure. I woke to the dogs going nuts as though they were hungry, so I went out and filled the water buckets and headed to the yard and quickly realized they were barking for another reason. Just as I looked up here comes a dog (Nome) running full speed right past me! I dropped the buckets of water and ran like a track star thinking “well there goes one of the new additions to the kennel.” Luckily we were dog sitting my mom’s dog Charlie who is a boarder collie. He quickly corralled Nome as he stopped long enough for me to grab his collar. Kudos to you Charlie! So now that we are all settled in and getting to know each of the new dogs, we are chomping at the bit to see them run.

Briea, Tim, and baby Peyton                         

 p.s. Peyton has chose to be a little bumble bee for Halloween!

Just can't get enough Fall

Fall has always been may favorite season of the year. There is so much going on in this time of transition and I love every minute of it. Lately we have still been picking away at odds and ends in preparation for winter here at the kennel. No matter what we get done from year to year there is always another large to do list that keeps growing with projects to be done.

Briea adding a coat of paint to the window trim

The trees right now are doing their best to hold on to the colors but are losing the battle fast with the wind forcing the leaves to the ground. I bet another week and it will be time to rake up the last of 2010's leaf litter.

Brieas Dad had a friend needing a home for 5 of his laying hens so we added them to the mix last week. These 5 coupled with the 3 from our chicks last year are keeping the fridge stocked full of eggs.

Looks like Omelet time!

Not having been on a certain stretch or two of the Ausable much this year we decided to slip the canoe in for another quick after work float last week. We made it a short one as Peyton joined Briea and I but I sure am glad we did. The river is in amazing shape and only saw one other canoe the whole way down. Peyton played peek a boo from her moms arms with me paddling in the back until she could no longer stay awake and fell asleep for the remainder of the trip.

I think she wants to paddle....

It amazes me how few people take the opportunity to get on the river this time of year. To me it is the perfect season for it. You are rewarded with mild temps, amazing views and wonderful wildlife viewing opportunity as they make their own winter preparations.

Cool air over night has me looking towards winter and getting the sleds out. If what all the old timers are saying is true we could have a long winter with a lot of snow. Lets hope so.

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

Never Enough Time....

Well as usual Fall is here and there never seems like there are enough hours in the day to get everything done. We have been super busy here at the kennel getting the finishing touches on the new dog yard and last minute projects done to the cabin before winter. It has not been all work though. We have been getting the dogs out on quite a few runs. In fact I think we were able to get more runs in the month of September than I ever have. I also let Briea talk me into a couple nights of Walleye fishing last week. I sure do love those fresh Walleye in the skillet!

Dove and Myah sharing a drink

I love these guys!

Week Two of Fall Training

Sunday brought us another cold morning with temperatures in the low 30’s. We all know what that means… harness up boys and girls it’s time to run! When I awoke I looked outside and didn’t need to know that it was cold enough to run dogs, as they already knew. Every single one of them were staring at the cabin with clouds of foggy breath coming from each of their synchronized howls. What a wonderful sight! So, we bundled up and headed out to let the dogs do what they do best. Amongst getting things around, I look over and here is little Conner dressed in his daddy’s hoody and using his wool socks as mittens,  watching his uncle Tim and aunt Briea harness the excited and ready to go dogs.  It was a little more hectic getting started than the first run, seeing how the fourwheeler didn’t want to stay running, but Tim and Danny got a kick out of watching me try to get it started. After getting it to idle without stalling out, we were on our way down the drive way. Every dog looked so great; no tangles, slacking lines, or disagreements. When stopping for water breaks, all six dogs were chomping at the bit to keep running. A few would lap up water quickly, while the rest were yanking on their lines waiting to get the show on the road. Mornings such as these ones are priceless!

Briea, Tim, and Peyton

Fall training

We woke up yesterday morning to see that it was 37 degrees out. What was on our minds? Fall training! Tim was all jazzed up while drinking his morning pot of coffee and discussing how things will happen. Me on the other hand can't wait to see the dogs harnessed and running as a team...in real life I might add. Still new to this all, I ask Tim all about what is going to happen. As he is going over what to do while on the quad: running, braking, shifting, etc. he is talking a million miles a minute and I have to keep stopping him to go over it once more. As we fitted the dogs to the harnesses and started to hook them up, it was an amazing sight to see. I know now why he tied the four wheeler to a tree! We had the two pups next to each other, Dove and Myah, I need to add that this would be the first time Myah had ever seen a harness and had no idea what was about to happen. As we started off you might think by watching them that they had been running together forever! They looked so good running in harness.

First Fall training of 2010

    After the dogs were all watered and safely back in their kennel, we cruised over to get little peyton from her papa's house. As we were leaving, Tim and Dad started to discuss bird hunting. So from there we stopped at gates lodge to buy a small game license. The afternoon consisted of the boys, including Johnny Cash, in the woods, hunting for grouse. Just a couple hours later they pulled in with 3 birds. Cash was so proud of what he had accomplished, flushing the birds and retrieving them for the guys.

                                                     

                                                      First grouse of the 2010 season

                                                      Briea, Tim,and Peyton

Fall is here....well almost

Driving around at work last week I started to think what makes Fall officially here. After much deep contiplation I assure you I came up with a short list of all the things that make me decide my favorite season of the year is upon us:

• 
  
  Cool mornings and cooler nights
• 
  
  Flanal pajamas
• 
  
  Bonfires
• 
  
  Hooded sweatshirts
• 
  
  Hunting seasons
• 
  
  Leaves begin to change
• 
  
  Restless kennel

It appears from my classification of fall we are in full swing.

This past weekend brought us sitting by the fire each night with friends and family. Evenings have been getting cooler so we finally got to bust out the hoody's for the fall. Also with the cooler temps at night throwing on a pair of the flanel pajamas just feels so nice. We had Briea's Ma, Faye, aka Peyton's Granny come out to the cabin for a couple days bringing with her all the fun and smiles you could imagine as well as Cash's best friend Charlie Dog. While the girls hung out and cooked amazing meals I had the chance to get some work done on the cabin for winter and all the odds and ends that just seem to be there needing done.

Sunday I began to notice the dogs getting a bit restless as a result of the cooler temps we have had. I think they are as ready to start fall training as I am. After free running the kennel dogs and morning chores were complete the girls and I got out on a hike in the Mason Tract of the South Branch. If you have never been on the trail system there check it out it's remarkable no matter what time of year you visit (shameless plug; contact us about snowshoe and CC ski trips we offer there). It was Peytons first hike in that area of the forest and as usual she enjoyed her ride on Dad's back. As she grows I can see I am going to get in better backpacking shape again.

Peyton enjoying the view

View from the trail

Sunday afternoon was spent hanging at Cousin Kelly and Neil's new place in Luzerne. They finally found the right piece of paradise to call home. Pretty amazing little spot they have with the West Branch of Big Creek and a nice 2 acre pond right on the property....oh pretty sure there is a house there too.

My Spartans beat Florida Atlantic over the weekend so we are 2-0 and life is good in the college football world.

Tomorrow (Sept. 15) bird season starts here for the fall. Cash has been itching to get out and find me some birds so I guess I will have to give in and spend some more time in the woods tomorrow.....man life is rough. Also for those of you trying to plan your northern trip to catch the fall colors we are not far off. While checking out some wildlife openings yesterday we started to notice a few of the trees starting to color up a bit. In the next couple weeks things should be getting really good.

So back to the list.....

Bonfires...check...Flannel PJs....check....Cool mornings and cooler nights....check....hoodys....check....leaves beginning to change....check....restless dogs....check....hunting season......starts tomorrow morning.....

Have a great week everyone and don't get so busy with life that Fall passes you by.

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

A soggy Labor Day Weekend....

Had a great weekend here at the kennel getting chores done and out for a bit of adventure between the raindrops. Wanting to take full advantage of the long weekend we had an ambitious list of to dos waiting for us on Friday night.

Saturday morning was our weekly trip to Gaylord for groceries and errands followed by a trip a bit further North to pick up the two newest additions to our kennel. Quinn and Dove come from Celtic Moon Kennels in Wisconsin. Becky Clark did an amazing job with these two and we are happy to have them here with our crew. Both are super friendly and very happy dogs. Also it was Peytons first trip across the mighty Mackinac Bridge s we stopped for a gander braving the gale force winds at the straights. Once back and the dogs settled the rain came and between downpours I was able to get a few barrels turned into new dog houses. Also we got Peyton's new swing hung that she picked out at the store earlier in the morning.

The girls on the LP side of the Bridge

Sunday had us up before the alarm could sound excited for the canoe trip down the S. Branch we had planned. The weather looked great and both of us were happy about getting the chance to get on the river together as Ma and Pa Riley volunteered to watch the little girl for us. The trip was as beautiful as always and we saw very few folks from the Smith Bridge access all the way to the Conners Flat launch on the main branch. Made me wonder why anyone would sleep in with opportunities like this, especially right in our back yard.

South Branch of the AuSable River

The afternoon brought a fun filled horseshoe tournament with Brieas dad down at Jellystone Campground. It was a great time even if we did get our butts kicked. Good people there though with outstanding hosts in Tim and Lori.

Well with all of the fun I was starting to worry about getting the projects done we had planned so Monday brought insulating the new bedroom, hooking up the gas line for the furnace and to be honest just a bunch of random stuff thankfully interrupted by getting to push my little girl on her new swing. Going to make this a part of every to do list as it is a nice break in the work load.

Guess looking back now the weekend was busier than I had remembered. Life only looks to get more exciting for awhile as cooler temps mean we can start training dogs again! Also take a look and pass the word about the adventures page of the website. After running a couple snowshoe tours in the past We decided to make it a fixture in the adventures we offer. These are great trips for first timers wanting to learn the ropes to seasoned shoers who just want to check out some new county and have the company of a friendly guide take all the worries out of the trip for them. Plus I promise some of Brieas amazing cookies to those who come on out.

Take Care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

2 New Dogs From Celtic Moon Kennels Arrive today!

Quinn

Dove