Spring is here.....or is it?

Finished out our season with a day at Treetops resort and our last two scheduled tours of the year. Had a good week of warm weather that pretty much took care of our trail system leaving just a hard frozen base and plenty of bare ground on the trails. It was sad to see the snow go but gave us a chance to get a few spring projects done early, which never seems to happen.

Sunday being the first day of spring and a run of nice temps found us floating a section of the South Branch of the Ausable with Cash, Timmy and Sarah. It was just a quick float of a little over an hour but super nice to get back on the liquid water and relax. Not too sure if it was a sign of things to come but we did see our first Robbins of spring on this trip. Bet they are second guessing their early migration now. In other wildlife notes; the Bald Eagle that nests on Wakeley has been flying over each morning from her nest location to the river to fish. She must be getting ready to lay eggs soon I am guessing.

Monday was the little ones first birthday. We are shocked how fast the year went by and how fortunate we are to have such an amazing little girl who fits right into our outdoor lifestyle. I honestly think she likes to be in the backpack helping feed dogs more than I do! 

Well we learned Peyton like birthday cake


With our list of Spring projects longer than I care to think about we have dove right in to start shortening it up a bit. The dog box is off the truck and ready for its summer paint job, Sleds are stored, gear sorted out and organized, inventoiry taken for new equipment to order and build, and we finally found a supplier for our "dog barrells" that we use to house our crew. It took a trip to Grand Rapids but we were able to secure 18 new barrells to replace old ones and for our kennel addition to take place this summer for the pups.


Spring Projects

Well as much as we thought spring was here and being off the runners for 8 days with deteriorating trails and warm weather, mother nature came in and got the last laugh. I love her jokes though and the storm we got two nights ago left nearly a foot of snow and had us pulling the sleds back out and running dogs once again. Both dogs and humans had a blast yesterday and with the cool temps for the next week I really see us back on sleds at least until the 1st of the month. We will be here running every day so if you know of anyone wanting that experience of a sled dog adventure they can check out all the details at http://www.snowboundkennels.com/ or follow us through a "like" at snow bound adventures on facebook.

Short Clip of March 23rd run



I think that is all the rambling I have in me for one morning. Gotta head out to feed so I can get out with the dogs for the day.

take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton Riley

Catching up

Well to all of those who are dedicated readers of our blog, sorry for the lapse in reports. The computer went down about 3 weeks ago followed by my phone. As tough of a time as it was trying to respond to emails and comunicate on the buisness side of the kennel, it was a blessing in disguise. What amounted to a lack of comunication with the outside world proved to be the perfect opportunity to spend undistracted time with the family including our amazing kennel of dogs. Well to save all from the boring play by play here is a quick summary of the past few weeks;

• Finally got Peyton out on her first dog sled ride!
• Switched the entire kennel over to Red Paw Premium dog food with tremendous results!
• The Energy Drink Litter is now 10 weeks old.
• The Mountain Litter is now 8 weeks old.
• All pups are looking amazing and are progressing well in their "informal" training.
• Wrapped up our festival season.
• Had a bit of a warm up followed by another good dump of snow.
• Trails are currently in the best shape of the season and more snow is in the forecast.
• Continue to be busy meeting so many wonderful folks through our dog sled adventures.
• Plenty of dates left in March for those who want to get one last winter adventure in.
• Currently working on the remodel/expansion of the cabins sitting room.

Monday's Family dog sled adventure with Ma, Dad, Briea, and Peyton

This upcoming Saturday we will be at Treetops resort in Gaylord for our last set of rides for the season. If you know of anyone wanting to experience a ride in some of the most beautiful country in the world give them a call, I think there are still a few openings.

We are really looking forward to the next month. March always provides such amazing dog sledding. The days are getting longer, the temperature is super comfortable and the old sun really shines. As long as the snow holds out I'm optimistic we will be on sleds until April! Time for some long campouts with my furry friends.

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

Warm up

This past week started off with going out monday to run dogs only making it about a quarter mile out of the kennel before slamming into the telephone pole and injuring myself. Ok you can laugh, i didnt get hurt too bad, although i did have to call Tim to come "rescue" me from the woods and was cooped up for the rest of the week unable to run dogs. Looked the dogs over and were all fine, thankfully.

Saturday brought us a trip down to West Bloomfield for a winter festival giving sled rides. The event could not have went any better. Laurel, the one who put the event together, was an absolute pleasure to work with and an amazing person to have around. Thanks again!

After the festival on Saturday, we headed to Dundee to hit up Cabelas since I had never been there. Tim even talked me into trying a Smoked Elk sandwich while we were there and it was delicous!  Even though for us Cabelas is more of a "look don't buy" store, it was still a pleasure seeing all there was to offer.

Sunday morning we were joined by many folks at the Lyon Oaks park for presentations and rides. The weather was alright until about noon when the sun came out and it started getting warmer and warmer. By 3:00 it was near 50 degrees out. As much as I think everyone was enjoying the nice change in weather, the dogs were having trouble staying cool. But all in all I think it went ok.

Well off to enjoy the day with the family.

Take care.

Briea, Tim and Peyton

Awesome!

Awesome is the only way I can explain the week we have had. It was the perfect week in the temperature department for our guests adventures, which were amazing and a lot of fun!

We kicked off the weekend stretch with Tim and Karen. They are winter outdoor enthusiasts and spent time with us adding dog sledding to their list of winter fun. We also had a visit from the outback. The Benjamin family came for a go with the dogs. Transplants to Grand Rapids from Australia they were up to have some fun on their sons visit from down under. A really fun group who I could really relate to their adventuress spirit.

Tim behind a team of SBK dogs

The Benjamin's on a nice day out in the woods

Got to spend some time with another couple Saturday morning that reminded me a lot of Briea and Myself. Adam and Jessica came up from some of my old stomping grounds to hit the trails. The weather was beautiful with perfect temps and plenty of sunshine. Too the company was great and we could have hung out all day chatting it up about all the topics we shared in common.

Jess and her team for the day

We wrapped the weekend up with a true Iditarod fanatic. Bonita set her husband Tom up with an adventure with us to help quench his Iditarod thirst. I think we probably only made it worse. It was a blast getting to talk about the race again with someone who is truly passionate about everything involving the race. Sure does give me the desire to try and run again.

Tom Living the Dream

Pleased with the results of the Super Bowl and the amazing time we had watching it at Brieas Dads place. Nice to see such a stand up team be the world champs.

Yesterday was a much needed day of R&R. We caught breakfast with Ma and Pa Riley at their new cabin then (I hate to admit this) spent the remainder of the day being lazy except for a short snow shoe hike with the little girl just to get some fresh air.

All the dogs are looking great and are in fine form. Found some new trail options that I am anxious to explore as soon as we have time. Puppies are all growing like weeds and we are starting to see their individual personalities.

Energy Drink Litter are going to be great eaters!

Off for a dog food run then back to the kennel to get some projects started while Briea gets a couple teams out on training runs. We are starting to focus on grooming our future leaders and seeing who has the desire to be up front on our respective race teams next year.

Take care and keep warm out there.

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

On the go.....

Been crazy busy around here, getting the opportunity to meet and share the dogs with so many folks. It has been a blast! After a full week of tours we loaded up 8 of the dogs and made the run down to SE Michigan for the Rochester Fire and Ice fest.While in the area we stopped by Lake Orion dog park to give rides and demos for folks. The dogs did a great job socializing the people and had a lot of fun. We got to see so many cool dogs too, most notably a Leonurger which is the largest dog I have ever seen and a dog I picked out of the crowd. I recognized Kazoo, a dog that I watched one summer as a pup for the Stielstras. He is all grown up now and I think after almost 3 years he still remembered me.

Rides at Lake Orion



Dog Sled Demos

We got a day off this week amongst all the fun and had a great time playing with the puppies and snowshoeing with Peyton as well as getting out on the trails with just Briea and I for the first time in almost a month. The area also got a fresh dump (10'') of snow and the trails are in great shape. Winter in the woods sure is a beautiful time of year. I am really jonesin to get the dogs out on an extended camping trip.

Peyton out Snowshoeing

Puppy Chores

Hope everyone is keeping warm and enjoying time with friends and family.

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

Cold Fun.....

Been a fun but cold week here at the kennel. We got a bit more snow early in the week and then the temperatures dropped a great deal.

The week started off with a solo tour from a fellow Northern Michigander. Tim was a true natural on the sled and even captured some video footage on his new video glasses. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Tim....King of the world!

With all this new snow I couldn't help but sneak out with the little girl for a little snow shoeing before the cold snap hit. She loved every minute of it and actually stayed awake the whole time.

Getting the lil girl all bundled up for her hike.

We also finally got Briea's Ma Faye back in town from Texas after 3 flight cancelations and over a week of trying to get here. Sure is nice having her around and Peyton loves getting to see Granny every day!

While the girls hung out mid week I had the chance to get 8 of the dogs out on a long run. I forgot how much I like taking off with a team for the day and really miss having the excuse of race training so I can do more of these types of runs. Has me considering a race or two for next year.

My team of 8 for the day.

Saturday was spent at the Griffins Great Skate Festival in Grand Rapids. The roads were a little rough and made for a slow drive south but once there the dogs really enjoyed all the folks who braved the cool temps to come out, pet the dogs and support this great event. The proceeds went towards helping young kids get into the sport of hockey who otherwise would not have the opportunity. We were glad to be a part of it and met a lot of great people and dog lovers.

Hanging out with the dogs in downtown GR

Woke this morning to -28 degrees on the themometer. Out doing dog chores in these temps isn't too bad but I always forget things break much easier in this kind of temps. Actually broke the handle off the dog truck just opening the door.

With things warming up to a balmy 5 below by noon Briea and I got to get out together for the first time in awhile with our own teams. It was a beautiful crisp sunny day for a dog run and I really enjoyed getting to spend it together. Once back home and the dogs snuggled back into their houses we brought Lucite and her 10, 4 week old pups in for some puppy time. Peyton really loves all the puppies and they are starting to think she is pretty swell too.

Briea doing her best to stay warm

Peyton and her puppies

Looks like the forecast has things warming up a bit to a comfortable 20 above for the week so should give us a chance to get out on the snowshoes some more and of course explore some new trails with the dogs.

Take care and stay warm,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

New Snow and yep, more dog running.

This past week brought us more of that great white stuff. In all we got nearly 8 additional inches here at the kennel, 6 of which came Friday night.

We are excited about all the amazing folks we met over the weekend coming out to see the dogs and drive a team through the the new snow. Just something about fresh snow hanging in the pine bows makes me super happy. The weekend kicked off Friday with the Dyers visit from Monroe. They spend a ton of time here in Northern Michgan and it was a pleasure to share this new experience with them.

Mrs. Dyer and her Team of Dogs

Yesterday we were happy to have Leanne and Denise come over to run dogs with us. These gals are a lot of fun and actually have been volunteering at the Tahquamenon dog race in the UP since it start. We truly appreciate their efforts. Sad thing was through all this experience around sled dogs they had never been behind a team of dogs. So we got them set up and it was a blast. Denise even was able to capture some of it on her fancy new video sunglasses. I can't wait to see the footage!

Taking a break on the trail with Denise and LeAnn

To wrap up our weekend we were really happy to have hosted Elena and her family. Elena and her Grandma are from Russia and Grandma actually used dogs for work and travel in Siberia. She was a wealth of information and stories and I could have chatted it up with her all day. This family really gets into the outdoor adventures and a trip with them would be nothing short of amazing.

Elena and Family getting some love from Quinn

Saturday we had our first official Tour Day at Treetops resort in Gaylord. It was a great success and we would like to thank all of those who came out to see the dogs and go for a ride. It was a lot of fun getting to meet so many new faces and share the dogs with them. We will be out there again from 10am to 5pm on February 19th. So come say hello and wish Briea a Happy Birthday!

Rides at Treetops

Pups are all doing amazing. Lucite and Tea Tree are great moms. Lucite's pups now have their eyes open and Tea Tree's pups at just a week old are very active. We decided to go with a mountain theme for Tea Tree's pups.

Smokey (M)

Teton (M)

Denali (F)

For the upcoming weekend we will be in downtown Grand Rapids at the Great Skate Winterfest. It's a fundraiser for the Griffins Youth Foundation that provides opportunities for more than 300 underprivileged, underserved and physically challenged children to play the sport of hockey at no cost. There is a lot going on there filled with winter inspired events and a 24 hour skating marathon with the Griffins players. So come check it out and stop by to say hello and pet the dogs. We will be set up in front of the museum.

There are a lot of trails around now with plenty of snow to get out on a pair of snow shoes or skis so we hope everyone is taking adventage of this new snow and the long weekend. As for us we are off to get our kennel chores done and spend the day taking peyton out on her first snowshoe hike.

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

Tours continue and puppies!!!

Busy weekend here at the kennel. Started the whirlwind of craziness on Thursday with a spur of the moment visit from 9 and 10 news looking for an outdoor recreation story for their hook and hunting piece for the week. It was kind of a rush as they had to get back to Cadilac on bad roads before the 5:00 news but I think it turned out ok. You can check it out at: http://www.9and10news.com/Category/?id=69

As a result Thursday night and Friday was spent answering calls for upcoming trips. Glad to see so many folks interested in getting out with the dogs. Truly fun to watch someone get on the runners and experince this for the first time. I often wonder if anyone will jump right into the lifestyle like I did so many years ago after Russ and Sherry hooked up that first team for me.

So the weekend was spent with two very cool groups. Saturday we had the pleasure to host two couples from Kalamazoo. The Soisson and Campbells were a real treat and true dog people. Sunday we were fortunate to have Brian and Cecilia from Cleveland. They are major animal nuts and I think could get into this whole dog thing in a second. Sure hope to see them again. They remind me a lot of Briea and I.




Campbell Tour



Cecilia and her team

In puppy news; Lucite and her 10 pups (7 females and 3 males) are doing great. They are 12 days old now, have had their dew claws removed and should have their eyes open any day now. Really excited about these pups. We decided to go with an energy drink theme. Names and pics to come soon. Also while I type this Tea Tree sits 5 feet away and has just given birth to her third pup and looks to have at least one more to go. So far she has had 2 males and 1 female. One each of the males and female are blonde just like her.

Tea Tree Pups....so far.....

Have the next couple days free to get caught up on things then off to Treetops resort and more tours. Hope everyone is getting out and enjoying his beautiful winter we are having.

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

Happy New Year!

Happy  New Year to everyone! Hope your holiday season was full of fun and time spent with friends and family. We wrang in the new year here at the kennel with a bonfire surrounded by friends and family. No other way we would rather spend it. Plus we had the pleasure of some down state family with Briea's Brother and family making the trip North as well as my Aunt and Uncle and kids coming up to celebrate the coming of 2011. Sure was a pleasure seeing them for the first time in a while.

The past week has been a blast meeting new faces from all over the world while running dogs. We had a Mom and Son come from South Carolina as part of seeing all 50 states together, a family from central Ohio on their holiday break, as well as a French speaking group from Switzerland. Could not have asked for a better group of folks.

McDougals from Ohio

Michelle Snipes fro South Carolina

Swiss Group

Plus in the middle of all of this Lucite had 10 puppies! Anyone who knows her and how small she is would understand my shock. 10 was quite a few for this little girl to have. I am happy to report though that all pups are doing great and Mom is a natural in the motherhood department. Name choices to come soon........

Lucite and the 10 new additions to the kennel

With the New Year came a pretty significant warm up with temps in the mid 40's for a few days. Trails took a pretty good hit forcing us to take a couple days off, which will be a good break for us and the dogs to catch/rest up, maybe do a bit of ice fishing! With the forcast for the week we should be running strong again shortly.

In other news Michigan State's lackluster performance in their Bowl Game Saturday left me not so optimistic about next year while the Lions finished the season with a roar winning their last 4 games. Very Nice!

Well good luck to everyone in the New Year, we hope it is the best year for you yet.

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton

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!