Aaron Burmeister's Dogs

    It’s time you were introduced to some of the sled dogs here. We’ll start with Aaron’s (Flat Dog Kennels) dogs:

    There are eighteen dogs total: three little pups (about six months old), two yearlings and thirteen adults.

    The pups are out of Banshe and Hawkeye:

-         A little miniature Hawkeye, Pike, is the only boy in the litter. He’s mostly brown with a black saddle and floppy ears. I thought he was the sweetest puppy in the litter until I started walking him…and found out he liked to beat up all the other pups – even Scott’s bigger males wouldn’t stand up to him!

-         Remedy is a black girl with brown markings on her cheeks and face. She likes to be the boss and has a bad habit of constantly jumping on you, especially when you’re trying to clean her circle.

-         Justice is a miniature Banshe, which is sad because it means she’s not a pretty puppy and her personality is the best out of the litter! When I clipped all the dog’s toenails, Justice was the easiest to do – out of the entire kennel. She is very willing to please.

    The two yearlings are out of Ruger and a Lance Mackey dog named Lucy (out of Hobo) – which the Burmeister’s no longer have.

-         Coldfoot is a huge black dog, but he’s very laid back and focused on pleasing people. The one drawback to his personality is that he loves getting petted and will lean hard against you when you un-harness him. He’s almost fallen off his house when I step away! He’s one of my leaders in training.

-         Kanuti is also black and has Remedy’s unfortunate habit. In addition, she seems to leave her mental powers in the dog house every morning…which makes her difficult to work with – especially since Aaron wants her to run lead!

    The first eight adults are dogs that were bred by Aaron. I will say that I was surprised, and a bit disappointed, at how few of the dogs here are actually “his breed”.

-         Roxy looks like a Seppala Siberian – for those of you familiar with them she looks identical to a dark-gray one with blue eyes. She also runs kind of like one, not overly leggy or athletic and has a rather reserved/shy personality. However, she is one of Aaron’s leaders and is definitely not part Seppala! She is out of Banshe and Taos (see below) 

-         Hawkeye is an older dog on my team, who runs swing (point). There is a bit of discrepancy about his age because Aaron says he is eleven years old, but I had the opportunity to look over their kennel pedigree book and according to that he is eight years old…

-         Trig is a race dog moved down to my team because he has a salivary gland problem that leads to him vomiting whenever he runs. I feel sorry for this guy when we run, he’s always drooling. However, he is one of those dogs that melts into your team and is never any trouble! Trig is out of Lucy and Taos.

-         Spinner…the shy one. He’s kind of “houndy” looking, but is actually one of Aaron’s old bloodlines. I’ve been trying to get him to come out of his shell since I got here, but as Scott says, “He’s a bit of a hard case.” I don’t know if he’ll ever come around.

-         Todd lost his tail in a dog fight at some point; else he’d be another pretty, Seppala looking dog. He looks like my old Seppala leader Nanook. I’m afraid he’s not the brightest dog; he often jumps on his dog house after a run and doesn’t slow down enough so he falls off the other side! Todd is full brother to Trig.

    The next three dogs are littermates. They are out of Bessie (my dog) and a dog named Taos, who is a cousin to my main leader last year, Cougar. (There was another discrepancy, because both Nancy – who I got Cougar from – and Aaron said Cougar and Taos were brothers when, according to the kennel pedigree’s, they are cousins both bought as puppies when Aaron bought out Bruce Lee’s kennel.)

-         Ruger, by far the biggest dog in the kennel. He is huge and never quits pulling HARD. I was surprised to find out he’s also a leader.

-         Remy is the dog that bit off Todd’s tail and, for that offense, is banished to the far side of the kennel where he cannot reach any other dogs. He’s another hard case, who is determined not to trust me.

-         Moss is a miniature Bessie – big feet and all! She’s very talkative and friendly, although she’s calmed down a lot now that the runs are getting longer.

    There are five dogs that are not Aaron’s bloodlines or breeding:     -        Tyler was bred by Blayne Streeper and is a quarter greyhound cross…but you’d never guess it. He’s had many nicknames, including ‘pig’, as Scott and I tried to figure out just what he was! We finally settled that he is a happy, fat seal pup…and that he waddles down the trail. Tyler is the leader for my team.

-         Governor is from Jeff King and he’s a really nice dog; at first I thought he and Trig were brothers because they are so similar. After a run he always growls as you walk him to his house and un-harness him. It’s not a vicious growl, but a kind of “play” or “happy” growl!

-         King was bred by Jeff King. He looks like he could be a brother to Gov and Trig, same type of build. Now that he’s lost some weight, he looks a lot leggier than I’d originally thought. He seems to be a bit of a picky eater.

-         Smokey is another Jeff King dog, although she is a lot like Moss. She keeps to herself and is an easy keeper.

-         Java is a tiny black dog from Buddy Streeper who was one of Aaron’s leaders for spring races last year. She is extremely nervous and a terrible eater, which keeps her very thin.