The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Raegan

The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Raegan

You know the saying, a picture says a thousand words, right? Well this picture says it all. It is a picture of our new pup, Raegan, named after the young girl in one of my favorite movies: The Exorcist, not after the former President. We deliberately changed the spelling of her name not to confuse us as ultra-right wing conservatives (just kidding) I am actually registered as an Independent and look at the policies of a candidate before making a decision on voting day.

I digress. In the picture, Raegan is at the San Francisco airport heading to her new home in Alaska. The caption is “looking toward her future.” The photo was taken by a good friend of mine and the breeder of Raegan, April (and John Wood) of Jaraw Siberians in California.

Raegan comes from sled dog lines and looks like it! She is leggy and has the spunk of a lead dog. I have no idea what her future holds but at least she is going to be doing what she is breed to do. Siberian Huskies are born to pull (and run) and Raegan is no exception.

I made it a point to go to California in June to (finally) meet the Woods and check out the pups. While there I had a great time running dogs with them in the cool air of the Sierra Nevada mountains. What nice gracious people. I am sure a lot of you are friends of them on Facebook and I can not say enough about them.

Raegan arrived on Monday August 16th after a very long flight to Alaska via Houston. She was a trooper on the flight it sounds like with no accidents and even had a little food left in her bowl. She arrived safe and sound and slept all the way home, an hour and a half drive.

Over the past few days Raegan and I have been establishing a bond and I admit I have slipped her the occasional hunk of cheese and shared a slice of pizza with her. My wife Michele and son Kyle were here the first week and we did many things together with our new pup including a mile and a half walk on one of the trails in downtown Anchorage. Raegan did awesome on the leash and is quickly learning the basic commands.

It is just me and her for the next nine months or so while my family is back in Denver working at Denver Dog Works (we have several service dog clients that we are committed to) and I am here fixing up this place. Many people have asked how can we be apart for this long as a family and I keep saying that sometimes sacrifice makes us stronger. We have thought of this move for a long time and our dreams of building a dog team to qualify for and run the Iditarod. I am a firm believer that dreams are fleeting if they are not acted upon and that is what we are doing. Raegan is just one of the first steps.

Who knows you might just see Raegan on 4th Avenue one day and hopefully on Front Street as well.

I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please comment below.

Robert Forto | Team Ineka | Alaska Dog Works | Mushing Radio | Dog Doctor Radio | Denver Dog Works

___________________

Dr. Robert Forto is a musher training for his first Iditarod under the Team Ineka banner and the host of the popular radio shows, Mush! You Huskies and The Dog Doctor Radio Show

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn