The dogs I’m training in 2009 and ‘10…

First of all, the heart of my team is a surprisingly agreeable bunch of year-old dogs that are about 18 months old this fall. They spent the summer working on a glacier tour, so they’re not as raw as they could be. All but one have the same father, Solomon, a terrific athlete of mine. Their mothers are from Jeff King: Killarney (talk show host litter), Berkeley (criminal litter) , Shannon (haircut litter) and Dollar (money litter). One, Jovi (’80s rock star litter), is from a breeding between one of King’s dogs and my dog, Adidas.

The yearlings:

The adults:

I have five battle-tested adults helping guide the yearlings. The rest of the kennel (10 dogs is all) are helping out in programs that will race competitively this winter.

The puppies:

These five males and four females are out of Panther, my strongest young leader, and Adidas, a muscular female leader who has finished a few Iditarods. I have two main strains in my kennel, and the difference between the yearlings and puppies shows it well. The yearlings are out of Solomon, a rangy, tan, thick-furred dog that hearkens back to classic Bill Cotter lines. The pups owe more to some thinner coated, black Gareth Wright dogs with spots on their noses. These pups are about four to five months old when the photos were taken. The litter theme is classic dog names…