Goals

Philosophy

Blue Eyes and Spitfire started as a way to exercise my dogs and spend time with them out in the woods. This sentiment remains as our core foundation, even as I expand the team and run more miles.

My dogs are pets first and sled dogs second. They are all house and crate-trained, and they sleep indoors at night. I have nothing against keeping sled dogs outside—this is just how things worked out here. It has also been a failsafe against legislation that prohibits tethering or outdoor kennel runs.

I work a full time job and live alone, so keeping a (relatively!) small team is a necessity. I rely on my family when I need a dog-sitter, so keeping my numbers manageable for them is a requirement. I usually leave the dogs at their house in New Jersey, which means they all need to adapt to the suburbs.

In short, I strive to maintain a travel-sized team of versatile, well-adjusted dogs.

Race Ambitions

I primarily train for sprint style races, which focus more on speed rather than distance. Our races generally fall between two and six miles, though I hope to run some in the ten to fifteen mile range. Sprint races usually involve two heats over the course of two days, but some races will hold both heats in a single day.

I prefer running a 6 to 8-dog team, with the option of splitting into two 4-dog teams, so that’s what I keep in mind for my pool of active running dogs. It’s a delicate balance between having enough dogs to fill out a team (with one or two extra on the “bench”) while also maintaining my small-ish kennel.