Ruca Dog Kennel

  History:    Ruca Dog Kennel started out with just one dog, Ruca.  She was what I had been looking for in life and from then on, everywhere I went and everything I did, she was with me.  A year or so later, I adopted Sahla from the Kenai Animal Shelter.  At first, Sahla was possibly the worst dog ever.  Her smile, however, made up for the random chewing apart of cars, running away and peeing on the floor when she is mad at you.  Brohde came next and now I was living at my parent's house with three large dogs.  At puppy kindergarten one day, I met a woman who, when got to talking, said she had sled dogs and, come winter, would teach me everything she knew.  The rest is history.  That first run I was hooked, and like with Ruca, I knew I had found what I was looking for.  My growing family of dogs, however needed a fenced yard and a different house than my parents, so I soon bought a cabin, put up a fence and then the dogs started to come.      

   Ethics  The dogs that live at Ruca Dog Kennel were almost all faced with euthanasia because someone deemed them not good enough.  Mushing in Alaska is a very competitive sport and countless sled dogs are killed each year; whether dropped off at shelters, killed by their owners or left to starve on their chains.  It is my belief that these dogs have unlimited  potential, but need to be given the right environment, socialization and time to develop and mature as athletes and individuals.  Just as every house dog has a unique personality, so does each sled dog.  My dogs all come in the house, utilize a free run kennel, are continually taught new things (such as sit), have on-going socialization, participate in diverse year round training and are provided with the highest levels of nutrition.  I believe, through research and just plain observation of the dogs, that this provides these canine athletes with the backbone to be succesful.  

     Goals    The goal of Ruca Dog Kennel is to first and foremost have happy, healthy dogs that love what they are doing and are always eager to go.  While we do want to compete , there are still many dogs in the kennel that can't and I don't want them or their ability to run, to be compromised or be put on the back burner, because they didn't make the race team. Our second goal is to educate people, whether the public, or  mushers, about shelter dogs and what incrediable athletes and pets, they are.  Whether we come in the red lantern position every race or, prefferably, do better, I want myself and my dogs to always look forward to running and going somewhere new.