Our "Lucky" Dog

If Hagar is my foundation stud, Lucky is the Grand Matron of Nushagak Kennels. She came from Will Forsberg in Healy and has been a joy from day one. Most of the dogs I've ever owned have been her direct decendents. She is everything a working sled dog should be.

Lucky is a rangy 65 pound brown dog with a short to medium coat. Mushers refer to dogs with long legs and a long body as "rangy". This is a quality to look for in working dogs. She is what is termed a trail leader. Not every leader works the same way. The best ones will follow a trail when they are on one, but will also turn and adjust their travel on command. Some dogs prefer not to listen to the driver, but will willingly follow a trail as long as it continues. Lucky is such a leader. She knows gee from haw. However, she would rather choose her own path. It is a misconception that all dogs can follow a covered trail by scent. Dogs can loose a trail and some have a difficult time following a broken trail. Lucky on the other hand will follow an old trail to the footstep even a year after she has traveled it. More then once I've had the weather close in and the trail quickly disapearing behind me. I turn the team around, put Lucky in lead, and enjoy the ride home.

This is going to sound corny, but I think Lucky and Hagar are in love. Seriously, they seem to have a relationship. Right now they are in a kennel where Lucky is attached to a chain and Hagar is loose. He won't leaver her, not a chance. Also, both dogs are rather dominant around other dogs, but they share the food in their dog dishes and genuinely seem to like being together. Hopefully they will give me another litter before the winter's over. Lucky has very long heat cycles. She will allow a male to breed her for two weeks, most will only allow it for a few days. The problem is determining when the breeding will result in pups. The last time they bred successfully, I put them in a kennel together until it happened. Hagar's getting a little older and I'm not sure how this will go. I know one thing, the world could use more of Lucky and Hagar's pups.

This is the "Lucky" dog:

Lucky chilling out on her dog house - a very easy going gal.

Lucky looking back at me. She spends a lot of time in swing (position directly behind the leaders). Although she doesn't listen too well in lead, she knows the commands and willingly performs them in the swing position.

Lucky and her outstanding litter of 11 pups. One of the pups was very small and didn't survive, another died of an accident, the rest are owned by myself and another local musher. Of the 9 surviving, the four males are rangy 70 pounders and the females are considerably smaller 55 pounders. More then half of these pups became leaders. Let's hope for more!