Felix

My family is from Oregon's Willamette Valley. My favorite part of summer vacations in Oregon was visiting Grandpa and Grandma's farm. It was a magical place to a young Alaskan boy, full of animals, fruits, sights and sounds I only knew from books and television.

Grandpa always had working dogs on the farm. Most were border collies, but I remember one dog that looked more like a large blue heeler. Grandpa called him Felix and obviously liked the dog. Grandma chained up the collies at night while Felix had the run of the place. Felix didn't like me much, think he may have bitten me. He was grandpa's dog. I remember that well.

When Pheobe had her first litter I kept two dogs. One was named Olaf, who you met earlier, and the other named Felix. The name suits him. Felix is definately my dog. He likes Jo and the kids and is not aggressive, but he's not overly friendly either. Felix enjoys his own space and doesn't get too excited about anything. A beautifully rugged long gray dog, he looks and acts rather wolfy. I need to say that none of my dogs have wolf in them and I'm against infusing wolf into domestic dogs. It is an old practice that needs to stay in the past. What I refer to is the way he carries himself, very confident and calculated.

Felix fits the working dog bill nicely at a rangy 70 pounds. He pulls hard and never complains. His feet and wrists have held up nicely so far. Mostly, Felix runs in the swing position directly behind the leaders. He's run some lead, but hasn't shown the drive in front that a good leader needs. Perhaps in time he'll become a better lead dog. I'm not yet sure whether he'll be bred. Want to see what kind of leader he turns out to be first. But I must admit, I wouldn't mind having another half dozen dogs like Felix.

Here's a nice shot of Felix. He's got the classic look of a working sled dog.
Another shot of Felix during hitch-up. Never in a rush and always ready to work.