So much has happened over the past few months, since I wrote our last entry! Unfortunately I have no Nationals or Regionals show photos to add at this time because the show photographer skipped out half-way through the event and will not return anybody's contact attempts. Unbelievable and so very disappointing.
Cassie, BPIS BIS AKC/CKC Ch Spiritrun's Singular Sensation, wrapped-up a very successful year by attending the Eukanuba National Championships with me in Orlando Florida, just before Christmas. We exhibited over the course of four days as three Orlando area kennel clubs hosted all-breed dog shows there as well. She was in very good company with exceptional "bitch specials" to compete against. It was nice to see that each day, a different, yet equally deserving bitch won Best of Opposite Sex. Cassie was one of them. It is nice to compete in good company with healthy competition. We are very proud of her showing -- beautiful as always.
Cassie, Shelby, Spiritrun's Cool Ride, and I reluctantly travelled to the Elora gorge shows between Christmas and New Years. Though I dislike showing that week, the turnout was amazing. Cassie won 2x best of Opposite and 1x Best of Breed. Shelby won a Reserve Winners Bitch and a Best of Winners for her first points. Both girls show great!
Cassie put a wrap on her 2011 run as #4 overall Alaskan Malamute and #1 Alaskan Malamute Bitch for 2011. Not bad for a veteran! We have received confirmation that her entries made it into Westminster again, so we will be in NYC for that prestigious event in February of 2012. We are very excited about that! Please, Cassie, hold coat!
Our family enjoyed a lovely holiday season -- we wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!
Our first sledding event of the year had to be cancelled due to lack of adequate snow and trail conditions. This as been a strange winter, to say the least. Today is brilliant, sunny, crisp and white, while tomorrow calls for warmer temperatures and rain.  
Ah well....Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.  ~John Ruskin

The Spiritrun gang had a great weekend in Corunna, MI. On Friday at the back-to-back GLAMC (Great Lakes Alaskan Malamute Club) Specialties, 'Elliott' won RWD in the first show and then won WD, BOW in the second show (both 5-point majors) to finish his American Championship from the Bred-by class. Later that day he earned his CGC, with no preparation. His 'stay' was weak, but his recall was the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. I might have to get a video of him doing his recall, Elliott-style, one of these days. 'Elliott' is now American/Canadian Champion Spiritrun's Grandstand Man, CGC.    The next day 'Deuce' and 'Lucan' placed first and second respectively in the Open dog class, both owner-handled, and 'Deuce' went on to win the 4-point major going WD/BOW with Colleen Ann Belanger handling. 'Lucan' earned various placements in Open class all weekend with Annika Card piloting him. 'Elliott', in his debut as a special, made the cut in breed, both times out and showed very well.

A huge THANK-YOU to Janette Slusher and the Great Lakes Alaskan Malamute Club for their wonderful weekend and hospitality. We loved the venue and the prizes were amazing. Spiritrun votes for this venue for future GLAMC Specialties!

We also would like to extend a 'Bon Voyage' to Darren, Annika and Lucan as they embark on their year-long journey to New Zealand! Have a great time, guys, and post a lot of updates and photos on Fb!

Man oh man, have I slacked in the blog update department lately. I feel like I am pretty scattered and juggling a few to many balls. I have been traveling to shows with Cassie, Elliott, Beatrice and occasionally even Crystal, quite a bit this spring. In fact, you won't find me at home on weekends and I am very blessed to have my very own Edmund to keep it all running smoothly in my absence. Here are some highlights of our recent shows:

Purina National - Am/Can Ch Spiritrun's Singular Sensation, Cassie, wins Best of Breed all three days over a very competitive entry and goes on to win a Working Group 2 on Saturday night at the Purina National under judge A. Zee and a Working Group 1st on Sunday under judge C. Myers-Egerton. This is a very prestigious show in Canada with an international panel and large, competitive entry, so suffice it to say, it was a thrilling weekend! And miss Beatrice made her show debut at this big overwhelming show and managed to attain her first points. Yay Bea!

American Shows - Ch Spiritrun's Grandstand Man, Elliott, and Cassie have been in the US regularly, too as Elliott is working on completing his AKC Championship. He picked up points in December in Cleveland, a reserve to a major in Connecticut River and then collected both of his majors at Syracuse, leaving him with now only one point needed to complete, we think :-/ Crystal, at 12.5 years old, came with us to Connecticut River Working Dog to compete in Veteran's Sweeps. She came 2nd in her class on the first day and won her class the next. She had a ball!

Just this past weekend we ventured through Algonquin Park to find ourselves in Petawawa for the Champlain shows. Cassie earned a Working Group 4th under judge D. Windsor and Bea worked on her ring skills. We were the only mal entry. Six month old Golden retriever, Thai, was handled by me and won the Puppy Sporting Group on Friday in show #2 and his first points by going WD/BOW/BP on Saturday. Yay Thai!

Sipping my coffee now before bathing the crew for our annual trek to Harrisburg, PA for the Specialties there. Crystal, Elliott, Cassie and Bea are all entered. All I know is I need a bigger van...

Here is our beautiful Cassie at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show 2011!!!!

We had a year like any other, full of highs and lows. This year, in particular seemed full of very high highs and very low lows. We endured our first full winter without our beloved Tkaya, so of course, that was weird. He so loved winter -- he was a true malamute to the core. But we honoured him by making the most of a very very good winter season. Conditions on the trails were glorious and I remember a lot of sunshine. We sledded most every weekend and throughout the weekdays when time allowed. I was hopelessly devoted to my running routine and on many occasions, young WiiGii joined me to add comic relief to the monotony of some of those runs. WiiGii showed talent in the sledding department, too and was even able to adapt to single-lead duties, which is exceptional for a young dog's first season. Frannie also stepped up to the plate as a very savvy single-leader. Their Black Ice roots were coming through! The Vancouver Winter Olympics also made for a positive vibe and we wholeheartedly cheered on our Canadian contingent, who did not disappoint. Canadian pride was at an all-time high and Olympic fever, dogsledding and marathon training got us through a long but glorious winter!
Spring arrived and I was off to the races. Not many dog events on the schedule, but running races sure were. I completed a half-marathon, a 30-K marathon, a full-marathon and my first ultra (50k) marathon all by June. My brag for June was that in one year's time I had literally gone from getting off the couch to running 50K. The summer was a hot one, which we are not fans of. I had some races to compete in, but nothing was on tap for the dogs, which I did not regret, considering the heat and humidity at the time.
At the end of July, Bailey & Bob & Dolores Sturdivant's incredible boy, Tuk, blessed us with four puppies. Two boys and two girls. This brood proved to be a very important source of love and comfort for us in the coming weeks.
At the beginning of August, we experienced one of the biggest highs of our year, and show career. Maliik re-emerged on the show scene, just weeks away from his 12th birthday, to win Best of Breed over Specials,  Working Group 4 and Best Veteran In Show at the Barrie Kennel Club dog show. This was such a meaningful win to us with three brothers each winning their very own "Bests" at various stages of their lives. Tyler as a puppy, Tobe throughout his prime and Maliik as a veteran. It truly doesn't get any better than that.
Since the spring, we had been dealing with a terminal illness in the family. Edmund's father was sick. Mid-August 2010 was a turning point in our year, taking a perfectly awesome year to date and throwing it off tangent so badly it has been hard to get back on track in any area. One day, mid-August, Kali became acutely ill. After three very trying days of attempting to normalize her condition, she passed away in my arms. This was a loss so devastating to me, I am not over it yet and it will take a lot of time still. She died of complications from diabetes - a keto-acidosis crisis that lead to coma, shock, death. She was a stoic girl and didn't display signs of diabetes such as the textbooks describe. Hindsight being what it is, there were signs, but they weren't acute, not did they lead me to think diabetes, or illness for that matter. They were very subtle. Diabetes is commonly referred to as "the silent killer". Silent, I'll say. I hope I am not the only one who learned from this devastating ordeal. I am torn-apart by her loss and haven't been able to right myself since. Not four days after her death, Edmund's father passed away peacefully, in his bed at home with his family by his side. Terminal cancer claimed another. August wrapped up on a very low note.
So along came September, and we coasted through. I ran another marathon, just to prove to myself that I was still functioning on some level. I ran another in November, just because, that what runners do. I am so grateful to my inspirational running-mates - girls, you know who you are. Love to you all.
In October, November and December, the Spiritrun gang re-emerged on the show scene again. Cassie needed to finish her American championship, so she did with a 5-point specialty major at Munroe. Crystal played in the veterans ring and Elliott got serious in pursuit of his American championship. Up in Canada, Lucan put the finishing points on his championship, too. Colleen Belanger's Deuce and Madison continue to perform by raking in titles, points and credentials in such vast quantities that I can't even keep up.
I traveled out to Denver to watch the AMCA National Specialty and was so glad I did. I spent time with old friends, deepened existing friendships and made brilliant new ones. I spent time with Lichen, the sire of our fall litter (I am getting to that) and took a jog with Cruise, the soon to be sire of our spring litter.
In late fall, we said a heartfelt goodbye to our first Best In Show winner and Spiritrun flag-bearer, Tobe. As hard a goodbye as it was, Tobe lived a full & glorious life. He let me know, very clearly, his time had come. He was in my arms & I really couldn't have asked for a more peaceful and poetic closure to a life most definitely "lived". I thanked Tobe for bringing "greatness" into my life. Tobe made my life "grand" and gave me experiences in life most breeders could only hope for. A very good friend of mine, and fellow Working Group competitor, stated to me that Tobe and I were one of the most connected teams he had ever seen and the love we had for each other was tangible. It was a compliment I will forever hold dear, from a friend whose words mean a lot to me.
We are winding up the year both physically and emotionally drained, but with health, hope, and promises of bright futures on the horizon. At the end of November, Gabby, Tyler & Frannie's lovely daughter, gave birth to 9 healthy, bouncing baby malamutes, sired by the impressive Lichen out of California, and these little beings are filling our days with joy, puppy kisses and anticipation of bright futures ahead. We are undetermined who we will hold onto from this litter as the depth of quality is definitely there, but between the Tuk and Bailey puppies and these Lichen and Gabby babies, the future at Spiritrun looks very bright. We are blessed, and have some pretty amazing angels up above who are guiding us along -- provided we are keen enough to hear the messages.
From our kennel and home to yours, we at Spiritrun wish you all a very happy, prosperous and successful 2011 in all aspects of your lives!

We had a great time at the Cleveland Cluster this past weekend. I showed Elliott, Can CH Spiritrun's Grandstand Man to two BOW wins and two RWD wins, and a BBBE in Breed win. He showed wonderfully.

Uncle Deuce, in his nakedness, managed some conformation placements but the BIG DEAL for his was earning his first AKC CD leg with a high score of 180! So awesome for Deuce and owner-handler Colleen!!!

Our travel buddy Laura Heft earned a BOS and a couple of Select Bitch awards on her beautiful girl, Tassi, too!

Here are some video clips from YouTube. Visit our YouTube site for more!

Congratulations to Annika and Darren for being the proud owners of new Canadian Champion Spiritrun's Hunt for Lucanus, CGN. Lucan finished his championship at the Brandtford show in Dec 2010 under judge Heather Langford. Now Lucan needs some time off to enjoy winter pursuits and to mature a bit.

And we just received confirmation that Cassie, Am/Can CH Spiritrun's Singular Sensation will be the first Spiritrun bitch to grace the floors of Madison Square Garden this February at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. We are so excited!!!

At the Credit Valley Shows, my Standard Wirehair Dachshund client Victory's Mr Magoo, won a Puppy Group under judge Wendy Paquette! He also earned another two points towards his championship!!!

...dark seal malamutes are born at Spiritrun kennel.

On Sunday Nov 21, 2010, under the light of the full blue moon of November, Spiritrun welcomed nine new puppies into the world. Lichen and Gabby are the proud parents. Breakdown is 5 females, 4 males and 5 seals! Pretty cool. All weighed in between 14.5oz and 1lb 4.5oz and all are doing well into their second day! Momma Gabby is being spectacular! For details and pedigree, see Current Litter page.

Over the weekend Uncle Deuce, AGII RO1 UKC/CKC Ch Spiritrun's Uppin The Ante CGC TDI RE C-RN WPD UKC-CD in UKC obedience under the expert guidance of owner-trainer-handler Colleen Belanger.
He earned very respectable scores of 192 and 185. The next day he not only earned a "security leg" but earned "high scoring northern breed" and "high scoring UKC champion". That is so awesome and we are so proud of Colleen and Deuce!!!

Click to watch a VIDEO of his great performance!

The Spiritrun gang has just returned from another successful weekend at the Palisades and Ramapo shows in August, NJ. The AMCA NY/NJ Area members hosted a Regional Specialty on Saturday and our new "special" Cassie, Am/Can Ch Spiritrun's Singular Sensation, went Best of Opposite Sex under breeder-judge Illona Chu. Our 12+ veteran bitch, Crystal, Am/Can Ch Spiritrun's Arctic Crystal, ROM CAM, showed very well in the BOB line-up with Regina Caldwell handling her for me.
On Sunday, at the supported entry, Elliot showed very well and won Best of Winners. Thanks again to Regina for helping me handle multiple dogs and showing Elliott in the BOB ring for me as I has handling the rip-snorter, Cassie who earned a Champion Select award that day.
News from Colleen and Deuce from the weekend: "He did it....his first leg towards his Canadian CD and a prize for high scoring spitz dog! He got a new stuffed pheasant and his prize was dog cookies and malamute cards and a flat fox!"
That is an awesome load of loot for Loose deuce and I know he is happy about that! Especially the Flat Fox!