Night before last our dearest friend Fennel passed away. He was 15 years old and led a very full and interesting life, which transitioned from pulling dogsleds and working with thousands of school kids during school assemblies to retiring to Alaska with our dear friends Chris and Teresa where he could wander from the couch to the dog yard at will and retire in style. He was born on Bert, Johnnie, and Kasha Hyde’s homestead on Gander Lake out side of Ely and as a young dog he and the other dogs helped the Hyde’s haul supplies into their cabin. He was about 3 years old when I first met him, and in the beginning I wasn’t sure what to make of this goofy looking sled dog with huge paws and floppy years. Fennel was half black lab and half husky. He looked different than all the other sled dogs with his lab features, but he was born to pull. When Adam Hansen and I took Fennel on his first long dogsled expedition in 2003 his true character came out. Half way through our two-month journey we were traveling through the bottomless powered of a spruce swamp for hours. All of the other dogs would lay down every time we stopped, but even as it grew dark Fennel continued to lunge in his harness and bark during our rest breaks. He became my favorite lead dog on that trip and led us over countless miles of snow-covered lakes and forest trails over the next decade. He had the floppy ears and unwavering loyalty of a lab, but was truly born to pull. He had a heart of gold and we will miss him greatly, but are thankful for all of the wonderful memories he helped create.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 01:33:07 +0000
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