So... the dogs. :) The kennels are only a couple miles from the visitor's center along the Park Road. There are shuttles to the kennels for the free demonstrations that they do each day, but a) we missed them and b) the hike isn't a bad one. We actually ended up missing the demonstration altogether, but you can visit the dogs anytime during the day and it was still well worth the trip. In fact, the crowds all left soon after the demonstration since they had taken the shuttle, so we had the dogs to ourselves. Can't complain about that!
The puppies... this year's litter was named after local mines... I believe gold mines. Each year the puppies are named with a different theme (many mushers seem to do this), everything from movies to candy bars to mountain peaks, etc. The Denali puppies in particular are generally themes that have to do with the park, so trail names, mountain peaks, flowers, etc. could be themes used.
First, here's Annie. The foxy lady. :)
With Annie here is Polly. They're both trying to get a blade of dead grass from the other side of the fence.
The 3rd puppy of this year's litter is a boy named Lucky.
There are many moments where they're all within the same foot of space.
There's that blade of grass (sticking out of Annie's mouth... see it?)
And now... a couple series of photos that made me realize that Lucky is a bit of an instigator. The park rangers say he's definitely not the dominant one of the group, but clearly he doesn't just sit back and watch life go by, either.
A little video of them in action...
The second series... starting with Lucky eyeing the bone that Annie has...
Annie says, "Hey... I was using that! Where do you think you're going?"
The victor. ;)
Or is Annie the victor? She quickly got the bone back from Lucky.
Yet again... here's Lucky pickin' on Annie! I definitely saw them playing the most... sometimes Polly would get involved but fairly rarely.
It's time to go for a walk! This is Sultana, the mom of these adorable puppies.
Puppies don't need leashes... they get to explore their surroundings and get used to all sorts of things on their own. I've heard that Polly has been the fastest on their walks, which may indicate she's a leader. And look here... they're hardly out of their kennel and Polly is clearly up front.
Coming back from the walk...
Ah, so that's how they get them to go back in the kennel so easily. It's lunch time!! That food was gone in just a minute or so. Whew!
Let's see lunch time in action. Still photos just don't capture what's going on here.
Puppy kisses... so sweet.
Alright, one more series. I'll give Polly a break for this one... he isn't ALWAYS instigating. :)
Clearly, Annie is telling Polly some sort of secret here.
And apparently it's not a secret about Lucky, because then Annie goes over to fill him in too. Makes me wonder if it's a secret about us. haha.
One more "portrait" of the sisters... Polly on the left and Annie on the right.
And Lucky... with his floppy ears and blue eyes.
It's not all about the puppies... there are several (20 to 25) other sled dogs at the Denali kennels. Some of them were particularly cute and/or sweet... these are a couple of our favorites.
Carpe and Emily became fast friends. Carpe just turned 1 year old this past week.
These dogs weren't the least bit concerned about us. They were all so friendly and clearly used to so many different people petting them, getting in their faces, etc.
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