Our Grandfather, STORMY!

This is our Grandsire, Stormy. He is Rainy's dad! Ruby went all the way to Alaska to "visit" Stormy.

Alaskan's Snowstorm of Anadyr, veteran Iditarod leader from 1998. Born April 28 1990. His dad and mom were: Alaskan's Jodi of Anadyr and Alaskan's Snowflake of Anadyr. Stormy was owned and bred by Earl and Natalie Norris of Willow AK.

These photos were taken in July of 2000.

Our great Grandfather OTIS, and then great great Grandafather OTTIS!

This is Ruby's father, our great grandfather, Northstar's Alaskan Otis SDO. (Can Ch. Northomes Snowmist Ottis SDX x Alaskan's Gray Mouse of Anadyr). He was born May 16, 1987. He ran single lead! Wow! He was bred and owned by Peter and Donna Johnson of Blackwater (formerly Northstar) kennel.


This photo is from the Yankee Specialty Show in 1993. That is Donna with him.











This is taken April of 1991, showing that Otis had some coat! Again Donna is with him.









This photo had no date, but noted on the back of the photo is that he finished the Labradors 400 twice.











This is Otis's sire, Northomes Snowmist Ottis SDX, at 9 years of age. He was born march 27, 1978. Photo date is June 11, 1987. His handler and owner was CKC judge Kim LeBlanc of Coldwater Ontario, Snowmist Kennel. His breeders were Art and Judy Allen - Natomah kennel. He was a stud fee puppy to the Steads.

Our Great Grandmother, Natalie!

This is Natalie, our great grandmother. She was Ruby's mother.
She was out of Northomes Snowmist Ottis SDX and Alaskan's Gray Mouse of Anadyr.
Her registered name is Northstar's Alaskan Natalie SD. (Northstar was the Johnson's original kennel name, now it is Blackwater). Her birthday was May 16, 1987. She was a first string dog and also ran lead. She ran lead in parts of the movie Iron Will! She was one of Donna's favorite dogs, and I have heard Donna describe Natalie with such words as vivacious, and to quote Donna:

I really loved running her, as she has been my favorite female (so far) in the years that we have owned dogs.

This photo was taken in 1992 in Alaska. She has recently had puppies, including our grandma Ruby!


Another Donna quote:

1992 was the year we were training Natalie to be a part of Iditarod! Part-way through training, it was Somewhat Notieceable that Natalie might be pregnant. We were aghast! How could this have happened? Her belly was widening out and 'swaying' a little bit in-harness, while training. Soon it was Definitely Obvious she was pregnant, so we had to stop training her. On Dec. 3rd, she gave birth to 5 beautiful puppies, one of which was grandmother, Ruby (to Woody). This was Natalie's destiny, I suppose. To bring Ruby into this world, instead of running the Iditarod. With time, we forgot the disappointment of having a girl of ours (who we bred) to finish the Iditarod. Ruby was our 'favorite' from this litter, from the start. She was 'feisty' and the 'alpha' of her litter, keeping the rest of the puppies in-line, and respectful of her. She was sweet with humans, but a disciplinarian with her littermates. Anyway, it quickly became clear that Ruby was even a much better runner than her mother, Natalie! She was smaller and a lot better built. We always had plans to breed Ruby, as she seemes such a nicely, built female. She was fast and driven (much more driven than Natalie) as well. We ran her (Ruby) at lead a few times over her career, and she was 'great' if there were no snowmachines around, but she was sound 'sensitive' and turned the team around if she met snowmachines on the trail. So, since we couldn't have that happen, she was a A-number one primo 'point' dog, for the entire 'rest' of her career.

This photo is Donna Johnson driving a team with Natalie in lead. Natalie is leading with Pete. At point were Blackie and Musk, at wheel were Whitey and Red (brothers). Mushing out of Howling Dog Farm in Alaska.




This photo was taken in March 1991. That's Pete Johnson with her.





This photo was taken by Maureen Kent at the Yankee Specialty Show in 1993. She wasn't in full coat, but she still looked gorgeous!


Well, stay tuned for more posts with photos of our relatives!
Lots of Love - Bodhi, Bridget, Java Bean and Pema