And the number one most asked question is...

"Do they all have names?" is probably one of the most frequently asked questions of us when people who are new to the whole yard-full-of-dogs thing find out we have a yard full of dogs. Not only do they have names, but we spend days and days, sometimes weeks and weeks, deciding on names for our puppies just as some do with their children. We made the mistake of allowing our three-year old to name our puppies, however, and are now stuck with two dogs named Baby and Triangle. Some mushers we know give their dogs names based on a theme. For instance, Risk is from a litter that was named from board games; Ruby is the last in our kennel from a batch of dogs we had named from rocks and minerals. We also had Slate, Copper, Coal, Amber and Crystal. We had planned on naming Blitzi's litter after the first initial of the parent and sex of the puppies: all the males would be named with a 'J' for Jack, the father and the females with a 'B'. Since we had all females and Hunter insisted on naming one of them 'Dora' we had to change out plans a bit.

I had wanted to name Baby and Triangle "Nip" and "Tuck" but Jenn wouldn't let me. Instead, she let Hunter choose. I wonder if she is sorry now?

This is a quote, taken from Dogsled_Stacie and is her response to the question:

"Do they all have names?This is the weirdest question I get!! [...] Of course they have names!! How else would I refer to them? "Hey, black furry dog, come here!? No - not you, you're the black, furry dog with white patch on it's chest....what are you, stupid??!!" Nah, they all have names and very distinct personalities."

As is evident, it is a question that both puzzles and irks us mushers. You are now forewarned: do not ask a musher if all their dogs have names. Better to ask if the lead dog is boss of the yard and if he (because it is never a she) will turn around in harness to 'discipline' a slacking team member. No, don't. That is a whole other can of worms altogether.

On the sidebar to the right are all of our dogs. Click on a name to see the dog and read a bit about them. I will add more pictures from time to time so check back every now and then.