Sub-zero temperatures can't keep kids from sled dog event

PALMER — Don’t expect Abigail to be too excited.

The burly English bulldog tagged along as brothers Wayde, Wyatt and William Reinhart enjoyed a new experience in the cold minus 15-degree sunshine Saturday afternoon. The Reinhart boys were among dozens of Valley youths who took their first sled dog rides at the Mat-Su Borough Animal Care and Regulation Shelter. A fundraiser for the shelter, the experience was an eye-opening one for the boys.

Almost immediately after getting off the sled, pulled by five energetic dogs from Willow-based High Country Kennels, the boys were thinking about strapping Abigail up.

“Oh, they’ve already asked and I said no,” said Judy Reinhart, who brought the boys with her husband, Wayde Sr. “I don’t think she’d do that very well. She’s not a ‘real dog,’ she doesn’t think she’s a dog, anyway.”

That didn’t stop the boys from gushing about their ride around the shelter property.

“It was like being in a car, but dogs were pulling it,” said Wayde, 10. “They went kinda fast. When we were turning the corner, the sled slid sideways. I think the dogs were pretty cool, and because they’re so small and I did not know how they could pull like that.”

William, the youngest at age 6, said the ride “made my face an ice cube.”

Wyatt, who howled more than the dogs during his run, had a special request.

“I want a wolf as a pet,” he said. “They’re so cute. He was howling. I just want to get a wolf. They’re, like, bushy.”

The fundraiser was to help a good cause and a good way to get acquainted with the community, Judy said.

“We moved up here to Alaska to be by my son — he’s a captain in the Army,” she said. They moved from Bozeman, Mont., on Dec. 24, and “this was the first Alaskan thing I could find for them to do.”

While the rides were a unique opportunity for the Reinharts, it was business as usual on a winter weekend for Bob Sexton, owner of High Country Kennels and Willow Dog Mushers Association member. He said he enjoys teaching youth about the sport of dog mushing and seeing their faces when they ride on a sled for the first time.

“I’m excited,” he said. “I hope they do (pursue the sport). I heartily encourage kids to get out and see what mushing’s all about. It teaches responsibility. Caring for an animal can do a lot of things you take into (other areas) of your life. It can be real positive.”

And the cold? The temperature at the shelter was balmy compared to the minus 30 degrees he left in Willow, Sexton said.

As Dena and Dancer — a pair of dogs once owned by DeeDee Jonrowe — led the five-dog team in from another run, 10-year-old Abby Carr of Palmer was all smiles and rosy cheeks.

“That was awesome!” she said about her first sled dog ride. “I liked it when we were about to tip and the dogs were going really fast.”

It was enough for her to exclaim she wants to become involved with youth mushing, an idea mom Tamy Carr wasn’t warm to.

Tamy also took a spin, and said her, Abby and son Conrad, 13, came out because “this is just fun, and it’s for a good cause. It’s a little chilly out, but fun.”

Volunteers at the shelter had as much fun as the kids, said volunteer coordinator Sue Fujimoto. When not outside with the dogs, families had fun inside the shelter doing animal-related crafts, eating hot dogs and decorating their own cupcakes.

“This is the first time we’ve done this event,” Fujimoto said, adding Sexton “suggested it last winter, and it’s pretty neat. We’ve had a good turnout. They’re coming out and having fun, really enjoying it.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.