dogdazeracing

Once again it's taken me awhile to update my website. My apologies for not recapping our season sooner, but I had elbow surgery in March and have been on the mend and then playing catchup.

Let me start by thanking my Lord for blessing us with a real winter for a change. It's been many years since I can recall a winter like this. We were also blessed with safe travel. When you travel 500-1,000 miles each weekend to race you need God's protection.

Every race season also has its share of difficulty and adversity. I bred a dog I didn’t want to, but hopefully I'll change my mind about that. We had very sick dogs at two races this season. The one that hurt the most was the Haliburton race because you travel a 1,000 miles to get there and to have both your leaders get sick was discouraging. Mookie was so out of it on Saturday that half way through the race he just shut down and by the time I got the sled stopped we had tangles in our tangles. Fortunately I was able to set a sweet hook and get things straightened out before Lou Serre went flying by, which was enough to get Mookie going again. From there we just followed Lou home and gave praise we survived.

Stories about adversity in our sport would require me to write a book, but to be honest the challenges are one of the reasons I love the sport so much. The saying I repeat often during the race season is "Life’s hard but that's OK!" It helps me stay positive during difficult times. Lately I’ve been saying it a little too often, but difficulty helps me stay focused and dependent on God. Now don't get me wrong, I'm no masochist. I'm not opposed to blue sky’s and clean mushing, but we've all met Murphy.

Enough of my motivational writing. Thanks to Zak, Rocket and Anna we have 7 pups that I'm convinced will be our next superstars. (see pictures in the Pups link) They were born April 20. I don't usually have unplanned puppies, but Zak had other ideas and Anna couldn't resist the I love you. Zak's lines are out of Arleigh Reynolds and Ivana Nolke, primarily pointer breeding. I mentioned Rocket because a good friend of ours, Caleb Tysver’s dog Rocket is a special dog who wanted to test his malehood also. I've never done split litter breeding before, but because it was already an accident, and I planned to keep the pups for myself and close friends, I decided to do it. Rocket has quite a bit more size than Zak and I was hoping his genetics would produce some bigger dogs. I'll do some genetic testing later to determine who’s who and what’s what, but based on the bd of the pups Zak is the papa.

Well I’ve covered life’s challenges and dog breeding. I guess we should finish up with our racing success. My daughter Hannah raced 3 dog for the first time this year and did an awesome job. She had 3 second place finishes. I am so proud of her. She overcame her fear of racing a bigger team and took more responsibility with dog chores. If only I could get my other dog driver, Mark Cooper, to take on a little more work responsibility. HAHA! Actually this was the first year in many I didn't have Josh Kooiman on board, and after doing things together for so long we had a very efficient system. I missed him.

Actually Mark Cooper is not only a very good athlete and sled builder, he's also a man of deep faith. I really enjoyed our time together this past winter. His race record in the 4 and 6 dog class was pretty remarkable also. Mark's ability to show up on race weekends and get so much performance out of the dogs has always amazed me.

The pressure of my teammates performance must have inspired me also, because when my dogs weren't sick they performed well enough to earn the bronze medal in the 10 dog class. 3rd in the world, I'll take that.

Well in closing, thanks for your interest and support. I must also thank my dogs for giving me so much back. It was a pleasure racing them this year. Their commitment and dedication to succeed was my inspiration. And last but not least my two main sponsors Tradition Pet Foods by Hubbard and Cooper Sleds by Mark and Kim Cooper. The energy generated by the dogs from eating Tradition required me to have super Cooper sled just to stay on the trail!!!!! Thanks again until next year.

In closing I just want to say thanks for visiting our web site. Sorry it has taken us so long to update our journey. Please pray for safety as the sled dog community travels around this winter. Pray for protection over sled dogs everywhere. And I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give you grace and peace. If you don’t know Him personally, don’t be afraid to talk with me about my relationship with Him.

May God bless all of you in His Name.

Mike Marsch
Sprint Racer and Breeder of Top Racing Alaskan & Euro-hound Bloodlines.

“We have developed a top racing bloodline over the last 21 years. Most all of our dogs make it to the top in competition.

The temperament of our bloodlines are very sweet, gentle, outgoing dogs, with a strong desire to compete and run. They are extremely strong and intelligent, very honest and dedicated. We have bred just the right mix of our Greyhound X’s to the Pointer X’s. A very high percentage of leaders are produced. The perfect combination of head, heart and body. Check them out here.