These sled dogs are champions. They’ve won the famous Iditarod 2 years in a row. Now, it’s the off season. Months full of resting, training and bonding. Enjoy your glory days while you can. Will you make it to the next race? Or will you fall behind?

Lead Dog: June-Female-Siberian Husky x Wolf Hybrid

Swing Dog: Sky-Female-Siberian Husky

Swing Dog: Bellamy-Male-Tamaskan

Team Dog: Raina-Female-Alaskan Malamute x Siberian Husky

Team Dog: Cypress-Male-Grey Wolf x Alaskan Husky

Team Dog: Denali-Female-Canadian Eskimo Dog

Team Dog: Myzaet/Mz-Male-Tamaskan x Husky

Wheal Dog: Tiger-Male-Siberian

Wheal Dog: Spirit-Male-Canadian Eskimo Dog

Backup/training Dog: Bellamy-Backup Lead Dog

Setting: Nome, Alaska

Weather: A bit warmer, now that spring is here. Though clouds cover the sky promising rain.

As the first rays of the early spring sun painted the sky with hues of pink and gold, June slowly opened her eyes. Stretching her sleek, muscular body, she relished the feeling of freedom that washed over her. It was the off sled season, a time when June and her loyal team of sled dogs were not bound by the rigors of pulling heavy loads through the snow-covered wilderness and multi-day long races. With a wag of her bushy tail, June eagerly waited for her musher to wake and for breakfast. June was usually an early riser and was extremely impatient to get out of her kennel. Looking at the aisle of kennels in front of her she looked at a sleeping Sky and next to her kennel was Raina. ‘Sleepy heads’ she thought while shaking her head. Ten minutes later their musher emerged from his house and into the backyard kennel area. “Who wants breakfast!” He yelled out tapping a metal spoon on the top left of the empty kennel nearest the back door.

Barking loudly, June hopped on the door of her kennel while she patiently waited for him to come open her kennel. Bounding out of the cozy kennel, her paws landing softly on the cool earth. The crisp morning air filled her lungs, carrying with it the scent of fresh pine and the promise of adventure. Her musher, a kind-hearted human, greeted her with a smile as he swung open the gate, allowing June to join her team to explore the vast expanse of nature that awaited them before they went to the front porch to eat.

As June led her fellow sled dogs out into the world, her senses came alive. The gentle breeze tousled her fur, and the vibrant colors of blooming wildflowers painted a picturesque landscape before her. She reveled in the symphony of sounds that surrounded her – the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves, and the distant howl of a fellow wolf echoing through the trees. Once they had explored for some time June and the team went to get their breakfast.

In that moment, June felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for this off sled season, a time to roam freely, to embrace the beauty of the natural world, and to strengthen the bond with her fellow sled dogs. With each step she took with everyone, June knew that this season held endless possibilities, and she was ready to embark on new adventures with her team by her side.

[open for anyone]

Scarfing down her breakfast of raw chicken and kibble, June licked her lips and then her bowl clean. Watching her team enjoy their breakfast without the rush to get to work she wagged her tail happily. After their early morning breakfast June couldn’t contain her excitement so she bounded over to Bellamy with a playful bark wagging her tail furiously. “Oh Bell, I can't wait for these next few months of light training and relaxation” she barked happily. Even though they weren’t racing for a while sled dogs still had to keep up their physique and stamina throughout the year.

Sometimes during the off season their musher would choose a female to breed with an exemplary male to improve the genetics of his championship team. Being the oldest female on the team June had been bred once when she was two but unfortunately had a miscarriage early on due to stress. Ignoring that memory, June turned back to Bellamy for some reason she had a greater affinity with him and they got along fairly well. Today was when they all started their off season specialized training in their small town based on their positions on the team. They do this twice a week and the rest of the time they have off to go about town.

Mz yawned and trotted out of his kennel, "keep it down you two, the old dogs gotta sleep" he said waddling over to his food bowl, Mz chewed on his food a little, and turned to walk away, not even caring to finish his food. Mz sat down and watched as other dogs arose from the kennels

June looked around noticing Sky and Mz arising from their slumber. Man everyone sure is sleepy today she thought laughing at herself. Padding over to Sky she nuzzled her side in greeting. “Morning sleepyhead” June said, wagging her tail slightly. June always made sure to greet every one of her team and any good leader should no matter the day. Having a good morale meant good performance.

Turning to Mz she barked, “oh shut it you old coot, you get to sleep as much as you want these next few months.” Rolling her blue eyes she then went to greet him as well in a friendly nature. June reigned in her short temper blaming the wolf side in her. Even though Mz was older June tended to have a more dominant personality due to her wolf side. Calm yourself June no need to get worked up on the first day of the off season she thought walking away to sit next to Bellamy again taking deep breaths.

Growing bored of his waiting, Bellamy sniffed around the clearing, eventually finding a tree to mark. He was the biggest male of the group, and typicallu got his favourite pick of marking spots. His ears perked up as he heard June approaching, and slowly his tail began to sway with pleasure of her presence.

"Morning June," he barked a greeting, his tail starting to gain some momentum as he started to wake up a bit more. He knew that the end of season didn't mean the end of working, and he anticipated having to do some sort of training on his off time. "The relaxation is certainly a nice change. Gotta love the off season," he cocked his head, trotting around alongside June.

He watched as June greeted the other dogs, but decided to hang back and sit comfortably. He wasn't the sociable type, and wouldn't greet someone unless they came up to him first. His tail wagged softly with amusement as he watched June put the older dog in his place.

As Spirit watches the sunrise out of boredom, he sighs, ' To mistaken today's freedom isn't something nice...' Spirit had woken up a little too early and has lost the wanting of sleep. Swaying his tail, he sighs again, picked up his little drawing stick, and started to draw. 'This bird looks cute!' he barked, losing hold of the stick at once. With his round browny eyes, he caught sight of a field mice. Thinking of drawing it, he thought, 'Just one more field mi——‘ The clanging sound and the musher's voice suddenly rang out, 'It's Morning!' Spirit excitedly picked up his drawing stick and padded through the snow back to meet his musher.

Spirit let out a happy bark and jumped up to greet his musher, he whined as if to say, 'Oops, sorry! I've quite forgotten my manners.' Maybe laying in boredom for so many hours made him quite rusty. Wagging his tail excitedly, he then wolfed down his breakfast before licking his lips slowly.

With a full stomach, Spirit felt revived again. 'Time to greet the others!' The dog-in-white trotted along the path and to the kennel of Sky and Mz, smiled and barked, 'Morning Sky! About time you have a nice chat with Mz, you gotta make sure he's not going to laze off this few months!' After getting a little greeting from Sky and Mz, he hopped of in satisfication. Seeing the others still sleeping, Spirit started thinking of the mistake he made in the morning, giving a little laugh, he started back to his kennel.

'Oh Bell! I've already missed you! Good Morning!' He gave a high five to his bestest pal. Spirit sat back and started chatting to his friend. Happy barks was heard along the aisle, waking up the rest of the team. Spirit started to feel a little too cozy and closed his heavy eyes. Fighting back the urge of sleeping, he heard a happy whine out of nowhere. Trying to guess who it was, he suddenly spranged to his feet. June! I quite forgotten to greet her! Oh... I'll get into trouble soon...