A typical morning in Alaska. I could hear the pitter patter of paws outside my dog house. My ears perked up and i opened one eye. I could see the light shining in my dog house door as the sun came up. Another early fall morning. I stretched as i got up and poked my head out to see who was up, everyone was up, and walking in circles on their chains tied to a sterdy post in the ground. "Good morning" i told everyone one, with a yawn shortly after. "Morning sis" Diesel called out to me from my right side. I looked over to my left side and saw Anthem who just smiled at me as he jumped up on top his dog house. The sun began to rise higher and the team became anxiouse for breakfast. As soon as the sun was sitting above the trees Dodge began to bark, i rolled my eyes and looked at Bella who's dog house was right beside his. She was lying down infront of her house and she looked up at him, her face discusted as he barked. She glanced up at me and rolled her eyes at him aswell and gigled. Yup a typical morning in Alaska i said to myself. Then i saw Nakiska and Dawson, the biggest dogs in the kennel, get up and start to bark along with Dodge's "tune" they just went along for the fun of it. I shuddered as the two loudest barks in the kennel got louder. Sudenly i herd a bark comin from my right side, Diesel was at it too, smiling because he knew it bugged me. I looked at the girls in the kennel and we all rolled our eyes together, so imature i thought, but i figured they were thinking the same thing.

I herd the door to the back of the cabin infront of us open. I started to wag my tail because i suddenly got exited, even though i see Sam everyday, i love him and i'm always exited to see him. Everyone perked up their heads and saw him as well and suddenly all the tails began to wag and the barking got louder. Not a viciouse bark but an exited one. Sam was our owner, and the owner of this kennel, NorthWoods, It was originaly his father's, and his father's father's and so on. My parents originated from this kennel, they were Sam's dad's best lead dogs. Sam loved it here, and he loved his team more then anything in the world. You could see it in his smile everytime he came out to us, he spent most of his time with us. As he backed out of the door, i got a big wiff of what he was carrying, breakfast. He turned around and was carrying a big tub of dog food. "Alright calm down you guys" Sam said with a laugh. He put the tub down right infront of the dog houses and grabbed the big scoop inside of it, he filled it with dog food and went to Diesel's bowl, "there you go Dies" he said as he put it in, Diesel's head went straight into his bowl and he chowed down like he's never seen food before. Sam then dragged the tub behind Diesel to Dodge's bowl and put a scoop in "There you go goof ball" He said to him, dodge wagged his tail and put his face straight into his bowl, making food fly everywhere. I agreed, he was a goof ball. Sam went around to all the dogs giving them a big scoop of dog food in their bowls. Then he came back to the front, to Anthem and I. "I've gotta save the best for last" Sam said quietly with a wink. Me and Anthem looked at eachother with a proud smile and watched Sam put food in our bowls, Sam patted out heads"best lead dogs ever."

The team finished eating really fast, like usual, and were trotting around the posts. Then i herd the ATV start up, this got everyone exited, the team was on their feet, waiting patiently. Another training run. Sam took the team out everyday for a training run, the runs got further and further each day, especially because winter was just around the corner, which means races soon. We all watched Sam walk back and forth collecting everything for the run. Then he came up to the dog houses "Is my team ready?" he called out to us, we all anwsered with a happy bark and our tails wagged. He came and got Anthem first and put his harness on, then tied him to the end of the gang line. Anthem stood there patiently, and Sam came and got me, He lined me up next to my brother. Sam loved that me and Anthem stayed so calm as he set up the rest up the dogs, it saved him alot of work and he didnt have to constantly untangle everyone like you see with other teams. Sam finished getting all the dogs harnessed and hooked up and went in to get some jugs of water. I looked back and smiled at everyone. Diesel and Dodge were hooked up right behind me and Anthem, behind them were Bella and Jersey (the other girls). Then Nakiska and Dawson in wheel. Sam came out, and Dodge began to bark again, this time pulling at his harness. Diesel joined him for fun. All our tails began to wag as Sam got on the ATV. Anthem glanced at me with a wide smile on his face then back at Sam, we waited patiently......"HIKE!" Sam yelled and suddendly we were off.

We got back from the training run, all of us panting. Sam went down the line of the team patting all our heads telling us we did a good job. The weather was getting nicer to run in because it was getting colder, the team didnt get as hot. Sam took all the dogs off individually and hooked us back to our posts at our dog houses. I didnt remember much of the run, the team ran so fast it was all just a blur most of the time. But we loved it. Night fall came as quickly as morning and Sam went around in the dark feeding the team their dinner and giving us all water. He gave everyone a good stroke, and went inside. The wind began to pick up, it was cold, i became exited thinking about winter being so close. The races getting closer and closer.

Winter was finally here, and there was plenty of snow on the ground, enough to use the sled for training runs. The team got more and more exited as the days went by, the races that were right around the corner were only in a couple of days now. Sam spent everyday preparing for race. It was a quiet night tonight, you could hear the snow falling as it hit the ground. The team was becoming too exited for sleep and they would stay up most nights talking, and stradegizing. Dodge spent most of his time trying to impress Bella, and Nakiska and Jersey spent most of their time talking to eachother. I just rested as much as i could, and played and talked to my brothers. Dawson was always the one i felt a little sorry for, he was added to the team last year, a wolf-husky hybrid. No one thought of him differently, we treated him like one of the team, but he just liked to be independent. When he ran with us he wasnt independent though, he listened to Sam and Anthem and I. "You alright Dawson?" i called back quietly to him, past the chatter boxes that were all talking. They didnt notice i was talking to him. "Yeah i'm fine Maya, just a little tired is all, trying to rest up for the races." He told me with a smile. "Alright you rest up." I smiled back. The relationships were funny in this kennel, there were the siblings which included myself (Maya), Anthem and Diesel. Then there were the two dogs that had small crushes on eachother and didnt know it, Nakiska and Jersey. Then there was Dodge, he liked Bella, but Bella didnt like him back, atleast thats what it seemed like. She talked to him, but when he got out of hand trying to impress her, she just rolled her eyes. But i loved this kennel,the team, and Sam.

The race was tomorow and everyone was exited, Sam took us on two training runs today and we all ran our hearts out. We loved running as a team, even though we run in seperate positions our hearts beat as one. Sam fed us our dinner when we got back to the kennel and told us to rest well for our first race of the season tomorow. Of course we would try to rest but might not be successful from the exitment. Everyone layed in their beds trying to fall asleep but one of the dogs would always say something that would turn into a conversation between the dog houses. I listened for a bit but my eyes felt heavy and i fell sleep.

Race day!! the whole team was up very early this morning Dodge barking very loud today and jumping his highest, "Save some of that energy for the race" i told him. Sam came out with a big smile on his face, he was exited for the first race of the season as well. He brought out our new blue harnesses that matched our collars, our harnesses that we only used for races. He packed them in the big dog truck he had parked in the drive way. The truck was blue as well to match everything else, i guess you can tell what Sam's favorite colours is.The truck could hold up to 20 dogs and had white paw prints running all down the sides of it, on the door it said NorthWoods Kennel. He packed up everything else we would need for the race and one of his friends showed up, his friend Sadie. Sadie was about his age maybe a year younger, they've been best friends since they were little. The team loved Sadie as well, she spent alot of time with us in the winter helping Sam at the races, and training runs. I saw Sadie come up to the dog houses and all our tails wagged, Dodge still barking and jumping uncontrolably. She laughed when she saw the goof ball. Sadie came right up to Anthem and I and gave us a pet, "You two run fast and hard for Sam today ok" she told us with a smile. "I'm sure you'll do great, he can always count on you two" she looked up at the team" He can count on all of you" she said with an even bigger smile. I herd Sam call her name, and she ran up to go see what he wanted. All morning they packed everything up getting ready for the race. Both of them came down and one by one took us to the truck and helped us in the boxes. 

We finally got to the race, from what seemed like hours because we couldn't hold in our exitement. Sam parked and i herd Him and Sadie get out of the truck and put the lines up along the bottom of the truck. One by one they took the dogs out and hooked them up to the leashes attactched to the lines. Diesel, then Dodge, then Nakiska and Dawson, then Bella, Jersey then Anthem and I. Sadie helped Sam harness up each one of us and as soon as i knew it, everything was set. We were hooked up to the sled in the same order as always, looking like a professional race team with our matching colours. Everyone of us pulling at our harnesses, jumping and barking, the exitment always got to me at races. I herd a women begin the count down "5...4...3...2...1...GO!" all the dogs pulled harder when they herd the word go, but Anthem and I waited for the real command. "HIKE!" as soon as Sam yelled the command we were off, me and Anthem pulling as hard as we could. We ran so fast i couldnt even see the crowd cheering for us as we ran past, everything was a blur. "Good luck!" I herd Sadie yell after us. I could hear the team's paws hit the fresh snow, almost like a drum beat. We flew past other teams, running through the trail at a fast pace. Me and Anthem turned left and right as we herd Sam call out Gee and Haw. The whole team was panting now but enjoying themselves. We never stopped running for a minute, even when other teams were taking a break. When my team was over tired i knew, but not today. This was the first race of the season, it was the smallest race, we were going to run the whole thing.

My head came up as soon as i herd the crowd again. I couldnt believe it we were already close to the finish line, i pulled harder on my harness. Anthem sensed the pull and pulled hard as well. The team followed and started to run faster trying to get across the finish line as fast as we could. "Come on dogs!" i herd a call from behind us, my ears twitched back but it wasnt Sam. It was an older man and his team, comin up from behind us. He yelled at his dogs and pushed the sled with his foot trying to pass us. Suddenly the older mans single lead dog was right beside Jersey, he managed to get up beside Diesel. "Not today" i growled to the dog,Me and Anthem lowered our heads, our feet began to pick up speed. My team followed behind us and began to pull harder, the dog on the other team was just as determined as we were. How did he catch up so fast i thought. The lead dog was right behind my foot. The finish line didnt come fast enough, i pulled and pulled. The crowd was cheering so loud it was throwing me off. The older man's team started pulling harder and harder, trying to pass us. We came around the last corner, there infront of us, was the finish line. My heart began to pound so fast i thought it might come right out of my chest. I couldnt feel my legs anymore, i'd been running so fast for so long. But the finish line was right there! "Come on kids!" Sam yelled to us in encouragement. Dont give up i thought to my self, do it for Sam. Me and Anthem pulled harder, and finally we were over the finish line. We made it. The older mans team right behind us. The team slowed to a stop. All of us panting, and our hearts pounding. We won, but that was acually hard, no other team has ever came that close to tieing with us. Or even come that close to winning. I looked back to see who the man was, and the dogs. I've never seen them before, i watched the man get off the sled. He didnt even pet his dogs or tell them they did a nice job. He went straight to Sam. "We could have won" the man said to Sam. Sam just smiled and said "Your team is really fast what a great job they did, I'm Sam by the way" and went to shake the man's hand, the man smirked without shaking Sam's hand and walked away from us and his sled. Two men came up to his sled and began to pull the dogs and sled behind the man. As the lead dog walked by i watched him. His eyes landed on mine, and he smiled. "We will win next time" he said to me in a cocky tone. I glared at him, He was a large siberian husky almost as big as Nakiska, dark gray and white, with brown eyes. I watched him until he was out of site. There was something about him, almost something i could sense, something was wrong. "Good job Maya!" Sam was right beside me, i looked away from the giant husky and right at Sam, i wagged my tail and he gave me a pat on the head. "I have a feeling were going to see that man in more races this winter kids, i guess we better pick up our game."Sam told us. I growled, i dont know what came over me i just didnt like that man, or his team. "Its ok Maya, we'll beat him again." Sam comforted me.

By the time we got back to the cabin, the sun was already setting. Sadie helped Sam put us all back to our posts, and give us all food and water. Then they went inside together. I still couldnt get that mans team out of my head, how did they catch up so fast. And the bad feelings i got from that lead dog. The team was already sleeping, everyone exausted from their first race of the season. I layed down in my dog house, on the straw inside........ We all waited for the next race.