Sen. Stevens' sled dogs getting an education from Iditarod champion
FAIRBANKS - U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens has sent his pair of 6-month-old husky pups to Alaska from their Washington, D.C., home for a little education.
The pups - named Taz and Keely - are learning about sled dog racing from four-time Iditarod winner Susan Butcher and her husband, Dave Monson, a Yukon Quest champion.
Stevens, an Alaska Republican, grinned when reporters in his Washington office asked about the dogs recently.
"I understand that one of them has made the team," the senator said with a laugh.
Well, almost. At this age, the puppies' muscles aren't developed enough to run far, said Monson. Six miles has been the longest outing to date, Monson said.
But Taz has shown promise as a leader.
"I just threw Taz up in lead to see what would happen," Monson said. "He didn't look right or left."
Keely is "a little less focused," Monson said, but it's still early.
"Actually, I'm getting kind of enthusiastic about their potential," Monson said.
Stevens picked up the puppies last summer during an auction at the Kenai River Classic, a fund-raiser for river habitat.
The senator said he didn't want to keep the dogs at his Washington home full time. They needed some space to run, he decided. So he contacted Butcher and Monson.
"We've been friends for a long, long time, so we said 'Sure,' " Monson said. These are their first and only boarders, he said.
Monson said Stevens already had gotten a good start on the training, as evidenced by some telltale red harness dye on the dogs' fur when they arrived.
"He'd been walking them in a harness in D.C. the whole time, so by the time we got them they already knew about harnesses," Monson said.
Their arrival, in crates on an airline, did betray a bit more pampering than the average husky pup, Monson said.
"They had all their little stuffed toys and all their little chewies," Monson said. "As soon as they got here, Ted was just calling - 'Are they there yet?' He called me on my cell phone."
Monson has kept in contact since then as well.
"I try to give him a report every time something changes," Monson said. "He's a real animal lover."
Before he left Washington, Stevens, 80, said he missed his new charges, to a point.
"I don't miss being pulled off my feet by dogs that just want to run, run, run," he said.