If I recall correctly, the day that Dexter decided to retire (AKA refused to run), I found Blitzen’s litter shared in a Facebook group. There were still two or three puppies available and something about them caught me eye—besides being cute as fuck puppies.
Photo by Steve Renner
I checked, and sure enough, the lineage included Sibersong on the sire's side (where both Denali and Willow came from). And yes, I can now identify dogs that are related to other dogs just by looking at photos on the internet. The little black and white pups were great-grandkids of Tristan—Denali’s dad, Willow’s granddad. The sire (Sibersong’s Storm) was bred out of Lightning and Victor—two dogs I knew of well. Lightning was awesome in harness and Viktor was a strong but submissive male. That combination was exactly what I wanted to take Dexter’s place in my team. And, at this point, running at least four dogs had been pretty much solidified for me. There's no going back now.
I reached out to the breeder (Steve and his family—Team Snowspeeder) and made plans to scoop up the little Lightning look-alike after Halloween. At the time, we were rolling in my old Ford E-150 camper van (still half-finished inside). We drove a few hours north to meet Steve and his wife, Tuesday, and the new addition to my team.
Blitz was shy at first, but I quickly won him over with a French fry. Even though we had crates in the back of the van, he rode the whole way home in Will’s lap. The two of them have been pretty bonded ever since.
As a young pup, Blitz integrated into the pack without much issue. He and Willow became instant buddies (they’re only a year apart in age) and he even gets along well with Knox (who tends to be a wildcard).
When it was time for Blitz to join the team, I didn’t have any doubts to his ability. From his very first hookup, he’s been the strongest puller I've ever seen. I often brag about Denali and Willow’s work ethic, but Blitz runs on jet fuel by comparison. He leans into his harness and digs in harder than any of my other dogs—making our runs instantly more fun and a hell of a lot faster. And at the end of every run, he unwinds by doing his signature roll (a trait he apparently gets from his father).
I couldn’t do a full profile on Blitz without mentioning his most, um, intrusive quality. He’s a crotch bandit. If you enter my home, within seconds you’ll have a nose in your crotch and/or butt, and my money is always on Blitz getting there first. We had hoped his nosiness would subside after getting neutered, but that habit remains. He likes to get to know you.
As Blitz matures (he’s one and a half right now), he’s been prone to policing Dexter’s behavior, but otherwise remains sweet and submissive with the other dogs. He still loves Will and has recently become much more snuggly—especially at night, when he wants to be spooned in bed. We suspect that adding Hubble to the mix had something to do with it.
