Knoxville

Knoxville was adopted from Sixth Angel Shepherd Rescue on November 6th, 2011. He and his siblings were born under a porch in South Carolina, then brought up to Pennsylvania to be adopted.

Shortly after Knox was adopted, I almost returned him to the rescue. A mistake in his paperwork listed him as being a month older than I thought—making him a lot smaller than I hoped. After some digging, I was able to determine the error. Still, I was worried he might not grow large enough to run with my team.

Knox has been canicross hiking with me since he was 3-months-old. At six months, he joined the team on short runs. At a year old, he was kicking butt in harness and completed his first race. His paws crossed over 1,600 miles in his career as a sled dog—from NJ, to CA, to NY.

Knox fully retired from the team in 2021. As a woolly-coated, rescue mutt, he wasn’t exactly cut out for mushing like the others. Despite having some issues with his hips, he still loved to go on hikes and lounge in sub-zero temperatures.

Unfortunately, Knox was struck with a quick and aggressive abdominal cancer in the summer of 2022. Within just a few weeks of initial symptoms, he earned his silver harness. He will be forever missed.