>> A lot of times the brothers
run together.
Johnny and Willie are
Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson.
So who gets to come today?
>> John's pickin' teams
for the day.
>> Aggie and Boulder are 14,
but they both still like to
run fast.
So we'll let them go out today.
>> They're all barkin'
and excited, and wanting
to be chosen.
You know, choose me, choose me!
I want to run, too!
>> You walk out in the morning,
even if you're tired or you're
crabby, you open the kennel door
and the dogs all are barking
and fired up in there,
excited.
>> No matter what your mood is,
you open that kennel gate and
they're excited and they know
that they're gonna get to run.
>> It rubs off on ya.
>> It always brightens
your mood.
You feel good after just
being with the dogs for
a few minutes.
>> Most of them will run out to
the line and you can hook 'em
right up.
They know the routine, so they
come out and it's exciting
at the beginning.
And then now they know that
they're going to be sittin'
here for awhile until
people come.
When the people come they'll
bark in excitement, and then
they'll settle down again.
>> Hi.
>> Tom.
>> Hi, Tom, I'm John.
Nice to meet you.
[dog barking]
Lightning is one of our
14-year-olds right here.
As soon as they meet all the
dogs they know, they get water
with food in it in the morning.
>> And the boys.
>> You guys what to help deliver
the bowls?
>> They get to interact with
them, they get to help give them
a drink in the morning.
They get to put the harnesses on
and help hook up, and get to
know their personalities
a little bit.
>> A lot of people thank
us for--
"Thanks for letting us help
you with the dogs."
Okay.
You're welcome.
There's a lot of bowls
to carry around.
>> It's kind of chaos
in the beginning.
You know, you saw what it's like
gettin' the harnesses on and
gettin' 'em hooked up, and
figuring which dog is goin' on
which team.
They're all barking and excited.
The customers are excited, and
you know, worried about what
it's going to be like.
>> If you're going around
a corner and you start tipping
over, you can run a couple steps
and jump back on.
It's a lot easier than
tipping over.
I'm usually in the lead
when I go out.
All right you guys,
let's go. Let's go!
>> It's just noise and energy,
and then as soon as you pull
either the snow hook or pull the
snap and release, it's just
quiet and just whoosh, down the
trail.
>> It's such a tremendous joy
to people that are going.
And I love to be a part of that.
>> Hello.
[laughter]
>> You're out there
in fresh snow.
It's just magical some days.
>> It's quiet.
You're sliding along.
It's just like magic.
[harnesses jingle]
This is our 20th year of
running sled dogs.
>> We took a ride with a friend
that had sled dogs.
I just rode in the basket
with her.
I got back in the truck and
said, that was great.
We've gotta get dogs.
>> When we got our own dogs
it didn't go very well at first.
We hooked them up to the sled
and we got about 100 yards
down the road.
The road started turning,
we both lost the sled.
And they ran a couple miles
down the road.
>> It was just for fun,
just for us.
And you know, we'd run
a team together.
And then pretty soon we'd each
wanted our own team, and we'd
take people out with us,
family and friends.
Every time we took someone with
us they were just blown away
by the experience.
It was a joint decision to do
this as a business.
>> If you guys want to come and
sit over here we'll have some
cocoa and soup.
>> It would've been easy to say,
forget it, a lot of times.
I think part of what kept us in
it is we just love the dogs.
What else are we going to do
with the dogs?
>> The happiness and excitement
and the energy from the dogs is
a huge part of it.
>> The dogs are like our family.
>> A lot of the dogs we've
raised from pup.
It's a very close connection
with the dogs.
You know, it's always really
hard to say goodbye to them when
that time comes.
>> I feel so much gratitude for
the dogs, especially the old
dogs, because they've been with
you their whole life.
>> It's been a really good life,
and I can't really see doin' it
differently.
>> Yeah, it's hard to imagine
not doing it.
>> This is a pretty stretch
here, goin' down this big hill.
Good dogs.
*