Ruby Sue - A Chip Off The Old Block

Some of my posts on this blog contain stories of the best lead dog I've ever had, here at the Sun Dog Express Dog yard, Dudley.  Dudley was an absolutely amazing sled dog.  Very loyal.  He always tried to do exactly as I asked him to do.  He was what dog mushers refer to as a Gee/Haw leader.  The kind of leader that every musher dreams of, but not every musher is lucky enough to get in their mushing career.  Dudley passed away about two years ago, here at Rainbow Ridge Ranch.  He died at the ripe old age of 13 of sudden heart failure.  It was an extremely sad time, given the thousands of miles he pulled me, many visitors and my team down the trail.  We'd done many races together and taken many thousands of tourists on the cold and snowy trail and shared our love of adventure with them.

Dudley fathered one litter of puppies in his life with another lead dog name Jiminy Cricket.  Cricket had five puppies.  Mushers, traditionally, keep a theme when naming sled dog litters.  In this way it helps to keep each puppies lineage straight in a dog mushers mind.  We named them the "Rock Litter".  There were three males and two females.  The males were Lava, Granite and Garnet  .Females were Jade and Ruby (Sue).

Ruby Sue is the only surviving puppy of this litter.  She is now 12 years old herself.  Not only is she the image of her father and looks very much like him, she has the talent of a gee/haw lead dog.  Her ability to guide the team exactly where I need them to go is nothing short of amazing.  Currently she is my main lead dog for training all the other dogs in the yard.  She is hard working and dedicated.  Always willing to try her hardest to please.  She likes raw fish and lots of snuggles.