Bucky Tippett is joining us from the town of Grand View, WI with the Happy Howling Huskies!! Their team is a little green behind the ears as this is only their second year racing competitively. His lead dogs will be Pete and Grinker.

They are a family kennel of right around 20 Alaskan huskies, give or take. By Bucky's side as his handlers are his oldest son and his wife. They love the sport and Bucky says it has truly been a blessing in their life, as their two youngest boys are learning how to handle, so that they can mush some day too.

"The family that mushes together stays together!!"

Good luck, Bucky!

Laura is joining us from Newberry, MI. Her lead dogs are Leif, Onyx, Jade, and Horrick from Magnusson Racing.

She is attending CopperDog for the third time.

Laura would like to say thanks to her mom and dad for holding the fort down at home, and Jan Shaw for, well, everything!

Good luck, Laura!

JR Anderson is back for another CopperDog 150 from River Rock Kennel in Cook, MN. His lead dogs are Blackhawk, Bart, Frank, Cocoa, Sam, and Thunderdrum.

He has been racing for 32 years, which includes a win at the CopperDog in 2012! JR is also know for his stylish white Tyvek pants and being a glove thief! ...ok, maybe he just borrowed that glove!

A cool thing to note is that JR's wife Anna and daughter Sara are both racing in the CD25!!

Good luck to the Anderson family in the 2021 CopperDog!!

Joann is joining us from Gaylord, MI and her lead dog are Tara and Swift, from Coyote Run Sled Dog Kennel!

Their kennel has raced CD every year. Her husband, Larry, is usually on the runners. This is her third time racing it.

Joann would like to thank her sponsor, UpNorth Land Company.

This is her 21st race season. She has raced the Midnight Run, the CopperDog, Beargrease 120, Apostle Islands, Tahquamenon, and many other races over the past two decades. Her and Larry have been married for 20 years and they have a 16 year old daughter, Ana.

Good luck, Joann!!

Frank is joining us from Moetown Kennels in Hovland, MN for his eighth CopperDog! His lead dogs are Fonzi, Clover, Larry, and Big Wig!

He would like to thank his sponsor, NutriSource Performance Dog Food.

Mushing has given Frank many crazy experiences but none crazier than giving CPR, successfully, to one of Anny Malo's dog on the trail at the 2019 CopperDog... and then have her team fly on-by with her revived dog's head sticking out of the sled bag, smiling ...tongue hanging out!

In Frank's words; "We know what a huge effort it was for everyone involved with the race to pull off the CopperDog this year. We just want to thank you for that effort. It's so important that we persevere and have sled dog races. It's who we are."

Andrea is joining us for her third CopperDog from Grand Marais, MN. She doesn't know who will be leading her team yet, but she has her picks from Daisy, Frenchie, Luke, Duke, Roscoe, or Danny! We'll find out at the start who she has chosen!

Her crazy training story for this year was when she had a runner snap in half a half-mile into a training loop. It was an interesting run for her to say the least!

Andrea is a wife and mother of three kids! She works full time for Cook County Public Health and Human Services! She has a kennel of around 40 Alaskan Huskies. They train for 10 weeks with "green mushers" before they move their dogs up to the Gunflint Lodge & Outfitters on the border with Ontario, Canada for the winter to run tours.

She says it's so great to see their dogs being able to continue to do what they love even after they age-off the racing team. They also are very proactive in finding great pet homes for their retires when the time comes! Andrea says it's truly amazing to see their fur kids move on and have amazing families that love them so much!

Retired sled dogs make great pets!

Martha is back for another CopperDog from Irma, WI. She is part of the Otter Run Kennel team along with her son Chad and daughter-in-law Erin.

Her leaders are Flossy, Blanca, Mossy, Tupac, and Keith

One of Martha’s crazy stories is from the Midnight Run... she left Chatham and was on the second and final leg while it was still dark. Not too long after sunrise she had to stop for a logging operation. The truck was on one side of trail and the log loader was picking up logs from the other side of trail.

The dogs were barking like crazy of course. She doesn’t remember if the operator actually ever saw her or not but she just had to go for it and literally went under this log loader “bridge”. They must have decided to change locations as none of the other mushers after her, ran into the operation.

She would like to thank her husband for coming home "from a warm place" in the nick of time to take care of just a handful of young pups that were left behind at the kennel.

Good luck this year! Well... does she need any luck? Martha is the champion of the last two CD150! Hats off to her!

Jaimee is running her first CopperDog 150! Her lead dogs, from High's Adventure Kennel, are Harvey, Patton, Jose, Stormin Normin, Nimitz, Renzie, and Irma.

In 2012, when Jaimee was running the Iditarod she had a wheel dog by the name of Smokey. He was known to chew, but only at the first check point. In Skwentna, she put him back behind her sled to sleep. Her gang line was chewed by a dog that never had chewed anything before or ever since.

Leaving Skwentna they were a crazy wild team of 16, she couldn’t stop to set a snow hook to save her life if needed. But she needed to put booties on and to snack. Finally, she was able to set a hook and snack dogs and try to bootie a few, by the time she got back to the sled she only had two dogs attached to the gang line. Smokey had chewed the line. Thankfully people were out camping and heard her yelling. They were able to catch her 14 dogs running down the trail and helped her tie her gang line.

Flash forward about 100 miles they were ready to run down the Dalzell Gorge, all was going great until they reached a very technical section of trail and all of a sudden she finds herself with a two dog team. All the others are running off down the trail, Smokey chewed the line again. This time no one was around to help her. A few minutes go by and she sees her lead dog Osprey pulling the rest of the team all balled up back to her. Smokey ended up chewing the gang line a total of seven times and Osprey is still her number one dog; but now retired and living in the house!

Her sponsor is High's Adventure Gear!

Good luck in the CopperDog 150, Jaimee!

Mary Manning is back for her fourth CopperDog from Hovland, MN. Her lead dogs, from Stoney Creek Kennel, are Luck, Waupaca, Argo, and Skuff.

Her crazy mushing story involves being chased down a forest road during a training run by a group of goats and a llama... and now their owner trains and runs dogs with her!

Mary would like to thank Canine Health Forward for sponsoring her kennel.

She would like to send out a huge thank you to everyone who helps to make the CopperDog a reality!

Good luck, Mary!!

Mike Bestgen hails from Saint Cloud, MN, and is returning for another CopperDog! He has attended every single CD150 since the first race in 2010. His lead dogs this year are Glock and Magnum ...out of Fugarwekennels!

A few weeks ago, Mike finished the 2021 Beargrease 120 in second place; just eight minutes and 34 seconds behind first! Needless to say, he has a very hot team running this CopperDog 150; lift the hood and you will see a supercharged six-point-two liter LT5! So watch out!

And to quote Mike; "same three sponsors again; Me, Myself, and I."

Good luck again this year!!

Lynne is back for another CopperDog - she has raced every year! And it's her favorite!

Her lead dogs are Snow White, Cache, and Tinder out of Iskristall Kennel in Cheboygan, MI.

Lynne is a retired elementary teacher who now enjoys training and racing dogs. She continues to work with educators to facilitate access to resources for including sled dogs in classrooms!

From her training, she has learned to expect the unexpected. During the off season Lynne trains and races marathon canoe races!

She would like to thank dogbooties.com and so many of her friends who have supported her in her passion to run dogs. She also thanks all the CopperDog organizers, sponsors, and volunteers so the races could happen this year!

Kristen is joining us from Granby, CO for her very first CopperDog 150!

She'll be running Steve Peterson's team. He owns the Snow Mountain Ranch Dog Sledding Team and their lead dogs will be Juniper and Ruthie.

Kristen and Steve would like to thank their sponsor, the YMCA of the Rockies

Their crazy mushing story goes something like this; one night they decided to go for a full-moon run. They hooked up two teams around midnight and off they went. They ran about eight miles and did a turn-around. After the first team turned around they had a head on pass with the second team on a narrow trail. Two dogs got slightly tangled. Just as they got them untangled, the dogs pulled the hook and off they went - no musher on the sled! Although there were many possible trails they could have turned onto, they ran directly home and were waiting in the dog yard!

When not mushing, Kristen enjoys snowboarding, rock-climbing, and most of all long canoe trips!

Good luck in the CD150!!

Sarah is in her second year of racing! She raced the CopperDog 25 last year and loved it!

Her favorite part of running dogs is the peacefulness it brings her; being in the woods on the trail with just her and the dogs is more calming than anything else!

Her leaders will be King Louie and Flame, at least from the get go. She is racing out of the Flying K Kennel in Mountain, WI.

Best of luck!!!

Alex LaPlante, is running dogs from the Maple Ridge Kennel, in Esko, MN.

This will be the 11th CopperDog she has attended, some she has attended as a handler!

Good luck in the CD150, Alex!

Rita is once again back from Tofte, MN to run her sixth CopperDog! Her leaders this year are Mieter, Saber, Thread, and Arimis.

She would like to thank her sponsors; Langs Feeds Inc., K9 Health Forward, Claire Seekins, and Chris Johnson.

Good luck in the CopperDog 150, Rita!

Laura Neese is joining us from Nature’s Kennel in McMillan, MI. Her lead dogs are Jett, Barney, and Andy!

She was raised on a small farm in Newark, OH where her and her oldest sister raised Boer goats!
She fell in love with the sport of dog mushing and long distance racing at the age of nine, when her family followed the Iditarod as a homeschool project. After four years of learning everything she could about the sport, she started a small kennel in Ohio and began running short races in the Yoop!

She graduated from high school at age 16 and then went on to receive an Associate’s Degree in Veterinary Technology at Penn Foster College two years later.

In 2014 she moved to McMillan to pursue her dream of long distance racing at Nature’s Kennel.
She says; “I have been blessed with the opportunity to train and race our Nature’s Kennel teams throughout North America for the past six years." She has competed in the Yukon Quest, Iditarod, Percy DeWolfe, Canadian Challenge, Eagle Cap Extreme, Idaho Sled Dog Challenge, UP200, CanAm 250, Beargrease Marathon, Gunflint Mail Run, and the Stage Stop.

She is looking forward to adding the CopperDog 150 to her list of completed races. Good luck, Laura!!

Ed Stielstra is joining us from Nature’s Kennel in McMillian, MI. His lead dogs are Mark, Aruba, and Perez!

He grew up in Ludington and enjoyed competitive sports, dogs, and mostly just being outside.

After high school, he attended Michigan State University where he received a Bachelor of Science from Lyman Briggs College of Science. About 17 years ago, Ed was attracted to the immense passion that sled dogs thrive with.

That’s when he left his “real world” job and moved to the U.P. to operate Nature’s Kennel Sled Dog Adventures and Racing. In addition to running dogs, his favorite activities are traveling with his two children, Nate and Fern, and spending time outdoors (mostly in the woods).

Ed has competed in eight Iditarods, plus numerous mid-distance races throughout the lower 48. Good luck in the CD150!

Joanna is back for another CopperDog 150 from Grand Marais, MN. This will be her eighth year! Her lead dogs are Tamar, Nikita, Bandit, Laska, and Granite!

Joanna's crazy mushing story was racing through a whiteout blizzard along Lake Superior in the Midnight Run with wind gusts up to 72 mph. She said it was pretty memorable! She passed two teams just before no-man's-land to finish second! She could hardly see her leaders but the harder the wind blew the harder her black leader Vader drove into it! "It was exhilarating!"

She would like to thanks her sponsor, Agimac River Outfitters.

Good luck, Joanna!

Tom Bauer and his wife Sally are the owners of the Otter River Sled Dog Training Center and Wilderness Adventures in Tapiola, MI where they offer sled dog rides, tours, and camping trips!

His lead dogs this year are Marie and Pearl.

Tom and Sally also help mentor and train several members of the Mushing Club at Michigan Tech. They have one member running in the CD150 and two in the CD25 this year!

He would like to thank his sponsors, Keweenaw Saunas and 41 Lumber!

Good luck, Tom!

Erin is running her first CopperDog, from Mush Lake Racing out of Grand Marais, MN. Her lead dogs are Temper, Nancy, and Beezus

She would like to thank her sponsors; Ed & Julie Dallas

Erin's crazy mushing story was when she fell off her sled in the Beargrease Marathon this year and went for a 30 minute jog! Thanks to Ero Wallin, she got a ride and found the team okay. And she still managed to finish in fourth place overall!

Good luck in your first CopperDog, Erin!

Brian, from Mason, MI, is back for his fifth CopperDog and his second time in the 150! His lead dogs, from Kandler Racing, are James Brown and Stevie Wonder.

His crazy mushing story was when he was once met on a race trail by the Race Marshall. He warned him that they may in the not-so-distant future go over a cliff!

Brian would like to thank his sponsor; Dr. Tim's Pet Food Company.

Good luck in the CopperDog 150, Brian!!

Griffin is running his first CopperDog 150 - he attended the race last year as a handler. He is one of the members from the Mushing Club at Michigan Tech.

He will be running dogs from Tom Bauer's kennel, the Otter River Sled Dog Training Center and Wilderness Adventures in Tapiola, MI. His leaders will be Gibson, Triforce, Ares, and Winchester.

One of his favorite parts of mushing is bringing out new students to the club and teaching them about dogsledding.

Griffin would like to give a huge shoutout to Tom and Sally Bauer and a big thank you for all the support and encouragement from his fellow students in the Mushing Club!

Good luck in the CD150!

Nicholas is joining us from Ely, MN. He was born in Atlanta, GA and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.

He started running dogs in 2010 guiding for the Boy Scouts. Since then he has been guiding for Chilly Dogs Sled Dog Trips. He has also helped Nathan Schroeder for several winters and he is very excited to be racing some of his dogs this winter! His lead dogs for the CopperDog are Buffy and Quinn.

Welcome to the Copper Country and good luck in the CopperDog!!