“The thing I love most about Denali is that it turned Sharon into a dog person.” Katie Nyberg.
For the record, I was always pro dog. I love dogs, I love my friend’s dogs. I just never saw myself as having the sort of life where I could live/commit to a dog. I never wanted to live with a dog, until I met a government dog.
When I blew up my life to move to Alaska to work for Denali National Park and Preserve, I signed up to be a volunteer dog walker for one of their sled dogs. If I was moving to a new state and new park, then I was going all in on the experience. As I was being trained in at the Denali Kennels, the young ranger asked if I wanted to walk a particular dog, the kennels had 30 at the time. I said, “I’m a middle-aged short lady, who would you recommend?”
He said, “I’ll assign you Party, she’s our smallest dog.”
Party on the right with the much larger Gus on the left. (NPS Photo).
Denali names their litters after a theme. Party and her siblings were born in July of 2016, the year of the National Park Service centennial so all the pups got a birthday themed name: Party, Pinata, Cupcake, and Happy. She was their smallest dog, but she was one of their smartest. She was well loved by all for sassiness and little dances she did. Her first winter training on the sleds, staff grabbed a great picture of her sitting on the sled and staring at the musher, it even made it into the Washington Post. All the dogs had their own harnesses for walking and they were labeled since they were custom to the dog’s size. One day while attaching her harness, I noted her true name she had with kennels staff: Party Pants.
Her true name.
Our first selfie after our first walk was very awkward.
Our first few walks were very…professional. She didn’t play with me and stuck to the buisness at hand of sniffiing, pooping, and peeing on our walks. I tried to play with her when we would get back but she would sit on top of her dog house and look as though she was tolerating my presence. Until one evening when I showed up with a tiny morsel of rotisserie chicken in my pocket. After that, we were besties.
One day I heard a warbler on our walk and tried to “pish” at it. She immediately stopped walking and turned to face me. I pished again and she thought it was a weird game and jumped up and pushed me. She eventually learned to sit when I would stop to look at a bird and even became quite adept at pointing out spruce grouse hidden along the Park Road. One of my favorite moments was taking in the sounds of Swainson’s thrushes on our walks in May.
Party and I got along so well, that the evening walks were my favorite time of the day. As soon as I would enter the dog yard, Party would come out of her dog house, running in circles, boisterously bark with excitement for our evening routine. I felt like an amazing rock star every time I walked into the dog yard. My absolute favorite thing that she did when she saw me was turn around, aim her butt at me, and wag her tail while turning her head. I got some video of it one day while I got momentarily distracted by a woodpecker in the dog yard.
Party and I took in the gorgeous landscapes May through September. Often rainbows would appear in the evenings on our walks. I’d tell her about my day. I’d tell my concerns and complaints. I’d ask for advice. She walked and sniffed. In September she would disappear for training and sometimes weeks long sortis pulling sleds in the Alaskan wilderness.
It was fun to watch the kennels staff come through the neighborhoods to train the dogs and get them ready for the season. If we didn’t have enough snow, they’d pull staff on carts with wheels to build up their endurance. One day I was checking my PO Box at the Denali post office and I heard the familiar barking of the dogs nearby. I headed over to the Riley Creek trail and saw the dog truck and some of the dogs tied up waiting their turn for training. One dog in particular got incredibly vocal and was “roooooing” for my attention. And then I saw the small dog turning round and round, jumping, and wagging her tail directly at me.
“I can’t wait to pull a sleeeeeeeeeeeeed!”
These dogs LOVE pulling sleds. They bark and howl with as the equipment gets set up. One morning in winter I went to say goodbye to Party before she would leave for three weeks and she was so excited, she could barely contain herself at the sight of the sled being set up.
As Party and I got closer, friends suggested that I apply to adopt her. Anyone can apply to adopt one of the Denali sled dogs when they retire. Preference is given to people who have a relationship with the dog. Could I adopt her? Should I adopt her? When I took a job with the Forest Service that would move me back down to Minnesota, I was weepy in the kennel manager’s office.
“Sharon, Minnesota is a fine place for Party to retire to,” David Tomeo assured me.
“Yeah, but if it’s better that she join someone’s private sled dog team up here, I’ll understand,” I said.
“She will be nine years old, she won’t have the same energy, she’ll be ready to be a pet when she retires,” he assured me.
So I applied to adopt her and picked my Minnesota home based on its dog friendly building rules, private dog park, and ample trails for both bike riding and dog walking and hoped for the best. I settled into my new Forest Service job and life. Then changes in government happened and I learned that my job would be going away sometime in the future and I should figure out my exit strategy. The same day I learned this, I got a call from Tomeo at the kennels informing me that Party was retiring and I could take her.
I went through so many emotions not unlike Ron Burgundy in a phone booth.
Party’s arrival at the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport.
I had friends come with me to the airport the day Party arrived. My friend Gayle documented the reunion, including my ugly crying at the site of her crate. I was terrified she wouldn’t remember me. When I poked me finger in her crate and said, “Party” she gingerly licked my finger. She seemed to recognize me but she also desperately wanted out. We got her out of the crate and chance to pee and stretch her legs, we walked to the valet to wait for my friend Josh’s jeep that would take her to my place. While waiting, I pished a little like I would at a bird. She immediately turned around and pushed me and then gave me doggie kisses. She did remember me!
BOOP
And now we settle into a new life. There’s lots of adjustment ahead like getting her to trust ceiling fans and feeling safe through thunder. But she thinks beds are the coolest and has made many new friends in our private dog park. With some time, she might even start to play with dog toys. However she wants it, I look forward to spoiling her in her retirement from federal service.
So, lost a government job, but gained a government dog. Good trade.
