My name
is Wattie McDonald and I live with my wife Wendy, and family on the outskirts of Stonehaven, a small coastal town to the south of
Aberdeen in Scotland.I am past (only just) my first flush of youth and have never lost my sense of adventure, my love of animals or the desire to help others and I believe that Wattie’s Great Race is a life changing opportunity to tick all of life’s boxes for me. Like my forefathers, I also love to wear my kilt and although I have to wear something a little more substantial during the race (it can reach lower than -50 degrees crossing Alaska), I am enjoying lots of opportunities to ‘don the tartan’ for promotional purposes so look out for me at some of the events we have planned!  We first got involved with sled dogs when we bought our first Siberian Husky, Keeska in 1999 and we now have a kennel of 11 dogs.Although it does snow in Scotland, competing for us means using our 3 wheeled rig which is great for most weather conditions in the UK although a far cry from the sled design used for distance racing in Alaska. Wattie’s Great Race is an even greater challenge for me than for most of my fellow competitors because I won’t be racing my own dogs. Thanks to former Iditarord winner Dean Osmar, I will be using a team from his kennel to compete in qualifying races in January 2009 and again for the Iditarod itself in 2010. This is a wonderful opportunity but it does mean that although I will be working with the dogs well in advance of the actual races, I will be competing with fairly unfamiliar dogs, unfamiliar equipment in totally unfamiliar territory. WOW! My own dogs won’t be completely out of the picture because I am going to have to work hard to get myself ‘race fit’ by following a regular training pattern at home. The Keeska team will be an important part of this great race so let me introduce them to you.  KEESKA : Our first girl! a lovely black & white bitch. We have learnt a lot from Keeska the good and the bad.
She has retired from the team but is a good teacher for the pups. Keeska is our affix (Kennel Name)  KASHA : Our second girl! Grey & white. Kasha is the quiet one in the pack until she has her mad turns when she
runs about crazy Kasha is 7 now but still acts like a puppy a joy to own very sweet nature.  KEERA : One of Keeskas pups. Black and white and 6 years old now. She is very vocal when she goes to work. She
is very strong and an excellent wheel dog.  KARRA : Keeras sister, Karra is an excellent worker and our lead dog in the pack. Karra is a consistent worker
who obeys every command. She is very much a live wire.  KSAFI : Our black and white rescue girl. Ksafi settled in the pack no problem. Ksafi has a sweet howl.
KEELEY KALLY KASSEY :
Our first Keeska mating from our Karra & Kabo produced these 3 cuties! They are almost a year old and are all quite loopy.
    THE BOYSWe never intended having any boys in our pack! Kasha was mated to Zjay & produced all boys. We are very proud of our boys Kavik & Kabo and they are almost 4 now. Kyza is our youngest boy he will be 3 soon and he has a very sweet nature. Their working ability is excellent with Kabo being in lead position with Karra. Visit our latest news page for regular updates! |
