At present, Team BDO continues to train in Two Rivers, which is the mushing capital of interior Alaska.  Occasionally, puppies and adult dogs are available.  Feel free to contact The Sled Dog Fund, Inc. or Blake and Erin Matray if you are interested in owning a Team BDO Siberian Husky.

    Team BDO started in 1995 in Antler, North Dakota, which is two miles from the U.S. and Canadian Border.  While flying B-52s for the USAF at Minot AFB, Blake Matray met Iditarod musher Brad Pozarnsky of Bottineau, North Dakota.  Blake bought two puppies from him, Shasta and Thunder.  The pair would eventually comprise his first group of lead dogs.  Brad’s line of Siberian Huskies is Skoro and they originally came from the lines of Whitewater Lake, Northome and some dogs from musher Doug Willet.  The following year, Blake bought three more young dogs from Brad and ran his team in the 1996 UP Midnight Run in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  In the years the followed, Blake started breeding his own dogs and obtained a few more adult dogs from Brad.  Now a full distance team, Team BDO ran in the UP 200 and Montana’s Race to the Sky as he and the dogs

                                                                               gained experience.

 

    In 2000, Blake moved the kennel north to Two Rivers, Alaska, with the hope of some day being able to run in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.  Once in Alaska, Blake was able to purchase two puppies from Earl and Natalie Norris in Willow.  The two males, Matsu and Ryder grew to be great dogs and helped to expand the Team BDO breeding program.  After completing the 2001 Tustumena 200 and the 2002 Denali 300, Blake was qualified for the Iditarod.  In preparation for the 2003 Iditarod, Blake purchased several adult dogs from Siberian musher Judy Currier and those dogs eventually added to the breeding program as well.  Due to Blake’s service in Operation Enduring Freedom, the dogs of Team BDO averaged 7 years old by the time they reached the starting chute of the 2003 Iditarod.  The dogs did well for the first few days of the Iditarod but got sick about 250 miles down the trail and were unable to continue. 

      After the 2003 Iditarod, Blake focused on rebuilding Team BDO.  Some of the older dogs were placed in good homes and many of the dogs from the 2003 Iditarod team remain at the Team BDO kennel in retirement. The first litter of new puppies was born on the Eve of the 2004 Iditarod.  Five other litters have followed in the last three years.  As a result of the these breedings, the dogs currently at Team BDO contain the lines of Skoro, Anadyr, Northome and Lara Ke .  There are now a lot of young dogs at Team BDO ready for some big races in the future.  Team BDO placed 9th at the 2007 Down Bowers 200 in Willow and it was their best finish ever. 

The Sled Dog Fund, Inc. HISTORY

THE DOGS OF TEAM BDO