Dog of the Month- Miss. Cool Cat!

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Date: March 1, 2020 10:48 pm

Tails from the Trail- Dog of the Month- Cool Cat!

This month Matthew Failor, of 17th Dog, shared a fantastic story about his special dog Miss. Cool Cat. Matthew will be running his 9th Iditarod this year.  

“Let me introduce Miss Cool Cat, or as she is known on the streets (trails)  these days, Mc2(squared). She was the most skittish, shy dog in my kennel when I adopted her at the age of 5 months. I actually couldn’t even approach her she was so shy. Realizing I wasn’t making the situation any better, I decided to let Fionn and Uels (pronounced ‘Yools’) work their magic. I let those two dogs run free, opened the pen to Cool Cat and let her run free! Next thing you know she was accepted into the pack just by running around with my two originals, Fionn and Uels. However, this was just the beginning of the ‘work’, as I still hadn’t even been able to pet or touch Cool Cat because she was so shy and unsure of her surroundings. I decided to get a little smart about the current situation since Cool Cat still wouldn’t come to me, even as she saw how much Fionn and Uels trusted me. So I opened the door to the handlers cabin I was staying in at the time, and naturally, Fionn and Uels ran inside. Cool Cat, not knowing that this was a setup, ran through the door chasing her new friends. I quickly ran over and shut the door before Cool Cat could figure out what had just happened! We must have spent a full 24 hours in there, patiently getting to know each other, building trust, working on confidence. We became best friends that day. She has always been ‘my dog’, one of those shy dogs that latches on to one person and no one else. From that day on, Fionn, Uels, Cool Cat and I were best buds. 

It turns out that Cool Cat has quite an impressive lineage. Her parents were part of the team that won the Iditarod in 2011! Knowing that she has come from good stock I wanted to breed her to several other great dogs of the Iditarod, so I reached out to my friends Martin Buser and Pete Kaiser. Cool Cat’s first litter goes back to Pete’s main lead dog Palmer. Palmer would eventually go on to win the famed Kuskokwim 300 an impressive 4 times in a row, win the Denali Doubles, as well as finish the Iditarod several times! That litter in my kennel is known as ‘The Heavy Metal Litter’ (Palmer X Cool Cat). Floyd-M, Zeppelin-M, Dio-M, Motorhead-M, Maiden-F, Pantera-F, Sabbath-F. These dogs have had a great career now already and they are only 4 years old. They went on to win the Kuskokwim 300 last year, denying Pete a possible 5th championship in a row, and in the process that litter (with help from the other teammates) set the new speed record for the Kusko breaking my mentor Martin Buser’s 25-year speed record! These Rock Stars have also finished the Iditarod several times now. We, here at 17th-dog are very impressed and happy with our four-legged friends! 

Photo Credit Matthew Failor

For Cool Cats’ second litter, Martin allowed me to breed her to his famous dog Roll! (Roll has a brother named Rock….get it, Rock n Roll!). Roll is a special dog to me as I got to help train him when I worked for Martin in 2010-2012 and Roll also took me down the trail my rookie Iditarod in 2012! Roll went on to win several races in his career with Martin including the Knik 200, Denali Doubles, and Kuskokwim 300 as well as finishing the Iditarod! This litter from Roll X Cool Cat is known as our ‘Glam Rock Litter’! So we have the Heavy Metals and the Hair Metals! Cool Cat had 6 in this litter, Bowie-M, Idol-M, Sister-F, Motley-F, Halen-Jovi-F. These dogs are just coming into their prime at the age of 3! Miss Cool Cat just recently had her third litter here at 17th-Dog! She is a busy mama with all of her kiddos here. She gave birth to another 7 this year (Premier X Cool Cat) and they were dubbed ‘The Car’s Litter’. Those pups are Prowler-M, Benz-M, Bentley-M, Cadillac-M, Delorean-F, McLaren-F, Maserati-F. 
Cool Cat is obviously the Matriarch to our pack. She is the toughest female in the yard, probably one of the most confident in the yard as well. It’s funny to think back when she was so young and shy, that she would grow into this role here as such a confident powerhouse of a dog. 

Photo Credits Matthew Failor

Before Cool Cat became the mom to so many of our dogs she actually had a slow start to her career and wore a cast on her wrist for a good bit of time. She broke a bone in her ankle by stepping on a rock when she was 1.5 years old. The vet took good care of her and she has not seen any issues from that. It took a lot of work and patience to get the kennel to where we are now so Cool Cat, unfortunately, didn’t get many opportunities to ‘race’ as it seemed she was always training puppies and running easy ‘yearling’ schedules in Iditarod. She did finish Iditarod a couple of times but she has really shined through motherhood. Hands down the best mama dog I have ever seen. This includes all the kennels I have worked for over the years. She is so good to her pups allowing them to nurse till they are plenty old enough! Very patient with them but assertive when the pups need some correction or direction. Many of her pups (now 4 years old) still go over to her circle when let loose to kiss her snout and submit for belly rubs. It is quite a sight to see her still patient with her grown children. Not all mamas acknowledge their pups when they are full-grown but Cool Cat will do this, which is a cuteness overload by the way!

Photo Credits Matthew Failor

Miss Cool Cat started out an extremely shy and timid dog but gained her confidence through running with the pack, learning in harness, being an outstanding friend and world-class mama lead dog here at 17th-Dog. We love her and are in debt to her!”

Photo Credits Matthew Failor

Follow Matthew Failor and his amazing team starting on March 7th at www.iditarod.com.
 
Teachers:
The Iditarod starts in just 5 days! How are you using the Iditarod in your classroom? Do you have the Insider? Have you chosen your mushers to follow? Go to the Iditarod education page to find a menu of great lessons you can use in your classroom!
It is also a great time to look at the rules for 2020. What is new for this year?