About Taka ...
Taka came to us from Gail Castonguay of SecondWind Siberians in December 2004, joining Spyder, Pickett, Jet and Xandra to make a team of five for our first season. Her father was Blackwater's Son Tu of Lara-Ke SD, an Iditarod lead dog, and her grandmother on Son Tu' side was Blackwater's Ruby SD another well known dog who was mother to many highly successful dogs. Taka was just 15 months old when she joined Braeburn and thus she learned dog sledding with us, but it was clear from the start that she had inherited her father's running genes. She is always psyched to run and her tug line is always tight; she is a hard driving dog. Even as a yearling, she provided a large percentage of the power to the team. During her second season as a two year old she became a leader-in-training. She learned the commands quickly and set a good pace. However, still being at the beginning of our own learning curve, we overlooked signals from Taka that she was not yet mature enough to want the responsibility of leading as much as she was.

She began fussing with the other dogs when the team was hooking up or stopped on the trail and eventually in the kennel as well. We had created a dog with a problem. However, she was not a problem dog and so we set to work to restore her confidence and enthusiasm; we had tried to make her grow up too fast. We let he simply enjoy runs in team position for the rest of the season, gave her consistent discipline for impulsive and inappropriate behavior, and spent a lot of time simply being with her to cement bonding. While an intense dog by nature, she is also a devoted, smart, and sensitive sweetheart who loves to play and snuggle, and by the start of our third season, she was ready to lead again. She is now a main leader and a dog who is very tuned into listening to us as we are tuned into her signals. Taka also became a mother November 17, 2007 when she whelped seven gorgeous, healthy puppies! Check out the Puppies sign post! The sire is North Wapiti’s Skor from Kelim Siberians, a dog who also has great type and structure and is focused and hard driving in harness. Two of these pups joined the Braeburn family for a total of 15. Taka is one of our best sled dogs and we are very excited about her future in that capacity and well as continuing to be a beloved companion.