Name: Konan
Age: 4
Male or Female: Male
Owner: Deke Naaktgeboren
Musher currently running this dog: Deke Naaktgeboren
Team Position(s): Lead and Swing
Number of completed Iditarod races: This is his rookie Iditarod
Current Location: Lakefront Hotel, Anchorage, Alaska
Date of Photo: March 6, 2020
Temperature: 1 F outside
What are his/her unique personality characteristics?
Konan’s personality, he’s been my leader since he was a one-year-old. And the reason that he’s my leader is he’s Mr. Chill, Mr. Mellow. Nothing never bothers him. Nothing ever gets him upset. He loves running eight miles per hour, no matter how hard the trail is or easy the trail is, he just cruises at eight miles per hour. I always say it’s kind of like he has built-in cruise control. And he’s as smooth as they come for running, and he gets along with everyone, and he’s just a really happy, mellow, chill dog.
What is that litter’s “theme” name and other siblings’ names from that litter?:
Konan was named after … his mom and dad are King and Kali, so, it’s the Special K litter. So Konan’s name is Konan, but with K, not a C, and his siblings are all Ks, such as Kira, Kendall, Kousteau, Kasper, Kross and Kub, all with Ks. And that was totally a mistake to name them all K names, because I always get my tongue tied with K-, K-, K-.
What is the bloodline?
Konan’s bloodline, his father is one of Paul Gephardt’s best dogs as an eight-time 1000 mile finisher. And the mom is a random sprint dog that was my first ever pet in Alaska.