About us
nautique
In his first year of college Deke bought a Siberian Husky. He named him Nautique.
The instruction manual that came with Nautique said “Must have daily strenuous exercise at a minimum of one hour“
Deke took this literally and together they explored a lot of country in the state of Colorado.
litters
Since 2013 there have been six litters of puppies born at the kennel.
The “Special K” Litter (Kusto, Konan) – Born 2015 – Kali and King
The “Disney” Litter (Simba, Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas) – Born 2016 – Ruby and King
The “Canadians” Eh!? Litter (Maple, Toonie) – Born 2018 – Belle and Kusto
The “Mexican” Litter (Patron, Siesta, Corona, Lefty, Pancho, Gordito, Churro, Peso) – Born 2019 – Belle and Marley
The “College Big Ten” Litter (Badger, Hawkeye, Golden Gopher, Husker, Spartan) – Born 2019 and six days after the “Mexican Litter” – Pocahontas and Tok
The “Fairbanks Establishments” Litter (Boatel, HooDoo, Oasis, Mecca, Turtle, Soda, Ivory J.) – Born in Novemeber of 2021 making them the first ever winter litter. Hawkeye and Corona
Meet The Nautique Sky Team
Deke
I’m super proud that we run what we raise inside our kennel and find good retirement homes for those dogs that are ready to move on.
Every single dog on my Iditarod team has been born here in our kennel and our biggest strength is our trust between each other.
Just as important as the dog team is the human team, and Nolan, Nikki, Eric and Jonah are back again to care for, train and race the dogs.
They are the best and it takes a team to make the Iditarod dream happen.
As Joe Dirt would say, “Life’s a garden, dig it!”
jonah
Jonah Bacon grew up on the Mississippi River in Alma, WI.
One day after completing a biology degree from the University of Minnesota (Go Gophers!), he packed his Ford Ranger and moved north to Fairbanks to chase the dream of living in Alaska.
He got introduced to the craziness of dog mushing right away his first winter, helping a friend run a team and volunteering at a checkpoint on the Iditarod.
After those experiences, Jonah knew the dog life was for him.
As fortune would have it, Jonah happened to meet Deke at the famed local institution, Ivory Jack’s, where one napkin scribbled with the upcoming winter’s mushing plans was all it took to convince Jonah to join Nautique Sky Kennel.
Jonah has lived next door to the Best Dogs in the World ever since, training them in the winter of 2022-23 and even running his first mid-distance race that winter (Willow 300).
This winter, Jonah looks forward to developing the 2-year-olds into studs, running more mid-distance races to qualify for Iditarod 2025, and competing against (and probably beating) Deke in the races they run together.
Outside of dog mushing, Jonah enjoys the finer things in life, such as getting his forehead smashed open playing rugby, consuming entire blocks of cheese, chasing Jaeger bomb shots with boxes of wine, doing the Cotton Eye Joe line dance, and messing around with the five goofy dogs he owns – Spanky, Binky, Chomper, Cocoa Puff, and Socks.
Nikki
Nikki Bio Coming Soon…
