The Team
Who We Are
Laura Neese
MI DOG Owner
Laura fell in love with the sport of dog mushing and long distance racing at the age of nine, when her family followed the Iditarod as a homeschool project. After five years of learning everything she could about the sport, she started a small kennel in Ohio and began running short races in the Upper Peninsula. She graduated from high school at age 16 and then went on to receive an Associate’s Degree in Veterinary Technology through Penn Foster College two years later. In 2014 she moved to McMillan, Michigan, to work at Nature’s Kennel in the Upper Peninsula and pursue her dream of long distance racing. She worked for that kennel for 8 years before buying her dog team in 2023. She has been blessed with the opportunity to train and race throughout North America for the past 10 winters and has competed in the Yukon Quest, Iditarod, Percy DeWolfe, Canadian Challenge, Eagle Cap Extreme, Idaho Sled Dog Challenge, UP200, CanAm 250, Beargrease Marathon, Gunflint Mail Run, CopperDog150, and Wyoming Stage Stop Race.
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MI DOG became a vision of Laura's in 2019 and she quickly started working toward making it a reality. After about 2 1/2 years of working to build the facility, she opened MI DOG to the public in June of 2022. Laura and the dogs are loving this new opportunity to share the sport of dog sledding with the public!
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Keep scrolling to meet the incredible canine team members and learn about team sponsorship opportunities!
Maple
Age: 11
Maple is Laura’s soul mate and before she retired in 2019, she was her main leader and go-to dog. She excelled in both the 2016 and 2018 Yukon Quest and led the team for the majority of both races, never doing anything less than perfectly. She is extremely smart and will do anything for Laura. You can find her anywhere Laura is, especially riding shotgun in the truck or dog bus. Maple loves leading the puppy teams during their first few months of running in harness and taking young puppies on puppy walks.
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Winkle
Age: 11
Winkle is best described as continually happy, hard working, and passionate. Laura jokingly calls him her “husband” due to his awesome personality. He is always a rock solid dog that has finished every race that he ever started. Winkle did a great job with training the yearlings on my team in 2021, and has now retired to couch warming duties with Maple. He will also be helping to train the puppies that were born this summer.
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Elmer
Age: 11
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Elmer is a fantastic leader. He’s a steady dog who loves everyone and every dog in the kennel loves to be paired with him. He learned a lot during his time spent in lead with his sister, Maple, in the 2018 Yukon Quest. He and I greatly strengthened our bond during that race and that bond only got stronger with his exceptional performance in the 2020 Iditarod when he became my go-to leader in any situation. He is very patient with young dogs and is an excellent partner for leaders in training.
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Baker
Age: 11
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Baker was always one of the first to wake up and start barking to leave a checkpoint. He’s a huge dog who seems to be made of solid muscle. At 11 years old, Baker is finally starting to relax enough to make the most of retirement after his phenomenal racing career. Baker is the most well-traveled dog in the kennel with over 25,000 miles under his harness.
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Don Lewis
Witt
Age: 6
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Witt is a super sweet little girl who has been playing around with her leadership skills also. She ran tours when she was one year old, but then as a two year old she trained and raced with Blake Freking and joined my team last minute for the Iditarod. She is a really fun dog who always contributes to the team and is fun to have around.
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Line
Age: 4
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Line is a super goofy, energetic girl. Every time we stop out on the trail she jumps into the deep snow off to the side and sticks her head into the snow. She's a happy girl who is excited to run next to any partner, as long as she gets to run she is happy!
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Michael and Kathleen Mathews
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Ace
Age: 4
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Ace is an extremely hyperactive and happy boy! He is one of my main leaders already. I'm pretty convinced that it is physically impossible for him to stand still for longer than 2 seconds. He's a natural in lead and is always 100% ready to go!
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Envy
Age: 4
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Envy is soft hearted, happy, and full of love. He is very attentive to "his human" and wants to be every dog's best friend. Just like his siblings, (Fusion, Chilly, and Razor) Envy is also a natural in lead. He's also a major cuddlebug!
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Don Mantey
Fusion
Age: 4
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Fusion was my number one yearling out of 23 in training during his first year in harness. He inherited all of both parents' best attributes, getting Baker's loud enthusiasm and Jett's natural leadership skills. He is extremely confident and one of the most natural leaders I have ever had the honor of working with.
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Don Mantey
Razor
Age: 4
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A big, long legged girl, Razor is not lacking athleticism! She makes great eye contact, loves to snuggle, and is one of my leaders. She loves to break trail and responds to my commands as soon as they come out of my mouth. She loves to lead the charge!
Chilly
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Pat Berglund
Age: 4
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Also known as "Chilly Dog" or "Chilly Bean", he is a very talented sled dog. Chilly is always smiling, wagging his tail, and waiting to give or receive a great big bear hug. He is a super playful dog and loves to play with his ball. Chilly is one of my main leaders and is VERY competitive on the race trail.
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Woodstove
Age: 4
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Woodstove is amazing! If he was dumped in a can of black paint, he could easily pass for a black lab. He loves to swim (uncommon for Alaskan Huskies), loves to please his human, and is an all around jolly soul. I had to leave the cabin for about 1/2 hour the day he was born, and he crawled away from his mom and underneath the woodstove, where I found him as soon as I got home. He gained a scar on the top of his head to tell his tale and, of course, he had to be named Woodstove. He is a honest and steady sled dog and his tail never stops wagging!
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Maureen Riley
Comet
Age: 4
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Comet is a little girl, but her heart is enormous! She had a flawless yearling season in 2021 and blew me away with her performance at the Pedigree Stage Stop at 15 months old. She had a litter of 6 of the smartest puppies I have raised in 2021, and is one of my favorites in harness. Comet loves to play with balls and will happily play fetch nonstop for hours.
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Dave and Karen Glover
Chimp
Age: 3
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Chimp is one of the craziest dogs on the team while hooking up, she just wants to go! She is an extremely smart dog and she started playing around at the front of the team this spring. She is one of my main leaders and would happily run in lead every single day if I let her.
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Monkey Boy
Age: 3
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Monkey Boy is very smart, full of an excess of energy, and LOVES to eat. He also has one of the biggest smiles on the team! He's a great cheerleader and is always excited for the next adventure.
Puff
Age: 2
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Puff is one of my all time favorite dogs when it comes to personality. He is extremely smart and attentive to me. He's always up for a big hug and goes bonkers when the harnesses come out. He has quickly worked his way up to the top 10 on my team and continues to work his way further into my heart!
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Edie Kunze
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Wag
Age: 2
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Wag is a super happy and fun young guy. He is ALWAYS moving and loves to hit the trail! If I had to guess, I would say that he will end up being the strongest leader in his litter. He is a huge pleaser and thrives on praise.
Groan
Age: 2
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Groan is a wonderfully goofy guy and has always had a very unique personality compared with all of his siblings. He is extremely focused in harness and it has been a blast to watch him grow and gain confidence. He is a SMART dog!
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Smile
Age: 2
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Smile couldn't have ended up with a more accurate name. This young lady is always smiling and never has a cloud in her sky! Smile has played around in lead some, and she is the team's official cheerleader. She always has something to say about being stopped on the trail!
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D&J Hart
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