Melissa Mendelson

@teamrevivalrun.bsky.social

9 May 2025

My kennel website got a huge face-lift!! Everything is up to date now, and dog sponsorships are open for the 2025-26 season. Each dog can only have one sponsor, so you really will get to follow "your" dog through the season! flightriskmushing.com

Melissa Mendelson reposted

Team Revival Run

Some of my (Ginny's) favorite photos from this past weekend at the 2026 Byllesby Dryland Derby in Canon Falls, MN! #sleddogs #dogsledding #husky #alaskanhusky #alaskanhuskies #happydogs #athletes

HAPPY BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!!!!

You may be wondering why it took so long for us to do our first run....for some reason, my ATV's fuel pump went out! So it spent 3 weeks at the mechanic, only for me to bring it home right before a week of heat wave.

Cheesecake is the only yearling this year! She was having trouble with figuring out the whole sleddog thing last spring....she looked a lot more enthusiastic today, so fingers crossed this continues! (Left, ahead of wheel)

Legend meeting her grandbabies a few days ago! She immediately goes into "mom mode" and tries ro clean them, it is adorable

Loaf re-meeting her puppies last week! She could not be more thrilled

I adore everything about this

Muppy (TorqueAndBork)@runmuppyrun.bsky.social

Pandemonium. Winning hearts and reminding the human to do more cardio so her's doesn't explode.

My favorite sound

Peanut butter continues to be the GOAT for giving vaccines

Legend's favorite spot

8 week puppy stacks!!! I do stacks mostly for fun, I pick keepers based on temperament rather than what I see in these photos. But i love seeing how nicely they are developing. Funny to see the hound vs husky influence and how varied the puppies can be.

The Loaflings returned earlier this week!! I don't know how I am going to pick my keepers. They still have a month of growing to do before I do, thankfully. They've all done a great job settling in, and huge thanks to MIDOG and Laura as always for giving them such a wonderful start on life.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Team Revival Run@teamrevivalrun.bsky.social

A pet portrait of "Watkins" an Alaskan Husky who left too soon from a friend of ours. A more stylized piece with a beautiful subject.

Melissa Mendelson reposted

Roman Acleaf

@romanacleaf.bsky.social

Replying to @flightriskmushing.bsky.social

"How long do most dogs live?" - Not long enough. Peace & Blessings

Also, i want to mention. Im too exhausted and overwhelmed to answer individual people right now. But Watkins' bill has been completely covered by you kind people. Thank you so much. Also fuck pet insurance.

Watkins June 19, 2023 - September 27, 2026 Watkins was always defiantly full of life. As a baby puppy neonate, he showed his first signs of snottiness at merely 2 weeks old, though at the time I didn't know what it was.

Who is going to zoom across the yard, inviting the other dogs to chase? Who is going to play for hours with his best friend Lanayru? Who is going to be my cheerleader, snapping his jaws in excitement at the start of every run? My sweet, snotty, naughty Watty.

I hope his story will convince people to test their dogs to avoid passing on such a horrible disease. I will be advocating for testing once the University makes the test available, and testing all my future breeding pairs.

Just last week, I got an email - they found the genetic mutation that was causing PCD. I was thrilled. They requested additional photos and videos of Watkins to see if they could identify subtle facial features that happen with other forms of canine PCD.

I took a minute long video and sent it to them, not realizing it would be the last time I would take a video or photo of him healthy.

Last year, after almost a year of testing, we finally confirmed the Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia diagnosis on Watkins. The Canine Genetics Lab at the University of Minnesota picked up the research. (Video is his one brain cell working hard in the waiting room at U of M)

They sequenced Watkins' entire genome over the course of several months, looking for the mutation that was causing PCD in Watkins, his sister Brulee, his aunt Snotty, and so many other Alaskan Huskies I had learned about through community outreach about this disease.

Every time we hooked up, Watkins would barrel roll. As a yearling he used to do it tons - I would hook up his neckline, then as soon as I grabbed the end of his harness to hook up his tugline, he would feel the tension and flop to the ground, roll over, get up, flop down, and do it again.

He was fine on the trail when we were moving, fine when we stopped for water or a snack, but he just needed to protest with his whole body at the beginning of every run. He did it less as he aged but at the end of last season, he would still get in a barrel roll at least every other hookup.

He picked up checkpoint racing faster than anyone else on my young, rookie team, and was always first to bed down and curl up into a warm donut in the straw. I remember he even did this after Copperdog this past year, no straw needed - he knew what to do, even if it wasn't a checkpoint race!

The one time I put Watkins in lead, at first I thought he got it immediately. He pulled and charged forward with all his usual joy. When we got to a T junction and had to turn left or right, Watkins said - What do you mean? I go straight! And tried to take us straight ahead into the woods.

Watkins loved running as much as any sleddog. He loved the pure joy of moving his body, and being active helped his PCD mucus clear and made him feel all the better. He was a serious sleddog and was a top pick for races, snotty nose and all.

He journeyed with me across trails in Minnesota, the UP, and most importantly at home in Wisconsin, where we shared thousands of miles together in his 3 short years.

His favorite thing was to run at me from across the dog yard, and then do a flying leap body slam into me out of pure joy.

Watkins had a penchant for digging craters, not just holes. In his tether spot, you would find a depression 10 feet wide and 3 feet deep. He loved to sleep in his hole. It has been filled in twice, and he left me with one to fill in a final time.

Watkins was actually too much energy for me, and I tried to find him a home at first - though, as it became clear his snottiness was persistent, I decided to keep him to figure out what it was. He wormed his way into my heart and found his permanent home with me.

As he grew, so did his personality. He liked to snap his jaws together and clack his teeth when he was especially excited. Watkins lived to play - he loved to be the chasee in the games of zoomies, and he would always be the one who would get the other dogs riled up during daily playtime in summers.

Despite this, nothing stopped his energy. He was first to bust out of the whelping box, and I remember every time after that, whenever I went into the whelping room after being away for at least an hour, Watkins would be back out of the whelping box, sound asleep next to the dog bed across the room.

gofund.meDonate to Help Watkins Get the Care He Needs, organized by Taylor SquiresHey there, this is TJ on behalf of Melissa Mendelson and her dog, Watkins. … Taylor Squires needs your support for Help Watkins Get the Care He Needs

Thank you to my friend TJ for setting this up 😭😭😭 he is fucking INSURED!!!!!!!! It makes me so mad!!!!

TJ Squires | Chasing The Wolves@chasingthewolves.bsky.social

@flightriskmushing.bsky.social ‘s Watkins needs help staying earthside. Please read, share, donate if you can. gofund.me/4c05f5dad

Hey friends! I'm in the unfortunate position being at the e-vet with Watkins. He has pneumonia & needs hospital stay. GFM will be too slow so if you would like to help: -Call BluePearl and ask to donate to Watkins' bill (218)302-8000 -Donate directly PayPal: zulayawolf@yahoo.com Venmo: @zulayawolf

SCAM ALERT: Do not respond to any dms or comments soliciting money. The ways to donate are listed at the top - the phone number, my PayPal, and my venmo. Anyone else asking for money, even if they use my profile pic and a similar name, are scams.

Update: its really bad. Hoping he makes it through the night and if he does, he would need to be transferred to internal Medicine at University of Minnesota and it would be a 5 figure situation. Not sure what im gonna do. Pic saying goodnight, and possibly goodbye, in the O2 chamber. Im in pieces

(And of course, you guys for funding the research!)

Watkins is amazing. Despite the PCD he makes my race team time and time again. He is a checkpoint pro and is the first to lay down and tuck into a donut once we stop. I can't imagine not having his bright cheery self in my life.

Watkins is a very special guy. He is the poster kid for the research into Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia in Alaskan Huskies. University of Minnesota sequenced his entire genome to find the mutation that was causing PCD.

I was waiting until things were finalized to announce but....they found it!! They found the mutation causing PCD. The university is working on a website to spread awareness and make testing accessible. None of it would have been possible without my snotty sneezing coughing lil goofball.

But I didn't know what to look for. One text later to @beccaj.bsky.social and Watkins matched Snotty's pneumonia symptoms exactly. So off to the e-vet we go. My sweet, snotty Watkins. Poor guy is so tough! He makes it near impossible to tell when something is wrong.

The estimate for him is $3189 on the low end, to $4531 on the high end. I have $1200 right now but need an additional $3.5k-ish to make sure he will be covered. Anything additional, and the reimbursement from insurance, is going to go in a savings account for Watkins in case he gets sick again.

Watkins has pet insurance, 90% coverage with a $500 deductible. Unfortunately, pet insurance is dumb and you have to up front the cost and THEN they reimburse you! So silly! What is even the point!!!

@nicolemeiner.bsky.social

Watkins started acting off a couple days ago. Yesterday he seemed more himself and I thought he was getting better. Unfortunately, today, he didn't touch his food and was breathing in short, labored breaths. Given his history of Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia, I was concerned about pneumonia.

Melissa Mendelson reposted

Nicole Meiner

Hi everyone, I am extremely embarrassed to have to ask for help again, however I have two flat tires on my car and no idea if the tires are all I will owe or if there was some other car issue that made them more susceptible to going flat 😭 I will likely need to pay the repair people tomorrow (1/?)

21 Sept

WTF HAPPENED HOW DID THEY GET SO BIG