My name is MORGAN SCHUTZ, and I like to think of myself as a Jill of All Trades. Making a living as a pediatric speech pathologist, which is a career I have truly loved and have enjoyed over the past 15 years both in private practice and working for an outpatient children’s hospital, that’s not where my passions and interests end. My greatest joy in life has been in the time spent and adventures had with my pack of doggos and I like to think we’re only getting started!
Me and the pack relocated from Virginia Beach, VA to Fairbanks, AK in July 2025 and we’ve quickly settled into our new adventure and are getting excited for the challenges and opportunities for more exploration that winter will bring!
SYDNEY
Sydney is 14 years young this year and still has moments when you wouldn’t know it at all! She had two big surgeries in 2024 and started medication for her heart murmur BUT she hasn’t let anything slow her down in mind or spirit! While most who know her know she’s a total water dog and beach lover, she also has a wild, wandering heart and has LOVED the seemingly endless trails and opportunities for hiking and adventuring that Alaska has offered us this past summer and fall. As the cold temperatures have begun to set in she is taking it all in stride despite also having loved to lay in the full sun and blistering heat and sun bake while living in Virginia. She watches TV, continues to love going for walks and is always up for a road trip and new adventure! She’s vocal and bossy and absolutely a badass warrior💗
CADEL
Cadel will be 13 at the start of 2025 and he seriously continues to act no older than 6 or 7 years! He LOVES the pool and will spend hours jumping in to retrieve his toys. We will have to find him the perfect lake next summer here! He is an amazing disc dog and has found a later in life passion for soccer. He is my little “mayor” and has to know what’s going on, always and to the end he’s also fiercely loyal and a great constant companion. Plus…he gives the best hugs and derpiest grins 💙 He has loved our frequent guests that stop by and love on him and has loved all the smells and adventures Alaska has offered! Oh…and he is my “difficult” kid and takes a long time to warm up to new pack members, in fact, it took him nearly 2 years to accept Jip BUT he has really been the bestsest boy with all the changes since we’ve arrived in Alaska…namely, the arrival of yet another pack member.
JIP
Jip turned 9 in August and though she’s only been with the pack for 2 years it’s impossible to imagine a time when she wasn’t apart of my everyday. Jip is a retired sled dog from Wild and Free Mushing kennel where she ran multiple Iditarods and Yukon Quest 1000 mile races over her career. I had the joy of falling in love with her and blessing of her falling in love with me simultaneously during the 2022-2023 season when I worked as a handler at the kennel. Brent sent her home with me and she is easily the best gift and souvenir I’ve ever gotten. It’s been an absolute privilege to watch her, as an adult dog, experience new joys in the simplest “dog things” like balls and squeaker toys. She took life as a lower 48 dog, living in Virginia with the heat and humidity and having to attend doggie daycare every day in stride BUT…watching her fall back in love with life in Alaska has been the greatest joy yet. In winter 2025, Jip was diagnosed with a mammary carcinoma for which she had immediate surgery to remove the mass. I feel optimistic that the mass was discovered within a day or two of appearing and surgery was less than a week later. Additional diagnostic imaging and assessment revealed no additional signs of disease and the likelihood of recurrence is very low so we are guardedly hopeful that my little warrior has many many more years of adventures and good health ahead.
TOCK
Tock is our newest pack member but she doesn’t feel “new.” Tock is Jip’s littermate and I never in my life would have ever even dared to imagine she’d be back in my life. Tock has had a whirlwind past few years after leaving Wild and Free Mushing to join another kennel where she blessed them with a litter of pups. I had been contacted just about the time those pups were weaning to ask if I would be interested in giving her, her final and forever home in the spring when they felt she would be ready to retire. I said “if the plan to come to Alaska comes to pass, I couldn’t say no.” In February, I got a message that she was struggling mentally and that maybe it would be best if she went to a retirement home sooner than later. But by now, in my mind, Tock was already ours and my move date was still months and months away. By fate, our friends up at Arctic Hive messaged me that same evening and asked if I knew of any dogs who were “free agents” and looking for a new home that would want to help take guests on mushing excursions. I told them about Tock’s situation and despite not knowing how interested in pulling she would be given the reports I was getting, they took a chance on her and moved her to Wiseman, AK to reunite with some of her old teammates who were wintering there and some of her puppies and old friends who call Arctic Hive home. And…Tock as we know her was back in an instant! About 2 days after we arrived in Fairbanks, Mollie flew with Tock from Wiseman and she and Jip were reunited on our new porch. Tock has settled in flawlessly to her new life and new pack and is the goofiest, most loyal little weirdo and we love her to the moon!
MERIDA
Merida is the void-I-didn’t-know-I-had-filler who came into our lives spur of the moment as a 3.5 month old kitten (along with her brother, Fergus who is my mom’s cat). She is now 9 years old and she’s grown a bit crotchety over the past few years while living with my mom and brother (and Fergus) but… she is still the same dog-savvy, brave as her namesake, tolerant and perfect fit for our crew cat I can imagine. She was the BEST road tripper as we traveled from Virginia to Alaska and I’m excited for summer and trying to introduce her to some outdoor adventures, camping trips and time in a catio on our front porch.
Morgan and the Wanderpack 