Nestled along the road that runs through Browns Canyon between Park City and Peoa sits Rancho Luna Lobos, home to a family owned dog sled operation, canine haven and world championship race team. Fernando Ramirez and his wife, Dana, built the ranch from the ground up in 2010, establishing their new home and the business. Raised in Park City, Ramirez grew up exploring the land surrounding his home. “My parents still live on Highland Drive, right by Trailside. There was nothing out there. Before, it looked just like this,” said Ramirez, gesturing to the expansive 55 acre ranch off Browns Canyon Road. “So I had access, not only to my parents’ property, but beyond that — these little dirt trails all around where I would go out and run my yellow Lab and he would pull me on skis.” Ramirez’s father, Fernando, was an electrical engineer and his mother, Mary, a school teacher. Neither had any experience with dog sledding, but they saw their son’s growing passion for the sport as he harnessed his yellow lab to his own makeshift sled. “And my parents said, ‘Hey, if this is an avenue you really want to go down, let’s think about it.’” he said.Soon after, he acquired his first proper dog sled. “That next month we were walking around Silver Springs, and there was a garage sale, and there was a little junior dog sled,” said Ramirez. “Come to find out, It was a Frank Hall racing sled from the ’60s and ’70s. That thing was a beast, and that was my first sled.”After buying the sled, Ramirez’s mother told him her only condition was that they rescue dogs from shelters or from people who couldn’t care for them anymore. They would focus on Huskies and train them as race dogs. His father’s condition was that when they were at races, he would pick out two or three different mushers for Ramirez to talk to and learn from, asking them three questions: what their feed is, their training regimes, and what their kennel system is like. Ramirez, a deathly shy kid, agreed to the conditions.His parents were never lenient about this responsibility. They emphasized that even when he wasn’t feeling well, he still had to help feed and clean the dogs, he remembered. As a teenager, he woke up early before school to run, clean and feed the dogs on his own.“I come from a long line of Mexican vaqueros,” he said. “We don’t work with horses, but my parents wanted to instill that same philosophy in me with the dogs.” Today, he and his pack represent team USA in international competition and world championships in Europe and Canada.“I’ve been running sled dogs since I was 8, 9 years old and competing for a long time,” he said. “I’ve been very blessed to live this life. Went to school for human physiology with an emphasis on on physical therapy, and instead of working in a clinic, I clean dog poop for living, which is fine for me. Being able to live this life is amazing.”From one yellow Lab to nearly 100 happy canines today, the Luna Lobos pack has grown not only in number, but also in the depth of its community — athletes, helpers and friends. The growth and its impact are thanks to the condition Ramirez’s mother set at the beginning: to take in rescues. “When I take in a dog, I really want to focus on that individual,” said Ramirez. “I want to build them up. I may not be able to save every dog in the world, but that one dog that gets the opportunity to be here, I can really help them grow, whether it’s through our sport or they grow as an individual so that they can succeed in life.” Many of the dogs that Rancho Luna Lobos houses are incredible athletes that make up the race team, but it’s not a requirement. “Whenever we do get any rescues or any surrenders, we don’t want to start them off in the sled dog kennels.” Said Ramirez. “We start them off slowly and progressively, integrating them into the pack.”The new arrivals start in the Doggy Pueblo, cottages that are heated, cooled and furnished. Ramirez said that they like to play shows for the dogs, so the cottages are equipped with Netflix and Disney+, complementary to the tranquil nature of the dogs in this zone. “Whenever we get dogs, and unfortunately, some come to us that are mistreated, they like to spend time here, and this is really where that awakening happens,” said Ramirez. “That shedding of that skin, so to speak. … They become a different dog, hopefully a more confident dog, to where they can excel.”Ramirez said that while he can coach dogs to perform as sled dogs, the one thing he cannot teach is the drive and passion to become one. Fernando Ramirez, owner of and musher at Rancho Luna Lobos, readies his pack for a training run near Kimball Junction. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record“As long as they have that drive, I can coach them to do anything on a team,” he said. “We just never know if we’re going to get a good running dog or not, and if we don’t, it’s OK.”Nanook, who spends most of her time sleeping in the doggy pueblo, is a highly content wolf hybrid.“She doesn’t like to run at all, but she’s here forever,” Ramirez said. If a dog doesn’t find the right fit as a sled dog, some may become ranch dogs and live peacefully on the ranch as part of the family, he said. Others that are well-behaved and well-mannered after training are carefully considered for new homes. “We live in such a good community in Park City,” said Ramirez, “and we’re so intertwined with them, with our kids camps both winter and summer, that we have a very successful time finding them proper families.”As a ranch, kennel and family, their mission extends beyond rescue work to also promote a healthy and clean touring industry, he said.He has enough dogs to run up to 10 teams at once and offer multiple time slots per day, but he doesn’t approach the business in that way. “We only offer four sleds a time slot, and we only run two time slots a day,” said Ramirez. “The dogs are conditioned to train in the fall 12 times more the distance than they’re touring in the winter, so they’re aerobically fit. But just because they’re fit doesn’t mean we need to run them to that capacity.”Ramirez takes an empathetic approach to working with the dogs. The primary goal is to give them a second chance in life and help them succeed.“My wife and I see ourselves more as dog listeners than the patented ‘dog whisperer,’” Ramirez said. “It’s a fact of life that you can’t listen if you’re talking.”Fernando Ramirez, owner of and musher at Rancho Luna Lobos, checks the harnesses before a training run. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordRamirez said that while people can visit ski towns like Park City and book a tour with a dog sled company, they often aren’t aware of the conditions the dogs are living in. They don’t know how often a specific team runs, how many weeks in a row they’ve been working or how long the season lasts. He emphasized that this is what they are fighting for: a clean and transparent industry.“We’re working closely with an organization called (Mush with PRIDE,)” said Ramirez. “We’re trying to work closely with some of our friends that have touring operations in Wyoming, Alaska and in Montana, trying to see if we can sort of start this movement of keeping things super ethical and open our doors to the public.”Rancho Luna Lobos aims to lead by example, hoping to raise awareness and gain support in promoting the well-being of animals in the touring industry — whether it’s dogs, horses for sleigh rides or any other animals involved.The Luna Lobos race team will start their season in January and travel to Yellowstone and then Canada for a month before ending in New Hampshire for the world championships next year.You can watch their journey by following @rancholunalobos on Instagram.To learn more about Rancho Luna Lobos, visit their website, lunalobos.com, for more information about sled tours, boarding and other offerings from Luna Lobos.Fernando and Dana Ramirez of Rancho Luna Lobos. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park RecordThe post Rancho Luna Lobos sleds with purpose appeared first on Park Record.