Second Chance Mushers

Home
United States
Eastport, MI
Second Chance Mushers

Call Directions Website Contact the business

SCM is a 501(c)(3) sanctuary home for unwanted Northern Breed Dogs. This is what Second Chance Mushers (SCM) is all about. I dog sled for FUN! Sarah and the Pups

My name is Sarah, and my life is all about dogs, dog sledding, and making a difference. I run with a dog sled team entirely made out of rescued dogs. Each one has come to me over a period of time and each one with its own reason of being surrendered. There are 25 dogs in my care presently as sanctuary dogs. It's for the dog's enjoyment as well as mine. Each dog lives in my home, they are my family. It's not uncommon to come to my home and not be able to find a place to sit because the pups only like soft, comfy couches. Second Chance Mushers Rescue is a sanctuary/rescue. Every dog at the SCM home is a rescue dog and all belong to the sanctuary. SCM is a non-profit sanctuary rescue with the hopes of one day having a facility that allows foster dogs for adoption. These dogs are my family and mean the world to me. I like to share our journey through life on this page which may be filled with happiness, sorrow, or laughter. Just hope you all enjoy it as well.

10/31/2026

Yep, that’s my old man Echo harness banging on the back left! 🤦🏻‍♀️😂 Apparently, he was ready to engage the slingshot before the rest of us!

SHAKE IT BEFORE YOU BAKE IT! 🏎️💨

And yes, I realized I had Tucker in the wrong size harness. 🤦🏻‍♀️ It was a little too long, so I swapped it out mid-run. I don’t think he minded one bit! 😂

Just another day of fall training with the kiddos! 🐾❤️

10/31/2026

At this point in our run, Ditto was free running alongside Morello. ❤️🐾
Ditto is seven years old and quite possibly the most bowlegged dog I've ever laid eyes on! 😂
She's also had quite the orthopedic history. She tore one CCL and then, less than a year later, tore the other. She's had TPLO surgery on both back legs.
These days, Ditto is semi-retired, but don't think for one second that her love for running has disappeared!
She still loves getting out on the trails, and I've learned to let her tell me what she's comfortable doing. When she's had enough of being hooked into the team, she lets me know. I unhook her, and she gets to enjoy the rest of the adventure at her own pace.
This particular moment was right after I'd stopped to unhook her.
We had stopped several times along the trail that day, but at this particular moment, when everything came to a stop, the sounds of the birds were echoing everywhere around us.
And it was absolutely magical.
There was something so peaceful about standing there, surrounded by the dogs, listening to the birds calling back and forth through the woods.
No traffic. No distractions. Just nature doing what nature does.
Sometimes I think we get so caught up in getting somewhere that we forget to appreciate where we are.
The sound of the birds echoing through the trees, the dogs enjoying themselves, and the simple pleasure of being out on the trails.
And watching a seven-year-old, bowlegged, double-TPLO girl still enjoying the trails in her own way?
Well, that's pretty magical, too. ❤️🐾

10/30/2026

⚠️ WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE IN THE VIDEO! ⚠️

If a few colorful words offend you, this might not be the video for you. 😂

There was a time when I thought the worst thing life could do was take something away from me.

Then I learned that sometimes it takes something far more difficult to recover from. It takes away your sense of safety, your trust in people, your peace, and even the ability to enjoy the things that once made you feel most alive.

August 6, 2024, changed the direction of my life in ways I could never have imagined.

And for a long time, I allowed what happened that day to determine how much of my life I was willing to live.

But here’s what I’ve come to realize.

Shiloh didn’t spend her life teaching me to be afraid of the world. She taught me about loyalty, unconditional love, adventure, and the extraordinary bond between a musher and her dogs.

And I’ll be damned if the circumstances surrounding her death are going to be the final chapter of that story.

There are still trails to run. There are still dogs who deserve every adventure I can give them. There are still lives to save, memories to make, and a legacy that deserves to be so much bigger than the tragedy that started it.

I can’t change what happened to Shiloh. I can’t make the world fair, and I can’t undo the damage that was done.

But I can decide what I do with the life that’s still in front of me.

And every time I harness a team, every time I hear those dogs screaming with excitement, and every time we head down a trail together, I’m reminded that the love I had for this life never really disappeared.

It was just waiting for me to find my way back.

So yes, life has delivered some pretty devastating blows.

But it hasn’t taken away my purpose.

And as the video so eloquently puts it, I’ve got some important spiritual s**t to get done. 😂❤️

For Shiloh. For the dogs. And, finally, a little bit for me, too.

💜 Never Forget Shiloh. 💜

10/30/2026

I think I FINALLY got the golf cart repaired, and it worked great on today’s run! 🙌🐾

Today’s team consisted of Arlo, Quinn, Ditto, Blue, Husk-a-door (aka Huskey 😂), and Little Miss Zoey!

One thing I learned today is that the golf cart is NOT nearly as fast as the dogs would like it to be! 🤣

You can see it right at takeoff! They were digging into the ground, ready to GO, trying their hardest to get that golf cart moving faster!

Listen, kiddos, I had the pedal to the metal! She’s a golf cart from the 1980s! She’s doing the best she can! 😂🤣

But on a more serious note…

I can’t even begin to describe what it feels like to have this passion back in full force. ❤️

To be honest, I didn’t know if it ever would come back.

For over two years, something that had been such a huge part of who I was just didn’t feel the same anymore. I didn’t have that itch to go. I didn’t have that overwhelming desire to hook up a team and hit the trails.

Even going into this fall, I was still cautious. Still hesitant. Still wondering if that part of me was gone for good.

But that first time back out on the cart?

It hit me like a freight train.

That feeling. That excitement. That overwhelming rush of happiness when the dogs take off and suddenly nothing else in the world matters.

It was like finding a piece of myself I thought I had lost forever.

And now? I can’t WAIT for the next run. I’m thinking about teams, trails, miles, and the next opportunity to get back out there. That itch I thought was gone? Oh, it’s back with a vengeance!

One thing I know about myself is that I am stubborn as HELL.

It may have taken me over two years to get back to this point. Two years of fear, hesitation, grief, and trying to figure out who I was after losing Shiloh.

And I may never be exactly the same person I was before Shiloh.

But you know what?

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a mixture of the old Sarah and the new Sarah.

The old Sarah had the passion, the determination, and the absolute love for running dogs.

The new Sarah has all of that, too, but she’s also learned just how quickly life can change, how deeply loss can affect you, and how much courage it sometimes takes to return to something you once did without a second thought.

Maybe the goal was never to become the old me again.

Maybe it was to find a way to bring the best parts of her along with the person I’ve become.

And today, watching those six dogs dig in and pull that ancient golf cart down the trail, I realized something.

I didn’t lose my passion. I just needed time to find my way back to it. ❤️🐾

And damn, does it feel good to be back.

Address

PO Box 279
Eastport, MI
49627

Telephone

+5176145623

Website

http://www.secondchancemushersrescue.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Second Chance Mushers posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.