Today we got another team member. Gus' sister Achoo came to us...a little pipsqueak of a dog, but my does she work hard! She's quite shy, just as Gus used to be, so I have my work cut out for me. She loves to pull, works hard, and we'll use feeding her to overcome her shyness. My dogs all learn to eat while being petted. If they won't allow themselves to be petted while they eat, the food is removed and we try again later. It doesn't take them long to figure out what they have to do to be fed!
I also learned where Gus' and Achoo's names came from. Many mushers give litters "theme" names, and this litter was no exception. These dogs were named about "noses". Gus is short for gezundheit, and Achoo is well, a-choo!
Welcome Achoo!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Arrived in Togo
Arrived in Togo, MN at my fall training base – Jamie Nelson’s. In the first week and a half we’ve had 23 degrees, 80 degrees, thunderstorms, humidity, dry, buckets of rain, wind, and calm. I’ve gotten my new 4-wheeler, lost the team (for a tiny distance, the bridle on the 4-wheeler gave way and they headed straight for a water hole in front of them), dog team went swimming (several different mudholes), switched their diet to mink, got everyone in the dog yard with buckets, houses and newly graded circles, started everyone on an aggressive parasite riddance protocol, and everyone has 30 something miles already…in other words, the typical start of fall training. You definitely hit the ground running here! Oh, and moved into my cabin, my home away from home this fall and early winter.
The rain continues…sometimes warm, sometimes cool, but nearly always wet. Welcome relief from years of drought which has plagued this area. The ditches and mudholes are starting to fill as the water table slowly recovers. It’s amazing what you notice as you traverse the same terrain day after day at 8-10 mph!
Today was a swimming lesson, although no body actually swam. Turns out that one of the “doggie dips” along the driveway as we make our way out to the main road is a wonderful place to train listening, control, discipline and much more…all the while getting the team nice and wet at the start of the run so nobody overheats. Only today Liz got to get nice and wet too, well above my knees and therefore of course waterlogged boots. Heading out you go through the water hole from the north, so the deep side is on your left, and your leaders must “haw-over” to at least the middle and not hug the right hand bank. Coming back, vice-versa, a definitive “gee-over is required. So when that doesn’t happen…swimming lessons! Many trips sloshing to the front of the team to convince Tie and Rope that they could just STAND, then walk, through the chest deep water without melting. Being huskies they of course did not believe this at first, and it took repeated demonstrations, pushing them over, pleading looks (them to me), stern looks (me to them) and I ended up as wet as they in the process. But when success came, how sweet! Once they decided to do it, they did it with style. Coming back, just one reminder, then straight across, fully geed-over, and never looked back – leading the team exactly like they should!!!
p.s. On subsequent runs, with Tie in lead with other dogs, he’s done a consistently marvelous job at doing the doggie dip exactly as it should be done. Heaps of praise and he knows he’s done well.
The rain continues…sometimes warm, sometimes cool, but nearly always wet. Welcome relief from years of drought which has plagued this area. The ditches and mudholes are starting to fill as the water table slowly recovers. It’s amazing what you notice as you traverse the same terrain day after day at 8-10 mph!
Today was a swimming lesson, although no body actually swam. Turns out that one of the “doggie dips” along the driveway as we make our way out to the main road is a wonderful place to train listening, control, discipline and much more…all the while getting the team nice and wet at the start of the run so nobody overheats. Only today Liz got to get nice and wet too, well above my knees and therefore of course waterlogged boots. Heading out you go through the water hole from the north, so the deep side is on your left, and your leaders must “haw-over” to at least the middle and not hug the right hand bank. Coming back, vice-versa, a definitive “gee-over is required. So when that doesn’t happen…swimming lessons! Many trips sloshing to the front of the team to convince Tie and Rope that they could just STAND, then walk, through the chest deep water without melting. Being huskies they of course did not believe this at first, and it took repeated demonstrations, pushing them over, pleading looks (them to me), stern looks (me to them) and I ended up as wet as they in the process. But when success came, how sweet! Once they decided to do it, they did it with style. Coming back, just one reminder, then straight across, fully geed-over, and never looked back – leading the team exactly like they should!!!
p.s. On subsequent runs, with Tie in lead with other dogs, he’s done a consistently marvelous job at doing the doggie dip exactly as it should be done. Heaps of praise and he knows he’s done well.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Busy Week!
This has certainly been a busy week for the team...well, if not for the dogs, at least for me! All the trip preparations are falling into place -- good thing since we leave for fall training this coming Wednesday (Sept. 5th)! Truck has been serviced and has new tires, so it's ready to go. Trailer has new wheel bearings, new batteries, and new kennels on the back, so it's ready to go. I've gotten a zillion things done, clothes packed, harnesses, vet supplies, etc. ready to go -- a couple of zillion loose ends to take care of, so I'm not personally ready to go...but I will be by Wednesday!
And the big news: Our Iditarod race entry was received and we're up on the Iditarod website! On the musher listing for 2008, you'll find us as entry #76 -- since I graduated high school in '76, I've always been partial to that number, so that's just fine with me. No, that won't necessarily be our bib number, just the entry number, but we're in!
And the big news: Our Iditarod race entry was received and we're up on the Iditarod website! On the musher listing for 2008, you'll find us as entry #76 -- since I graduated high school in '76, I've always been partial to that number, so that's just fine with me. No, that won't necessarily be our bib number, just the entry number, but we're in!
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