Iditarod 06 Start

Teams of interest to us are , of course, Aliy Zirkle... our corner gave her a loud cheer but I couldn't get a photo , Trent Herbst whose runaway dog we rescued in Wisconsin last fall , Ed Stielstra from the U.P. of Michigan, Karen Ramstead with her beautiful Siberians and there are many others as well.

Photos are of Trent's team in the Start chute, and just a quick early photo of Team Norway's truck.

Iditarod Anchorage Start 2006

It was a great day for the Start of the Iditarod, March 4, 2006... a bit of groundfog in the early a.m. as the dog trucks started to roll in... the snow on the trail was hauled in but not too deep or punchy although it's always tough on the handlers.
We worked as Security Guards which is an o.k. way to volunteer, but doesn't allow for much photo taking.
Tomorrow we will go to the Restart in Willow and hope to get some better photos.

The photos attached here are, first, of Eric Roger's dog trailer in the very early a.m. hours and then of Ed Stielstra's team taking off near the end of the Start ... you can see a bit of the mountains if you look at top of photo.

Nome webcam in Iditarod week

One more time, the link for the Nome web cam is:
http://www.nomealaska.org/vc/camimage/704x480.html
This will get very interesting within the week as you'll actually see the traffic of Iditarod on the camera. There will be another one at the finish line , not too far from this cam.

Talk with Quest musher

Had a chance tonight to talk to the musher who had been lost during the Quest, as previously posted on here. His story of survival is quite incredible and I don't think I can do it justice, in the repetition of it. Suffice it to say, his first concern was the dogs, who with the Man Mat harness system, were secure , not tangled and lined out, safely waiting.
Also incredible is the story of the woman who was stranded on the mountain, slept in her sled, to wake up to someone knocking on it... unzipping her sled bag she saw a helicopter directly over her sled and a man saying "We're here to rescue you." Which they did, along with the stranded dog team, waiting for their musher. All ended well as we formerly noted, but to hear it from principals involved gives it a whole new look, and one more time points out the great relationship between mushers and their dogs.

Iditarod Fever

Anchorage is filled with the Iditarod frenzy pre race. Last night was the very looong Musher's Banquet which always ends with the mushers drawing their bib numbers. Aliy Zirkle, our friend, chose bib 26. This year they could select their position based upon the order of their signup. Some veterans chose late numbers.
Nothing is more energizing than to hear Hobo Jim singing, "I did, I did, I did the Iditarod Trail" as he entertains the very large banquet crowd at the Sullivan Arena. We had a great reunion with our Iditarod friends from around the world and made some new friends as well.
Tonight we are heading out to a celebration for Aliy and family and then getting, hopefully, a good night's rest in order to be at the Start on time tomorrow, where we plan to work all day as Security Guards.

North to Alaska Stella is at home , almost

Stella and Julie had a safe trip to Anchorage. Today we went for a walk on some city streets,
with Stella and her uncle, Fats, (also our Skinny's father). Stella is used to free running and seems a bit confused about this new regime , but she is on to very good things and we've been so fortunate to have her for a winter. Fats has returned from visiting out of State and is retiring back at the same kennel with Stella. They were both delighted to walk the quiet city neighborhood with us today.

Dear deer family

We've had two families of deer coming in for corn lately. Yesterday we had a lot of snow and I was happy to see the family with the very small fawn coming in. At times there is another family, a buck , a doe and a fawn.
Saw a fox running down our road the other night... wildlife abounds ,rabbits are plentiful . Plentiful rabbits mean plentiful coyotes, of which we've seen a few more than usual this winter.

Start photo from JP30 race

This is a photo of our team, number 2, in the start chute at the Jackpine 30. Although you can't see it in the photo, it was bitterly cold , with thirty below zero windchills. The dogs just love that kind of weather... let us run!! Liller, the ten year old leader on left in photo, looks revved to run, as does her co leader, daughter, Buffy.

Singing Stella

Stella, with her beautiful singing and happy running, is going home to Alaska after spending a winter training with us. We'll all miss her so much, our happy cheerleader, but Lillen her pen partner will miss her most. Stella goes back to a racing kennel in Alaska . She's fast, happy, very agreeable with all dogs, harnesses/hooksup and runs well. We hope for good things for her.
And we have our dibs in to buy her back if she does not become a racer.

Mighty Pine Mountain

Photos don't do this justice but this one shows the length of the landing.
Looking down from the top is a bit intimidating. The jumpers climb the side of the scaffolding with their skisto get up there to jump.

Winter Sports

As Julia, our racer, was driving a dog team in her race , her 16 year old son was having his first ski jumps off of 120 meter, Pine Mountain. She was then able, on Sunday, to attend the jumps as were we.
Pretty incredible in itself to jump off a 120 m. ski jump, and his first jump on Sunday was 131 meters, or 430 feet, by far the longest junior jump , outstanding ! Will attach one or two photos of his jumping. He has been training for a long time for this opportunity and all spectators were happy for him!

News article on wild ride of Jackpine 30

This is a link to a news article about the Jackpine 30 , one of the musher's wild rides.
http://www.miningjournal.net/news/story/0219202006_new03-n0219.asp

Congratulations to our team!

Our team of Julia, Liller, Buffy, Ruthie, Kiddo, Martin and Quattro placed ten out of 28 in a chilly competitive Jackpine 30 this weekend.
Although we didn't want to know the temps at start time they varied in the area surrounding from minus 19 to minus 32. With new snow and a last minute reroute of the trail it was punchy trails and plenty of challenge. Julia's recount of the race sounds like a straight from Disney movie, including losing her team a few times, once on top of a ski hill. They were caught by a
skiier but he let them go when he thought she could reach them, so of course off they went again. After the race the mushers shared their stories of losing their teams on the very challenging trail.
We are very proud of our great team, Liller being a ten year old leader and Martin, returning to the race world for a bit. Strong and beautiful they are!
Thank you to Stan for being a great tour guide , contributing the only photos (I broke my camera) and listening to the all day chatter about dogs!

Storm coming affects ski jump/sled dogs?

There is a significant storm coming in with predicted accumulations of up to twelve inches of snow and wind chills reaching to minus forty. This is our weekend for our team to race the thirty mile sled dog race out of Gwinn where the same conditions are predicted.

And it is the weekend for The Continental Cup at giant Pine Mountain ski jump. This is a photo
from the end of the jump late this morning as the jumpers were hoping for some practice runs.
It appears that the storm will interfere with jumping until Saturday. The winds were gusting up the hill and caused the cancellation of practice jumps.

More rescue details, Quest

http://www.yukonquest.com/servlet/viewphotocategory?id=1069&page=1

Another story on the rescues on the Yukon Quest. We met Alissa in September when she was handling for a musher's kennel in Fairbanks. Very glad she is okay.

All's Well in Yukon

Heard that all dogs are well and rescued from the extreme weather conditions in the Yukon Quest race. There were 88 dogs and 7 humans airlifted out by Blackhawk helicopter, all in good condition.
There is a photo on the Yukon Quest website under Photos, Mile 101.
Very glad to hear all is well. What a tribute to dogs, mushers and especially volunteers who did the rescuing.

View from the trail

Photos on our trail

Martin is the white dog running in wheel. We wish he could talk so he could tell us his own stories of Eagle Summitt. Liller, in lead, is a veteran of Iditarod and we wish she could talk, as well. Buffy, in co lead ran last year's Tustumena 200 in Alaska. We feel very lucky to give these dogs lifetime retirement homes.
Of course, Julia, on the phone in first photo, we are lucky to have you, too!

All's Well

This is a link to the Fairbanks news story on the lost mushers and dogs.
http://newsminerextra.com/quest06/news/2006/02/13/alls-well-that-ends-well/

Very glad all is well.

Toughest Sled Dog Race in the World

http://www.yukonquest.org/servlet/viewnewslist?null&resolution=1024&referer=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=yukon+quest+sled+dog+race&btnG=Google+Search

The Yukon Quest, a 1000 mile race from Fairbanks, AK to Whitehorse, Yukon has proven itself to be just that. Saying that this is the worst storm in years, there were numerous mushers trapped while trying to descend Eagle Summit. One team did get separated from its musher for a period of time but has been found and airlifted out, suffering only mild dehydration. A lot of credit to the pilots and other volunteers who went in to rescue the veteran and rookie mushers overcome by the tremendous storm.
Our dog, Martin, is a veteran of this tough race, as is Skinny, who is now retiring. You have only to watch Martin on a downhill to know he knows how to ease down a mountain, as he digs in.

Tech on the Trail

This is the first time I've ever heard a phone ring on a dog sled much less seen someone answer it!
Couldn't resist taking a photo of Julia answering her cell phone, receiving a call from a Minnesota friend.
All six dogs were working and playing hard this morning, loving the trail . Julia spotted a flock of birds which she thought were grouse taking off . I missed them and also did not see any deer this a.m. The backwoods is as beautiful as ever , as we racked up another 25 miles. It was in the teens and good running for dogs. Liller always gets a frosty face. We took Quattro for a sixth this a.m. and left Herman (much to his dismay) back at home. Still haven't finalized the six as all seven doing well.
Well, speaking of tech, the upload won't work right now so will just print this without photos.

New View and More Miles

Today we took our six dog team on a twenty five mile run in prep for their 30 mile race a week from Saturday. Julia starts them on a fast uphill and then a fast downhill and out the gate to the railroad grade. We weren't quite sure how far into Michigan we'd go but actually went to the village of Pentoga for our turnaround. We calculated a ten mph average for the first leg, which would be a competitive speed for the type of race we'll run (not a sprint race).

It was a beautiful day, the trails were nearly perfect and even though the sun was bright the dogs did not get too warm. They all seemed to really enjoy the new views and especially the deer on the trails, deer always make them pick it up. There are several views of the river as we run and Julia said she was noticeably cooler as we skirted the river. Liller, the leader, knew exactly where she was and headed for the route to the river cabin. Dogs are uncanny in their ability to remember trails.

We did see more machines today than usual. One group wanted a photo so we stopped for a quick visit, good socializing for the pups. Another couple was stopped on machines and also took photos. Most people we meet on machines are happily surprised to see sled dogs running.

Countdown

We are now counting down to another race and getting miles.
The team is narrowing down and it looks like it might be:
Buffy, three year old female leader; Ruthie, three year old female;
Liller, ten year old female tough! leader, Kiddo, three year old female, team dog,
Martin , nine year old male wheel dog and Herman or Quattro, (two year old male or three year old female) wheel dog.
Liller is an Iditarod veteran. Martin is a Yukon Quest veteran, Buffy is a Tustumena 200 veteran and Kiddo, Quattro, Ruthie and Liller are JP 30 veterans.
In this photo, on this day, these dogs were running full out at 22mph; we slowed them with the drag pace them for a longer run.
Today they ran sixteen miles. The plan is to run 21 miles on the next run. The race is next weekend. If it is too warm, Martin will not make the team and will be replaced by Quattro.

Rescued dogs

We have enjoyed the opportunity to give a good home to dogs in need at rescue , at times. Our aged Lab, Chena, is a rescue as was our now deceased Anatolian, Solo. We have six others still with us who are rescues to whom we've given lifetime homes. They have given us so much more than we could give them.

Last year we picked up seven dogs in need of rescue (all from one home)... one of them still lives with us (Buddy) . Today at the race we returned our race bibs for our racers and were able to photo two of the rescued dogs racing. They are purebred Siberian huskies and this is their four dog team in the takeoff. They seem very happy in their new home and well loved.

Race photos

Photos didn't load yesterday, will try again. Very nice sprint team, all females except male leader, I believe.

Racing

We took ten dogs and two racers to the race this morning, but in mid morning prior to our race times our racers were called home because of an accident in their family. It was frightening and we are just hoping all is well for them !

The traveling in our area was very snowy. The accident occurred in another area of the state. The dogs did get a good training chance to ride in their boxes and to be let out at the race site, to see all of the other racing dogs and hub bub. And they ran their victory laps of the pens around the other dogs who didn't get to go.
The first class was an Unlimited Class and one team did run 18 dogs, that's quite a string. The photos are of a friend's 14 dog team.

Dogsled.com

We are off to two days of racing if the weather holds.
This is a link to a very good sled dog update page.

http://www.dogsled.com/

Snow

We did get three teams run yesterday after school. Two four dog teams and one six dog team in preparation for the weekend races. It was a long day of shoveling and hauling and more shoveling... and in the night it has marvelously snowed again... schools are delayed which translates to more shoveling.
Other than the pressure to get things done for all dogs and still be race ready with trails, training, it is a very beautiful world this morning. Looks like twelve accumulated inches on the deck and snowing. However temps are to be warmish today which does not bode well for dry, manageable snow. Our trip for dog food is delayed yet another day. Fortunately I bought the last three bags of fillin food available in our local petmart. We can make it through the weekend.

Fox Den and Wyoming Stage Stop Race

Sulatna, a retired sled dog and now house dog, is an avid hunter. She visits the fox den down the trail every day.
It is an active den but we don't often see the fox. S/he (the fox) is out and about at night, we see the tracks, perhaps even on our porch as Sulatna investigates the porch with interest every morning, then runs for the fox den to check it out. We once saw the fox meet our Anatolian Shepherd... they had what appeared to be a conversation , Solo bluff charged a bit, then they sat down side by side... Solo obviously satisfied that the fox was not a threat.

This is the link to the Wyoming Stage Stop Race, called the IPSSSDR. It is currently in progress.
http://www.wyomingstagestop.org/bios.htm

Teams run by Wendy Davis and Mary Gilbertson have dogs from the Gilbertson kennel in Chatham, MI.

If you ever think you'd like to raise sled dogs....written by request...

Well, if you are thinking about sled dogs, these are some basics to think about. For a 40 dog kennel (most competitive kennels are larger).

FEEDING... we use 30 40lb bags per month. That means analyzing which is best, procuring it, paying for it, hauling it and then feeding it. Morning feeding is at daybreak and takes one hour. Supper is at dusk and takes one hour. Preparing soups and extras, add in one half hour per day. Biscuits as training treats are used almost every day (one half box per day).

CLEANING... our dogs are in pens in social groups. We have twenty four pens to clean. Pen cleaning, hauling waste takes two hours per day (before, in between and after all other activities),every day, often in the dark.

EXERCISE/FUN/TRAINING.... Depending on the day the dogs are either run in harness with the ATV or sleds, or they free run in and out of the pens, or some free run with me on trails.
Every dog gets some kind of fun each day. On days that we are training and running 23 miles for instance, all of the other activities occur after and before the training runs. All dogs who run receive water /soup and/or treats after a run, more time.

HOOKUP... This is a separate energy requiring activity. In hooking up an dog team, we must enter the pens, take a chosen dog, get out of the pen without letting others out, take it to the picket line, harness it, do the same for all others scheduled to run, and while they are checking out whether they like the others running with them and are screaming to go, we hook them up. It is the sweatiest activity .

VACCINES... All dogs receive all of their vaccines on a regular basis... rabies, 6/1, Bordetella,
and in the summer treatment for parasites, heartworm, ticks, etc.

VETERINARY CARE... We monitor all dogs every day; today for instance a dog we had taken to the vet last week had to go in at 7AM for removal of an abcessed tooth. Turns out he had three teeth removed and will have to rest/be watched for ten days. Various dogs are on various meds. We do have retirees who are on special diets, special medication. We also have rescues whose histories are uncertain and we do the best we can for their health without a history.

KENNEL CARE... Building and repairing dog houses is an oft repeated activity. Winter dog houses need to be up on pallets. All pens are monitored seasonally... in the summer we let the dogs dig, in the fall we fill in the holes. Dogs love to chew on their pens requiring much fence mending. Ripping gates apart is a genetic trait passed on from father to pups, at least in this kennel.

SCHEDULING... This is one of the biggest difficulties... when others are involved whether its other dog drivers or the food supplier, they have schedules and we have to dovetail ours with theirs. It sounds easy and it is the hardest thing to do. Using trails intersects with others using trails (if they are public)... we try to schedule our dog runs at low machine traffic times.

SNOW... Snow is a separate issue. First thing after a snow storm is digging out the gates. There are nineteen gates that need to be dug out to get in to feed, every time it snows more than three inches. All of the trails need to be groomed every time it snows, or even when its windy as they drift in. The weight of just slogging thru new snow is energy consuming... we run the machine around to flatten snow so it can harden for walking. We haul pails on toboggans in the winter
and in a wagon in the summer. We have a separate toboggan for waste pails. If it's an icy sleet all of the gates freeze and we have a special metal rod to beat on them to get them to open.

TRAINING... Training starts at the birth of the pup. We harness pups at 4 months and trail walk them teaching basic commands. We do not do classic obedience training... this requires a LOT of patience. Pups are run in teams from ten months on. Dogs can race at yearling age, but for most part we look at over two for racing. Every day is a training day.

LOVE... The dogs are very loving and they need a lot of affection. This is another thing that gets a bit short when we're trying to put miles on them... individual attention is more limited. We try to make up for this in the summer .

Many other factors enter into a day in the kennel , choosing, ordering, buying and replacing equipment. Dogs are hard on harnesses. Every time they eat a harness it's $20.00 unless it's reparable. Sleds vary in size and utility. Gas for machines , gas for truck travel, gear for the humans. And it helps to wear a helmet and safety glasses. Dogs are rowdy when they're happy to go.

Alaska webcams

As the races are being run in Alaska we like to look at the various webcams.
This is a link that allows you to click on the section of Alaska in which you're interested, in order to see current weather. It includes some of the Iditarod checkpoints.

http://akweathercams.faa.gov/viewsite.php

Destinations

Today our destination was by 'Iron Dog" to the river cabin, to check on its new roof and just generally to scope it out as a winter destination for real dogs. It was much too warm for them to go that distance today. As beautiful a day as it was, we only met two other snowmachine groups. We did take a ten dog team out there in November but have not gotten back out with teams yet this winter.

The cabin was built by the CCC in the 1930's. I paid $500 for it and had it hauled in (for another $500). We've just had a new metal roof put on (hard to see under the snow).

Also, including the link to the Nome webcam: http://www.nomealaska.org/vc/camimage/704x480.html
This refreshes every 60 seconds and of course reflects the time difference. The building on left in photo is the Visitor Center and the one on the right a liquor store. In the 1990's Nome had a stray polar bear wandering near the Visitor Center. Many photos of its visit are around town.

The Iditarod race finishes on this street in mid March, dogs running past these buildings after they come up off the Bering Sea (further down the street). That is the frozen Bering Sea behind the V. Center.
In 2003 I had an opportunity to go out to a local fisherman's crab pots on this frozen mass. That same year I worked in the dropped dog lot , keeping the finishing race dogs safe and quiet so they could rest after their 1000 mile trek. At 20 below and on the sea coast, I was wearing three jackets for my six hour shift.

More Miles

This morning we ran two eight dog teams, one for fifteen miles and one for seven miles.
The first team, led by LilleN and Buffy, was very fast not only on the first mile takeoff but as they kept a pace along the grade.
As we ran the snow fell and as we took off with the second team the trail was filled in. Not sure if that was blowing or actual amount of snow accumulated.
Pretty uneventful running and beautiful, but the warm winds are coming, we hear.

This is a photo of the first team in the first leg of the run by a small wilderness lake. We did not meet a single snowmachine this morning.

Team is: Lillen (black leader ), Buffy; Medio and Rosie in swing, Quattro and Kiddo, and Martin
(white dog) and Herman in wheel. Rosie has the least experience and she was a bit tired but not
bad.
The second team was a hodge podge and they had a few tangles but our great little Frita did get to run and didn't act like she has a bad hip at all.

Link to how cold it was in Bethel, AK

This is the link : http://media.putfile.com/K300FreezingLowBandwidth
to why the Kusko 300 sled dog race was postponed for four days out of Bethel, AK.
It takes a bit to load it but definitely shows what happens to plain water in those temperatures.
Very "cool".

The Wayward Wind

... is a restless wind... Today was a blustery but not cold day to run dogs. The temp was about 30 degrees but the wind was refreshing, with some strong gusts. We tried to photo the swaying trees... it was beautiful... the pups chased blowing leaves. We ran two teams, one 8 dog for 9 miles into Michigan and one 8 dog for 7 into town. We only met one machine along the way. Trail had fresh snow over the weekends 'rubble'... it was soft but not bad.

Hard to capture the gusty winds, blowing branches, etc on camera, but it was fun. We did run Martin and his daughter, Yepa, who both feel the heat the most. Martin seemed fine, but Yepa needs more miles of endurance on her, although she finished happily, she was glad to be home.

Dog Days

Someone called this the Dog Days of winter. Well, it certainly is here, and Critter Nights.
Last night something was circling or near pens, all dogs' noses pointing in 'its' direction as it moved about... my high power light following their noses. I never did see anything but the trail
was around all pens, could hear each pen 'greet ' 'it' as it moved along. Could have been anything but probably not a deer as they are quite accustomed to deer moving around.

On a stroll with companion dogs on Saturday we did follow droppings, scent along a back trail; returning a second time with more dogs, we were caught in a fresh musky scent (as in being skunked, had to wash all my clothes), perhaps the critter back on trail, thinking we were gone?
Prints were fox like, possibly coyote (they like the waste pit).

Photos are of: 2005 Iditarod, Finger Lake and of two A puppies (Josie and Matilda) and blue eyed big guy in center, is rescued Buddy.
Running just okay right now, we'll run this morning. Yesterday drove to get dog food.

Race Time

The races in areas with snow are in progress. The Kusko 300 in Bethel, AK is on hold for the third day because of minus 60 degree windchills/temps, in order to protect dogs, mushers, vets and volunteers on trail. It is now rescheduled for today if temps settle down. The Klondike 300 , AK did get under way. Wisconsin races have had trouble getting started but the Shawano race was modified for Juniors and 4 dogs, but not ISDRA sanctioned.
Iditarod begins March 4th in Anchorage and travels the Northern Route this year. We will be there for the course of the race.
These are two photos from Rainy Pass in Iditarod, 2004. Will add Finger Lake from Iditarod 2005 on next update.
We did run on Saturday, Anna's racing team contenders, Ruthie, Buffy, Rosie and Kiddo and a second team, Frita, Liller, Yuki and Medio. The trails were nearly perfect under blue sky and just cool enough to run, but warming.

Winter Miles

Today we ran eight dogs for twenty one miles. A bit of that mileage they did on their own after flipping their driver off on a downhill (using a different sled than usual). They had quite a good time until the support driver was able to catch them, although the good leaders did eventually stop so they could be caught.

This is a photo of the river we cross each time we take a long run... it's very beautiful out there.
The temp was a bit cooler this a.m. (around eight degrees when we started) and that perks up the dogs as well.

The leaders today of the runaway but under control team were Liller and Buffy (mother/daughter); swing dogs , Ruthie and Medio, team Quattro and Kiddo and the mighty Martin and Herman were the strong wheel duo today.

Top Dogs

We're adding up miles now and the top eight on snow miles , in order of miles, are:
Kiddo, Ruthie, Buffy, Liller, Quattro, Martin, Lillen and Medio.

Skinny hasn't been up to par and it's showing on his lagging miles. He did run six this morning and three yesterday. Would have liked him on the 14 mile team but he'll have to perk up for that.

Yesterday we ran three teams on internal runs, 16 dogs.

Today we ran two teams, twenty miles total ( 14 on one and six on the second) on trails to Michigan and back to Wisconsin.

Leaders of the first team today, were Liller and Buffy; leaders of the second team, were our more frail Frita (who didn't look at all frail) and Skinny (who did get very tired).
Temps are high 20's, some new snow on trails, soft running, almost too soft, and very humid.

Martin , who has a tendency to overheat, did extremely well, not even much snow dipping.

No photos from today's beautiful run into Michigan, but photo is of a happy six dog team yesterday, Rosie trying out lead with Skinny, and Stella, the pup, looking alert. These were two strong wheel dogs yesterday.

Beautiful day in the neighborhood

We had some new snow overnight so groomed the trails early this a.m. It was cross country ski day and various people went out on our trails, including Julie, with two dogs. We took the back trail, UPhill all the way. Of course after you climb a steep hill it's downhill all the way back.

Looks like it will be good running tomorrow but we have to get Buddy to the vet for an early a.m. xray of his shoulder. He is too sore to run with us right now, but he doesn't know it and he's forlorn when we leave without him, day after day.

Twenty one dogs, six teams

A total of twenty one dogs ran on six teams today. Ruthie ran on four different teams, which shows the stamina and drive she has.
Photos are of Anna's possible four dog racing team, Ruthie, Buffy, Rosie and Kiddo, and of Julia's trailbreaking team... Frita and Skinny, leaders, decided to take an uphill route that was not groomed for sleds. Julia had thought of it and they read her mind :)

Buffy's Boot

This is Buffy's boot from 1.11.06... the trails look nice but there are kernels of churned up ice.
In addition, some of the dogs paw the icy ground before takeoff , in their excitement.

This bootie is made out 330 denier Cordura... price last year 95 cents, price this year per bootie is $2.95 , unless you order 250 booties.

If there are even small tears in the boot , we do not use it again as particles can get inside during the run and cause abrasions. Fortunately, on this boot , the tear was wide open so particles would fall out.

In addition to the boots, we might cover paws with a waxy protector called Musher's Secret.
For sensitive paws, we might put Gold Bond foot powder inside the boot. Sometimes we might use dabs of Desitin, or a pink mix of zinc oxide and tea tree oil (for healing).

Most of our dogs are from lines bred for tough feet, but conditions sometimes override their toughness.

Backwoods Michigan

The Wilderness Way

Hobo Jim sings a song called "The Wilderness Way" and that is what this morning's run was... a beautiful wilderness way... cold, at zero when we were hooking up the first team.

The first team was led by Skinny and Liller and ran smoothly, very fast on nine miles . They were clocking at 18mph until she used the drag to hold them back a bit. The trails were very fast. Pup, Sherpa , ran on this team , and she ran well takes it all in stride.

The second team led by Lillen and Buffy met a herd of deer just off to their left. As I watched from behind it appeared the dogs were voting to run into the forest and check them out.
They must have revoted, as they went on for a great run, they too, running nine miles. Pup, Stella ran on this team and responds very well, listens... sometimes runs far over to avoid ice in her face. We were passed by two machines on this run and Yepa, white wheel dog, Martin's daughter, is a bit afraid, but she's doing very well.

One bootie was shredded (Buffy's ) so the trails are tough on feet. We need snow, but it was very beautiful crossing the river and passing the ponds.

Picture Perfect but no camera

This morning's run was a picture perfect run with eight dogs running fifteen miles. My camera lost its lid so no photos. We ran into Michigan over the river/bridge... the river was partially frozen and beautiful, the pines on the narrow trail were frosted. As we ran a herd of deer came out on a small pond, eyed the team and ran along a bit in their own team, then took off up a steep hill.
We continued back into Wisconsin and ran another six miles. Except for an exceptionally tangled start which we're still pondering, the run was fast and fairly flawless. They ran a steady
fifteen miles an hour for quite a distance.
Finishing with Lillen and Buffy in lead, and working on getting pounds off of Martin in wheel, it was fun to watch them. Today they looked like an eight dog racing team.
Anna sent a wonderful disc of photos of all of our dogs... am choosing one here as we have no photos from today. This is a photo of Frita leading (she has a bad hip) and having a great time.
Anna, whose shadow is in the photo, will run a four dog race this winter if we keep/get snow!

Running eights

Two teams of eight dogs ran seven mile runs this a.m. The pups, Stella and Sherpa, were on separate teams. We had a few tangles on each run and we met machines on the trails, but each run ended well. The second team had a few more rookies with rookie problems (tangle in neckline, tangle in gangline, bouncing around) and , again, the leaders took to the 'jump' into the road rather than taking the groomed turn onto the grade... Julia had a chance to prove what a good dog driver she is at that point and on some of the downhill curves... go Julia!

Tomorrow we will put together an eight dog race team (today's teams were run for training miles on rookies). Our plan is to cross the bridge for an eight mile run, then turn and take a six mile back, giving us a fourteen mile run. We are training for command responses as well.

Leaders were Buffy and Ruthie on the first team; second team leaders, Skinny and Rosie (rookie). There is no doubt that Skinny knows his commands. Tomorrow's leaders will be Lillen and Buffy.

(S)Miles on sleds

The season is on! We had two six dog sled teams on six miles into town yesterday (railroad grade running) and one six dog team on our own trails... total of fifteen dogs (three ran twice).
Our trails are groomed and fast.

Dogs run were: Liller, Buffy, Lillen, Ruthie, Martin, Herman, Skinny, Matilda, Sherpa, Medio,
Kiddo, Quattro, Rosie, Yepa and Swix, some veterans and some young ones.

Conditions were just o.k. on the grade , gravel coming through snow, but dogs chose the softer parts. While we've groomed a trail to avoid having to leap a snowbank to reach the grade, the dogs chose the snowbank 'jump' each time. Today we'll try to improve that as the 'jump' is onto the busy road. There is some deep snow that needs to be groomed as one dog did pull a hip muscle along the way.

Fun Run

Today we were able to let 21 dogs go on free runs for fun. Usually in pairs, they race each other around the kennels and up and down the hills, getting good exercise and stretching their legs.
We can also get a look at their gaits, endurance, speed and temperament as they do this with various partners. Skinny is in photo showing that he is still top notch in all categories. Buffy led pup, Stella down into the deep snow in the valley and back up (also in photos).

Free running

Until we can get back on sleds or on the ATV (probably sleds), we are free running dogs in the mornings. Usually they run in pairs... this photo shows Stella looking for Buffy... they run around the pens and stir up howling in all of the others. Exercises everyone in pens as well as those running. Most of them are very good about staying around the pens now that none are young pups. Stella is the youngest (in this photo) and is very well mannered, listens well.
We're trying to put weight on her but she runs 24/7 in and out of the pen. She's very houndy and has two brilliant blue eyes.