so what did we do today..... well I slept in a bit and then had to run around a bit to try and catch up on the daily chores and things around here. I have to cut down some trees in the dog Yard they have fallen down with the wind and look terrible and are in the way of the garden hose every time I go to water the dogs the hose gets tangled up in the branches and I spend time trying to get it undone cursing every time. the tree has been down for a bout a week now but I have been working around it hoping it will magical move its self, I do not think this is going to happen LOL. So the list adds another Job cut down the tree stump and cut up the tree to fire wood, hope I can get that done before training.
I did not get to all my tasks today I had my cousin come over and help me train her colt we have here. I have to say I am learning so much from her when it comes to him. you may not know but the colt kicked me hard the other week and I now have a bit of fear with him. I know I should not but the trust in him is gone and my personality does not allow it to come back that easy once bitten and all that jazz. so she worked with me and my daughter for a couple of hours and when we finished learning about how to deal with him we took time to go and visit the dogs. of course they saw some new people and what was a quiet sleeping kennel was now bursting with howling and barking in anticipation of the visitors.
my cousins first time to a sledding kennel and someone that loves to train animals she was listen very careful to every word I said as I described each dog and their job and what they were like she asked some great questions on how the teams work and the training involved and I was happy to answer her as it was not the normal questions I get from tourists it was more about the in depth training and ongoings of the dogs and sledding. we spent a few hours playing withthe dogs and the puppies, and it was a nice visit.
after they left I had to get back to chores being so hot I had to re water all the dogs and I decided to hose down each pen to wet the sand to make it a bit cooler for them. all the time the race played over in my head and all the things I still had to do.
I have decide that I am not going to be able to afford the growing amount of money need to do the race so in order to try and do it I will save myself some money and make a few things myself. so out came the harness material and the sewing machine and I began to make the team harnesses. because I have to have extra padding and reflective strips along each part of the harness it will be cheaper for me to make them. so I have one harness done and sewed with the reflective tape. Only I am not sure if the stitches I have done will hold so after I add the padding to the harness I think I will do a test run with a dog. it is way to hot to run them but I think I will put it on uno my big boy and attach him tot he quad and go for a bit of a run. he is not a steady puller and jerks and jumps alot so I should get a uead of whether I will be able to use my harnesses. I really hope so because it will save me a few hundred dollars. I am a bit sad though as the material I have left is silver. and I wanted black and purple to match my sled bag.
I think though if I ad some silver intot he design of the sled some how I can get it to work. speaking of sled bag I have decided I will make my own as well as all of my cable gang line. cable is mandatory in this race and to buy a 2 dog section and I will need 13 sections it will cost about $80.00 per section but if I make them I can save about $60.00 per section. means a lot more work for me but I f I can make a harness and a gangline section a day I will be well prepared for training.
Tommorow I have to get my rock firt pit finished I have put down the cement base and now that it is cured I have the mortar and I will try and get that done. I am not sure what I will do tommorw I will pick from the long list of things to do before winter. I do however really need to get into the kennel and do some grooming . the dogs are finally shedding out bigtime and we look like a bit of a chicken coop here. I saw kazma needs some attention.
and I have a dog that I will have to move tommorow to another pen he was a import from another kennel and he is loosing a bit of weight and I am not sure if he is just not getting enough food and the other dogs are stealing it or if he needs to be wormed. so tommorrow he get a worming pill and moved into the pen next to them I will put them in with the pup I have who also looks like he could use 2-3 pounds on him. so rouge and polar now get the special kennel the one that gets extra food and special attention. I think with just doing all of that the weight should increase. but they are so hyper and active it is very hard to maintian a nice even weight.
but soon I will be switching to the performance food to add a bit of weight to all the dogs to prepare them for training. I usally keep them lean in the summer months by feeding a normal adult food and then in late summer early fall I switch them to a high protein and high fat diet. add a few pounds 3-4 and then start training. this will make sure that as they burn their calories in training they are still able to maintain their body mass. I will later on start making the winter treats for the trail. On long runs and traing sessions I make up forzen treats to help the keep hydrated and add some more portien to them as we go I will get into that all another day though:-)
so now it is so late and I am still planning LOL never ending I guess the rookie musher never sleeps until after the race :-( but I am excited and I hope after all of this I will not be disappointed and not be able to do it. That would judt break my heart. so I will plug along and keep getting things organized and keep planning until the day of the race or until I now if I can do it.
so I guess that is my say for tonight I am off now getting ready for bed and to sleep and dream of winter snow and keep on dreaming
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