Well it seems for the whole summer it has been doing nothing more than rain.
some of the dogs have been moved so many times to try and keep them out of the puddles.
I must admit that if they did not dig trenches in amusement than there would be little water to contend with.
the kennel was alive today and has been for a week or so. they are starting to feel the change from the summer air to the gentle fall to autumn. I am concerned that with all this rain in summer we will not have much of a snowfall this year. which makes for easier training with the quad as we can run bigger teams but the fact we are trying to run a race this year in athabasca it concerns me a bit.
we have most of the trail set out now for the mid distance stage race and the sprinting race will be held on the river front. again another concern.....what if we do not have a good freeze and we can not run the river than the plans change dramatically and it will not be as effective of a race.
I guess time will tell and the worry I have now is a bit premature and I should spend more time thinking about things happening now.
I just wish the rain would let up so we could have a dry dog yard :-(
Sunday, August 15
Monday, August 9
August 9th where did the time go?
Well I can not believe it has been almost a year since I have been able to get on here and jot down my thoughts.
We have been busy at work and I am trying very hard to multi task both kids work and dogs and horses and husband. I never really was much of a multi tasker so this is learning experience for me.
since my last post so many things have been going on our business in town seems to be steady now and I have been through a few employees trying to match a perfect one up for me. so far I have a new girl and she seems to be on the same energy level as I am and is a go getter so I hope this will turn out to be a good combination.
the dogs are looking great I have kept their weight to a nice consistency all summer which in years past I have allowed them to get heavy and spent the first months training just getting them back into shape.
we have downsized the kennel a bit and rehomed the dogs that were not able to do the miles I wanted. the worst part about doing that is that we end up parting ways with some good friends and K-9 bonds. as hard as it is I have final decided to listen to the elders of mushing a do what I need to to maintain a good healthy kennel and working relationship with the dogs.
we are trying a few different things this year as far as feeding and nutrition and I hope that we will see a nice improvement in there overall endurance. as far as racing goes this year well I am only going to attend one race and it is the one in Athabasca. it will be a stage race and approx 110km to the checkpoint and back again but this will give me a really good idea of whether or not I really want to race mid and long distance and weather my current line of dogs can do it with any success.
it should be a interesting year this year for our kennel so much going on here I am not sure where to even begin at times. I will do a small blog on the race we are planning here in this small community. it has been my dream since I started to run dogs to make a race that the mushers could not refuse to run.I am thrilled dto think we will be planning in the near future a Iditord and Yukon quest qua lifer here if we can make it through this years small attempt.
Friday, October 30
Oct 30th 2009...The great snow fall
The snow is heavy tonight as I walked in the darkness to the kennels. It is incredibly warm this year teetering on the freezing mark. I stumbled along the path from memory to the small cabin I have here.
The spot where I have to go to plug in the yard lights. the dogs heard me coming and rosco (my yearling) is always the first to bark youth puts him in the front running of annoying barking for no apparent reasons. then as I get closer to the boys the true alert is let out ...Sid has started his alert that I am there and the once quiet kennel of fallen leaves rustling and pails clanking now become a orchestra of screams howls and barks.
I make my way through the trees listening to the ever growing talking of the dogs and plug on the lights.I am so glad my husband put these up for me they are huge industrial lights that shine out around the whole kennel and light it up with a soft light. This is my favorite part of feeding when the lights flicker showing just short bursts of light as they warm to the surrounding air and then like a grand entrance they burst on showing all that we could only imagine as we walk in the darkness.
wow the soft thick heavy wet snow flakes falling to the ground and clinging to anything that will hold them. The branches of the pine trees grow heavy with the weight of the ever growing snow flakes. I always like to sit for a minute and enjoy the untouched wightness of the new snow. breathing in the dampness of the air and feeling a sense of new and change. I am not sure I can describe the feeling that takes over me when we get the first snow.
after the moment of silence the dogs allow me they start to become restless again urging me on to the chores. I make my way over to the 3 plastic bins I have of dog food 3 kinds of food for the different categories the dogs fall into.
we have
senior- for the oldies here that can not enjoy the higher proteins and fat diets anymore
Adult- for the yearlings that are not working and for the dogs that are on diets
performance- for the main string of working dogs that need the extra fat and protein.
I loaded up the buckets I use for feeding and make my way through the maze of kennels. I have them set up so that they are with dogs that fit with each other and live well in harmony not for who is on what team . Which I would admit would make life so much easier for hook up time if I could place a whole team together:-)
I get the boys fed with no ,major issues and the kennel noise seems to be get less I make my way along the yearling boys searching for the feeding bowls in the snow that they use for play time after feeding, they always seem to take the longest to feed as they hide their bowls well LOL.
I get to the girls who thank god are starting to come out of heat and we have made it through yet another cycle with no problems. down to the last 10 girls the talking howling and barking seem tos be almost bearable now. when I reach the last bowl they chaos has ended all quietly eating the only sound I hear is that of the puppies at the house howling...they are so cute they are not sure what they are making noise for as they have full bowls but they are joining in learning to be big boys and girls :-)
so a fairly uneventful few days they weather is not allowing us to get out on the trails it is a soppy mess and the temps are above freezing and I am getting concerned that I may not get in the miles I need to compete a race.................
frustration is starting to linger on the edge here now, I am contemplating the time miles and ability of the reality of me being able to race. It will just break my spirit if I can not make it this year after years of trying to do this personal challenge I am beginning to think the road blocks along the way seem to be getting bigger and more of a concern.
but I guess I have rambled enough for this post LOL so Happy Halloween I hope you all have a safe weekend and look forward to the next post.
The spot where I have to go to plug in the yard lights. the dogs heard me coming and rosco (my yearling) is always the first to bark youth puts him in the front running of annoying barking for no apparent reasons. then as I get closer to the boys the true alert is let out ...Sid has started his alert that I am there and the once quiet kennel of fallen leaves rustling and pails clanking now become a orchestra of screams howls and barks.
I make my way through the trees listening to the ever growing talking of the dogs and plug on the lights.I am so glad my husband put these up for me they are huge industrial lights that shine out around the whole kennel and light it up with a soft light. This is my favorite part of feeding when the lights flicker showing just short bursts of light as they warm to the surrounding air and then like a grand entrance they burst on showing all that we could only imagine as we walk in the darkness.
wow the soft thick heavy wet snow flakes falling to the ground and clinging to anything that will hold them. The branches of the pine trees grow heavy with the weight of the ever growing snow flakes. I always like to sit for a minute and enjoy the untouched wightness of the new snow. breathing in the dampness of the air and feeling a sense of new and change. I am not sure I can describe the feeling that takes over me when we get the first snow.
after the moment of silence the dogs allow me they start to become restless again urging me on to the chores. I make my way over to the 3 plastic bins I have of dog food 3 kinds of food for the different categories the dogs fall into.
we have
senior- for the oldies here that can not enjoy the higher proteins and fat diets anymore
Adult- for the yearlings that are not working and for the dogs that are on diets
performance- for the main string of working dogs that need the extra fat and protein.
I loaded up the buckets I use for feeding and make my way through the maze of kennels. I have them set up so that they are with dogs that fit with each other and live well in harmony not for who is on what team . Which I would admit would make life so much easier for hook up time if I could place a whole team together:-)
I get the boys fed with no ,major issues and the kennel noise seems to be get less I make my way along the yearling boys searching for the feeding bowls in the snow that they use for play time after feeding, they always seem to take the longest to feed as they hide their bowls well LOL.
I get to the girls who thank god are starting to come out of heat and we have made it through yet another cycle with no problems. down to the last 10 girls the talking howling and barking seem tos be almost bearable now. when I reach the last bowl they chaos has ended all quietly eating the only sound I hear is that of the puppies at the house howling...they are so cute they are not sure what they are making noise for as they have full bowls but they are joining in learning to be big boys and girls :-)
so a fairly uneventful few days they weather is not allowing us to get out on the trails it is a soppy mess and the temps are above freezing and I am getting concerned that I may not get in the miles I need to compete a race.................
frustration is starting to linger on the edge here now, I am contemplating the time miles and ability of the reality of me being able to race. It will just break my spirit if I can not make it this year after years of trying to do this personal challenge I am beginning to think the road blocks along the way seem to be getting bigger and more of a concern.
but I guess I have rambled enough for this post LOL so Happy Halloween I hope you all have a safe weekend and look forward to the next post.
Wednesday, October 21
october 21st 2009
Well this is going to be a quick update. I have so many other things that I have yet to do LOL.
we have the whole kennel in heat right now and it is got to be the nastiest time here for me . I moved all the girls into the heat pen and put them on tie outs. we have our begian running around here free and he is intact and I will not have any opps litters here. we are comfy where are with our numbers.
so the boys are on edge a bit with the kennel being just one big floating hormone LOL. but we are calming down now some are coming out of heat.
tommorrow we hope to get a team out late in the evening the tempatures have not been co operative with us lately we are verging on being a bit too warm.
as I suspected we are going to drop a couple of girls off the team halo is just not making the distances we want on a ongoing basis. she is great for a good distance stretch but her come back time is just there.
I am going to keep to the miles we are at right now as we have not been able to get out as much as I would like..so maybe as the tempatures drop we can get out more. the business I started is booming and leaves me with such little time for much more but I will continue to struggle with getting the time to spend running the trails with the dogs.
even with the long times for hook up once on the trail the quiet moments of just watching the team run along wooded trails and the smell of the fall air just seems to push me on.
I do not think I could find a better love than that of my team and trail.
we have the whole kennel in heat right now and it is got to be the nastiest time here for me . I moved all the girls into the heat pen and put them on tie outs. we have our begian running around here free and he is intact and I will not have any opps litters here. we are comfy where are with our numbers.
so the boys are on edge a bit with the kennel being just one big floating hormone LOL. but we are calming down now some are coming out of heat.
tommorrow we hope to get a team out late in the evening the tempatures have not been co operative with us lately we are verging on being a bit too warm.
as I suspected we are going to drop a couple of girls off the team halo is just not making the distances we want on a ongoing basis. she is great for a good distance stretch but her come back time is just there.
I am going to keep to the miles we are at right now as we have not been able to get out as much as I would like..so maybe as the tempatures drop we can get out more. the business I started is booming and leaves me with such little time for much more but I will continue to struggle with getting the time to spend running the trails with the dogs.
even with the long times for hook up once on the trail the quiet moments of just watching the team run along wooded trails and the smell of the fall air just seems to push me on.
I do not think I could find a better love than that of my team and trail.
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