Thursday...first time this year that I have run the dogs 2 days in a row. Another cold day, but clear skies and a weak sun seemed to make it warmer. Don and I loaded up all the dogs except for Borax (he has a hurt shoulder). I took off first with a team of 5 on my "new" Mackler sled. It corners really great and is fun to ride. I took Galena, Beans, Millie, Chert and Pippi (shelter dog I adopted 4 years ago). We only did 4.5 miles. They all did great.

In the meantime Don took off with a 6 dog team for 5.9 miles.

Raisin Loon
Casper Misty (SCL)
Izzi Topaz

Casper is a leaper and Misty is a dog that likes to stand on the dog next to her. Don said it was interesting getting started as they both kind of wanted to be on the same side and the lines kept twisting around each other. But he got off fine and it sounded like a pretty uneventful run. Misty loves the slower speeds. I think she would make a great distance/rec dog. She has gotten very spoiled though with being the house every evening and sleeping in the dog barn at night, although last night she sure did keep me informed from the barn that she did NOT like being in a crate. Every morning I go out and she has managed to "hop" the crate about 3 feet forward. She is a dog that doesn't like to be confined in a box.....

As he was coming back in I almost had my 6 dog team hooked up. Being so cold I didn't want to "push" Chanel (has laryngeal paralysis and is more affected in very cold temperatures) so we did 4.5 miles.

Chanel Jazz
Robin Blackberry (SCL)
Crowe Zorba

Wow!! What a great team. I was figuring after yesterday that the dogs would be a bit tired. 4 of these dogs did 7.7 miles yesterday. They we were flying and I had my heels hard in the snow to keep them at a reasonable pace. 4.5 miles was nothing to them and it was fun to watch them charge up the hill. They are all in pretty good shape!

Blackberry was her usual awesome self. A bit uncoordinated on the long downhill...but kicks in hard at the bottom. Never missed a beat on the hill and finished strong and barely breathing hard.

The dogs will all have the next couple of days off before Sunday's ADMA 3rd preliminary.

Wednesday. A chilly day but I wanted to get all the dogs trained. Don and I loaded up most of the dogs except for Robin (who got into one of my Christmas boxes while I was backing the truck out of the garage and ate a WHOLE 1 pound bag of M and M peanuts) and Chanel (whose breathing problems are worse in very cold temperatures) and took them all to Musher's Hall.

We ran 3 teams total. I tried out a Mackler sled that I just got with a 4 dog team (Galena, Beans, Pippi and Casper---Pippi and Casper are both dogs that I adopted from the shelter). I love the sled! (and the team did great)

Don ran a team of 6:

Loon Raisin
Izzi Misty (SCL)
Chert Topaz

He had some problems on the trail as Misty kept wanting to poop and she would nearly stop the team. He did stop for her and let her go, but seemed she just had more in her!! I will have to make sure that she gets a lot of running around before she runs next time to make sure she is empty of the stuff! :)

I ran a team of 5:

Borax Jazz
Blackberry (SCL)
Zorba Crowe

This team is a very speedy team. We did 7.7 miles. It seemed kind of slow (although I did keep the drag down for a long time....I'm not racing! I'm training!!!) and Borax seemed a bit "off" but we went around the course quite nicely. Blackberry was her usual. A bit flaky going down the hill, then kicks in hard and never looks back. She is very focused and such a good worker.

After we got back I noticed that Borax was limping. So he will be off the rest of the week in the hope that it is minor and he will be able to race on Sunday.

All the dogs are in the dog barn tonight very early. They worked hard today and it is on the chilly side! I just hate looking out at them and seeing their frosted faces peering out of the straw....so into the barn they all went. I will let them all out a 11 pm and then they will be good for the night in there without any accidents. At the moment I have 10 dogs in the house and Don isn't even here yet with his 2. Fun!! They are all laying around and sleeping. ahhh. Satisfaction.

Thanks again to Don for sharing such fun!

Merry Christmas!
Ever since I started running sled dogs and skijoring I have had my traditional Christmas Day ritual.....for about 9 years now, every Christmas Day, I run my dogs.
This Saturday awoke to a temperature report of -36 at the airport. It was -25 up at my house and I had put the dogs in the dog barn early the night before and let them all out for a pee before we went to bed.
After a delightful morning with Don and a bunch of dogs inside, the temps moderated and we loaded up a dozen dogs and took them to the hall. Don and I both ran 6 dog teams for 5.9 miles. The only other person there was Mike Malvick skijoring with teams of 3.

My team:

Borax Jazz
Robin Blackberry (SCL)
Crowe Zorba

Wow....what a great 6 dog team. These dogs are all fast and driven. I was on my heels for a lot of the run. We left after Don and caught up to him after the 5.9 mile turn. We had a nice pass, then Borax seemed to be cramping up so I stopped and Don passed me again....then around comes Mike M. with his team. He passed my team and hollered "trail" at Don....his dogs ran up one on each side of Don's legs, but Mike was quick enough that he got them all on one side. They didn't want to stay ahead of Don's team so Don re-passed at about the same time that I came up behind him and I passed both of them beautifully. We gained momentum and charged on up the hill to the truck. Borax had a big poop and then he was fine. whew!!
Blackberry was her usual awesome self. Didn't care about all the passing and stopping. She just drove hard the whole time.

Don's team:

Raisin Loon
Chert Misty (SCL)
Casper (adopted from the shelter 2 years ago) Izzi (Don's dog)

This was a nice little team. He had some power in Casper, Izzi and Chert. Misty did way better in this team than she has with me....going just a little bit slower makes all the difference. Don said she did trip once, but recovered nicely and was hard on the line the whole way.

Both my SCL dogs are loving living in the house and the dog barn. I'm working on getting them both housebroken.

Thanks to Don for being a part of my Christmas tradition and bringing such joy to my dog's and my life.

I was planning on running all of my dogs today, but it was so hot (30 at my house!!) and I have so many dogs that are very sensitive to the heat, I decided to train on Thursday instead. But Carol Kaynor wanted to try out Blackberry (SCL) in a 6 dog team so I took her along with Casper, Millie and Loon. While Carol was out with the 6 dog team for 7.7 miles, I took my team skijoring for 4.5 miles. Loon and Millie are 2 of the smallest dogs in my yard with barely a combined weight of 65 pounds. Casper is around 44 pounds and he has turned into a great sled dog with a lot of drive and does a decent job of leading (despite starting out his life gorged full of worms and dropped off at the shelter at 5 months of age).

Bonnie had run Blackberry last week and said that BB had a few issues and didn't seem to run "right."
Carol pointed out to me today that Bonnie is used to the long Saluki mix stride and that Blackberry (all 34 pounds of her) has a shorter stride and faster turnover.
I think I was secretly hoping that BB wouldn't do all that well then I wouldn't have to make any decisions quite yet....well, Carol was totally impressed. I guess Blackberry was awesome in her team. No signs of over heating, and just driving the whole way.
I know that Bonnie and Carol will talk it over as to whether Bonnie will want to take Blackberry (Carol said she is crazy if she doesn't!!) but I had to leave before Bonnie came back.
This is the toughest part of fostering a dog for me. I have totally fallen in love with Blackberry. Can I let her go??? She will be a race dog in a fast 6 or 8 dog young team with Bonnie or Carol. My dogs are all older and probably only have a year of good speed left. What is best for the dog?
But I've spoiled her pretty bad. She is housebroken, spends most evenings in the house and on cold nights instead of going into the dog barn with the other dogs, both her and Misty (SCL) sleep in the house. (Between Don and I we have 10 dogs in the house on cold nights!!)
She goes into a kennel and curls up and doesn't move until morning. For being such a high strung dog on a chain (she spins and barks at moose and spins some more) she is a dream in the house. Calm and restful.
So, maybe I won't have to make any decisions if Bonnie doesn't want her....but I have a heavy heart knowing that I told myself that I wasn't going to keep any of my foster dogs and now I'm so attached it may be hard to let her go. ARGH. This is one reason that I probably won't foster another dog.....way too difficult for me.
Thanks today to my 3 skijor dogs who took me around the course in a wonderful run and a proud smile on my face as I looked at 3 driven dogs who would have been dead a long time ago had I not taken them.

ADMA race #2 was today. A snowy day with slow trails and flat light to make things interesting.
I was a busy gal as I ran 3 races today. 3 dog skijor (we were 2nd), the 4 dog class (see below) and the 6 dog class (see further below!).
Thanks to Don Kiely for the tremendous amount of help, for it would have been more hectic to run all those races without help. And he ran the 4 dog class too!!

my teams:
4 dog

Borax Chanel
Zorba Blackberry (SCL)

I usually run 4 strong boys in this class, but had played around in the first race and now this one. Chanel is a "wheezer" dog which means she was born with laryngeal paralysis. Most of the dogs with this hereditary condition die young for they can't breath properly. But I took it easy all of Chanel's life (she is 7 years old) and she has learned to regulate herself when she is over doing it. She is a very driven dog and a good leader.
Blackberry did great. She had run on Thursday in a friend's 8 dog team for 7.7 miles and did OK, although I was told that she was crabbing. It may have been that the team was going too slow for her!! I have never seen her crab at all and today she ran straight and true. She was awesome the whole way and we came in 1st place.

6 dog:

Robin Loon
Millie Misty (SCL)
Casper Crowe

this was a real mixed up team. Robin and Crowe are very fast, but Robin will usually run the pace of whoever is beside him. Loon, Millie and Misty are all around 35 pounds and quite small. Crowe was sick the day before and I almost wasn't going to bring him, but he drank well and seemed ready to go....but I put him in a slower team and he was fine with that. I was very pleased that we came in 5th place. Misty was the weak link though. She is really not a top end sprint dog and even though with Loon and Millie in the team we weren't going all that fast, it was still a bit too fast for Misty. She really loves to go, but pretty much just floated along today.
It was interesting at the truck before the skijor race though. She busted her way out of the truck box and was running around. She is shy enough that no one could catch her, but she finally came to me as I tempted her with a piece of moose meat. She didn't want to run off and stayed around the trucks right around me, but liked to play "keep away" and not be caught. So I will work on her "come" response from now on!!

A HUGE thanks again to Don for being there for me and having fun with the dogs and in my life.

Ran at the hall today. Took a dozen dogs to work with me and they stayed in the truck for 3 hours. Then met Don at the hall and we both ran a 6 dog team for 5.9 miles.

My team:
Borax Jazz
Robin Blackberry (SCL)
Crowe Zorba

This is a very powerful and speedy team. 5 boys and tiny Blackberry. She was a bit hesitant going down the hill this time...not sure why, but she focused pretty quickly and did great. The trail had about an inch of new snow on it and it was much nicer than the last time I had run at the hall. I used my race sled that doesn't have a drag and I was on my heels a lot during the first half of the run. We caught up with Don and had a nice pass and breezed on home. A pretty smooth and uneventful run with a bunch of nice dogs.
Don came in shortly after we did with 6 happy dogs.
Misty (SCL) has been layed off for a week due to a cough.

Both Misty and Blackberry have been staying in the house at night. Usually Blackberry is in a crate but last night both of them were loose. Everyone got me up at 2 am to go out, but no accidents in the house. Hopefully I have 2 housebroken foster dogs!! (There were 8 dogs in the house total last night! The rest stay in the dog barn.)

Thanks again to Don for dropping what he was doing in the middle of the day to meet me at the hall and run dogs. What a special guy!

Blackberry ran lead in a team today.
Don and I loaded up most of the dogs and headed to the hall. We left Jazz (a tad injured) and Misty (SCL) (still coughing a bit) at home.
I got my 5 dog team ready as Don got his 3 dog skijor team ready.

Borax Blackberry (SCL)
Robin
Crowe Zorba

This is a very fast team. I was on the drag for the first mile and then just left it down with occasional taps on it to slow down a bit! They just wanted to go all out and the trail is too hard and rutted for that. It hasn't been groomed after Sunday's race and there were a lot of long brake ruts along the way. We did 5.9 miles.
Blackberry (SCL) was awesome in lead. She had only run lead in a team once before on the 4 wheeler and she got spooked when we had to pass a truck head on so I had moved her back into the team.
So it was her debut today at the track for I wanted to see how she would do. She was totally focused and driven. She followed Borax on all the commands as she doesn't know them yet. BUT as we came up the hill she saw the looming Shakespeare set and she went to pieces. Borax continued to move her ahead but she was totally distracted and looking behind her and necklining a bit even after we passed the set. So it looks like I will have to introduce her to lots of weird stuff. She certainly has the drive to be a leader. She just needs more experiences like that. They made it back to the truck OK and everyone got a yummy moose fribbley and were happy.

Don had a good skijor run then he took out a 6 dog team and I took out a 2 dog skijor team.

All the dogs are resting and happy tonight, except for Misty (SCL) who took great offense at not being able to come with us.

Thanks to Don for the help and the fun.

A training day on sleds! Wow was it fun! I've been doing so much on the 4 wheeler that it is so much fun to be back on a sled.
Took every running dog that I have (17 of them) plus Izzi who is Don Kiely's to the track today. Don was the other trainer and Lisa Baraff met us there with her dog Hope. I had bought an old beater sled several years ago and finally got it in working order. It is a toboggan sled, heavy and low to the ground.
Lisa and I (with Don's help) hooked up a team of 8 on the beater sled. Lisa wanted to ride and watch her dog run in a bigger team. Her view was mostly of dog butts, but Hope was in wheel so she could see her close up!

Chanel Beans
Robin Misty (SCL)
Casper Pippi (both dogs adopted from the shelter)
Hope Millie (Hope is a shelter dog from Kodiak)

What a ride! I'm so used to driving sprint sleds which turn on a dime, carve around the corners and are light and maneuverable. Yikes! This sled was a horse. We slammed around most corners and Lisa had a "fun" ride as I hung on for dear life. We had several stops to unfix tangles and switch dogs from side to side. I called for a straight ahead at the 4.5 mile turn and the dogs didn't even look that way. The beaver dam right past the 4.5 turn was recently chopped down and there is a lot of dirt and a bit bumpy. We bounced through there and took the 5.9 turn with gusto. We had a couple more rest breaks before the hills coming home. My dogs aren't used to pulling a big sled with 200+ pounds of people hanging on. But we came up the hill much faster than I thought we would and all the dogs did really well. Hope tends to want to play while skijoring, but in a team she is focused and driven.
Misty seems to have a bit of a cough. She was on and off today. Usually she has a lot of drive, and although she did pretty good, I could tell she wasn't "herself." I have her in the house tonight and she is sneezing a bit and seems very tired. I'm trying to housebreak her. She has turned into a real cuddler. At the truck she just wanted to curl around Lisa for pets. And she even went up to Don to be hooked back up once we got home! Good girl!

After Lisa and I headed out, Don took out a team of 6 with his dog Izzi. They also did the 5.9 mile trail.

After Don got back I switched to my Extrapol sprint sled and took out a speedy 5 dog team for 5.9 miles.

Borax Jazz
BlackBerry (SCL)
Zorba Crowe

What an awesome team. Borax and Crowe are both 8.5 years old. Jazz is 7+ years old and Zorba is 5. BB is the "baby" at 2.5 years old.
I was hard on the drag for the first 2 miles. "This ISN'T a race" I was calling to them!!! I kept the drag down the whole way until the hill. We breezed by the 4.5 turn and took the 5.9. The dogs all worked hard and we came up the hill like it wasn't even there. BB did great as usual. Hard on the line the whole time. She is a big contributor to the team even if she is nearly half the weight of Borax!!!

Thanks soooo much to that cute guy that helps me out so much and to Lisa for coming and enjoying a new adventure!!

BlackBerry makes her ADMA debut.....today was the first preliminary of the Alaska Dog Musher's Association. The 25 below cut off was just eeked out so although there were quite a few teams that scratched there were many of us that took our dogs out and froze differing parts of our bodies! My dogs love the cold and run the best when it is far below 0.
I ran the 4 dog class with the following team:

Borax Jazz
Zorba BlackBerry (SCL)

I usually have a 4th male in this team but he got to skijor today instead and I put BB who is half his weight in wheel. We won!!! Out of 12 teams.
BB is just whip fast. She is very driven and was hard on the line the whole time. Even coming back up the hill where I did notice a bit of a loss of power than if I would have had Crowe, it didn't make that much difference as she was hard on the line the whole time. At the finish she wasn't even tired. We passed one team and she didn't even flinch. I was a bit worried about her at those cold temperatures as she is pretty short coated (although she does have an undercoat) and had a lot of frostbitten parts when I got her in the early spring. But she didn't seem to be bothered at all with the cold.

A HUGE thanks to Don Kiely...I couldn't get to the line without him, in skijoring especially!! (and then he turns around and runs a 4 dog team leaving 6 teams after mine) And also thanks to Lisa Baraff who helped me to the line in the 4 dog class after she had skijored in the 2 dog class using my Loon with her Hope.

Blackberry has been spending time in the house now. And she is a great house dog. Not quite housebroken, but that will come soon. She is very quiet in the house and I'm sure loves all the warmth. She gets along with all the indoor dogs. She would make a great companion for someone who wants to either race or just have a pal to run with.

Still on the 4 wheeler! Didn't want to take any dogs back to the hall knowing that they just used the hydraulic drag on the trail. So ran 3 teams out of my house here. Thanks to Don Kiely, once again, for being ballast, helping with all the logistics of hook up and periodically giving hugs from the "back seat"...

First team:
Raisin Loon
Galena Pippi (shelter dog from 4 years ago)
Topaz Chert

No SCL dogs in this team....they all did well and we went further than they have this year

2nd Team:

Chanel Beans
Misty (SCL)
Millie Ivy (shelter dog from 2 years ago)

Ivy does not like going away from the house AT ALL. She balks, turns in her harness and is not having fun....until we turn around!! then she is hard on the line going for home.
We cut it short up the hill, but coming back took a hard "gee" where the dogs always go "haw" so Don had to get off the 4 wheeler and get them turned up the road. We did that little circuit to add a little bit of distance.
Misty was her usual self. Loves to go.....happy....jumping all over Don and myself for pats....
She did good. Her speed is good for this team. Chanel is incredibly fast, but Millie is very tiny, Beans is 9.5 years old and Ivy wasn't all that enthused to go....so Misty worked hard and came home happy.

Team # 3

Borax Jazz
Robin Blackberry (SCL)
Zorba Crowe

This is a wild team to get off the line. Screaming to go, Crowe trying to chew lines, Zorba leaping back and forth. We took off quickly. Went much further than this team has gone so far...We came to the intersection of Henderson Road and Ester Dome Road and did a nice "haw" up Ester Dome Road, but Borax (being the stubborn guy he is) wanted to turn the team and go back down Henderson. Don hopped off the 4 wheeler and got them all heading back up Ester Dome rd. We went up a little ways then turned around and headed for home.
I have YET to see Blackberry tired!! She just never wears out. She was hard on the line the whole time. She is a joy to watch.

CrackerJack will be going to Bruce McIntosh today. He should fit in better in a slower team. It is just for foster care right now so he is still available to be adopted. He is a very sweet boy and will be happier in a slower team. I will miss him, but he is always welcome back here if things don't work out.

Thanks again to Don and to all my dogs....both of which bring great joy to my life.