Bad turns into good....
We had the truck all loaded up with dogs, sled and skijor gear to head to the ADMA track for the 5th preliminary at 9:00 am. The temp had been hovering at -23 for a couple of hours.....Don ran back in the house to get the 9am temp and it was -25!! ARGH. The race would be postponed. After a bit of discussion Don and I decided to go to the hall to run dogs in spite of the cold! So we loaded up the extra dogs, put another sled on top of the truck and off we went.
We were the first ones out on the trail that morning and it was an absolutely stunning day with a perfect trail, fast dogs and only the sighting of one moose!
It was cold (-30 down in the bottom lands of the trails!) but we were dressed for it and my dogs just thrive when it gets really cold.
Don set out with the first team. He writes the following:

(DON) Since today turned into a training rather than race day, I got lucky and got to take out a few of the smaller, fast, fun race dogs in our kennels, along with Topaz for some strength in wheel, for 4.5 miles in the cold:

Loon Raisin
Millie Misty (SCL)
Izzi Topaz

This team was GREAT! Everyone worked hard over most the run, the only exceptions being the two moose encounters. It was actually just one moose, but we crossed paths with it on both the outbound and inbound trails in the field below Musher's Hall. Had Millie weighed more, she would have pulled us off the trail during the outbound encounter, as she tried to go teach the moose who's who. Since Millie weighs about 35 pounds it would have been a short lesson, but thankfully Loon and Raisin kept us moving right on past. At the inbound encounter it was Izzi's turn to want to go play. She stopped pulling for 100 yards or so as she tried to turn back, but thankfully her position in wheel gave her less influence over where the team was going. The only other interesting thing on the run was for me to learn how good Millie is at pooping on the run, keeping the lead tight. Had I not been pelted with brown squishies I never would have known!

Misty was one of the strongest members of the team. She was tight on the tug the whole time and didn't pay any noticeable attention to either encounter with the moose. Once she was hooked in at the start she stepped back and lunged forward a few times, but didn't do much jumping around and tangling things as she has in the past. She continues to learn and is turning into a very focused sleddog.

I'd be honored to run this team any time! (DON)

(CAROL)
I got the 2nd team out of the truck.

Galena Beans
Casper
Pippi Chert

No SCL dogs here, but my 2 adoptees from the shelter a few years ago, Pippi and Casper.
This team was flying!! Maybe it was the cold...maybe the beautiful trail....maybe they knew it was a race Sunday and decided to test themselves after all!!! It was a very nice run with everyone hard on the line the whole time. We did 4.5 miles.

Don was working on getting all of his dogs unharnessed and brothed by the time that I got back. I left piles of harnesses, scattered bowls and a couple of piles of poop for Don to deal with (WOW....it sure is great to have a "handler"!) as we hooked up the 3rd team of the day.

Borax Jazz
Robin Blackberry (SCL)
Zorba Crowe

I did have to stop with this team as Blackberry is a left-runner and ended up on the right...so I had to swap Robin over the top of her....But another fast run with every single dog psyched to go and totally into running today. I just stood on the runners in awe as this team gracefully did 5.9 miles....It seemed we came up the hill as fast as we went down it.....Blackberry was excellent today. She had been faltering a little bit on the downhill, but I think with the cold and the nicely groomed and set up trail she could find better footing and was tight on the line the whole time.
When I got her she was quite emaciated with a lot of frostbite on her (last April)....she is missing the bottom parts of her ears so I always worry about her in these kinds of cold temperatures. But I have also heard that diet often plays a part in frostbite so have been feeding a lot of meat lately. She hasn't had any trouble with her ears at all! Yeah!! She is also up a couple of pounds since the last time I weighed her....at a rock solid 37.

All in all, after the frustration of knowing that the races were cancelled, I think that Don and I had some of our best runs of the season. And just to be outdoors with the dogs and my sweetie on such a gorgeous Alaska day....well, it just doesn't get much better than this!
Thanks to Don and the dogs....for bringing me stability, love and lots of warmth.

Chena Lakes skijor!
Don and I met Sara Elzey at Chena Lakes to skijor with several teams. Sara left first with her 2 dogs on the line plus one running loose. I then hooked up a 3 dog team:

Beans Misty (SCL)
Millie

This is a team with all the dogs under 40 pounds. The trail is roughed up by snowmachines, but no overflow was seen. It was hard to skate in places so I double-poled a lot. The dogs did great. There are usually more distractions out there with ice fishing people, warming/fishing huts, snowmachines and loose dogs. We saw all of them on this run. Misty did great. Passed by most everything. She is getting better and better with lining out and not going crazy!

Don took off with Topaz and Raisin after I left.

Sara then took out Chert and Galena. Don harnessed up his 2 dogs (Izzi and Mardy) along with Loon. Off they went. I was getting Casper out of the truck and hooked him to the truck....the snap hook was broken! Off he goes after Don. I got Daikon and Blackberry (SCL) hooked up.....we saw Casper on the dike, only he was heading the other way and took off down a snowmachine trail towards the road. He is a very timid dog and I thought that I would have to search for him. I got Daikon and BB turned around and we headed back to the truck. There was Casper....he had come around the long way and back to the truck and actually let Sara catch him and chain him back up! GOOD BOY!!! I need to be more aware when my equipment is failing. So Daikon and BB had a very short run. We had to pass a running snowmachine on the trail on the way back and BB totally balked...but Daikon pulled her by and she stretched back out. Sara hooked up Pippi and Casper (who was nice and warmed up!) and took off soon after Don got back. We did the 4.5 mile trail each run.

Thanks to Sara for helping run the dogs. Thanks to Don for being there, helping my first team get out (Misty was crawling all over him) and running 2 teams today. All the dogs came back happy.

Moose encounter!! Loaded up 16 dogs and headed to Musher's Hall. I planned on running 2 teams of 8. I was surprised when I got there that no one else was training.
I decided to run my high powered 8 dog team for the 2nd run. I'm glad I waited!

First team: (5.9 miles)

Chanel Loon
Beans Misty (SCL)
Pippi Raisin
Casper Topaz

Pippi slipped her collar just as we were taking off so I had to stop at the start and stomp in 2 hooks and put it back on her. Off we went.
I had the mat down as this little team was cruisin'....With all of the moose encounters lately I was keeping a sharp eye out for them. We passed the 4.5 turn and were just coming out of the 2nd dip and there smack in the middle of the trail was a calf. A second later I saw mom on the left...I slowed the team down as the calf jumped off the trail to be with it's mom. whew....I thought we would go right by them, but mom had a different idea as she swung back around and came back out on the trail and actually ran alongside my team just inches away....some of my dogs are starting to ball up and I'm screaming at the moose and telling my dogs "ON BY!!"
We passed momma and I could have reached out and slapped her (BAD moose!!) but my hands were glued to the handle bar as she darted behind me with her calf at her flank over to the right side of the trail. She could have very easily just stomped through my team, but she played fairly this time and I spent the rest of the run recovering my heart, my shaking knees and my white knuckles!! All the dogs did great, but it seemed like the rest of the run they were dashing around corners, picking up the pace...maybe to see if another moose was there!
Misty did great today in swing.

Team 2:

I chickened out with running another 8 dog team. I have much more control with my 6 dogs, especially of my high power dogs.

Borax Jazz
Zorba Blackberry (SCL)
Crowe Robin

What a great team. I was very nervous where we saw the moose before, but I didn't see any sign of them, although the dogs were constantly picking up their ears and their speed at different points along the trail. I knew they were there and so did the dogs. But luckily we did the 5.9 miles without incident. Blackbery was her usual driven self.

I want to thank anyone who has ever helped me out! Sometimes we neglect to thank those closest to us, who put in a lot of time and energy and love into our sport and don't reap a lot of benefits. These are handlers, poop scoopers, timers, announcers, turn around people....etc. Don has been so much help to me this year and last year and sometimes I don't tell him how much I really appreciate him. Too many times I'm just telling people what to do at the start line or at the truck and don't say what they really mean to me. Maybe I saw my life flash in front of me today, or saw some dogs lives' spared....but at any rate....thanks to all the friends, spouses, partners that help us all out in this sport.

A day at Chena Lakes. ( and a long blog!!!)
I loaded up 18 dogs and headed to Chena Lakes. After reading Matt's blog and having Chris J. email about how the trails were back in shape, I decided to give my dogs a change of scenery and head out past North Pole.

I was the only one out there running dogs!

Team 1:

Chanel Beans
Galena Pippi
Topaz Chert

Although no SCL dogs in this team there was Pippi who is a shelter adoptee...Beans who is almost 10 years old...Chanel with laryngeal paralysis and the other 3 who are all 8+ year old siblings. What a great team. I knew exactly where the moose were, although luckily I didn't see any all day...but Chanel would sure prick up her ears when passing "something" in the woods. We did the 4.5 mile trail which is actually short of 4 miles.
Trail is pretty good. It is wide and has been groomed, but there is a lot of snowmachine traffic out there and and the surface is grainy...no overflow that I saw. There are also a few places on the trail where snowmachine would go over really fast and hit the berm and leave large hard "bumps" on the trail. One caught me by surprise so I was more observant after that!

Team 2:

Raisin Loon
Millie Misty (SCL)
Daikon Casper (shelter adoptee)

This was one of my hardest teams to hook up. Raisin is a leaper and just goes crazy up front....Misty climbs all over the place and Daikon silently chews necklines in two.....I hooked in dogs from calmest to craziest and hooked Misty in only by her neckline at first. Once everyone was hooked up and I was ready to go, I hooked her tug line and off we went.

This was a nice team! Misty did great. It wasn't too fast for her. She NEVER looks around. She takes her "job" of being a sled dog very seriously (yet she is one of my dogs that just loves to play and play with the other dogs). This team also did the 4.5 mile course. This was one of Daikon's first times out since he frost bit his foot 6 weeks ago!! He loved to go again and this short distance wasn't any problem.

An interesting thing happened when I got back to the truck. I had a couple of dogs off the line and chained to the truck. Everyone started barking...the dogs in the truck were moving it back and forth they were barking so much....I looked over and there was this HUGE dog in the parking lot. And I mean huge!!! Over 100 pounds...fluffy Malemute looking dog. It was doing that stiff legged walk with it's hair up....then I saw another huge dog come around the berm and another and.....well, I think there were 5 of them altogether. I had picked up my shovel and was yelling at them....luckily the hook held the sled where it was with the 4 dogs still attached....Then I saw the car creep around and a couple of people jumped out and started calling all the dogs....I think they were surpirsed that I was there. They got them all back in their car (that would have been a sight to see...that car full of all those big dogs!) and drove away. Whew! I sure was glad that I hadn't loose dropped any dogs yet, as that is something that I do often!

Team 3:

Borax Jazz
Blackberry (SCL)
Robin Crowe

Zorba was to be in this team but when I let him out of the truck he had a big blowout (he has real problems with Clostridium overblooms!) so I didn't want to take him. I sure am glad that he held that until I let him out...what a mess in his box if not!!

We did the 5.5 mile trail with this team. All of these dogs had done some sort of race yesterday, so today was just a day to get the kinks out and have some fun.
Blackberry loved this course. No 1 mile downhill like at the Hall....it is mostly flat with a few ups and downs as you come and go from the lakes. This team didn't even look like they had run yesterday.....everyone was tight on the line the whole way.

Sunday...Race day.

Don came over early and we loaded 18 dogs on the truck! My whole running kennel!!
ADMA races were first. The 4th preliminary..a make up date from last weekend when it was too cold.
Don and I both ran 3 dog skijor teams.
Don had Topaz, Galena and Chert. They had a lot of fun and came home happy.

My team was:

Robin Chanel
Blackberry (SCL)

This was Blackberry's first time at running in an ADMA skijor team. She did great.
We won our division even though Chanel (the dog with laryngeal paralysis) had a hard time coming up the hill. She has been doing great at this distance, but the lack of training over the last 3 weeks really showed. Blackberry didn't seem like she had a lot of time off at all though! Such a tiny thing and so much power and drive. Her line was tight the whole time and she charged up the hill as Chanel faltered. It didn't take long for Chanel to recover though.

I then ran a 4 dog team. Borax, Jazz, Zorba, Crowe. The trail was soft and punchy. But they did great.
As I was out with this team, Don got everything picked up and put away (bless him!!). So I just had to broth my 4 dog team and load them in the truck and Don and I headed over to Creamer's Field for the Alaska Skijoring and Pulk Assoc. races. Whew!!!

I ran Pippi and Casper in the 2 dog class for 3.7 miles. We were 2nd. These are 2 of my shelter dogs that I have adopted in the past. They have become great skijor dogs. Casper, who is very timid with most people has turned into a good little leader.

Don ran Izzi (his dog) and Raisin.

Then Sara Elzey took out Mille and Misty (SCL) for 1.4 miles. Misty has never run with anyone other than Don or I and I wanted to see what she would do. Sara said she did great!! Never looked back (wondering who was back there!) and they passed 2 teams also with very good passes. They ended up coming in first in the 2 dog class for that distance! Way to go Misty!! (and Millie!) She was not at all spooked coming into the finish line with over a dozen people standing around.

Thanks once again for Don and his dealing with my frenetic pace.....and all of his handler duties allowing us both to run for 2 different organizations.

What a day! I waited until after 11 to hear the weather....still in the -20's at the airport so I figured that it was going to be pretty cold at the hall. It is hard to get motivated to run sprint teams in very cold temperatures, especially when I am going such short distances!!
So, decided to run all the dogs from up here (where it was a balmy -8) on the 4 wheeler. Had a team of 6 hooked to the machine ready to go and it died!!! Nothing could get it started. The dogs are nuts....it is a steep uphill at first and I knew they couldn't pull the machine up the road...so took everyone out of the team. Geesh!! They were mad. No one would go back to their houses....so with harnesses still on, Don and I loaded them up into the truck, grabbed another 6 dogs and 2 sleds and headed to the hall.

There were only a couple of other teams there training. It was probably around 20 below in the "valley" but the dogs didn't mind and I was dressed quite warm so it was enjoyable. Don left first with his team of 6 dogs for 5.9 miles.

Galena Loon
Millie Misty (SCL)
Izzi Topaz

Don writes the following:

Misty did great today, all business and, best of all from my perspective, no pause for pooping on the run. Her tug was tight the whole time, she was all business today. The going was quite slow in the soft, cold snow, and the trail was anything but smooth. So no one was really running very fast. But Misty was a great member of the team. Even her hijinks at the start while waiting for everyone to be hooked out, (she is usually jumping all over the place and tangling lines), is getting markedly better. Misty is definitely “getting it.”

I’d be happy to have her in my team any time, if she’ll have me. (Don)

(Carol) I took out a 6 dog team also for 5.9 miles.

No SCL dogs, but 2 dogs that I adopted from the shelter over several years:

Chanel Beans
Raisin Pippi (shelter adoptee)
Chert Casper (shelter adoptee)

It was interesting at the start. I was hooking the dogs in and Casper got away from me. He is a very timid dog and I have always felt that he would "bolt" if placed in a scary situation. There was another woman there half way across the field waiting for a team to come in.....Casper bolted across the holding area (we had parked on the far side for someone had tried to take a truck into the field and left huge ruts...even so, both my team and Don's team, being creatures of habit, swung over that way and across the ruts!!) and almost ran up to the woman....I called him and he came charging back to be put into the team! Good boy!! I was proud of him.

It was a slow run...the trail was punchy and Raisin in particular, with her long, thin legs was having the worst time getting good footing....so we didn't set any speed records, just had a nice run. Chanel did great in lead (she is the one with laryngeal paralysis) along with Beans and of course Pippi and Casper just make my heart sing. 2 dogs dropped off at the shelter who have turned into really fabulous sled dogs.

Thanks to Don.....I was pretty frustrated with the 4 wheeler not starting....and him having to take an ever bigger chunk out of his working day to run dogs....well, I am blessed.

Brrr. I'm being a whimp with the cold and have missed training over the last week plus....so decided to warm up the 4 wheeler this morning and take a team out from up here in the "banana belt" where it was a balmy -15, as compared to town at the same time of -27.
Don came over and we hooked up a 6 dog team.

Borax Jazz
Robin Blackberry (SCL)
Zorba Crowe

I can no longer back the 4 wheeler up in my fenced in yard because of all the snow that has fallen off the roof in that critical spot...so we hooked up outside the fence which actually made things a lot easier for then I had a straight shot down the driveway. We headed up Henderson then took a "gee" down St. Patricks. This roads are lightly traveled and today we didn't see one car. (always a good thing!).

The dogs were so psyched to go. This team hadn't run in about 2 weeks!!! Yikes!
We did about 6 miles and everyone was tight on the tug and even when I stopped they were screaming to go again. Blackberry did great and rarely seems tired after a run.
She is in the house tonight and is really opening up with the other dogs. I don't think she really knew how to play with other dogs, but now she is part of the gang and has her favorite friends.

Thanks again to Don for helping on the spur of the moment and keeping the back of the 4 wheeler on the ground on the corners! :)

Saturday...just had to get out today. With the deep snow and then the deep cold...my dogs have not been trained much in the last 2 weeks. So Don and I loaded up all the dogs that won't be racing at Sunday's ADMA preliminary race and went to Creamer's field to skijor.
The trail had been rolled many times, but had no chance to set up...so it was very punchy for me and my dogs, but they had fun and that is the most important.
Since Blackberry will be racing on Sunday I left her at home. I skijored with Misty (SCL) in a 3 dog team.

Beans Casper (adopted from the shelter 2 years ago)
Misty (SCL)

Misty just LOVES to go. She is getting better at hook up and since she was the lone wheel dog she couldn't get tangled!! Beans and Casper waited nicely until I hooked in Misty, put my skis on and off we went. We did 2.7 miles. My dogs were really punching through the deep and soft snow so I cut the run short (was planning on doing the 3.6 mile). Casper needs some work in passing (he wants to go and visit other dogs) but Beans has been doing this for a long time and she guided him by the other teams (she is almost 10 years old!!). Misty did good. She has pretty short legs so seemed to really be falling into the snow more than the other 2 dogs...and she did manage to completely stop the team as she pooped right after we passed Don and his team, so he re-passed us. Once we got going, we passed him again. All the dogs were very professional. This doesn't bother Misty at all.
She has become more and more friendly. She loves being in the house and is now totally housebroken. She will go to the door and scratch when she wants out. She also likes to sit on my lap while I am trying to knit, so I am working with her to join me when it is appropriate.
She just loves to play with the other dogs and often stays out in the yard to play and play and play with Don's dog Izzi in the evening. Once in the house, she is a calm and quiet dog.

Thanks so much to Don for another skijor adventure!
Carol

Lots of new snow and groomed trails called me to Musher's Hall today with 18 dogs in the truck. I finally got plowed out after 5 days of being snowed in! Don is visiting in California so it was actually nice to be able to run all my dogs and see how they are doing, although it is a LOT more work running them all, plus loading and unloading them all at the house and at the hall.

First team:

Borax Jazz
Robin Blackberry (SCL)
Crowe Zorba

These are some of my fastest dogs. We shot away from the truck with my feet hard on the mat to slow them down. Blackberry was still a bit squirrelly on the hill going down, but the groomers had repaired all the new trail cut offs that they had made yesterday and although not totally "normal" it was pretty much the regular trail. We did 7.7 miles. Almost ran into a moose...came around a corner before the turn and there was a young moose on the trail. Luckily it turned and ran up the trail in front of us....only about 20 feet separated us at first, but I was hard on the mat and the brake, although my dogs were thinking "yum...moose steaks". The moose cut off to the right and disappeared into the thicket. The dogs seemed a little rusty...they have had a week off, but they all did well. Blackberry is so focused. She never looked at the moose and just puts her head down and go go goes!!!

Second team:

Loon Beans
Millie Misty (SCL)
Topaz Izzi (Don's dog)

This was by far my slowest team. We did 5.9 miles and had quite a few distractions.
Tom McGrane and his 3 dog skijor team was just rounding the fence as we crossed in front of him. He stayed behind us and took the 4.5 mile turn. Just past that turn there was a team hooked down so we passed them.....soon they got going and re-passed us and headed past the 5.9 turn....my dogs thought of chasing them but took the turn nicely when I called for it! I love these pups! Just after the turn I heard dogs barking up ahead...another team hooked down....we passed it nicely.....on down the trail there was a gal with a single fluffy husky skijoring. I called trail and she got over and we went by without a problem. Misty never even looked at any of the distractions. It was great training for her. She was hard on the line the whole time. This was a slow enough team that she drove hard all the time. What a girl!!

My 3rd team was:

Chanel Raisin
Galena Pippi (adopted from the shelter 4 years ago)
Chert Casper (adopted from the shelter 2 years ago)

No SCL dogs in this group, but a fine run. We did 5.9 and this team was cooking!! Chanel and Raisin set a nice pace and we had a great run.

In a side note....I saw Andrea Swingley at the hall (thanks for your help and Carol Kaynor's help too!!!). She took out her SCL dog Kiva (originally Rika) for 7.7 miles....and she did the whole run in LEAD!!!!! How's that for a caste off shelter dog?? Andrea was very proud of her.

Carol

Snow and wind!! Don and I took a couple of teams each to Creamer's today to skijor in the blowing snow and warm temperatures. Here is what Don said about his experience:

"I skijored with Misty (SCL) for 1.4 miles at Creamer’s today. Conditions were, um, interesting, with lots of fresh snow, lots falling, and a bit of a southerly breeze. Carol observed that the dogs probably put in about double the miles worth of work over the distance. Misty and Loon were in lead, with my Mardy in wheel. It was sloooooow, no fault of the dogs. In that soft snow they worked hard even as I fumbled trying to make a decent contribution, skating in the soft snow.

After the usual line-out follies, during which Misty makes fine use of all three dimensions at her disposal, she did fabulous in lead, hard on the line the whole time. Over one short section, she did look back at me twice to tell me to make a contribution, so I worked harder. With all four of us working, we made a nice albeit short loop of the two fields. Misty is a hard worker once we get going."

I ran a 3 dog team for 2.7 miles:

Robin Blackberry (SCL)
Daikon

It was slow going and hard to see with the wind whipping snow in my face, but these 3 dogs are total professionals and they all worked hard. Blackberry is a good little leader and she is starting to understand the commands too! She didn't even look when we almost head-on passed Pat on the snow machine with the roller pulled behind.

Thanks Don!

Live and Learn. Today was the 3rd preliminary race for the Alaska Dog Musher's Association. I decided to enter all 3 classes and Don entered the 6 dog class. Every dog in my yard (except for Daikon who is still nursing a frostbitten foot) got to race. It was an interesting day with an inch of new snow on the trail. I ran the 3 dog skijor class with Galena, Borax (they are 8 year old brother and sister) in lead and Pippi in wheel. Pippi is a dog that I adopted from the shelter about 4 years ago. Her age is a mystery, but I'm guessing she is probably around 6 or 7 years old now. She is an awesome dog who loves the shorter distances.

In the 4 dog class I ran 4 speedy dogs....but I used a "new" sled that I just bought and the runners were the totally wrong ones for the conditions so it felt like we were riding on sand paper!! The dogs all did great though.

My 6 dog class consisted of the following:

Robin (8 years) Beans (almost 10 years)
Blackberry (SCL and 2.5 years)
Chert (8 years) Casper (4 years and a shelter adoptee)

We had a nice run but this team was too slow for Blackberry. She drove hard the whole way and did more than her part of pulling the sled up the hill. She continues to amaze me with her focus and her huge heart.

Don ran the following team:

Loon (6 years) Raisin (8 years)
Millie (4 years) Misty (SCL 1.5 years)
Izzi (Don's dog and 5 years old) Topaz (8 years)

Misty loves being in a bit of a slower team. Don ends up with mostly the tiny dogs in Loon, Raisin, Millie and Misty....so he can only go so fast!!! But this is great for Misty. She is a very driven dog who just loves to go. She gets a bit crazy at hook up though. I went to the line with Don and was down on my knees trying to keep her on the left side of the line and she leaped up and gave me a pretty good scratch with her nails that goes across my eyebrow and down onto my eye lid!! yikes!
Don had a good run. All the dogs worked well, and best of all they all had a ton of fun!!!

It was a crazy, busy day with all the classes but the dogs all had a lot of fun as did Don and I. Thanks again and again to Don for being my partner and handler in this wonderful venture with all the dogs.