Sunday, February 04, 2007
Where does the time go?? Here it is already February. Fairbanks is still having a very low snowfall year, half of normal, but the trails are holding up nicely. I have only been on a sled twice this year! BUT, with the help of Don and Sara we have been skijoring 3-4 times a week with all the dogs in different teams. It has been a blast. All of our SCL dogs continue to do well. Even Jewel, (the doberman/basenjii mix with her very short coat and permanent loss of hair on her chest from frostbite acquired from a previous home) has been out skijoring a lot in the warmer temperatures. It has been in the 20's for a couple of weeks now.
Misty and Blackberry have been skijor racing quite a bit and turning in some good times. Both the girls are very driven dogs.
Our newest shelter rescue (Shaman) continues to come out of his shell. He came from a terrible situation and was totally unsocialized and scared of everything. He has been skijoring in a 3 dog team (in wheel) but yesterday I took him with my older dog Robin as a 2 dog team. Shaman had to pass people walking, other skiers, people with loose dogs. Although he shyed away every time, he managed to get by with Robin's professionalism and we had a nice run. He will continue to bloom as he does love to run and he is a fast and driven boy. He is already taking biscuits out of other people's hands. A big step for him.
SCL continues to pull some dogs from the shelter but what a lot of people don't see are the number of dogs that are directly adopted from the shelter because of the small group of volunteers that take these dogs out and work on finding them homes. Our shelter is cracking down on what is called a "rescue." So if the dog can be adopted directly through the shelter that is what the borough is pushing for. There have been many many dogs come into our shelter recently. We have had many people step up to adopt these dogs although way too many are still be euthanized.
I haven't been racing much on the sled this year. Just one time. So many of my dogs are older and I just keep getting more and more frustrated with the dog mushing community when I see the number of dogs that are coming through our animal shelter and hear the number of litters that people are having each year. Some mushers have 4-8 litters in a summer. So many of those dogs don't make the cut and they either end up killed or at the shelter. This sport may paint a rosy picture to the rest of the world but it does the sled dog a great injustice with all the breeding and culling. OK, off my soap box.
Kiche (SCL) still doesn't really want to be a sled dog. She still barks a lot but is accepting of pets and loving. She likes to take long walks although we do keep her on a leash while the other dogs can run loose.
Chance (SCL) is one of Don's main racing skijor dogs. She has so much enthusiasm it is hard to contain. She is a wild girl and gosh...she loves to run. Chiclet (SCL) is probably soon going to become a house dog. She is so very sweet but hates the hub bub of being in a team.
Yanert our foster puppy with the rare hereditary disorder is doing well. He is 9 months old and tall and leggy though his front legs continue to be knotted and bowed. He limps sometimes if he plays too hard (and he loves to play!) but he goes everywhere with us and is so cute that it is hard to not want to love on him all the time. He loves to play with Ivy or Izzi the best.
Well, off for more skijoring today.
Misty and Blackberry have been skijor racing quite a bit and turning in some good times. Both the girls are very driven dogs.
Our newest shelter rescue (Shaman) continues to come out of his shell. He came from a terrible situation and was totally unsocialized and scared of everything. He has been skijoring in a 3 dog team (in wheel) but yesterday I took him with my older dog Robin as a 2 dog team. Shaman had to pass people walking, other skiers, people with loose dogs. Although he shyed away every time, he managed to get by with Robin's professionalism and we had a nice run. He will continue to bloom as he does love to run and he is a fast and driven boy. He is already taking biscuits out of other people's hands. A big step for him.
SCL continues to pull some dogs from the shelter but what a lot of people don't see are the number of dogs that are directly adopted from the shelter because of the small group of volunteers that take these dogs out and work on finding them homes. Our shelter is cracking down on what is called a "rescue." So if the dog can be adopted directly through the shelter that is what the borough is pushing for. There have been many many dogs come into our shelter recently. We have had many people step up to adopt these dogs although way too many are still be euthanized.
I haven't been racing much on the sled this year. Just one time. So many of my dogs are older and I just keep getting more and more frustrated with the dog mushing community when I see the number of dogs that are coming through our animal shelter and hear the number of litters that people are having each year. Some mushers have 4-8 litters in a summer. So many of those dogs don't make the cut and they either end up killed or at the shelter. This sport may paint a rosy picture to the rest of the world but it does the sled dog a great injustice with all the breeding and culling. OK, off my soap box.
Kiche (SCL) still doesn't really want to be a sled dog. She still barks a lot but is accepting of pets and loving. She likes to take long walks although we do keep her on a leash while the other dogs can run loose.
Chance (SCL) is one of Don's main racing skijor dogs. She has so much enthusiasm it is hard to contain. She is a wild girl and gosh...she loves to run. Chiclet (SCL) is probably soon going to become a house dog. She is so very sweet but hates the hub bub of being in a team.
Yanert our foster puppy with the rare hereditary disorder is doing well. He is 9 months old and tall and leggy though his front legs continue to be knotted and bowed. He limps sometimes if he plays too hard (and he loves to play!) but he goes everywhere with us and is so cute that it is hard to not want to love on him all the time. He loves to play with Ivy or Izzi the best.
Well, off for more skijoring today.
