Second Chance League Training Log

2008-02-22T21:38:00.002-09:00

Gosh. It has been a long time since I posted anything!
The winter has been pretty odd. First, not much snow and we did nothing but a lot of skijoring at the North Star Golf course that had just enough snow to cover the cart paths to make for some excellent skijoring early in the season. When we finally got enough snow it then turned colder for 2 weeks and I got sick and ended up missing 2 weeks of work.
As of today we have had 4 days of above freezing temperatures and since my dogs just fold in the heat we haven't been running them. BUT...we will get them out tomorrow as it is supposed to cool down so another skijor day will be added to the dogs lives.
The shelter has been very depressing lately with many dogs coming in. And a lot of the outside dogs really aren't even sled dogs!! We have been running them regularly and have found several adoptive homes and pulled several dogs into SCL in the last month.

All of our dogs are doing great. Getting older and that is hard to watch. Several more dogs retired this year but the SCL dogs that we have are still running great as they are mostly younger. Chance continues to be Don's mainstay leader on his 3 dog skijor team with Daikon as the other leader and Casper (shelter dog adopted 7 years ago) in the wheel position.
Misty and Blackberry are in my 3 dog team with Jazz an 11 year old rounding out this group. Blackberry is a nice little leader and is very fast. Misty has a thick white coat and she gets overheated if it is too warm but as long as it is nice and cold she does great and runs fast.
Chiclet (SCL) never has taken to being a sled dog. She and Kiche (SCL) are always loose in a freedom pen now (with 2-3 other dogs). Kiche has run a few times in a team but prefers not to. She has very short legs and what I think is some pretty bad eyesight. She is a funny little dog. Barks a lot but when loose will follow us around the yard. She is more accepting of pets and comes to us when we need to chain her back up at feeding time. She likes being a part of the pack and loves playing with Shaman (shelter dog) and Ivy (shelter dog).
Raja (shelter dog) is still quite thin but that dogs loves to go. She is always in a team with Don's dog Izzi and my dog Loon. She is all business when working and would never think of bothering another dog but at home when she is loose she doesn't like other dogs to approach her. She is never chained up and loves living in the heated dog barn all the time.
Pippi (my first shelter dog) is retired. She has some back issues and I figure she is around 9 or 10 years old. But she is one of the best dogs to take on long loose walks as she never runs off.

Robin and Loon continue to be the main leaders for all the shelter teams. Robin will be 12 this spring and still loves to go and is a great command leader. Loon is 8 and she is a great little leader too and they are both such nice dogs that it is fun to have them change out their lead when we are running shelter dogs. They are never aggressive and take everything in stride even though they meet and run with many different dogs each week. What a pair.
Happy trails.

2007-12-17T22:47:00.000-09:00

Winter has settled in and it is another winter with very little snow so far. Luckily we have a wonderful venue at the North Star Golf Course that is groomed for skijoring so we have been going there several times a week to run the dogs. At the last skijor race I was noticing how many shelter dogs were there. It warmed my heart to see them all running and in really good homes. I ran a team with Jazz who is nearly 11 and Blackberry (SCL) who is just a driven maniac (yet is the calmest house dog that disappears in a cushy dog bed and rarely wants to go out!!) and Misty(SCL) who I used to think didn't have top speed but has come into her own this year and can drive hard and fast with all of my dogs! She too is a house dog yet doesn't mind going and laying in the snow chewing an old bone at 10 below. She has a thick white coat that is so soft.
Don skijored with Daikon, Casper (shelter rescue) and Chance (SCL) on Sunday. I loved looking down the list of dogs. The 1st place in the 3 dog skijor race (I was 2nd) had 3 shelter dogs! GO PUPS!
We have sent 4 SCL dogs to towns south of Anchorage where they are fitting into their new homes. Gage and Frisk (both SCL) joined Silver (SCL) in a sprint home.
We had Ammon and Shep here for almost 2 weeks and I got quite attached to them but it was nice to know they were going to a free running kennel and their first report of their run in a team came back glowing.

It is cold enough that all the dogs (well except for the 11-12 we have in the house) now are sleeping in the dog barn at night. They sure do like that. No one can convince me that a dog would prefer to sleep outside at 20 below rather than in a warmer environment. They all push for the door when we let them loose to run to the barn.

The rest of our SCL dogs are doing well. Kiche still doesn't want to be a sled dog but she loves other dogs and she always comes when we call her when she is loose. At first I used to walk her up to the barn on a leash but for the past couple of years it hasn't been a problem getting her to come to us or to go right to the barn. She has come a long way although she will always have that shy streak in her.
Chiclet is just a wonderful dog. She too doesn't want to be a sled dog but she is very affectionate, likes other dogs and is one of the dogs that is always in one of our "freedom"yards where dogs aren't chained up all day and night.
Chance of course is consistently skijoring. She is an excellent leader and a very driven dog.

Raja (shelter rescue) loves to run. But she is showing her age (which we aren't sure what it is!) and is thin and eats like a mouse. We will continue to run her as long as she is screaming to go and is healthy enough.

Most of our "spare" time is spent caring for the dogs. There is rarely a day goes by that every dog doesn't get at least an hour of free time in the yard. And even when we run them, they get to romp around the yard before we chain them back up. We only have 11 chained dogs right now but those change throughout the day as we keep groups in the freedom yards off the chains. My goal next summer is for 2 more freedom yards then everyone will be off a chain and the groups that get along well together can be in these pens. We do have to make sure to bring all the dogs back together though every day. One thing I wouldn't want is a bunch of sub-packs.
It is time consuming but oh so rewarding for both us and the dogs. The biggest chore is probably scooping poop in all the yards. And I'm obsessive about it. I find it interesting in the freedom pens. The dogs poop as far away from their houses as they can. This just reinforces my thoughts about dogs living on chains and the need to keep their spots extremely clean. These dogs don't want to live where they are going to the bathroom, but when they are on a chain they don't have a choice.

We are praying for more snow. Sledding is rough and the first sprint races have been postponed because there isn't enough snow to groom the trails! A terrible winter for sledding so far.

Happy holidays to all and may you hold your dogs closely in your heart as they will reward you with their love and devotion many times over.

2007-10-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

It has been quite awhile since I posted. The summer was wonderful. It was a rare day that Don and I did NOT let all the dogs loose. We got into a nice routine every day and it was a joy to be able to let all the dogs interact on a daily basis. I only worked one job this summer much to my relief and thus had some extra time to spend with the dogs. They are all doing well although I see the age creeping up in many of our dogs. So many of them are now 10 to 12 years old. But all are healthy and that is the important part.
Don and I built a couple of new "freedom" pens. These are huge areas where we can leave dogs loose all of the time. We now have more dogs off the chain than we do on the chain. But we always bring everyone back into the main yard when it is time to let everyone loose. I never want to create more than one pack so it is important that they all interact every day.
All the SCL dogs are doing great. Shaman (shelter dog) is becoming more bold and often comes in the house now. He is still terribly shy but loves to play and doesn't have a mean bone in his body.
We also have another dog and looks like she will stay here for life. I was firm on not getting another dog as 30 is quite enough to look after and care for them physically and mentally.
But Raja is now a part of our group. She was at the shelter for a very long time. At one point there was a person in Germany who was going to adopt her and another dog named Foxy. It dragged out for a week and in the meantime a person from CT who had adopted another shelter dog had emailed me saying she would take Raja. At the time Raja was already spoken for so I told the person in CT that she was already adopted. Well, when the German adoption fell through we went and picked up Raja and brought her home much to the joy of the person in CT.
BUT.....she was terribly thin and a picky eater when we got her. Found out that she is a much older dog than we thought. Since she has perfect teeth we thought she was a fairly young dog....but....she is probably over 10 years of age. She had 2 large mammary tumors which were removed when she was spayed. Luckily they were benign.
So she is not going to travel to CT and will live out her life with us. She is still very thin but her coat is gorgeous now (it was so ratty when we got her) and she IS eating much better.
We also think she is deaf or very hard of hearing. She doesn't like other dogs surprising her and will lash out at them. So we have kept her in a large pen and let her loose with just a couple of dogs each day. She loves people and comes if we can get her attention to see us. She loves cuddles and pets. We will run her with the older group this winter and just take a day at a time with her.
We are anxious to start running the dogs but at the moment the 4 wheel drive is broken on my truck so I can't haul the 4 wheeler anywhere. And until we get more snow I can't run the 4 wheeler out of my house.
Luckily the shelter has very few huskies right now. SCL pulled 5 dogs into the group over the last 5 weeks (North Pole, Kodiak, Raz, Vicki (now Nicki) and Alma). Alma will be going to Michigan to her new home by the end of the month. Chalupa got adopted into a great home recently so that made us all quite happy.
We are praying for a good snow winter this year. Lots of skijoring on our agenda!

2007-07-21T23:03:00.000-08:00

All this new blogger stuff has made it difficult for the fosters to post. Don will be working on this in the future so that all the fosters can be back on the SCL site for blogging. I luckily remembered how to get in and will try and post more often.
The summer is zipping by. Life has become a bit ritualistic here at the Kleckner/Kiely household. About 2-3 hours before I have to go to work (I work nights going in at different time between 3:30 and 5:30 pm) we start letting loose the dogs. We do them in 2 groups this summer. Each group gets around an hour of running around. We interact a lot with each dog during this time. Lots of petting and brushing out their winter fur. With the hot weather we always have the wading pool filled but only a few dogs will go and lay completely in it. Others will wade and a lot of them like to pee in it!! funny dogs. After their play time it is feeding time and the dogs are then settled for the rest of the evening.
All our SCL adopted dogs are doing great. Also our direct shelter adoptees. Shaman is coming around quite nicely. Although he is still very spooking he LOVES to be petted if we sit in our lawn chairs and let him come to us. He gets lots of pats during this time. We usually just leave him loose all the time in the fenced yard. He ventures into the house every now and then but he loves to play and he has plenty of companions in both the indoor dogs and the outdoor dogs that he goes and visits with.
Don and I just got finished putting up new fencing. We cemented in 4 x 4 posts and ran 6 foot horse fencing with a new gate. The side yard is now divided into 2 parts. I'm looking forward to tomorrow to start picking dogs that will be able to be in there loose all the time. I will be building more dog houses in the next week so that we can have houses for them in both the freedom yard and the main dog yard if we need to chain them back up (probably when we both aren't here or have a pet sitter for some reason). Our goal is to eventually have several huge areas where we can leave groups of dogs loose all the time.
It has been so hot that we haven't been able to run shelter dogs too many times. Adoptions have been so/so but they have been keeping dogs for quite a long time if there is space. A couple of my favorites got adopted recently and we pray that they are happy in their new homes.

2007-05-14T07:27:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I posted anything! Time just goes too quickly by.
It is spring here in Fairbanks. A beautiful day today. Should be around 60 above. It is still freezing overnight so not yet time to put out the summer flowers or garden although with as many moose around here I haven't done vegetables in several years.
The dogs are on their summer routine. We still broth all through the summertime in the morning. The dogs just seem more content and quiet. Don and I usually take 3 -5 dogs on a loose walk every day then the others all get let loose for an hour or so to just run and run. They like to eat dirt and grass and chase each other around the shed. After an hour they are ready to go back to their houses and have their dinner. Last summer we could let 29 of the dogs loose together. But we aren't quite there this year. They kind of have to work out the hierarchy again so I've been letting 20-22 loose at once and then the other group after that. 30 dogs is a LOT to have loose at one time and although we have about 3/4 of an acre fenced in.....it still really isn't enough space for all out running when that many dogs are loose.
One of our big plans this summer is to fence in more areas and have areas where the dogs are loose all the time. I really hate chaining up my dogs but right now it is the best way for socialization and to keep them safe. As long as they get to run loose every day I deal with the chaining thing.....but in the long run it would be nice to have enough secure pens where groups can be free all of the time.
All of our dogs are doing great. So many of them now are 10-12 years old! Yikes!! My life down the road will be filled with sorrow as they age and die but I have been so blessed to have each and every dog in my life.
Yanert, our foster "puppy" (who has chondrodysplasia, a fairly rare genetic disorder which has resulted in him having bowed wrists and other medical problems) is thriving. For awhile he was growing so fast but couldn't keep on weight as his digestive system is a bit compromised from his medical problems. But we got his diet figured out and although he is still thin he is doing great. He is TALL and lanky. He is up to 46 pounds although he doesn't look like he weighs that much. He just turned one year old.
We won't try to find a home for him as we don't know what kind of expenses down the road he will have with all his problems. So although we still consider him a "foster" dog....he is really ours for life.
All our other SCL and shelter adoptees are doing great. They are all a pleasure to have.
We did get word that Snickers needs a new home. She is a puppy that we rescued along with her sister (Skittle) and their mother (Chiclet) from a terrible abuse situation. Snickers has done great but the couple who adopted her have divorced and the woman who has Snickers is now being sent to Korea with the military! She is heartbroken for Snickers is her family and it is crushing her to have to find her a new home. But we will work on this and will always take her back here if things don't work out somewhere else. That is our commitment to our foster dogs that we take in.
I have always hated how much sled dogs are passed around sometimes having a half dozen homes before they end up somewhere that a person will keep them forever. Luckily Snickers has always been a pet and has only known us as a puppy and her new home as an adult. So hopefully we will be able to find her that forever home that she deserves.
All the indoor dogs (10 of them!) are laying in the morning sun in the living room so I think I may join them.

2007-03-14T12:24:00.000-08:00

Another cold day in March. Hard to get out and skijor when it is 20 below at noon!
We did have the SCL board meeting last night but I am unable to post to the web site news at the moment. But many new and exciting things will be happening in SCL. A new group of officers will soon be announced and the "retired" officers were happy to pass on their duties.
All my dogs are doing pretty good. The SCL adopted dogs and all our other adopted dogs from the shelter are thriving. I did have a dog have surgery after eating a rock recently!!

The blogging site with EBlogger is not being user friendly. SCL will be working on changing our blog site soon. That way everyone who is wanting to blog will be able to.

Carol

2007-02-04T11:04:00.000-09:00

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.

2006-12-26T17:26:00.000-09:00

SNOW!!!! Finally we have had some decent snow accumulation. Trails around the area are shaping up and that is good news for all of us dog people.
We have been training off the 4 wheeler. We did my traditional Christmas run. Every year I run teams on Christmas day. Can't think of anything that I would rather be doing than being with my dog family.
We could run out of here again as fresh snow on the unplowed roads made for a good "trail."

All the dogs are doing good. Even as they age, most of my dogs are still enthusiastic and crazy to run. So many of my dogs are between 9 and 11 years old.
All the SCL dogs are doing fabulous. Chance is a good leader. We had her in lead in a speedy 6 dog team on Christmas Day. Blackberry was in that team too. She is a bit on the chunky side this winter, but is always hard on her line and just loves to run. She also loves to sleep in the house every night while the rest of the outside dogs are in the dog barn. Misty is still crazy to harness but has calmed down at hook up. She is a driven little girl.
Shaman, the very shy dog that I pulled from the shelter in early summer, is doing great. He is only a year old and although he gets spooked by a lot of stuff, he is a very driven dog who loves to run. He is becoming much more approachable and will come up with the rest of the dogs for treats and pats. The more we run him the more confidence he will get and I'm sure that he will turn out to be a loving dog.
We still have our foster dog, Yanert.....we will probably keep him. He has so many inherited problems that it probably wouldn't be fair to pass him to a new home....he has chondrodysplasia, a fairly rare inherited disorder.....along with that is anemia and some bone abnormalities....it is a dwarfism gene and he has turned out to be a slightly built, although long legged boy, that still looks very much like a puppy at 8 months of age. We adore him and he is easy to have around.

A few of my older dogs aren't running off the 4 wheeler at the moment. But once we are on sled they will be back in the team. My oldest is Beans at 11.5 years and she is both running on the 4 wheeler and skijoring. She loves to go and doesn't seem to have any problems associated with older age. I don't really have a retired dog in my yard yet!

I attribute a lot of their older success with a few things. One of course is really good nutrition. The second one is that I have given them year round exercise. When not running in the summer they are let loose together to run and play until they are tired. And 3rd....they sleep in a warm dog barn at night and if it gets really cold then they are in the dog barn all the time with breaks about every 4 hours to let them to out and stretch their legs and go to the bathroom. I used to think that they were better off outside as they could come in and out of their dog house when they wanted to....but when it gets cold they just curl up in their houses and rarely come out. In the dog barn (it is 50 degrees) they can really stretch out and also move around in the very large boxes. Most can stand up as the boxes are all 2 foot high, 4 foot deep and around 3 foot wide.

Happy Trails.

2006-12-12T22:01:00.000-09:00

This certainly is shaping up to be a winter for the record books. A severe lack of snow has cancelled several skijoring and mushing races. We are training on the 4 wheeler but have been pretty slack doing that as the weather was at first pretty cold, then warmed up for a couple of weeks to the 30's. yikes!
But today we loaded 16 dogs into the truck and hooked up the trailer and the 4 wheeler and headed down to the dike along the Tanana River. It is totally flat but at least there is a thin hard packed layer of snow. We ran 2 teams of 8. The first team had Misty (SCL), Blackberry (SCL), and Chance (SCL). We went 5-6 miles and they all did well.
The 2nd team brought tears to my eyes. It was an older team with Beans at 11.5 years, Robin is 10.5, Daikon is 9.5 and Pippi is around 9 years old. But we decided to harness break Shaman.....he is a dog that we rescued from the shelter this summer. He was just about to be euthanized and I had been sitting with him when they were going to put him down. He was only around 7 months old... I just said...no..I will take him....and brought him home. He was terribly unsocialized and just froze when you would try to pet him. He didn't want anything to do with any people. Through the summer and fall I would take him for walks (he was so fearful that he actually stayed glued to my side) and we would bring him into the house and gently pet him all over. We can let him loose in the yard and he loves to play with the other dogs. When we tell him to go back to his house he runs and jumps in his house so we can hook him up.
Well....today he was very nervous at the truck, trying to climb as far under as he could....and he didn't particularly like getting his harness put on....but once he was in the team and I said "let's go" WOW!!! He took off hard on the line and that was it.....he is a driven dog and fast. The 4 wheeler actually died and we had to have this team pull me most of the way back to the truck. Don got his exercise by running after us, but we left him in the dust even with no engine. I was so proud of this team. They just love pulling and running and they really worked hard to take us back to the truck pulling me and the 4 wheeler. Shaman was hard on the tug this whole time. He will come around quickly now in his socialization. In his mind he now realizes that he has a job in this world and I know that he will blossom.
A rewarding day.

2006-11-06T20:10:00.000-09:00

Gosh!! When are we going to get enough snow to ski and run sleds on??? October was a very warm month and November has yet to be too cold although temps are finally hovering around 0.
We are training dogs on the 4 wheeler but I sure am looking forward to the quietness of sleds and skis.
All the dogs are doing well. We haven't harnessed up Shaman yet, our newest dog from the shelter. He is thriving and has turned into a beautiful dog. I take him for a walk almost every day. He is great on a leash and heels at my side. But he is still very very shy.
All of our SCL dogs are running in teams. Chance is a driven leader. Blackberry continues to shine in the speed department and she has turned out to be such a sweet and loving dog although she can be a bit wild at times. But that pointer blood has her devoted to us and not so much a dog's dog....She can run anywhere in the team.
Misty has really matured this year. She used to be just crazy at hook up, but now she stays on her own side and isn't so over the top excited. She is a very driven little dog and will run anywhere in the team. Chiclet has turned into a very sweet girl but we haven't trained her much yet. Jewel has learned to walk VERY nicely on a leash and takes many walks with us now. Her short coat and lack of fur in places due to frostbite precludes her from doing too much running at very cold temps. She enjoys being a house dog and sleeping on the couch.
We still have our foster puppy Yanert. His legs continue to be bowed but in another month or so his growth plates will close so we are keeping our fingers crossed that his legs won't always be deformed. He has our heart for sure....he is totally housebroken, is 6 months old, weighs 30 pounds and can play with the best of the dogs! We are still looking for a home for him.
We also take Kiche for a lot of walks. She kind of likes being a sled dog and this year I think she will do way better for she trusts us a lot more and likes the other dogs. She is great on a leash and her tail is always wagging as we walk.
There are so many good dogs at the shelter now and it will break my heart if they aren't adopted. Not too many people seem to be looking to add dogs to their yards right now.
Pray for snow!!

2006-10-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

Am I really living in Fairbanks? It has been awfully warm lately!! But the dogs are crazy so I started training today. It was cool enough, but yet puddles along the way provided some wading water for the dogs.
Lately, because of the fall weather my dogs have not been able to be let loose all at once. I'm down to doing it in 2 groups. 1 large group when it turns cooler and they haven't been running is just a little too crazy!! I usually let a larger group loose first and then a smaller 2nd group. The 2nd group are dogs that chase each other around the shed at high rates of speed until they are tired. I think I counted 15 laps one day. And they aren't just trotting around either!!
In my run today I had several of our SCL adoptees in the teams. The first team had Chance (SCL) in lead and Misty (SCL) in swing. Robin, Chert, Pippi and Millie rounded out the team.
These SCL dogs are driven driven driven. I'm fortunate to have them.
I have to load up my truck and 4 wheeler and head up the road about .5 miles to be off the pavement....then I have miles of trails/dirt roads to run on. We had some challenges today which the dogs excelled at. They are putting a culvert in on up the road and I didn't realize it until talking to a trucker right before I got going. But I had the team all hooked up and the guy said that although they had the road blocked off I would be able to get around with my team. So, off we went. Robin and Chance were excellent. We came upon the equipment and had to stay hard right past 2 dump trucks and a big shovel that was loading into one of the trucks. It didn't scare any of the dogs. I sure like things like that as the dogs learn to pass anything they come across.
The 2nd team had Blackberry (SCL) in it. Borax and Jazz in lead and Crowe and Zorba rounded out the team. This has always been one of my fastest and more powerful teams. It is wonderful to see the attitude of the dogs but sad to know that the majority of this team are old timers (9 and 10 years old). They flew past the equipment and we went further than the first team and at the turn around met up with a woman loose walking 3 dogs!! A rather chunky golden retreiver charged the leaders but Jazz gave him a piece of his mind and the dog turned tail. The woman was apologizing all over the place as her little foo foo dog was trying to get back in her car and the lab/husky mix was visiting down the team. I told her that this is always good training for my dogs and I trust that my dogs won't fight unless provoked. So it was a good experience for them. We turned around there and stopped at a water puddle for wading and lapping.
Back past the equipment and then a 2 minute stop as one of the trucks dumped his load and turned around. The dogs did not like this stop!!! But they were fairly patient.
BB's line was ramrod tight the whole time. She is an amazing little dog.
Come on SNOW!!!!

2006-09-29T10:58:00.000-08:00

What a glorious fall we have had here in Fairbanks. It just recently frosted and almost broke a record for the latest frost. My flowers are still in bloom at this late date.
But the dogs are breathing in that winter air. They are restless and getting a bit more feisty now that it is getting colder. We continue to let them loose every day to run off that energy, but they really just want to be out running in front of the 4 wheeler. We will start training very soon.
Skittle is going to her new home on Saturday. This is a very happy, yet an extremely sad day for us. We have had her since she was a 10 day old puppy, emaciated and full of lice, along with her sister and her mother. Skittle has found a home with a family in Anchorage and Don will take her halfway to meet up with her new family. I love her so much but know that she will do great in a home with a family and one other dog.
Shaman, our newest rescue, continues to improve on his shyness. Although we still can't directly approach him without him diving into his house, he often will come up to us when he is loose for a sniff or a quick pat in the yard. He loves playing with Kiche and is very full of energy. The dog is non-stop motion when he is loose. He lopes around the yard the whole time. He is probably a year old now and we are excited to put him in the team.
All our rescue/SCL dogs are doing well. We are all looking forward to snow and colder weather.

2006-08-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that it is mid August already. We will soon see cooler mornings and that means the start of running the dogs for short runs on the 4 wheeler. It also means getting back into running more shelter dogs too! I have been very busy with working this summer with the main goal once again to work part time in the winter so to spend more time with my dogs.
But even with my busy schedule there have been very few days this summer that we haven't let the dogs loose every day. All the dogs are doing well and it will be interesting to see where all the 10 and 11 year olds are as far as being conditioned. It is nice to let them all loose and see them running around and really getting some hard exercise during the summertime. Today may be one of the few days that we don't let everyone loose. It is raining pretty good and most of the dogs have been pretty lazy today.
All our SCL dogs are doing fine. Misty has become my "poster child" of before and after dogs....I look back at the pictures of when I got her and how terrible she looked with 50% of her hair missing and scabs on her face...and now with her gorgeous thick white coat that feels like velvet.
SCL had a good success story with Cloud. He was turned back into SCL and adopted by people in British Columbia that already had his brother. Several organizations worked together to help this boy get to his new home. SCL is deeply grateful to Linda Cook and Homeward Bound for organizing all the flights for Cloud and for Candace O'Conner that took Cloud in as a temporary foster while arrangements were being made.

2006-07-13T23:32:00.000-08:00

We are well into summer and our routines with the dogs. Every day after work we let all the dogs loose to play for at least an hour. We do usually hook Jewel (SCL) up as she tends to be a bit of a bully with all the loose dogs (but she gets along great with the 12 that we have loose all the time and in and out of the house!) and she seems content laying on a dog house while all the commotion of that many loose dogs is happening. Skittle and Shaman stay in the side yard although Skittle (shelter adoptee) is to the age where we can probably let her loose with the whole group. She loves to play with all the indoor dogs and gets along with everyone. She is a happy puppy. Her mother Chiclet (SCL) is a very quiet and timid dog but loves belly rubs and affection.
Kiche (SCL) is great. She is still a barker and quite timid, but we can let her loose and she always goes back to her house when play time is over. She has come a long way but I would still like to see her progress to the point where she will not bark at us when we come out of the house. She is a sweet girl though and has the rest of her life here to trust us and learn new habits.
Chance (SCL) is super friendly and we are happy that she is in our lives.
Blackberry (SCL) is always in the house at night now. She is so quiet we don't even know she is here!!!
Our new dog Shaman(shelter adoptee) is coming around nicely too. He is still very very skittish. But he will take biscuits out of our hands (even though he will jump in his dog house first!) and he comes in the house every night. I can put a leash on him and he will pop right out of his dog house and almost heals beside me into the house!! Once in the house, he finds his little corner under the end stand and that is where he likes to sleep. He is becoming much calmer overall. He got neutered a week ago and that was a bit traumatic for him, but luckily Dr. Rose came up here to do it and he faired just fine. He did have quite a rash on his belly that was cleared up with antibiotics. I also got to clip his nails while he was asleep so that was great. His one last puppy tooth finally fell out.
Misty (SCL) has shed her winter coat and she is so soft and beautiful. Her coat is a shiny white and she loves to be brushed. Brushing is one thing that most of my dogs love and I spend a lot of time each day when they are loose, brushing out the winter fur. My yard is often quite thick with dog fur!!
I miss Topaz and his gentle nature and often go to his graveside which is quickly being taken over by nature with fire weed and small aspen trees popping up through the soil. The cycle of life continues.
I try to get to the shelter once a week during the summer but haven't been running any of the dogs because of the heat. So many dogs that people don't want. saddens my heart.
But I also know that many dogs have great homes because of SCL and the dedication of several volunteers trying to find shelter dogs new homes. My heart sings every time I look at my rescue dogs.

2006-05-27T22:28:00.000-08:00

Warm weather is here and fun with the dogs in the summertime. We let the dogs loose every day in the fenced in yard. We have a lot of dirt and grass eaters and they get their fill. I have no lawn any longer but that is OK. It IS a dog yard after all!
We did have a great sadness. Topaz, 10 years old, died a week ago. I was in route from my trip back east and he died over night. He had been fighting an autoimmune disease called pemphigus for a couple of years but we didn't expect his death this suddenly. It was a very sad time for us. He was by far the sweetest dog in my whole yard. He once was the demo dog at a dog sled demonstration at our museum for 2nd graders. Over a dozen kids harnessed and unharnessed him and he just stood and wagged his tail. At the end he layed down and 6 little boys were laying on top of him. We will greatly miss him.
I swore that I wouldn't take on any more dogs. We have 29 and that is a big number to deal with them all on a personal basis. We have 10 house dogs and giving everyone the needed time and attention is difficult with so many. But I stopped by our shelter yesterday and there was animal control bringing in several dead dogs. Some crazy guy let all his dogs loose, went off his meds and stopped feeding them. The dead ones were nothing but bones. I cried when I saw them. How people can do this to animals is beyond my comprehension, but then again, I don't understand mental illness and I guess this guy is pretty bad. At any rate, all of the dogs were signed over to be euthanized. The guy had already shot quite a few of them and others were dead of starvation. Well, there was one male chained up in a back room at the shelter. This poor dog just looked so defeated. No joy at all in his life. I figure him to be about 8 months old. I sat with him for awhile and there seemed to be nothing there.....no response...no fear...no aggression....just blankness. But then there was some noise in another room and he picked up his ears and looked at me. The animal control officer said they were going to euthanize him right then.....well, I took him and he is now hooked outside the dog yard at the garage. Many of the dogs had diarrhea and they didn't know if any of the dogs had parvo or something worse. So to protect my other dogs we decided to separate him to start with. It was a bit funny though.....when I got home I came in and got Don and said "I need your help." He looked at me and I told him that I brought home another dog. He just gave me a big hug with that accepting grin of "it's OK" and we moved the dog house up to his spot.
He is very very thin. A cream colored dog that once he is healthy should be a fairly big dog. Maybe 55-60 pounds. He wouldn't eat anything. Don got him to take a few very small hot dog pieces. But he ignored the food. I gave him a soup bone and he did gnaw on that all night, but once again ate nothing this morning.
I stopped after work and bought some hamburger and cooked with up with some white rice. He is chowing that right down in small doses. He stays tucked in his dog house though and I haven't seen him come out at all. I know he does, but I haven't seen it!! He will soon understand how lucky he is and although I know it will take a lot of time for him to trust us, he will come around. It must have been a horrible first 8 months of his new life to be surrounded by death and starvation.
He doesn't have a name yet and although he isn't an SCL dog, we will probably try to find a home for him in the future. He comes from good bloodlines from what we can figure out and has a nice build. He doesn't have his dew claws which is a plus for distance mushing. He just needs a lot of TLC right now and that we are willing to give.
I have to thank Don for dealing with my passions in life in the dog world. Not too many guys could put up with this many dogs especially having 10 of them in the house...of course, 3 of the house dogs are his!!

2006-04-12T22:56:00.000-08:00

Here it is April 12 and we are still skijoring!! Met up with Sara today and we each took 3 dog teams for about 3 miles. Unfortunately, Don is out of town and is missing out on some great end of the season fun! We did 2 teams each. What a blast. We had 2" of fresh snow and even though it was 40 degrees it was great skiing. The dogs all did well as the distance was short and I gave each team a rest in the middle, but they really didn't need it.
All of my adopted foster dogs are doing great. Misty(SCL) was in one of the teams and although she is very thick coated she was fine on this sunny day. She certainly loves to go. Blackberry(SCL) was in a team with Sara and with all the twists and turns Sara said BB was actually the dog that made all the correct turns. She also had Chance(SCL) in that team too.
Skittle (Chiclet's (SCL) daughter) is growing and is a joy to have. We are still looking for a home for her, but not very hard. She is 6 months old and loves to play with the big dogs. She is a house dog and is totally housebroken and still picking up new tricks. Her and Jewel(SCL) have become hard playing buddies. That is good because most of the huskies don't particularly like playing with Jewel. She plays pretty hard, but Skittle can keep up with her energy and they certainly tire each other out.
I've gotten brave and now let all 29 dogs loose in the fenced-in acre at one time. (Skittle stays in the house). It is scary for I know that if a dog fight would break out I would be in trouble!! But they all get along great and they each seem to know their limits. Kiche (SCL) can be let loose with the whole group and she loves to play. She now follows me back to her house and I can easily chain her back up. This little girl has come a long way. Chiclet (SCL) is quite chunky now. She has a very thick winter coat. She is not long haired but has certainly grown a very thick undercoat. She should be fun to brush once she starts shedding! She used to be a bit hard to catch, but now comes to me easily. She is a very sweet girl. If the weather holds, and it is supposed to be a bit cooler, Sara and I will go out again on Friday for another skijoring party. This is the latest that I have been on skis with my dogs! fun!

2006-03-11T19:36:00.000-09:00

Even though we don't have any more SCL fosters at the moment I'll continue to update my blog about the dogs. We will be looking for homes for some of our adopted fosters.
Chance (SCL) is one we will keep though. What a great little dog. She is a super leader and just loves to go. She is also fast and we are finding out, is frustrated in a slower team. A friend took her out in the 3 dog skijor team with 2 of my older and slower dogs. She said that Chance crabbed badly. Well!!! This is because she works so hard and was trying to speed the team up. So we are keeping her in faster teams where she thrives.
Don skijored with her along with Borax and Crowe the other day at Creamer's. He came back grinning ear to ear saying that it was one of the best runs he has ever had. about 6 miles with a powerful team, all working together with Chance as one of the leaders.
We haven't tried Chiclet yet. She is rather timid and has spent most of her time running free in the side yard with her daughter Skittle. But we officially adopted Skittle from the shelter a couple of days ago and had her spayed on Friday. So Chiclet in now in the front dog yard as she plays too hard with her kid and Skittle doesn't need that right now. Chiclet is in a bit of shock with the other dogs and I don't think she has ever been chained out before.
But today I let most of the dogs loose. Had 25 loose total and that is my all time record. After I hooked a few of the dogs back up I let Chiclet, Chance and Kiche loose with about a dozen dogs. They all got along great. Chiclet is getting used to having other dogs around. She is affectionate but quiet and reserved. Kiche is easy to catch anymore so I have no qualms about letting her loose to play. It has taken a long time. She is still very very shy and barks at us a lot, but she is not afraid to have us approach her.

Blackberry and Misty (SCL adoptees) are both doing great. Blackberry and Robin won the last day race of the Race Across the Valley so I was proud of them. Misty is driven to go go go. I skijored with her in a 3 dog team on Wednesday. When I put her back in the truck she was still screaming so Sara took her and 2 other dogs for another run!! that dogs loves to go. She is a good leader and is learning the commands.

This is the first year in probably 10 years that I haven't run the Limited North American. It is this weekend. I thought it was going to be too hot but it has been very cold. So there is a tinge of regret for not running, but I have had a great racing career and time to think of doing other things with my dogs.....we need to get in some camping trips in the future with them.
The Limited is WAY down in the numbers of teams running this year. Not sure why. Sprint mushing is not doing as well as mid distance and distance races.

We will be heading out to skijor tomorrow. March is my favorite month and we have good snow and temps will warm up a bit tomorrow. We have been skijoring a lot in the last couple of weeks. I haven't been on my sled in several weeks! Just more fun to skijor with all the dogs and with Don and Sara taking out teams, all the dogs get run.
Even Jewel (SCL adoptee by Don) likes to skijor!! funny to see this doberman/basenjii in harness taking off down the trail.

2006-02-19T14:21:00.000-09:00

It was inevitable....Don and I adopted Kiche, Chiclet and Chance from SCL into our home.
Now we have no foster dogs through SCL. It hasn't been the best winter for running dogs with the low snowfall and then the record breaking cold in January. And now, February is acting as if it is springtime with above freezing temperatures and even a little rain through the night!! Not a good winter to run dogs.
We haven't been racing much. The dogs just aren't in shape and with many of my race dogs approaching the 10 year mark, we are doing many more runs for fun and going for a lot more skijoring runs than sledding.
Chiclet and Chance were spayed over a week ago and they are doing great. We will start running them again soon. They get along with all our other dogs and love to play.
Kiche continues to make progress. We can now let her loose with a group of dogs and actually catch her when it is time to be hooked back up. And today she was out playing with all the dogs and came into the house when I opened the door.
I think now that she is officially ours I think her attitude will be different. It is odd having a dog as a foster knowing that it really isn't "our" dog, but could go to someone else that expressed interest. I believe the dog understands this too and doesn't want to make a solid bond. So now, all of the girls belong to this pack and will fit in quite well.

I can't say how much I appreciate Don...just having someone in my life that mirrors my love and view of dogs is wonderful. How he puts up with me and a dozen dogs in the house is beyond me, but he loves it and loves being a part of the pack!!

So our family now includes the SCL dogs: Misty, Blackberry, Jewel, Kiche, Chiclet and Chance.
Happy Trails.

2006-02-07T22:05:00.000-09:00

Well, we have 2 new additions to our SCL foster family. Chance and Chiclet were pulled into SCL and both got spayed today! We are planning on adopting Chiclet. She is a very shy dog but with training she will turn into a good sled dog. Her one daughter, Snickers has been adopted so we are down to only 1 foster puppy left (Skittle).
Chance continues to be a great sled dog. We ran her the other day for 6 miles and this was after being laid off for a couple of weeks because of the cold. She just never wants to stop.
But now she will have 2 weeks of recovery before we can run her at all again. We have had several people interested in her so hope to find her a good home. Her daughter Siren, just found a wonderful adoptive home and will be a skijor/pet dog living the good life.
Kiche (SCL) is still with us of course. She continues to be shy but the other day her snap hook opened while she was playing and she was loose in the yard. We just watched her for awhile out the window and she had a ball playing with the other dogs.
She let Don slowly walk up to her and wasn't afraid of being caught. So we will start to let her loose more often knowing that we can readily catch her. This is a huge step for this dog.

Training has been sporadic this winter. First it was lack of snow, then it was severe cold. Many races have been cancelled but we have been doing the skijor races and the ADMA races that are being held. My dogs continue to do well even though my main race dogs are now 9 and 10 years old. They always put me in awe of their drive and their ability.
A lot of their success at this age I believe is their living in a warm dog barn at night and sometimes during the day when it gets really cold. And also, being able to run loose in the off season to keep them in good shape.

2006-01-14T11:21:00.000-09:00

The first sprint race of the season is Sunday (if it isn't too cold). Don and I are going to pass. We ran sleds for the FIRST time on Wednesday at the hall. We each did 2 teams of 4 each. The trail is hard and fast with lots of grass showing through. There were places where I feared that I couldn't hook down so we aren't planning on racing because of the safety issue. I did try and hook down in one of the grassiest areas and the hook kind of held, but this was with a 4 dog team. So until we get more snow I think that we will stick with training and having some fun around the area.
Kiche is the only SCL foster dog that I have at the moment. She hasn't been running much as she seems afraid of the 4 wheeler. She continues to be shy and timid but she is playing a lot more with the dogs around her. She certainly enjoys sleeping in the warm dog barn during these cold nights!
I have 5 other shelter foster dogs. Chance with one puppy and Chiclet with 2 puppies.
Siren, the puppy of Chance was born at the shelter. She is 11 weeks old and already 25 pounds. She is going to be a big dog. Very smart. She is available for adoption. Chance is a driven sled dog. We have run her a couple of times with the 4 wheeler and I have skijored with her and ran her in my 4 dog sled team on Wednesday. She lives inside at night, is totally housebroken, and is just a great all around dog. We will probably pull her into SCL soon as I won't let her go back to the shelter.
We haven't tried Chiclet yet. Her puppies are 10 weeks old and full of energy. They are all still in protective custody from the shelter, but will soon be available for adoption.
I'm excited to get Chiclet in harness. She is a shy dog but very very sweet and a beautiful black/mocha color.
Misty and Blackberry continue to do great. Misty is a love that is a great house dog but also a very driven sled dog. That dog LOVES to run!!
Blackberry is also a house dog (yes, Don and I have a LOT of house dogs!!) who is so quiet in the house I often forget she is in here. But outside and in harness she is high strung and certainly loves to run and pull. They have both been great additions to our kennel.
Jewel, SCL adoptee by Don, has also turned out to a great dog....maybe not the best sled dog. She likes to go but just doesn't have that natural ability of a husky. We run her sporadically and she likes to skijor, but with her extremely short coat she doesn't like the cold weather. She is always in the house and usually buried under several layers of bed blankets. We love her antics.

2005-12-29T18:16:00.000-09:00

Still not enough snow for us sprint mushers and I'm still training off the 4 wheeler for I haven't wanted to load up the dogs and go out to Goldstream where trails are OK. But we are doing a lot of skijoring and the Alaska Skijoring and Pulk Association has put on 3 races so far with good attendance. I find it amazing that about half the dogs in the ASPA races are rescues either from the shelter or from SCL. I have been consistantly racing my SCL adoptee dogs Misty and Blackberry and they are doing great. Misty has lost her "baby fat" and is sleek and has gotten a lot faster this year. I ran her in one race with Borax and she was outrunning him. Of course, Borax is 9.5 years old, but still has a lot of speed left in him.
Kiche (SCL) is still incredibly shy and timid. She does love to go to the dog barn on cold nights though!! We haven't run her much on the 4 wheeler as she seems a bit afraid of it and also going up the steep hills on the way out of my house.
I have 5 foster dogs from the shelter. 2 moms and 3 pups. They are all almost to the adoptable 8 week age. Siren is 20+ pounds and a little tank. Very smart and a very adventuresome pup. She was the single pup to a healthy mom, Chance. I have run Chance a few times. She is a very good leader and skijoring dog. She is very out of shape but I raced her Sunday in the 2 dog class with Chanel for 1.4 miles. She did great. I had run her before for 2.7 miles and she just kept driving the whole time. I'm hoping to find a home for her and her pup.
Chiclet is almost done nursing her puppies, so as soon as she dries up a little more I'm excited to put her in a team. Her puppies, Snickers and Skittle are adorable and very social. Some people came up to look at them today and they will probably adopt Snickers. It will be heartbreaking to let them go, but I know that I will find them all great homes.

2005-12-07T21:33:00.000-09:00

What a frustrating winter so far! We are still training dogs off the 4 wheeler. I suppose we could load up everyone and take them out to Goldstream somewhere, but it is convenient to run them from the house when conditions are marginal.
We take Kiche (SCL) sporadically. She does not like running up the hill, but once we turn around she has a pretty tight line. She is getting used to being handled a bit more as she is put in the dog barn every night. I have to walk her up on a leash but she anxiously awaits for me to come and get her for she knows that she will sleep someplace warm.

We have been putting Misty and Blackberry (both SCL adoptees) in lead in different teams. Misty is amazing. She has a ton of drive and great attitude. The dog doesn't like to stop and is always leaping in the air to keep going. Blackberry continues to be a driving force with my 5 male speedy dogs (although at 9+ years of age they are slowing down!).

We have 5 total shelter fosters here at the moment. Chance had one puppy the day after she was brought to the shelter. Her kennel mates (Roulette, Decker and Nickel) were all pulled into SCL and adopted. I can't wait to try out Chance when she weans her puppy (Siren). Chance is a compact powerful dog that is very friendly and loves to be cuddled. She is a good, but rough playing mother. Siren is a wild 5 week old puppy who beats up on her mother (and us!!). She is going to be a large dog and very beautiful. She is mostly black with white mask, white feet and chest and white tip on tail. She has deep blue eyes.
The other mom was brought in as a cruelty case with 2 puppies. Chiclet weighed 31 pounds when I brought her here. They had spent 4 days at the After Hour's Clinic getting pumped full of fluids. Chiclet had no milk and lucky the pups were still alive. But they recovered quickly. Chiclet now weighs 44 pounds and is looking quite nice. The puppies are 4 weeks old and although on the small side, they are thriving. They are both very sweet puppies, especially Snickers who loves to be held and cuddled. Skittle is a bit more wild and her and Siren play a lot (even though Siren is twice her size!!). I have never had little puppies before and it is a lot of fun and a lot of work keeping them fed and socialized. Both families are living in the dog barn.

2005-11-23T17:41:00.000-09:00

We are still training on the 4 wheeler but praying for just a bit more snow so that we can transfer to sleds. The first skijor race of the season was cancelled and the sprint trails aren't ready to be run on.
Kiche (SCL) continues to be shy. I like to sit at her house when I let all of the dogs loose and she will come and put her feet up on me for scratches under the chin. Or if I sit in her circle and a bunch of other dogs come up she is happy to be sniffing me and being petted under the chin. She lives in the dog barn each night with all the other dogs. She likes that!! Nice and warm.
We have been running her a little bit but with what I perceive as an eyesight problem, she still is shy of us when we approach her. She seems a bit nervous with dogs behind her, but she also doesn't like to be close to the 4 wheeler. I'm really looking forward to putting her in a team once I get on the sleds.
Misty (SCL adoptee) continues to be a driven sled dog. More of a maniac, although she has toned down her jumping and wildness that she had last year. She is always hard on the line.
I weighed her tonight and she weighs 41 pounds. I looked back to when I got her in April of 2004 and she weighed 28 pounds!! Yikes!!!
Blackberry (SCL adoptee) is also doing great. She runs fast and hard all of the time.
Both her and Misty are constant indoor dogs now. Don and I have 10 indoor dogs but it is amazing how quiet they are and they all get along great.

2005-11-06T18:03:00.000-09:00

Another couple of days of training under our belt.
Today (Sunday) Lisa Baraff came over with her dog Hope. We ran 3 teams. The first team had Kiche (SCL) in it.

Beans Loon
Millie Hope (Lisa's dog)
Izzi Kiche (SCL)

Kiche started out not pulling at all. We were thinking maybe she was afraid of a new person around. But about 3/4 way up the hill before we turned around she pooped AND peed!! Then she was fine. Our turn around was "interesting." Loon swung under the main line and we had quite a tangle before I could jump off. But we got everyone straightened out and the dogs handled it nicely. Even Kiche who is uncomfortable being handled all over her body!!
Coming back down the hill Kiche pulled hard and all the dogs were having a great time leaning into their harnesses and enjoying the cold day.
I was impressed with Hope, Lisa's dog. She came from a shelter in Kodiak. She hasn't been in harness but maybe once this season, but she was crazy to go and worked very hard. Then didn't even seem tired after the run.

Our 2nd team had Blackberry (SCL adoptee) in it with 4 powerful males. She can certainly hold her own as she is very driven and speedy. She is pretty much a full time house dog with her short short coat and missing ear pieces from frostbite that she had when she came into the shelter a year and a half ago.

The 3rd team was a 6 dog team with Misty (SCL adoptee) in it. Lisa made a wonderful observation. She mentioned how happy that Misty looked. Bounding around and being in a team and saying hello to Lisa with that mischievous look that she has. She pulled like a demon and was certainly able to keep up with the faster team that I put her in today.
She has been a truly delightful addition to my family of dogs.
Thanks Lisa!!!

2005-11-02T19:32:00.000-09:00

Another training day on the 4 wheeler. I won't be blogging every day that we do train, but this day was a lot of fun.

First though, I think I have realized some sad news about Kiche.

I had her in the house last night and I have always thought that something wasn't quite right with her eyesight......She is finally trusting me enough to pet her under the chin and on the top of the head...so I was looking very closely at her eyes and I'm thinking she may either be blind or have really bad eyesight in her right eye. She has no blink reflex in that eye that I can uncover. Sometimes I don't know if it is frozen fear or that she really can't see. I'll take her to the eye doctor next time there is an expert in town. That might explain a lot of her fear and timidity.
But she loves to go and she loves to run.

Today we loaded 20 dogs in the truck (plus Ivy in the cab) and Don and I drove up to Standard Creek Road. It is a logging road but has pretty good sight distance. After running 3 teams we had only seen one truck on the road the whole time, and that was a regular pick- up truck.

First team:

Chanel Loon
Casper Jewel (SCL adoptee)
Izzi Misty (SCL adoptee)
Mille Kiche (SCL)

Kiche started out great. Still looking behind her a bit, but pulling hard. After a couple of miles she got very tired. She is not in the shape that the other dogs are since she doesn't get to run around madly every day when I let everyone loose. I still can't catch her...so she has to be on a leash while the other dogs get to run around. And she is also a bit overweight.
We did 4.5 miles and went fairly slow. Jewel had her coat on and is getting used to that. She did good too.

I ran 2 other teams of 6. One for 6 miles and the last one for 5 miles. All the dogs loved going to a new place. Blackberry (SCL adoptee) was in the 6 mile team. She is a very driven little dog. It was pretty cold up there. around 0 degrees with a light wind.

I cleaned out the dog barn today and loaded all the boxes with straw. I will put all the outside dogs in the barn tonight. They love to sleep stretched out in the large boxes in a warm barn.