Getting Ready for Fall and a blurb on Skiff

I can't believe that July is a little more than halfway over. Know what that means? It means that August is just around the corner -- and with that comes the advent of cart training with the ATV. Yikes! Didn't the snow just melt??

Obviously it's time to start thinking about chores that need to be wrapped up before ATV training starts. With our little kennel now having nine sled dogs, the option of transporting everyone in the Land Cruiser is obviously going to be nixed now. 5 dogs was manageable (if not a bit hairy at times, literally) but nine is just absolutely out of the question. Matt and I had been mulling over our options for months when, as is prone to happen, a solution seemingly presented itself. His friend happened to be selling a 1998 Dodge Dakota with 170K miles on it. At the same time, I noticed an ad for a killer deal on a 10-hole dog box and trailer with harnesses and two sleds on Craigslist. Needless to say, in short order we had a "new" dog truck and trailer and all of the extra goodies that came with them. The 10-hole dog box was actually not something that we needed to keep, because it was designed to be mounted either on a trailer (which is how it arrived) or on the bed of a full sized truck. The Dakota is a compact, so the measurements didn't work out. It just so happened that Bonnie and Jim were looking for a new dog box at the same time -- so, to make a long story short, they now are the proud owners of the 10-hole box and we kept the trailer, which is the perfect size for toting my ATV! Our other friends were selling a 6-hole dog box designed for a compact pickup. You can probably guess what happened -- we now own it. So, score one dog truck, one dog box, one trailer, a passel of harnesses, and a child's sprint sled that I gave to Eric for his grand kids. The 6-hole dog box needs to be stripped and repainted (help this weekend, anyone?) and needs to have a level of 3 boxes added on one side. I'm exhausted already and the work hasn't even begun! I will post photos of the "new" truck and trailer and box as soon as I can.

In other news, I've decided to put up some blurbs here and there regarding the dogs in our kennel. I selected Skiff (the newbie) for my first post. Let me know if you like the idea of finding out more about the fur-kids (feedback is always welcome!)

SKIFF:

Silly Skiff Barking at the Camera

Skiff is a 2 y.o. spayed female from Jon and Bree Little of Kasilof, AK. She was the result of a cross between Jon's "Kit" and Mitch Seavey's "Ice Man". She has some pretty old and well-known bloodlines. Check out her pedigree below:

Skiff's mom, Kit, still lives with Jon and Bree. Here's what they have to say about Kit:

A very fast, very durable team dog. She is large and leggy for a female. Her dad, Lobo, did well for Charlie Boulding. Her mom led Dave Scheer to a 12th place finish in 1996. A busybody, she's got a lot of energy. She was an awesome part of the team in the 2004 Kusko, but that was her last race. She's loose 24/7, patrolling the yard.

Read more about Jon Little's kennel at http://kasilofkennel.bravehost.com/ or on his blog http://jonlittle.wordpress.com/

I see a lot of these attributes in Skiff already, and I haven't even had her in harness yet. She is long and lean and is constantly in motion in the dog yard. She's not shy about vocalizing to me, but she's not annoyingly talkative. One of her favorite things to do is to nibble on my nose when I lean over to pet her. I gotta say, I don't mind. There are worse things she could be doing :)

I really look forward to seeing what this gal has to offer this year. I expect her to be a cheerleader and eager to get to work!

New Discovery Channel Show on Iditarod

I saw this today in my iGoogle list for "Iditarod" --

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/groundbreaking-discovery-channel-series-chronicles/story.aspx?guid=%7B1001F30E-7595-490C-AF46-1B09410A6761%7D&dist=hppr

Iditarod Picnic and File's First Run

On June 28th, Bonnie and I decided to head to Wasilla's Iditarod Headquarters to be present at the 2009 Iditarod signup. It was a nice day, if not a little bit on the cool side. There was to be an ITC Board of Directors meeting earlier in the day and a picnic beginning at 12. I think we showed up around 10:00. I didn't get to take any photos because my camera battery decided to die...but Bonnie snapped one of me holding a stuffed husky and the 2008 Iditarod book in front of the Iditarod sign.

We did get to visit with several familiar mushers while at the meeting -- Ed Stielstra was up from Michigan to sign up yet again. His new handler Tim Riley also accompanied him and will be running his puppy team. Keep an eye out for both of these guys. I became a huge Stielstra fan after meeting Ed last year at Bonnie's open house. You couldn't encounter a more down-to-earth, laid back guy with a great sense of humor!

I also had a while to chat with Becca Moore, Ramey Smyth's significant other. I had never met Becca before but I have been an admirer since she signed up for the Yukon Quest last year. Talk about nice -- Becca is also super-friendly! And a real knockout, too. We need more pretty girl mushers :)

Well enough about that. Last weekend (July 5th) we decided to finally take the puppies out for their first fun free-run of the season. This meant that we'd be on the ATV and the pups would be running with us loose. The first run consisted of "my" group -- Clover, Balu and File', doing the 2 mile loop. I was going to be riding ahead of my dogs on the ATV and Bonnie and Jim would be bringing up the rear to catch any stragglers. Needless to say, Miss Clover knew exactly what was going on and as soon as I cranked up the ATV and headed for the trail, she was off like a shot, running flat out. It was all I could do to keep up with her! She was running 20 mph for about a mile and a half...and so was Balu and so was File! This just blew me away. File' has never run in her life, and here she is running 20 mph for nearly 2 miles. She did slow down toward the end and take a few breaks, but she'd get mad that she was getting left behind and would shift back into a gallop after a few strides trotting. I could be wrong, but I think this gal has the makings of a leader...she seriously wanted to be in the front.

Bonnie and Jim ran their puppies, Tasso and Boudreaux, as well as their mother DeeDee and their gay uncle, Nero :) This was a bit funny. The puppies were all over the trail, harrassing each-other to no end. DeeDee wasn't interested in running that fast, and Nero got separated from them and ended up being the only dog running behind their ATV. I followed Nero, who jogged down the trail at his own speed. We coined a new name for him -- The Cuban Caboose -- because Nero has a huge butt and it was the funniest thing watching him sashay!

We should be heading out for another run soon. This time I might venture to try Zed and Calvin......and that may or may not be a recipe for disaster. Wish me luck!

Is Summer Here?

Finally yesterday we had a really nice afternoon. It was sunny, if not a little on the cool side, and it was the perfect time to take a walk with a frisky dog. Naturally (ha!) I chose Indi to accompany me. No, really, I picked Indi because I thought it would be a good idea to work with him on recalls. He's not likely to be a serious sled dog for too much longer, so he needs to have at least some basic manners. Hiking with him off-lead would be a nice activity to work on, so I decided to start by schooling him on a flexi-leash.

We drove to the Beach Lake trails parking lot and parked. Matt took off for his evening run, but Indi and I started a jaunt down the road toward Beach Lake. It took us about a half an hour to get down there and Indi was a little on the warm side when we finally arrived. Without even batting an eyelash, he strutted down to the shore of the lake, waded out into the water and flopped down. You could almost hear him say "aaaaaaahhhhhhh......." What a silly dog! He's certainly not your typical sled dog who won't go anywhere near the water. He even dog-paddled out into the lake a little bit before returning to me. Honestly, this dog would be a perfect boat dog! Too bad we don't have a boat.

Half an hour later, we were back at the car. Indi had gained some much-needed recall work (he did quite well, might I add) and I got some exercise. On the way home, we dropped by Bonnie's house to give back some things that she left in my truck by accident on Saturday when we went to the Iditarod signup in Wasilla. Needless to say we ended up staying for a glass of wine and good conversation.

I love my life! :)

Holy Crap That's a Lot of Dogs!

This weather has been absolutely disgusting. It's been rainy and overcast, cold (40's and 50's) and generally miserable. It's a good thing we finally got the yard finished for the sled dogs and we put loads of pine shavings into everyone's houses yesterday. They are quite grateful and even Zak, who I had never seen in his house before, has been snoozing in the lush padding of the wood chips.

At one point last evening, I looked outside from the living room and I was startled by the picture I glimpsed through the window -- "holy crap that's a lot of dogs!" Yes I know, maybe I was slow to come to this realization, but it just hit me. My yard is full. FULL! There are dog posts and houses in every available bit of space. Um. How did this happen? Never doubt the power of the mushing bug. Last year at this time, I had a green expanse of yard just outside the window. Now it's mud and...dogs!

In other news, Matt recently went fishing in Homer for salmon and halibut. The trip wasn't especially fruitful, but he didn't come home empty-handed. I drove him down to Turnagain Pass on Tuesday and met some friends there. We snapped a few photos. And, of course, I had to post the obligatory fishing photo. The fish were THIS big!!!

Say Cheese! Turnagain Pass

The Deadliest Catch. Just kidding.

File' Update

Just had to post some new photos of our baby, File'. She also answers to the name "SQUIRT!" What a cutie. I'd bet she has to weigh at least 35 lb. now. She's a bit of a chunk for a 5 month old. Not an ounce of fat on her...she's just...sturdy! She's due to be spayed on the 27th.

The Long-Awaited Photos

Yes, I finally got around to downloading the photos that I've been promising for so long.

Guy is caught red-handed sleeping on the couch in the living room. That's a no-no...he's not supposed to be up there!! This is his classic "I have no idea what you're talking about" look.

Zinger, who was spayed on Friday, contemplates the origin of the massive number of shoes by the front door. She's taken to being an inside dog like a fish to water. Uh-oh, we may have another house dog wannabe!

Zinger is always game for a good scratch. She loves to be petted! She's a quiet, sweet girl.

Me, mid-ride, on Sunday the 15th. We rode from the Talkeetna Spur Road turn on the Parks to Talkeetna, had dinner, then rode back (a total of 28 miles). It was a nice ride on a nice evening!

The new kid on the block, Skiff. She's from Jon and Bree Little. 2 years old and spayed, she's sorta the last of her bloodline, at least at Jon's. She hails from old Bill Cotter / Gareth Wright lines.