We've got another future leader!!
Nora got a moment up front with EO today. She's always had a lot of drive to run, but her excitement gets the better of her at the start and she's a very wiggly and bouncy creature. We will be continuing to work on her self control at the start to be able to hold the line out nice and tight.
Today we paused near the end of the run and moved Nora up. Because she was a little tired, we were able to get started before she did some of her ballet twirls. Once we're moving, she's a very focused runner 😍
You can see her check in once in this video asking "is this right?" and quickly resumes her work after a little verbal reassurance.
Nora & EO
Pebbles
Blaze & Astro
Someone asked
"How do you know where to put the dogs in the team?"
This depends - for our recreational teams it's mostly about experience and temperament. It can be really hard for dogs to be "chased" by other strange dogs. So all new dogs start out at the back. As they get more experienced, we'll try moving them around in the team to see what they like.
Our leaders are generally the most experienced - they pull forward steadily, and at least one of the leaders will know their direction commands. Some dogs are natural leaders though, and we do have a few first season leaders.
Some dogs are calm & focused, and others can get a little carried away in excitement. So we always watch every pair to make sure the partners aren't causing issues.
This is why we set teams to run together through the season. Trying to mix and match with dogs from many different households can get complicated!
Thursday afternoon highlighted today!
These pups got a workout breaking trail in the fresh powder 💪
While running on a groomed trail is loads of fun, days like these are great for training.
We're back!!
Today is a rest day for everyone - which works out perfectly with this frigid weather we are having!! In general, if the actual temperature is less than -28 Celsius we cancel the run. Obviously some dogs become uncomfortable before that point so I still recommend keeping your dog at home if they will not enjoy the weather. I'm watching tomorrow morning's forecast and will make a call on whether it will be too cold by tonight.
Our race weekend was spectacular!! Two completely different runs. Saturday was soft and mild at zero with snow actively falling. I really thought the lack of a fourth dog would show up that day, but amazingly we came up in third! On Sunday we woke up to the van saying it was -27 🥶, so the trail was much more firm and fast. Despite some amazing runs by other teams, we managed to hold onto our third place finish!! Eo, Shindig and Kelly absolutely rocked it.
Most importantly, we got to run a spectacular trail in the company of some amazing people. While we still "compete" at these races, the camaraderie between mushers at these events is my favourite part ❤️
Four teams out today, led by the fabulous sisters Shindig & Kelly
Team 1:
Spartan & Beatrice
Phoenix & Willow
Team 2:
Kuzco & Charlie
Jordan & Clark
Team 3:
Navy & Baron
Sloan & Remi
Team 4:
Griffey & Luna
Bentley & Parker
Do you think they missed running?!?
Monday's team saw the addition of Lola today. I'm so excited that her new family is looking to get into dog powered sports, and that I get to continue to see her happy face every week. Some of you may know her by her TDHS name of "June", and that she spent a good few weeks fostering with me.
This team is Arrow & Bull (arrow is singing, and Bull has his glum face on)
Lola and Sadielou (Lola is the husky on springs)
Jordan and Cooper (Cooper once again showing that labs can also be vocal about running)
It's been quite the week of trail work - but because of all of that work we got a few days to enjoy running for ourselves and with friends 🤩
But I've missed all of your pups, and am looking forward to seeing their smiling faces again starting tomorrow!
It's our first cold week, but I've got extra booties and a few jackets. If you think your dog is not going to enjoy running in the temperatures predicted for that day, please let me know. It's all about fun 😊
Some amazing things today!
Both Spartan and Maui are usually team dogs, but today we gave them a chance to run in lead with mentor dog Arrow. They both did amazing, so they'll get more opportunities to run up there in 2025 😍
And Sloan swung by for an "intro to dogpower" session. He was a natural, and I'm looking forward to see him running with his owner in the new year!!
We're technically off on vacation now until January 6th! Have a happy holiday season everyone 🎄
Today's superpower was finding so many plows to drive behind!
Safety = 100
Speed = 0
I missed video of the first team. Jordan was super pumped to run, and with his power there were no free hands for holding phones 😂
But here are the other three teams running today!
Snow Day!
We made it to the morning trails, and is it ever gorgeous!!
Heads up that we may have to cancel the afternoon runs depending on road conditions. I will assess as we start dropping off the morning pups, and send notices as soon as possible.
UPDATE: afternoon runs cancelled. Enjoy the white stuff everyone!
No time to waste! Training starts on day 1. Although realistically Keeper has been in training since birth, with her breeder working on house training, crate training, exposure/socialization, and basic command foundations already!
With puppies, there is no "too young". However, you do need to keep in mind that they aren't going to have a long attention span. Keep training short, fun, and easy - setting the building blocks up for later training.
This is an impulse control game. Keeper loves food, so this game is going to help her learn that she can wait for her reward. Note that I'm not telling her what to do, nor am I telling her "no" if she makes mistakes. If she waits or backs up, she gets the food. If she mugs my hand for the food, she simply doesn't get the food.
Good girl Keeper 😍
Tuesdays are for testing!
Lola is a young husky, and only has a handful of runs under her belt. Today I thought it would be interesting to see if she'd run up front. I had a lot of confidence that she would, just from our other runs and how she walks. Her family is also interested in starting dogpowered sports with her, so being able to run out front is a great skill.
She did amazing! It was short, because she's just a young'un. But she's definitely got what it takes
