As the sun rises on Thanksgiving week, I am grateful no one has called in a noise complaint about us. Yet. #sleddogs #alaskanhusky #siberianhusky #drylandmushing #thankful
Finally cool enough to increase mileage and hit one of our favorite fire roads. No suspension in the rig so it’s a bit rough after all the rain this summer! #siberianhusky #alaskanhusky #sleddogs #dryland
We’ve had a run, yes, but what about a second run? #siberianhusky #alaskanhusky #sleddogs #dryland
Fighting? Or playing? It’s one of the most common questions (or accusations). What signals do you see here that tell you what is going on? #huskylife #siberianhusky #alaskanhusky
“Hello dis mine am ready to sled dog now plz” #alaskanhusky #sleddogs #futureleader #scooter
Part 3 of 3 - INCORRECT harness fit! Fit can be subtle and small variations can make a huge difference. Dogs come in all shapes and sizes, even within a breed. X backs need to fit very specific points, without any adjustment points. Custom is very often the best way to go, to avoid purchasing a dozen different off the rack harnesses hoping one works. I took this video for a conversation about neck fit and length specifically so sternum/rib cage is not addressed #alaskanhusky #sleddogs #xback #harness
Part 2 of 3 - INCORRECT harness fit! Fit can be subtle and small variations can make a huge difference. Dog’s bodies change as they age, just like ours do. This was a beautiful custom fit for Raven last season, but her shoulders have filled out since I bought it and the neck is now too snug. I took this video for a conversation about neck fit and length specifically so sternum/rib cage is not addressed #alaskanhusky #sleddogs #xback #harness
Part 1 of 3 - CORRECT harness fit! Fit can be subtle and small variations can make a huge difference. I took this for a conversation about neck fit and length specifically so sternum/rib cage is not addressed. You can see the importance of getting your hands on the dog and checking fit with the dog pulling from a level attachment point; because of her fur, this harness visually looks too short when she is standing causally #siberianhusky #sleddogs #xback #harness
Gale’s surgical shave is growing out, and it’s a good example of why shaving dogs with this coat type isn’t necessarily beneficial (it’s not necessarily harmful either, but that’s a different story!) It has been almost 8 weeks since she was shaved to the skin. It’s unlikely she’s getting any notable cooling benefit at this point, however it will still be a while before her outer guard coat recovers. For now her fluffy undercoat is exposed with no protection. It’s a much coarser texture that wants to mat up and collect dirt and debris. This requires extra grooming on my part, and if she were a longer coated dog the full process could take several YEARS. Frankly it also looks ridiculous and isn’t enjoyable to touch. Small price to pay for her safety during surgery, but unlikely to be worth it for a one-time routine seasonal groom #siberianhusky #doublecoat #doggrooming
Yeah Jolly Balls are cool but have you ever had just -half- of a Jolly Ball?
“None but the ripest fruits” #alaskanhusky #summertime #raspberries #foraging
🎼 Morning kennel songs 🎵#sleddog #alaskanhusky #siberianhusky
…and certain people want you to believe they’re “forced to run” 💀#sleddog #siberianhusky #alaskanhusky #drylandtraining
End of season recap:
I don’t know if we’re fully done running, but the weather is not stable enough to get more than a couple miles here and there. This has been a ridiculously difficult season, which included me injuring my back in mid February. Normally I would be transitioning to bikejor and canicross this time of year, but due to systemic delays in finding care I’m still not healed enough to do either of those things. So short rig runs where we can is it for this spring
As it stands our total mileage for the main team is about 280 miles. About 40 of those miles were with Ember. We ran 3 dryland races, 4 snow races, and 1 public edu event. Gale earned about 9 miles toward her DW and 12 toward her SD - which is no easy feat running a 3 dog team in 4 dog all breed classes
This winter threw some truly ridiculous challenges at us. Our total mileage is low, but we went out about 80 times. So many times, forced to turn back after only a mile or so due to mud, ice or that classic New England special - not enough snow to sled but too much snow to get the rig through. I had to deal with constant foot care for my hardy Siberian feet for the first time ever, as the nonstop pattern of 50° downpours followed by 10° dry spells created trails that were effectively concrete covered in sandpaper and glass shards
Race after race was rescheduled or cancelled. Around the end of January I realized the best way to achieve anything was going to be to stop trying to plan, check the weather just before entries close and go to what we could. This more or less worked out. While I had mileage goals that proved impossible, I was finally able to get out and do multi day trips again. They traveled to train, existed in race environments and ran in crowds. We couldn’t get the distance, but the technical skills were there
As we move in to summer, focus shifts to other sports, and just relaxing. The girls will be getting spayed. I’m hopeful for more FASTCATs and flyball and s
My dogs don’t want to say “hi”
It’s not that they aren’t friendly. They are. But they’re busy
Right now, in this moment, the absolute only thing on their minds is charging down that road as fast as I will let them. They don’t want to sniff your hand, they don’t want head pats, and they definitely don’t want your dog to run up in their face. Frankly I’m puzzled as to why so many people think they do
Access to dogs is not a right. Even if they’re friendly - because somewhere along the line “is he friendly?” became code for ”can I pet him/let my dog run up to him?” But that isn’t the same thing. Yes, my dogs are friendly. No, you or your dog cannot greet them. I have a plethora of reasons why, but honestly they don’t matter. I love doing edu events. But don’t have time, in this moment, to give a TED Talk on working dog drive, rig set ups and trail hazards. We’re busy. That needs to be enough
No sound, just the tschhhhhhhhhhh is perfection #sleddogs #siberianhusky #alaskanhusky
There’s a storm coming. That’s all we know. Predictions range from an icy coating to a foot. I suspect it will be just enough to make a giant mess, so we snuck in a longer sunrise run today
Come with us through pine groves 🌲
Just enough snow to make everything beautiful ❄️
We did go racing yesterday!! It was good to be among friends in general - pandemic closures followed by nearly a year of chemo were very limiting. And I couldn’t really think of a better way to honor a dog who lived to work, than to go compete
We ran all 3 dogs in 4 dog rig, which was fun and challenging. This was my first race on this rig and I learned a lot. For instance, Raven is a beast and cannot run wheel on it, because it’s so light and moves so well she’ll try to go around my leaders. Rune found the back end of the trail rough on his feet, so we had to go a little easy for that as well. Otherwise I was incredibly impressed with them all. They are well conditioned from training on the heavy Arctis rig and barely reacted to the steep, long hill in the last mile of trail. We were the only rig team so 1/1
Afterward I checked Rune over, was able to bootie him up and decided to let him and Gale go nuts on the same course in 2 dog bike. They were in full beast mode despite being double run and actually pulled a faster time than we did on rig. 4th place overall, about 30 seconds behind 3rd, which I’m extremely pleased with all things considered
To round the day off, Raven ran 1 dog bike with my husband! This was his first race ever. Rae was a good girl for him, pulling 4th place for them as well! An excellent job from both of them and I look forward to seeing them grow together. Raven is a very handler-oriented, people pleasing dog and it took her and I a while to fall in to a groove running her solo bike. I know these two are going to evolve in to a force to be reckoned with
For a change of pace, here’s a Siberian who absolutely cannot wait to have her toes done 💅
#Husky #Grooming
Our race was cancelled due to obscenely warm temps, but we were able to get some flyball in instead
Raven is taking some time off for her mouth to heal, so Ember did fun runs instead between adding jumps for Rune
We had a great weekend at Northern New England Sled Dog Trade Fair & Seminars!! The speakers were fantastic and Gale finally got her very own, brand new X back after 2 years of hand me downs
All of the dogs performed phenomenally in the fun run races!! We borrowed Yukikaze Siberians Haru (left wheel) for 4 Dog Rig and finished in first place! The trail pushed my biking skills to their limit and I ended up finishing in about the same time on 2 dog bike and 1 dog bike. If you ever think the musher is just along for a free ride - don’t! That was simply as fast as I could go on that trail and remain upright. Ember had a wonderful time running canicross, trotting along with the back of the pack
I am exhausted and we are taking a rest day at home, despite the objections of the dogs. It was a fantastic kick off to the season and it makes me so happy to see them all looking for more this morning
Ember's vets team ❤
She was perfection today, running 8s in to her last race, which is frankly amazing. She was always a 6s dog even in her prime, so she hasn't actually slowed down that much - I was expecting 10s out of her today
Such a good boy tending his puppy flock during yard clean up 😂
Raven's 1 dog bike race flipbook
Ok, race recap!
I was a giant stressball mess about the weather for this one. I've realized my preference for training at daybreak means my dogs always end up running at the very lowest temps we get. Which is fun, but creates a problem when we need to run in the middle of the day. And then on top of that, it was actually very cold the week leading up to the race. I managed to get some sunny afternoon runs in, but not as much as I'd have liked. I'll have to make a point to vary our schedule more next season
Because they are used to running early, a friend was kind enough to lend us a racing rig to enter the 4 dog class. This runs much earlier than the bike classes I'd have entered otherwise. This took a huge weight off me. Then I also entered Raven in 1 dog bike because she is more tolerant to working warm and I'm trying to get more one on one work with her
Overall, everything was a good experience! I have never driven a racing rig before that morning. Aside from Raven's water phobic acrobatics, which did cause a significant tangle later in the race, it went great! Day 2, I moved Rae to wheel and let the known puddle crashers lead. Between this and acclimating to the rig, I shaved off a decent chunk of time
Raven took off fast and powerful on the bike as usual. Still weird about the puddles, but watching her navigate them alone I realized we have a horrible, deeply rutted, flooded section of trail we train on. They physically can not take the rig through it, and have to weave around on a thin raised trail. I think she was trying to treat the flooded race trail the same way and I absolutely cannot fault her for that
Later in the race, she had a pretty bad experience getting passed. I sat with her on the trail for a few minutes and she still finished in good spirits. But I waffled on whether day 2 could be positive or overwhelming for her. I decided to go for it, based on the starting order. No one behind us would have any problem passing. She was happy to harnes
Blooper Reel: THE WATER IS LAVA
Somebody said the "w" word
#soyouthinkyouwantaHusky
