English Visitor Gets a Glance into the Lifestyle of a Musher

Rebecca with Oken

Klaus and Oken were the house visitors last evening.

Rebecca arrived on Saturday from England and will be staying a week to get a glance of the lifestyle with sled dogs. Unfortunately for her, winter is over and she'll be seeing us all in the off season which is a very different picture. At the same time, she can take this time to really get to know the dogs so that if it works out for her to come again during our Fall and Winter seasons, she'll at least have a head start.

Mastering the art of poop scooping, Rebecca has now moved on to walking the puppy and visiting the sled dogs while the musher works away at the computer, being very careful not to let anyone escape from their kennels. She received an introduction to Canicross Hiking a couple of days ago when we went for a short hike with Zala who showed Rebecca how a real sled dog does her job. This was also the puppy's first time in harness and pulling from a short leash. With Zala ahead to follow, Wimzi was set up for success and did a wonderful job for an 11 week old pup.

This morning our guest was fortunate enough to see how fun it is to feed the dogs in the pouring rain. Klaus and Oken had the privilege of spending last evening with us then spent the night outside in the kennel near the house. This pen is a temporary pen with only a black dirt base. Had we known it would be pouring rain over night they would have been relocated but we didn't and they weren't. Oken managed to stay on top of his dog house and out of the mud but Klaus just wallowed in it. He loves to get dirty and wet. Upon approaching the kennel this morning, I was greeting with literal mudslinging. Wonderful. Rebecca held Klaus while I hosed him down and then both dogs were put back into their pens for feeding. I then hit the shower myself.

More exciting new experiences await Rebecca. She'll take a break from the dog yard later this week and spend a day at the Mall of America while the appraiser/musher does her job around the city. On Friday, Hailey arrives for the weekend which will give Rebecca a chance to spend time with an American her own age. And on Saturday before our guest boards her plane back across the pond, she and Hailey will attend puppy class with me, Wimzi and Topa.