Canicross Winter Event

This was Frankie's first run for quite some time this season. He had been ill and we were all concerned for him. We were so happy to see him act his old self!

Lexie tried to control her leaders, McKenzie and Wahya

The dogs were staked out on the ice like "real" sled dogs

Kristen with Maddy and Ziggy as Lexie tries to catch up

Cartwheel time

Chad runs Maddie and his Siberian Husky, Katsu

Chad returns with Maddy and Katsu

Marilyn hooks up Truman for the first time

It worked a whole lot better when Hailey ran Truman and Marilyn was in front cheering him on because Marilyn is his "person".

Our five dog northern breed team consisted of Rich's Wahya and McKenzie and Chris' Frankie, Lilly and Sasha.

Lilly and McKenzie were in lead

Uh oh! We've got a pooper.

The poop stop was just a momentary blip. Ziggy and Maddy were in lead with Truman in wheel while Kristen ran the sled

Ziggy and Maddy came whizzing down the trail at full speed

Hailey retrieved Lexie and her cattail from the other side of the lake where she had been exploring

Conan!

Ziggy, Maddy and Conan take Marilyn out on the sled

Look at them go!

We set aside last Sunday afternoon, which coincidentally happened to be the day of our last run of the season, for our Canicross Hiking Club to get together and hook their dogs up to the sled to see what they could do. It was to be the last day in the 20s predicted for quite some time which made the lake trail perfect for a group of novice "sled" dogs. I emphasis "sled" dogs because our group not only has members of the northern breed sect but is proud to say we've got Black Lab mixes, a German Shepherd, and, for the first time attending our events, a pit bull.

Our five dog team of "semi-professional" sled dogs that included McKenzie, Wahya, and Chris' Frankie, Lilly and Sasha took to the big portion of the lake and did a 5 mile lap while the rest of the bunch remained on our private bay, doing shorter runs.

I've got to say that our black lab mixes took the prize! They were excellent and ended up running individually or as a pair with the majority of the other dogs. Our visiting pit bull, Truman, picked up dog sledding quickly and took wheel position behind our stars for the afternoon.

After the dogs and their people had their fill of lake running and after one of our black lab stars fell through a strange hole in the lake (attached to the gangline and pulled out by the musher) and we decided to call it a day, the people component of the group went inside for a warm potluck. So Minnesotan!

The hole in the lake was an eery reminder that a frozen lake is never static and that spring would soon be upon us. How strange, however, as I've never seen such a hole before. Sure, there are perfectly round and oval sink holes that develop to allow the lake to relieve pressure build up. This was no such hole. Whatever the cause; time to get off the lake!