Fall Training Preparation

Rope inventory

Snow hook ropes and raw rope, brass clips and misc.

Bungee sets for each set of ropes.

It's still too warm here in central Minnesota to begin fall training. This begins early in the mornings when temps dip below 50 degrees F. It is time, however, to take inventory of gear and add where needed, repair and replace ropes and give the four wheeled cart a once over to make sure it is in proper working order so we're ready to hit the trail.

This weekend was spent making new sets of cart/sled ropes for the fall and winter; gang line ropes, tug line ropes, attachable neck line ropes, neck line ropes for double leaders, snow hook ropes, quick release ropes, leader section ropes. That should do it.

Three different sizes of polyethylene ropes are used for our freight style mushing; 1/2" for the gang line, quick release lines and snow hook lines, 5/8" for the tug lines and leader section ropes and 3/8" for the neck lines. The rope sections being placed at the back of the line and closest to the cart/sled need to be made a bit longer than the other sections to minimize the downward pull on the wheel dogs' rear ends. Fids are used to make the ropes. Brass clips are needed for the neck lines and tug lines to attach to the dog's collar and harness loops. Each set of ropes then requires a bungee set with a carabinier on either side and a safety line attached to each carabinier just in case the bungee ever breaks. This bungee is used to take some of the shock of the load away from the dogs. Different strengths of bungee are used depending upon the number of dogs and the weight of the load hauled.

There's one project that can be crossed of the list.

Hypothyroidism

Tukisi

Tukisi, meaning "he who understands" in Inuktitut, turned eight this year. He has never been a power-house puller, being a rescue and not even put in a harness until the age of four, but he has been serious about his job up until this past season. Tuki just decided he didn't want to pull one day. He also became a bit more noisy than his usual mildly "screechy" self and I just wondered...... I've always said that the dogs will decide for themselves when they want to or need to retire. I was just hoping it wouldn't be this early for Tukisi.

This summer, his coat has been very coarse and difficult to get a brush through. He also has just begun to shed but not very much. Keeping weight off this boy in the past few months has been difficult. All of the signs began to add up.

I took Tuki in for a blood test last week, suspecting a thyroid issue. The diagnosis came back today. He does indeed have hypothyroidism and begins his medication tomorrow. With medication, he can get back to his leaner, more healthy self and should feel up to working just as hard as he did before. And if he doesn't feel like working, well, he can just take his turn on the hammock in the backyard and enjoy the view. Hypothyroid sled dogs on medication can lead normal lives other than the need for a pill once or twice a day.

Tuloon the Princess

The Princess

Those aren't chocolate chips in there!

I only wish I had someone to cook for me like this!

A blood test was done on August 20th and indeed Tuloon is pregnant! This was much awaited news.

Since my return from Alaska, Tuloon as not been eating well. She will skip a day here and there. It has been hot and muggy which could contribute to her lack of appetite, however it appears as though she is just becoming a more picky eater with her pregnancy. (Or this is a form of rebellion for my bringing the puppy back from Alaska) Either way, she needs to eat so the experimenting began.

She seems to like frozen treats and raw meat so I started there. Nature's Variety makes some small frozen raw medallions that she found acceptable, however these are way too expensive to be her main diet for the next few months. Continuing along those lines I came up with the following: 1lb of raw liver, 2lbs of raw lean pork, 8 hard-boiled eggs, 4 carrots, 4 celery stalks and 28 multi-vitamin tablets, all of which ended up in the food processor to make a nice paste. This was then combined with 1 bag of white rice cooked, 3 ice cream scoops of Redpaw's Balanced Fat formula and a heaping bowl of Redpaw's 38/25 kibble. Patties were formed and frozen.

After all of that work it had to be put to the test. Thankfully she ate her first meal of it wholeheartedly. She turned her nose up to the second meal, however, and didn't eat the entire day except for a few raw medallions from Nature's Variety. This morning she ate it but only after letting Zulu loose in her pen and dumping it on the ground. I wonder what this evening's feeding will hold. I'm not about to dress in a butler outfit and serve her from a silver platter but I bet she would like it. That's my little princess.

Journey's Harness Introduction

Journey attempting to hide behind my backpack before the hike.

10 minutes into the hike she decided no more leash walking. She wanted to pull!

12 week old Journey.

Hedlund Husky - water dog?

Her first swim.

Today was our Points Unknown Canicross Hiking club hike. The intention was to have Journey come along for some socialization and to have her learn to walk on leash while getting used to wearing a harness. An oversize harness was placed on the 12 week old pup, not intended to use it, and once all the other dogs were ready to go, it was apparent that Journey was not interested in just walking along. She wanted to pull! I clipped the leash to the back of the harness and she didn't waste any time leaping into the air, slamming her harness as she whined to get moving. 12 weeks old. Amazing.

For the remainder of the hike, Journey spent her time divided between pulling in harness, walking on the leash and free running. From the looks of it, she would have been just fine pulling the entire time, however I didn't want her to over do it so she was given some variety.

Journey also continues to be quite the water dog. Upon our arrival at the beach, she promptly jumped into the water and began to splash around. The waves from the passing motor boats threw her for a momentary loop. There are no waves in her water bucket or in the pools at home. She quickly adapted to this new phenomenon and went about her business, swimming, sloshing and digging in the water.

Canicross Hike; Afton State Park

Journey and Frankie taking a dip.

Vast river view from the prairie.

Marilyn and Conan

Prairie trail

Melanie and Annie

Woods, prairie and vast river valley views were our scenery on our hike into Afton State Park. The temps were in the mid 70s with the warmth of the sun on the beach and cool breezes in the shade.

The hike began on a paved path leading past the Interpretive Center into the woods. The path met the sandy beaches of the St. Croix River where every dog seemed to enjoy the wet break. Heading back on to the trail, it quickly turned to gravel and lead us in the woods along the river. A spur trail through the prairie and up a steep grade brought us vast river valley views to the east. Through the campground and down a steep grade into the woods, we were back at the beach and at the end of the hike. The hike lasted about 2 1/2 hours today.

Journey and Her New Pack

What a good sport!

Gentle Phoenix

Sweet Pea gets down to Journey's level

Still such a good sport

Tuloon and Zulu "observing" the pup

The week has been spent introducing Journey to all her new friends at Points Unknown. She is adapting nicely and continues to prove to be an independent and highly adaptable pup.

This week's lesson is "no jumping" and "no biting". When called, this little girl has a habit of making a full speed run in your direction, then a last second high leap right into your arms when she arrives. Its very cute now but imagine this behavior from a 60lb adult. I have begun turning my back on her when I spot the little fuzz ball speeding in my direction. She isn't as excited about jumping up when there are no arms there to catch her. Once she arrives and stays on the ground, noticing that I won't be catching her, she gets praised like crazy. She also takes high leaps from the ground on people legs, for attention. Simply stepping back as she attempts to leap, while uttering a low "ah" sound, with a perfectly timed and high pitched "good girl" once she makes contact with the ground, seems to do the trick. I save "no" for major offenses so as not to over use the word.

The biting is just typical puppy stuff. A high squeal, once she makes skin contact, similar to the way a litter mate might react when a bite is too hard, deters this behavior.

Tuloon still is not impressed with the new pup. Phoenix is extremely fascinated with Journey and is distracted by her every move. Everyone else has just accepted her. "Oh well, I guess she's staying" might be the attitude of some.

Aaaah, Alaska! - Part III

Denali

South of Fairbanks

South of Fairbanks

South of Fairbanks - very much like northern Minnesota