Wimzi!

Smiling baby Wimzi with sister behind

Wimzi meets Grandma Tuloon

Just after her bath

She'll be a big girl! Look at those thick legs!

Wimzi's gorgeous sister, currently known as Bonkerz (this was Neil's idea, sorry Chris! :o)

Many things to update the blog with but first..............Wimzi! Zimbi, the late Zulu's daughter, gave birth to 6 beautiful pups almost 7 weeks ago. At the time we first posted about this event, we were anxiously waiting for the DNA testing to determine which of the fine males was actually the sire of the pups as a second had been introduced when the first didn't show much interest. Q, one of the Points Unknown 2007 Tuloon/Bazil(Zulu's son) puppies sired all pups. This means we have a line breeding with a heavy influence from our Zulu line. Even though we had hoped for Phoenix puppies out of this litter, we couldn't be happier to have a large dose of Zulu back in our kennel!

We initially had planned to keep two females from this wonderful litter, however decided that Chris, our long time dog handler, would really benefit by adding a third dog to his kennel.

Wimzi, the pup joining Points Unknown kennel, and her sister will be 7 weeks old on Monday, March 15th. Wimzi is a wonderfully curious, calm and modestly confident dog. She will fit well into our kennel. Her sister, who we are calling Bonkerz until Chris's family gives her a name (does this tell you a little bit about her personality?), will be leaving us tomorrow morning. Chris and his family are extremely excited! This little girl is full of fun, curious, eager to please and loves people and other dogs.

Welcome home Wimzi!

Oake Lake Run

Icoa smiles for the camera

Sandy, a past Points Unknown advanced women's adventure participant, joined us yesterday with Corey, a beginner musher, for a run on Oake Lake. Temps were in the upper teens with sunny and bright blue skies. Neil sat out this run and took all of these beautiful photos.

Sandy and Corey's team consisted of Phoenix and Tuloon in lead, Zala in points and Zodiak and Sweet Pea in wheel.

Phoenix spots something off to the right.

And he goes directly for it.

As Sandy shouts "Haw" which means to go left , he turns on a dime which is unusual because the leaders typically only take commands from their full time musher.

Zodiak

My team consisted of Oken and Klaus in lead, Journey in point and Icoa and McKenzie in wheel.

Me

Sandy and team

Corey was the passenger for the first half of the trip

Our baby Oken in single lead! (Oken is now 2 years old)

Klaus has been testing me for the past few runs and attempted to do so again for this run. He has been refusing to take commands which is so unlike him. Something had to be done, as I was tired of waiting for him to respond so decided he would be removed from lead until I can analyze the issue and come up with a solution. Oken got his chance at single lead and knocked my socks off! I fully expected him to be a bit concerned making it necessary for me to go up and give him a pep talk. No pep talk needed; just lots of praise from the runners as he ran straight ahead on the lake. I didn't want to overwhelm him with too many commands so he was only given two. He took them flawlessly! Good job, Oken!

Oken with Journey and Klaus behind.

Corey takes a turn on the runners.

Points Unknown Reading List

Expansive view of Gunflint Lake and Canada beyond as seen from the High Cliffs. Adventures begin when exploring in the wilderness. The addition of dog team travel makes for a truly spiritual experience.

We've put together a short list of wilderness adventure books we've enjoyed over the years, hoping that you might enjoy them too. This compilation was done by one of our returning dog mushing adventure guests. Thanks so much, Sandy J.!


"The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness" by James Campbell


"Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native's Life Along the River" by Sidney Huntington


"Alaska's Wolf Man: The 1915-55 Wilderness Adventures of Frank Glaser" by Jim Rearden


"The Wolves of Alaska: A Fact-Based Saga" by Jim Rearden (currently out of print)


"Ordinary Wolves" by Seth Kantner


"Running North: A Yukon Adventure" by Ann Mariah Cook


"Riding the Wild Side of Denali: Adventures with Horses and Huskies" by Miki Collins and Julie Collins


"Trapline Twins" by Julie Collins

McKenzie Skijoring

Kenzie and Rich
Photo by Rich Baker

Beautiful scenery on the trail
Photo by Rich Baker

McKenzie has had a few fun skijoring outings with Rich in the past couple of weeks. Today, he worked double duty when he went skijoring in the morning and ran in the team with clients in the afternoon. Tomorrow will be the same but this time, it will be a 5K fun skijor run in the morning and a run with the team and guests in the afternoon.

This evening he and Sweet Pea enjoyed some couch time with us but we put him to bed early so he could get some extra rest and be prepared for his big day tomorrow!

Ilu on the Sidelines

Smiley Ilu

Mr. Enthusiastic is on the sidelines for one more week. Last week while running around in the yard, Ilu, a 4 year old Canadian Inuit Dog, went down to the ground screaming. This happened so suddenly and within an hour after feeding that we thought instantly of stomach bloat and rushed him to the vet without any further thought. After further investigation, it was discovered that it wasn't a bloat, thank goodness, but a lower back sprain, of all things. He must have twisted his back while running on the ice.

After several days on anti-inflammatory medications and narcotics for the pain, he is almost back to normal but not quite as bouncy. One more week of rest should be enough then he can get back in harness. You can only imagine the protesting at hook up time when he is the only dog left in the kennel! Poor Ilu.

Pull Training Dates Announced!

Yes! That IS a Standard Poodle behind two German Shepherds!

After several inquires about our spring Pull Training Classes, we are happy to report that the dates have been posted! Please visit the Points Unknown website for details.

You don't have to have a northern breed dog to attend! Any dog over 6 months old with an adult weight of over 30lbs that wants something fun to do will work just fine. We'll teach you what you need to know to train them to pull so that you can apply it to sledding, carting, skijoring or canicross hiking!

PUWAWA 2010 Part VIII; Good Byes

Cheryl says her good byes to White Feather and Topa

The Points Unknown Women's Advanced Winter Adventure was great fun. Many new lessons were learned by all. The participants did an amazing job as did the dogs. Scott and Chris, our extremely appreciated staff for this trip, provided never ending assistance and support.

Our guests spoke of a continuation in training for next season, an added adventure. What will it be; Yurt to yurt by dog team, navigating through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with the dogs? We'll put our heads together and come up with an exciting new challenge.

After the solo runs, our adventures packed up their gear and said their good byes to the dogs. We then brought all gear out to the waiting vehicle by snomo as our guests snowshoed out, getting closer to civilization with every step. This is always the hard part for us; returning to civilization where the pace is so very different and unappealing but necessary at the moment. Some day, not soon enough, Points Unknown kennel and its mushers will be permanently located in the northwoods where the only traffic jam could be waiting for a moose to cross the trail and the only lights seen at night will be those naturally placed in the sky.