Heartfelt Thanks

The pups' first night with us.

As you can see by the look on Neil's face, we couldn't be happier with our two new pups from our dear friends Lidia and Richard Dale-Mesaros at Uktousa Kennel in New Hampshire.

We were fortunate enough to be able to make the journey to New Hampshire to pick our our beautiful pups and visit our wonderful friends at Uktousa, Mornington Crescent and Kelim Siberians last weekend. We are still trying to recover from our whirlwind adventure! Posts to come on each kennel visit.

Lidia and Richard did such a wonderful job of helping Daisy raise these pups. They began their little lives in the house and remained there for the first six weeks. Now that is a HUGE and messy but satisfying commitment! They were then placed outside in a large pen with frequent visits from Daisy. Richard designed a clever dog house with a heat lamp in the ceiling that was set up so that the pups would not reach the chords or the lamp itself but benefited from its warmth. This pen had a roof over the majority of it, as do all of their kennels. The pups were allowed to visit the other dogs through the fence each day and spend time out in the play area twice a day with some of the more puppy friendly adult dogs. Human visitors were common to the kennel as the puppies received attention from all ages.

We know just how difficult raising a litter is and then how very heart wrenching it is to then see some of those puppies go. Lidia is one of the most thoughtful puppy raisers around and takes each and every little life extremely seriously, only wanting the very best for each. She was careful to match up the pups with the best homes and keep those that told her they wanted to stay.

During my first visit, when the pups were three weeks old, Aise (AKA Grayvy) quite obviously picked me by her interaction and there was an instant bond. Lidia saw this and honored the connection. Our second pup did not make itself known until just prior to our departure for our second visit. Lidia sensed that Illy (AKA Fruitcake) would best be suited for Points Unknown and that decision is proving itself to be true.

I can't thank Lidia and Richard enough for the wonderful additions to our furry family. Our dog family connection grows!

Photos by Neil

Aise is the easy going pup that is more playful and Illy is the more serious and focused pup. Illy will whine if she is made to walk behind anyone. She wants to be out front!

Puppy paws!

What is this creature? It's Blueberry!

It's wonder dog!

Blue is filled with personality.

Aise's in the lead!

Another example of the difference in personalities. Focused versus playful.

And yet another strange looking creature! Copper loves our off leash walks on the lake.

Copper up in the air

Copper has done just fine the last nine years with only three legs.

Blueberry

It's neck and neck

Copper expresses his opinion about the addition of yet another set of sled dog puppies. It is his house, you know.

White Feather in Lead

All eyes were on the puppies are we arrived back to the kennel

What good dogs!

Zodiak is the ultimate athlete

We wanted the puppies to be a small part of the experience today so we moved them from the kennel behind the house to the dog yard during our hook up. There were waiting to greet us at the fence we returned although they did stand back a bit and appeared to be thoughtfully considering what might be approaching.

We just finished a quick run for today. Oken did his magic in single lead again today. In addition, we placed White Feather in lead with Phoenix who also did a great job! We did have a few training moments as we unhooked the other dogs from the gangline at the end of the run. Our leaders are expected to keep the line tight and remain in place until all dogs are removed. She was a little figity but that is to be expected until she knows what is expected of her.

Good girl, Woofer!

Wimzi Turns One Year Old!

Wimzi at one year old and approximately 60lbs

Very sound structure

Wimzi actually turned a year old yesterday but because we were so busy catching up and getting the puppies settled in, her birthday wishes were delayed.

As an aside, after returning from our New Hampshire adventure on Sunday night I had a day to prepare for Neil and the puppies to arrive and a day to prepare my testimony for a court case the following day where I was to be the expert witness in a case regarding the desire of a homeowner to construct a more contemporary home in a neighborhood of more traditional homes governed by an association with an architectural committee. As you might imagine, this committee was against the construction. I had a break from constant thoughts of everything sled dog and was fascinated by the entire process of court testimony, this having been my first time actually having to testify in court as the numerous legal appraisals I do throughout the years tend to settle before I am needed in court. It is far different than a mediation I did that took place in someone's home. This case was also quite interesting and involved a homeowner purchasing a home then finding out three years later that they could not expand it because there were numerous Native American burial mounds on the property. The property is located, of all places, in a community by the name of............here it comes.......... Mound. Hmmmm......

The legal cases are one of the most interesting aspects of my job description as a Real Property Appraiser. Not to mention that it helps to afford my lifestyle with the sled dogs. That is, until we are able to make the move up north and scale back then it can become a smaller contributer. Ah to dream!

So then. Back the Wimzi! She's a year old yesterday! It is so hard to believe. This girl has turned into the largest female in our kennel. Wimzi is one of our deep Zulu line Alaskan Huskies with just a tad of Hedlund Husky in there and will be an excellent foundation for the future of this line. Her desire to pull is intense as is her focus. She excels at obedience class but can be a bit naughty as she has a mind of her own, at times. Her excellent structure, solid build and good dense coat top off her many attributes.

Happy Birthday, Wimzi woo!

Sneak Preview

Aise (Eye Sha) at 8 weeks and 15.27lbs

Illy (short for Illiamna where the Hedlund Huskies originated) at 8 weeks and 16lbs. We knew that we would be receiving Aise weeks ago but only found out that our second pup would be Illy upon our arrival. She reminds us so much of her grandmother Tuloon as she is displaying many of the desired Hedlund traits. When on leash, she whines until she is able to get out in front of us and Aise then becomes silent. Hmmmm.

Illy and Aise getting used to their crate before their big road trip.

I have just returned from our trip to visit Lidia and Richard at Uktousa Kennel in New Hampshire WITHOUT puppies! It turns out that the forecasted temperatures were too cold for the puppies to return with us via plane so we had to make some quick changes to our plan last week. We decided that, all things considered, it would be best if Neil drove out so that he could travel back with the puppies. He and the girls will be home this evening.

With a 25 hour drive ahead of Neil(each way!), it sure was helpful to have family over half way into the journey who provided good company, a soft bed and a warm homemade meal. The puppies have been traveling well and when Neil returns with the puppies and the rest of the photos, there will be more updates on the trip.

Olive's Solo Run and Departure

Olive

Rebecca helps Olive hold down her team as they prepare for take off

Off they go!

Hanging on and bending knees - good sled posture!

Ari and Zala were her "team". Ari shows his excellent work ethic with his head to the ground, just like brother Phoenix. Zala wasn't the best example of being a focused worker during this run. She would occasionally stop to roll and play in the snow, knowing there was a new musher on the runners.

The dogs take her back to the house

Photogenic!

Neil assists on the snowmobile

Musher and team back safely to the kennel

Neil's "Mum", Olive, has always been a dog person, having had rough Collies throughout Neil's childhood. She was in dog heaven here at Points Unknown kennel and had an obvious bond with each and every one of her grand dogs!

Olive was always on the go during her stay. If she wasn't shoveling snow, she was out in the dog yard tidying up and spending time with the dogs. She learned how to run the snowmobile during her visit and did some snowshoeing. In addition to the many times she was a passenger in our dog sleds either here on our beautiful lake or up north on our more primitive wilderness trails, she got to run her very own team of two sled dogs around the lake.

Although sad to be going home and leaving all of the dogs here in Minnesota, she was extremely excited to be making plans to pick up her new Collie puppy shortly after her arrival home. Having lost her last Collie a couple years ago to old age, she wasn't certain she would get another one. I think the Points Unknown sled dogs talked her in to it.

We miss you, Olive and we'll see you in a few months!

Rebecca's Solo Run and Departure

Hooking up her leaders

And off they go!

Under the railroad bridge

Phoenix, Tuloon and Sweet Pea in sync. White Feather hides behind Tuloon

Heading out to the big part of the lake

Rebecca carries a straw bale for extra weight and stability

Phoenix and Tuloon

White Feather and Sweet Pea

Big smiles

Returning to the kennel

Rebecca arrived in October, eager to learn all about dog mushing. The most important part of her lessens would be her relationship with each dog which would teach her so much about these magnificent creatures and help her understand why they are who they are why they were born to do what they do.

We began with the care of the dogs. Rebecca learned how to feed and properly care for them. In October, fall training was underway and she learned everything involved with working with the sled dogs and the four wheeled cart on a dirt base. A trip up north to camp and train on our newly discovered northwoods trails added some diversity in beauty and topography to our every day, fairly level training trail.

The lake freeze and snow came early and she graduated to the next level of learning how to run the dogs on snow and a frozen lake. Another trip up north gave her a taste of a different kind of beauty on our narrow, hilly and windy bush trails. She ran a six dog team with me in the sled for support and did an excellent job.

Rebecca did her first solo run with a four dog team the week of her departure and then ran a six dog team with Olive as her passenger the day before their departure.

We were happy to have Rebecca during her stay. The dogs loved her, she took excellent care of them and she learned the skills necessary to be of great help to us. She will be missed!