Canicross 2010; Lake Minnewashta

Wimzi waits for others to arrive

She is a very big boned and long legged girl

Down the trail we go! Chad and Katsu in lead.

Water break

Right through the mud!

It was a wonderfully crisp day for our canicross hike; 42 degrees and sunny. "Sunny" was interrupted at the end of the hike briefly by a bit of small hail, of all things! We had been expecting an inch of snow overnight that never came so maybe the hail was a reminder.

Two new "teams" joined us today; Diane and Sierra who is a Siberian Husky and Kristen and Maddy who is a Border Collie mix. Maddy and Kristen actually took the lead. Little Maddy dug in and pulled like a real sled dog! Sierra was a very steady puller and lead Diane through all of the mud holes.

Wimzi was the other half of my team. She's now almost 3 1/2 mos old. At 10 weeks old, we began her puppy socialization class. Having never been to this particular puppy class before, I wasn't aware we would be doing all of the things we do in regular obedience class in addition to lots of socializing, like heeling! Wimzi is a perfect heeler with intense eye contact. I've never trained my puppies to heel before they have been put in harness before and was a little concerned when I put a small harness on her while just the two of us were taking a walk to see if she would do some canicross and pull and she didn't. She was walking on a perfectly loose leash! What the heck? Have you ever heard of anyone complain that their dog didn't pull on the leash? I knew she had it in her. Those pulling genes are there and should be just below the surface. Something had to be done right away to make certain that pulling was reinforced at this young age along with heeling.

Whew, was I relieved to see that when Wimzi saw the others today, pulling in harness and excited about it, a light bulb went off and my concerns melted away as I watched her lunge in the harness to get moving then keep a tight line 90% of the hike. The other 10% was just typical puppy distraction. Thank goodness. I was beginning to think that I should have not deviated from my training routine. It also makes a difference when you have a single puppy versus two who begin to develop a bit of competition and can help motivate each other. Wimzi just has had me and she's been a bit spoiled, I might add.

It was very special to hear Marilyn, owned by Conan the "German" sled dog, say that Wimzi reminded her of Zulu, Wimzi's grandfather. If you recall, Zulu passed away last January and was a very special lead dog. Zulu lives on in Wimzi.

Our hike lasted close to 2 hours and was 4 miles in length. Wooded trails, big lake, a beautiful day and spending time with our furry companions; what a fun morning!

That's a Strange Way to Spend Your Morning

McKenzie looks back with fond memories of the Inver Grove Heights Vet Clinic while Zala keeps him in the corner of her eye.

Those not fully immersed in a dog mushing lifestyle may think that spending the morning transporting a dog to and from a semen collection and viability test is a strange way to spend a morning. I've never done it before so it was certainly different but a part of the job of a musher wishing to help preserve a rare line of Alaskan Husky called the Hedlund Husky.

I enjoy catching friends and colleagues outside of the dog mushing world off guard with these strange and unusual events. It makes me chuckle. The email sent to my appraisal office manager indicated that I would not be available until the early afternoon today to discuss any issues regarding appraisals I had recently sent over because I would be taking a dog to the vet over an hour away for a semen collection and viability test. "That's a strange way to spend your morning, " she replied. This reply was then followed by a number of questions about this event.

McKenzie will turn 9 years old this year and for his long term health, we will be getting him neutered. He has sired two outstanding litters over the years and our preservation group wanted to make sure his genes live on even if he is no longer able to do the job personally.

The Inver Grove Heights Animal Hospital was contacted several weeks ago on a referral from our regular vet. This vet clinic specializes in the reproductive issues of canines. They are also home to the "Minnesota Veterinarian of the Year". We were given paperwork and instructions. Those instructions included making the appointment for McKenzie when we had a "teaser" available to bring along. If you haven't already guessed, a "teaser" is a female in heat. Just so happens, Zala is in heat so she was our official "teaser" and since she is currently being bred with Phoenix, special care was taken to make certain McKenzie didn't come too close. On the way to and from the vet, Zala would be sequestered in a crate next to McKenzie.

Once Zala was brought into the room and situated, I looked up and it was all over! Semen collection complete. McKenzie had done this before so no one needed to give him any instructions. The sample was quickly analyzed under a microscope and the count came back at a "billion". Not sure how they managed to count to a billion in 10 minutes but I'm sure they have their secret ways. Having never seen this phenomenon under a microscope before, I was fascinated to watch all of those little black squigglies zipping back and forth. I couldn't help but feel a bit proud of my McKenzie guy at that moment; as if I had something to do with his "success". I imagined giving a high five to the vet tech but thought that would be a bit over the top. Instead, I quietly thanked them for their help and loaded up my manly husky and went home.

Upon our return, the message on the answering machine from the vet clinic indicated that they were able to successfully freeze nine breeding units from that billion count sperm collection. This is a wonderful thing for the Hedlund Husky Preservation Project!

Way to go Kenzie!

Lake Minnewashta Canicross Hike - May 8th

We had a baby Newfie on one of our Lake Minnewashta hikes last season.

Conan, Zala and Annie lead the way

Heading back from the beach

Zala and Annie enjoy the sandy bottom of Lake Minnewashta as they cool down half way through our hike.

Our first Canicross Hike is this Saturday at Lake Minnewashta Regional Park in Chanhassen, MN!

Please visit the Points Unknown Canicross Hiking Club page for details on this and other hikes this year.

Enjoy some fond photo memories of visits to Lake Minnewashta last season above.

Honey Beez in the Crabapple Treez

While the dogs played in groups this evening, I had my camera ready to catch the honeybees in Klaus' favorite tree. He has taught many of the younger dogs how fun and rewarding it is to jump up and snatch the tiny crab apples. Now, the honey bees are pollinating it so that the dogs can continue their fun once those beautiful pink pollinated blossoms become fruit.

Apple Blossom Bloom in April!

I caught this honey bee gathering nectar and pollen from our apple blossoms.

One of the many red winged black birds that resides on our Oake Lake paradise.

Look closely and you'll see the pollen sack on the honey bee's leg. They pack the pollen into these sacks with their legs and when they fly into their hive there is a little brush that flicks the pollen out of the sack and into a tray below the hive. Pollen is a super vitamin and has the highest protein content of any food. Now that's amazing!

Caught in flight

On the approach...

Honey bees are amazing creatures!

'Tis the season when honey bees begin gathering the nectar they will then turn into honey and the very precious beeswax used in our Scent from Nature: 100% Pure Beeswax Candles!

The apple trees in our orchard are blooming much earlier than I can remember. Since winter ended the beginning of March this year, it is only natural that everything else would be early.

I was able to catch on disk, some of our special worker bees in action as they pollinate and gather nectar from our apples trees. How exciting it is to watch them go from blossom to blossom!

The bees zoom through the sled dog kennels on their way too and from their destinations. Many of the dogs jump up and try to snatch them out of the air and each time, can't seem to remember or don't seem to care that they sting! Sweet Pea is notorious for this. I recall the first time she was stung on the snout. One side of her face swelled up to double its size. Benedryl saved the day. Now she is able to snatch them with no reaction to the stinger venom. I figure that she is only making the bee population stronger by knocking off the weak ones. It's survival of the fittest for our honey bee friends once they enter the dog kennels!

Zala/Phoenix Breeding

Photo by Hailey
Zala is a half Hedlund Husky/half Zulu line Alaskan Husky.
As you can see by the look in her eye, she is intensely focused on her job, never slacking. She got her Uncle Klaus' work ethic and for a female that is only 45lbs and 24 inches at the shoulder, pound per pound, she does her job and takes up the slack for anyone else in the team. She is a quirky, silly girl when off duty and has been a firecracker from birth, always thinking.

Photo by Don Deckert
Phoenix is a deep Hedlund Husky line Alaska Husky.
The look in his eyes tell it all. He is a sweet, kind and honest dog. He does the job of two and is extremely attentive in open country lead, taking turns on a dime. When he was younger and learning to pace himself, he often had to be unclipped from his tug line because he pulled so darn hard we thought he might hurt himself before he figured it out. Phoenix weighs 70-75lbs and measures 29 inches at the shoulder.

With the unexpected and upsetting lose of two dogs in our kennel this year, we have no choice but to accelerate our breeding plans. Topa and White Feather were to be our next candidates for breeding, however they are far too young at the moment. Tuloon has had two litters and that is enough considering both were difficult for her. Our only other intact female is Zala, a half Hedlund Husky, half Zulu line firecracker of a sled dog.

We initially had decided not to breed Zala purely because of her smaller size. In all other aspects, she is an excellent example of a well rounded, hardworking, traditional sled dog. With our current needs and due to the fact that we recently were startled to hear that there are so few intact Hedlund Huskies left, we had to change our direction. We do run the risk of having smaller females from this pairing, even with the sire's 70-75lb weight and rangy build. However, we run an even greater risk of losing this line all together if a concerted effort to disperse the Hedlund genes is not made. Zala's pups will have to be assessed for size in addition to all other desired traits and those that don't meet the standards must be spayed/neutered.

Phoenix has a mix of sizes in his family tree as does Zala. When dealing with an Alaskan Husky line, there can be so many different variables one must just choose the most desired traits to pass on to future generations. Genetics is a roll of the dice. First and foremost is the temperament and then we move down the list from there.

We are hopeful that this pairing will produce dogs with sound temperaments and builds, good coats, excellent work ethics and dogs with amazing leader potential as both parents are leaders. Size will be the wild card.

Big Accomplishment

And the digging begins!

All done!

Rebecca was finally able to fly home to England last Wednesday, four days after her scheduled departure, when the airlines thought it safe to be in the the same skies with volcanic dust from Iceland. She said that it was bitter sweet as although she loved more time here with the dogs, she was missing the start of her last term and it would be a big job to catch up with the school work.

During her extended stay, she began to dig out the back yard kennel which had been, at times, unusable due to the black dirt base. Our plans were to dig down at least eight inches, dump a load of sand then top it off with patio pavers. This area would serve as the kennel for older puppies or dogs transitioning in the evening to the house. The pavers would make this area extra clean which translates to extra clean dogs. After our research concluded that pavers would be far too expensive, we will opt to lay down some dig-out wire then top it off with several inches of a sandy base which allows for better drainage and cleaner dogs. Basically, this is the same system in our main kennels.

Not only did Rebecca begin digging out the kennel, she finished the morning she left! With our very limited schedules this time of year, she helped us out immensely. I was actually a bit envious as I would much prefer to be outside working around the dogs than be sitting in front of my computer doing appraisal work all day. Thanks so much, Rebecca! You were a great help and we look forward to having you back this fall!