Another collection of miscellaney

Things around here have started to slow down considerably in the last few weeks. Cold temperatures have made for some pretty icey trails, and although there are still mushers going out, they are doing so during the warmer part of the day so that the trails are a bit softer. The problem is, this is when I work. Or, they have switched from sleds to dry-land training rigs and 4-wheelers. Neither of which I have.

After some shameless hinting on my part, our friend Stacey has agreed to let me tag along on the camping trip. So far, there are going to be seven people going. I don't know all the details yet, but I think that we are headed to Haines Junction to go to one of the summits there. It is supposed to be a short twenty mile run and then an overnight and back again. I guess I'll have to get working on my dog-food cooker.

I would like to use the opportunity of the camping trip to teach our dogs how to behave while camping. I don't think that they will be tired enough to let them stay on the gangline, though, so I will have to picket them instead. Picketing is when a length of chain or aircraft cable is stretched between two solid points -- like trees or sled and snowhook -- and the dogs are attached to it with "drop lines" which are usually about 16 inches long or so and spaced far enough apart that the dogs can't really bother one another. They will be fed here and sleep here and then hooked back up to the sled when it is time to go. The reason that I don't want to try to keep them on the gangline is a two parter: Firstly, we still have Scroggy who is a chewer. He has already chewed through several necklines, a tugline and had started on the gangline. If he isn't tired enough, he will use this extra energy to chew, I'm sure. Secondly, the dogs will not want to stay where they are supposed to. They will get up and wander around and create all sorts of tangles in the lines. While it is a huge pain to untangle a team of dogs if it goes unnoticed for a period of time it could be fatal to a dog. Using the picket system, the dogs will get an understanding of what is going on and they will be of no danger to themselves or others.

Bluegrass has been taken to her (hopefully) new home for a trial run. She went yesterday with Kim, our friends daughter. Jenn talked to the previous owners of Bluegrass and they were very understanding of our reasons for choosing to not keep her. I haven't yet heard how Bluegrass fared with her new owner or whether she even has a new owner yet, but I am sure that I will hear within the next day or so.

With a spot open and available now, I am now looking forward to bringing home a new dog from a very good and successful racer. This dog, Horton, is just not as fast as this racer needs, but he will be far and away faster than our current team, so he will add greatly to our kennel, I'm hoping. While I'm on the subject of new dogs, I suppose I should also say that there may be a possibility of aquiring another dog out of Hortons kennel; and the partner of the person to whom we loaned our dogbox has offered us a great dog at an unbeatable price. It is looking like we will have a moderately competative kennel next winter!

We will be opening up spots in our yard for the new dogs because two, possibly three of our dogs will be going back to their owner, as was the deal this past fall. We'd like to make an offer on Ben, but Scroggy and Grizzly are just not going to fit into our kennel, either.

"Puppy," as she has become known for now, is growing rapidly. She is getting rather agile and confident when she is out and about. Her ears are almost completely up and she is beginning to look more like a dog. I can't believe that we have had her for 6 weeks already. This weekend is the name choosing and I hope to have the name and the winner published before Monday rolls around.

Here are some shots of the puppy, because I haven't any other shots of any other dogs right now...

I'm only holding her for size comparison. Really.



Furry close-up



The "Calander Shot"