Dogs, dogs and more dogs.

It has been a pretty dog-filled day today. This morning was bright and cold; temperatures were -32C, the sun was hardly up and already there were shadows sprawled across the snow. I boiled some water for the dogs chicken broth and went out to feed them. Almost all of them had frost lines on their faces from where their expelled breath had condensed and frozen and the bucket of chicken was steaming as I ladled out the broth into each dogs' bowl. The dogs are pretty funny to watch when I feed them; most of them will put a foot into the bowl when the chicken is done and just a few leftovers are clinging to the side so that they can more effectively lick out the remainers without the bowl scooting across the snow. I'm not sure who the originator of this behaviour was, but all of them do it now. Surely holding a bowl is not innate.

This is the entrance to the dog yard:

The red shed is the feed shed and equipment storage;

This is the front of the dog yard

and this is the back of the dog yard

I went in for a coffee and then it was time to do toenails. We have eighteen dogs so that is two hundred and eighty-eight nails to cut. I'd like to say that all of our dogs are well behaved and stand patiently while I cut their nails, but not all do. I admit that I was not as thorough or regular as I should have been with our puppies of two summers ago. I should have been touching their feet and cutting their nails more frequently so that they would be accustomed to it but I didn't and I am now paying for it. The thing that I don't understand is this: why can the dogs figure out to hold the bowl when they lick it out, but can't make the connection that I don't cut their nails too short and am done sooner when they don't jerk their legs around? Anyway, an hour and a half later, I was back in the house for more coffee and to make the plan for the day.

When I came in, Hunter and Jenn were in the living room; Jenn trying to get some sleep because she was suffering the effects of being out too late the night before with some friends -- she drove in the driveway as I was going out to feed the dogs at 0730 -- and Hunter was climbing on top of her and playing with Jenn's hair. It was too nice a day to spend inside so I agreed to not bug Jenn for an hour or so and to let her have a bit of an uninterupted sleep and then we'd take the dogs out.

The plan for taking out the dogs this time was for Jenn to drop me off at the trail where I normally start and then drive to where one trail option comes out on another road, about twenty kilometers (twelve and a half miles) away. We were not planning on having a long run for a few reasons, one being that I only have enough booties for three of my dogs and the snow was really abrasive (more booties are on their way as I write this); and another being that Jenn had to work later on in the afternoon. Hunter likes a fire and hot chocolate so I got some wood ready for Jenn to build a fire that they could sit around, sipping their hot chocolate while they waited for me. This whole hot chocolate and fire thing started when we took Hunter out with the dogs one day. We hooked eight dogs up and Jenn sat in the sled with Hunter and off we went with no real destination in mind. We'd packed marshmallows, hotdogs and hot chocolate because earlier in the year, we took Hunter out and she was cold, bored and not having a good time. This time, she was laughing, calling the dogs names and saying "wheee-ee" a lot. We ran until the dogs looked like they'd need a break, so I picketed them and Jenn built a fire and Hunter ate hotdogs. It was great fun and Hunter hasn't stopped talking about her picnic since; and so it was that Jenn and Hunter set out to have another fire today. Here is a shot of the first picnic. It is terrible because Jenn's camera battery was too cold to take any more than one quick photo.

Jenn helped me hook up my dogs and I was off. I bet it was the fastest run I have been on with my dogs to date. What needs to be said is that we don't have very much snow. I have spent much of the winter running over snow, bare ground and then more snow. The plastic on my runners is nearly worn through and it is scratched beyond all reason and repair. Because of this, the majority of our runs have been slow paced and a little depressing to both me and the dogs. Today, however, the trail was awesome. I had a hard time holding onto the sled in some of the corners and the hills were heart-pounding. It is an indescribable feeling to be out at -20 in the bright sunlight careening around corners, holding on for all your worth while your dogs are all running as if of one mind. They were certainly having fun today. We did the trail in about 45 minutes and beat Jenn to the arranged meeting spot. It was great and the dogs knew it.

This is Hunter in the dog yard, waiting for Jenn to get back with her 4-dog team

Tonight, I have just come from a meeting with some mushers in the area. We are putting on a race in the community and have been planning it since the summer. It is all ISDRA sanctioned and counts for points and all that stuff that I don't even pretend to understand. Lou Serre is a world-class sprint musher and he is a resident of the small community we live in. The race is named in his honour and sort of tounge in cheek at that: Challenge the Champ. The small committee has managed to raise a purse of $10,000 and recruit several big name sponsors and we were looking at a pretty high attendance, based on early registration. It looks like we are going to have to reschedule the race, however, since the forcast for the 24th and 25th of February is rain and +5c. I spent a whole day Saturday putting in the race course with another of the organisers and by today, we don't have a trail. That is how little snow we have. It is a shame, too, because Lou was going to have some pretty stiff competition... just look at this 4-dog team go!

On that note, I'll leave it there for now.