Winter Blog

We're moving back to our winter blog. This is the link: http://windypups.blogspot.com/

Updates on our kennel will be made at windypups.blogspot.com, since we are now into our training season. However, it is going to be 60 + degrees today so only dog house repair and free running will be going on here.

IditaRider Auction

This is the link to the IditaRider Auction : http://www.iditarodauction.com/auctionhelp.taf?S=N&R=2&C=2&m=3&return=100&sort=4&st=0&days=90&skipkw=1&_start=1&_UserReference=D1D0771346B5EAF6E691AC784C8D47270706

Aliy Zirkle and Jeff King have both closed early for $7500. That means someone purchased the ride in their sleds and no one else can bid on theirs. The ride goes from downtown Anchorage to Campbell Airstrip. This is a major fundraiser for the Iditarod.

Team Two Today, October 27, 2007

Frita and Medio ran lead on this five dog team. Medio ran on first team, too. These dogs live free as a family and love to run at the same time. Yuki (team/swing), Swix and Yepa, are a bit overweight and need more miles. Their father is Martin, mother is Frita.

Team One Today, October 27. 2007

Buffy, leader on right in photo, is training her younger full sister, Matilda , in lead , on this team. They're well matched in size and pace and enthusiasm. Matilda is learning commands very well.

Herman and Sherpa ran a great wheel combo. All dogs ran very well this morning, no goofing around. This eight dog team ran two miles with a lot of uphill.

All the dogs on this team are siblings, with exception of Sherpa in wheel. She is their niece.

It's one of the few times we've left our old and experienced leaders all behind, but three of them are recovering from surgery or injury. Two are just resting on this nice day.

Waning Color and Winter Prep

The yellows are still bright on the birches and popples. The summer birds have noticeably departed, but the geese are still flying over. The chickadees are looking for their feeders, but we won't put them out until the bears are denned up. Along the hillsides, I can see sandy dens of foxes . On the trail camera I've caught some furry tails and the many deer that are everywhere.

The dogs are shaggy looking from thickening fur, so there's a lot of brushing going on. (and vacuuming).

Yesterday I bought some new roofing for dog houses, so that will occupy me for a few days.

The rains thoroughly soaked everything, but we've had some stiff winds drying things out.

We still need to add some more doors to dog houses and fill in the trenches from draining the pens.

But, looks like yet another warmish week ahead, so not too much harnessed running yet.

Light snow in Fairbanks

This is the link to a downtown web cam in Fairbanks: http://www.arcticcam.com:16080/cam/

There is light snow, in Fairbanks, and 22 degrees. That will grease the ATV trails a bit, I suppose.

If our rain yesterday had been snow, I'd be out digging my way out. It filled pens up to house bottoms and required deep trenching in some. For the dogs, the added insult was a thunderstorm last night... enough already, they said.

Still hoping for cooler weather. Glad for the rain , however.

Link to Aliy Zirkle/Allen Moore Blog: Fall Training

Aliy's and Allen's blog says it all about fall training. It describes very well the chaos of hooking up dogs early in their professional kennel or any training kennel. We don't hook up as many dogs, but the chaos is probably just as prevalent. This is the link to their SP Kennel Blog: http://spkenneldoglog.blogspot.com/ And I did empathize with Aliy's comment about the occasional black eye or swollen lip from exuberant dogs... they're just SO happy to be going.



Also we use the xback harnesses, only using the ManMat for our lead dogs, so our dogs have necklines, but the discipline and freedom of the no necklined team is incredible once they've learned it. The freedom it gives the dogs as they run is readily visible in some of the Iditarod photos of the teams using this setup.

Welcome to baby Sam!

Kaz Zirkle and Ray Crow have a wonderful new baby boy, Sam, born October 6th!
Congratulations to Kaz and Ray and all of the family!!

Record Heat

Whew, the hot days are behind us, this morning it is in the 40's. Saturday and Sunday we had high 80's and I filled water buckets and pools just as if it were mid summer.

Fortunately rains came with the cold front and it seems as though we'll have a more normal October week, although 60's for the weekend ahead.

Chena and Sulatna

Each day with Chena and Sulatna is a gift now. Chena's heart is failing. She has Cushing's disease and various other ailments. For now we are able to keep her comfortable and she still takes one early morning walk. Sulatna's tumor continues to grow and is inoperable this time.

In this photo they are ready for their morning walk. They are just the best house companions and I'm savoring every day with them. Chena has a built in clock and still supervises the schedule... she knows when it is time for her breakfast, her walk, time for me to feed and give treats. She also knows when it's time to close down for the day and supervises that as well.

Winter Blog

We will transfer to our winter blog as soon as the monsoons of fall stop. The pens have been full of mud/water from the recent rains, but we need and love the water. Hopefully the rivers will benefit. Our winter blog link is: http://windypups.blogspot.com/



Last night I went to check my boats and the little whaler was nearly sinking from the recent rains, bale, bale, bale. The lifejackets were floating. We have waited all summer for some good rain.



Re: wildlife, a little fox came up to the house the other night. I watched him/her approach and tried to get his/her photo but was not too successful as s/he startled as soon as I went out on the deck. There are still scent posts dug and marked each morning. S/he may be one of the diggers.

Transition

As we transition to Fall , a new season, we setup a new schedule. The dogs love the predictability of schedules , but they also like variety. They'll stop having their free runs soon as hunting seasons are starting. We don't hunt on our land, but the gunshots spook them.

Lillen ran on her usual free run yesterday, just around the cabin, and came back with a badly sliced front leg, requiring her to spend Sunday at the vet's for surgery to repair it. So now there are five dogs in the house, she is not too happy about that.

Another thunderstorm last night and looks like the week ahead with more of these. Hope Mother Nature gets the idea that it is Fall and ends the thunder/lightning.

Trail Camera

This photo is from the front gate where the scent post is scratched and marked each morning.

We have published this one before. Just looking at it again as we have another similar one closer to the house. The first time several people thought this was a small deer, but it is too small for even a fawn. In some views it appears to have a longer tail than a deer. Maybe a fox, a cat... both scratch scent posts, so could be either. The dogs love to roll in its scent, whatever it is.

Trail Camera

We had some photos developed from the trail camera. This one is difficult to i.d. Is it a deer facing the camera or another furred animal with its back to the camera? In the actual print photo it looks more like the second, but on the computer it appears that there are eyes in the front... unsure.

Yesterday there was a deep scent post, newly dug , scratched and marked with scat. There are two locations for obvious scent posts right now... one is down near the front gate where we've photographed most of the wildlife and the other is at a crossing of trails nearer to the cabin, just below an apple tree. We had i.d.'d a fox and deer at the one nearer the house.

Buddy

Buddy came to us as a rescue a few years ago, and, as I've recounted before, he was a bit hard to handle, he had mange, some serious shoulder problems, had to have some bad teeth extracted and he had allergy problems. Today his shoulder is all but recovered, his coat is good, his appetite is great and most importantly, he can free run without running off. He is a veteran of Alaska and the UP 200, but came to us locally. He still bites the gangline in a hookup and we've thought about solving that by trying him in lead, instead of wheel.

Yesterday with six other dogs he led the way on a trail walk. There is a fox den in the tall grass he is exploring, (in the photo), but he did come out when I called him. Now I can let him out and he will sit on the front porch, peacefully, getting along with all dogs.

Wildlife

As I'm writing this, the dogs are wild about something. It's still dark, but the full moon is over their pens. Something is driving them crazy, but I can't see it with my light... something in the hillside just down from them. The full moon makes all the wildlife wander more.

These deer in the photo come up on the other side of the house, where Skinny is tethered out before bedtime. They don't seem to bother him much and they are not fazed by him. He does ask to come in if they hang around too much.

Photo: fawn twins, one little spikehorn and one doe fawn with Mama. Hope they stick around here as refuge during hunting season.

Autumn at Summer Place

This is one of my favorite times of day... walking with the dogs. We go out after the kennel breakfast, five or six dogs and me... they check every scent post from the night before and I amble along, enjoying them, and the every day changes that occur on the trails.

We have some new trail camera photos to identify, but it will take a zoom to do it.

Photo: Frita, Skinny, Chena, Sulatna, Liller

Frank Hall

Frank Hall, sled builder and musher, died last week. This is a link to the article:
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1190124379196990.xml&coll=3

There is also a wonderful movie tribute link on www.sleddogcentral.com

We purchased Frank's and Nettie's dog truck a few years ago and had a chance to visit Frank's and Nettie's dog yard and sled shop. We also have a Frank Hall sled which is beautifully built.

Our sincere condolences to Nettie and family.

Skinny's Team

PHOTO: Skinny and Ruthie, Lead; Buffy and Medio, Swing; Rosie and Matilda, Team; Quattro and Herman, Wheel.

Skinny has some health problems, but we give him the nod for the first run , in lead, as he is SO excited to do it. He would be heartbroken if we overlooked him. He's not ready to hang it up yet. His co leader today, in the photo, was Ruthie, his daughter.

4 teams, two 8 dogs, two five dogs

PHOTO: Lead, Matilda, left in photo, LilleN right lead; Buffy , left swing, Ruthie , right); Zoom with pulled harness, left team, Medio, right team; Kiddo , wheel left; Sherpa, wheel right.

Our purpose today was to get dogs running, to look at each dog individually and to give Matilda some leader training.

We ran two eight dog teams and two five dog teams. Matilda ran in lead with Lillen and with Ruthie. She more than pulled her weight, running fullout with a taut tug line. Ruthie, on the other hand , was not 'with it' today, unusual for her. LilleN is an excellent leader trainer as are Skinny and LilleR.

We did a rating just for kennel purposes and this is how they ranked:

l. Matilda (for all out effort and meeting expectations) (Lead, twice, team once)

2. Skinny (for being great,giving it his all) (Lead)

3. Medio (for being ready/steady every time/willing to run anywhere with any dog (four times in team)

4. Herman ( steady , ready, sturdy) (Wheel, once)

5. Kiddo ( good, ready/steady as always) (Wheel, once, pulled hard)

6. LilleN (for being great) (Lead, once)

7. LilleR (for coming back from surgery and being willing, eager and great) (Lead, once)

8. Sherpa (for great effort and focus and enthusiasm) (Wheel, once)

9 .Buffy ( not in lead as usual, but steady, eager, tough) (Swing, twice)

10. Zoom (running with a pulled harness, but steady) (Team)

11. Quattro (tangling a bit, but she finishes happy, she gets there) (Wheel, once)

12. Ruthie (good, but off her stride) (Lead,three times; swing, once)

13. Rosie (she'd rank higher but too many dogs did well; she was remarkable in being unremarkable) (Team)

14. Tsunami, (hard to hook up, but good once on his way, just needs more time) (Team , paired with Medio)

15. Josie ( for ONCE she did not pull out of harness, go Josie!) (Paired with Medio)

16. Buddy (steady and good, nothing wrong, just steady/unremarkable, he did bite my pants and the gangline))

17. Yeti ( ate one good harness; tried to eat a 2nd harness; ran completely without a harness,

solo, in wheel, just neckline, but he finished!)

Those who say mushers force dogs to run should have been around today... everyone wanted to go, everyone gave it great effort and didn't want to quit.

Cooler weather

It's cooler this a.m. and great for running dogs. Our sunflowers survived the winds the other night and are like bright beacons around the sandy dog pens.

Photos later if we get some on our runs.

David Monson runs to fight Leukemia

This is a link to a site regarding David Monson's return to running to raise awareness and to gain financial support for research into finding a cure for Leukemia and Lymphoma.

It is just a year since Susan Butcher (David's wife) lost her valiant fight to overcome leukemia.
I am passing along the website received in a letter from David asking for support.

http://www.active.comm/donate/tntwaak/godave

David and his daughters, Tekla and Chisana, will be Race Marshals this year for the Yukon Quest.

Citizen Scientist and Climate Change

This is the title of an article in BACKPACKER magazine, September , 2007 issue, "I, Citizen Scientist". It is an issue dedicated mostly to the future of wilderness, it examines global warming, talks about looking at gear in a more planet friendly way, etc. Alaska is one of the oft studied and reported on areas, of course, regarding glacier meltdown and there is quite of bit of information in this issue.

I particularly liked this article as it is much of what we do in our daily walks here in Wisconsin. We walk the trails, check for foot prints, scat, etc... take a daily inventory of happenings within our 80 acres.

The opening sentence is: (p.115), "At the front lines of climate change research, regular hikers are starting to pull their weight. For our correspondent, that means getting very, very excited about fox droppings, road kill and the world's most expensive mousetraps." (sounds like mornings around here, although our only mouse trap is a very protective cat).

The Editorial Notes for this issue go on to say: (p.13) "The eyewitness testimony in this issue is damning in its uniformity, but it's just a start. You and I need to do more. As backpackers, we are the advance scouts of global warming. the ones who will see its effect first and can report its progress. Get out there, take notes and testify about what you see... and back up every word with meaningful changes in your daily life."

It certainly is true for the sled dog drivers as well ... we see later training times , changes in terrain, plants (trees are growing faster in our area, warmer soil?). Of course some of this is cyclical/ aging, but some is also what seems to be a noticeable increase in temperatures and precipitation.

Today is September 5, 2007. It was 90 degrees this afternoon. This morning on the trails we found fox scat, some unidentifiable scat which intrigued the dogs, diggings of skunks in the dry mosses, some more overturned logs (possibly the bears are still around). There was a slight rain early in the a.m., just enough to tamp down some of the dust. Our trail camera did not catch anything last night but two dogs were so excited about something outside their pen that they broke through the chain link. We spent much of the day repairing that so I won't find them on the front porch again tomorrow morning (hopefully).

Coyote? Fox?

All 3 of these images were taken in the same place on the trail. This looks like a well fed coyote or fox to me, more like a

coyote , I think. Anyone guessing?

Cat in field

Field Camera

With the full moon, the ripe berries and cherries, the wildlife is abundant. The field camera has

caught some photos. It looks like one is a domestic cat, another a coyote?, but this one I can't identify. Is it a cat? Some say a deer, but the cat in the photo is the same size. Will include the cat photo on another post. Anyone's eyes know what this is?

Backstage Iditarod, a new book

For all of us who love to read about/go to Alaska, there is a great new book, written by June Price, "Backstage Iditarod". It gives a glimpse into all that goes on behind the scenes in preparation for and in the running of the race. It is available for pre order on www.amazon.com
or at June's website: http://sunhusky.blogspot.com/.

June's website is a great link to reading about Iditarod and Alaskan living. She retired from teaching in Florida and moved to Alaska several years ago.

Shelter from the Storm

Sierra, a rescued Elkhound who has lived with us for 11 years and 13 year old Sulatna, from Alaska, are both scared in thunder storms. Last night we had five dogs sheltering in the house from the wild storm that thrashed trees to the ground. It was a wonderful deluge of rain, so needed.

Sierra and Sulatna comforted each other on the softest sofa in the house. The power went out for an hour and it was a bit frightening for them. The outside dogs all headed for their houses when the first thunder clap boomed. One pen was very flooded afterward and I moved the dog for the night (Yo), but since the ground is so porous, the water quickly drained in most places.

The best outcome was reducing the fire danger and watering down the dust that was getting so deep, the bowls were getting buried.

Sled Dog News

Well, first, we ran two dog teams yesterday, first of the fall training. My daughter and granddaughter were great handlers. Skinny won the honors to lead the first seven dog team , along with Buffy; then Ruthie, Lillen; Herman, Rosie and in wheel, Quattro, for a two mile run. All went very well with each dog.

The second team was led by Ruthie and Medio (Medio taking good commands in trial lead);
swing dogs, Sherpa and Yuki; followed by Herman, solo, and Kiddo in wheel. They did well, too, looking just slightly less polished than the A team. We did not take Matilda but will on the next run, in lead training.

Trent Herbst was in 0ur area, but fire in his kennel area sent them home early. He had to move all dogs and lost some personal property in the fire, as I understand it. We had planned to have a kennel visit but their hurried trip through took precedence, of course. Too much fire!

No rain. Predictions seem to be all off. But last word is that the Herbsts are fine/dogs fine.

We do have a fire plan here, we'd have to load and truck the dogs to the Brule River cabin, but with enough lead time we could do it safely.

Triplet Fawns in the Brown Fields

Find five deer in this photo (or at least four). Even though the fields are brown and crunchy, this is a nice oasis for wildlife as the upper 40 is kept wild all summer. We do train up there starting in the fall and then in the winter, but the animals have the berry patches and apple trees pretty much to themselves until then. The Brule river is across the highway and is the closest water source , unfortunately, so the animals must cross over the highway for water in this dry summer. Even the swamp/pond has dried up.

Low River Level

This is the Brule River at my usual kayak put-in point. Obviously, no kayak is going to do too well at this entry point. This is the lowest I have ever seen this river. Rain is expected , possibly tomorrow, but only about 1/4 inch predicted.

Rain and Berries

We had enough of a rain on Saturday to at least refresh the pens just a bit. It was accompanied by thunder which scared the dogs, but the short rain was a brief respite. Back to hot and humid again on Sunday, but this morning is 40 degrees and fresh, some hopeful clouds in the sky!!

The cherry trees are really quite beautiful.

Dry blackberries

The blackberries looked to be in good shape until this last extended hot spell... not looking so great now.

For some reason, the choke cherry trees are resplendent , dripping with loads of cherries, the trees look red in the distance and now are starting to ripen to their deep purple.

But the forecast says some relief is in sight. We had a few drops of rain yesterday, nothing measurable.

Fires in U.P.

There is a very large wildfire in Luce County, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, at about 18,000 acres right now. It is near the land of several mushers. We did hear from the Stielstra kennel that they are OK for now and that they have had rain, but fires are about five miles distant .
Hopefully, the rains will come again. There are 220 firefighters, 6 helicopters and much equipment. They are dropping water bombs as well. Sounds like the Alaska type of fires.

A little bit of color, relieving the drabness

This batch of flowers hides under the big cherry tree for now.

The sunflowers droop at the end of each day and are watered, hoping they'll hold out for fall and give some nice color then, as well. Even hearty cosmos are having trouble blossoming, but they're almost there.

Here comes the sun! again!

The relentless sun, as I've come to call it this summer, rises at about 5AM and dries and burns all day long, every day. It is beautiful in the sunrise and in the sunset, but the in between hours are merciless. It isn't just the heat and the humidity, but the days of drying out and dust, dust, dust that are the challenge. The grass crunches and I run sprinklers/hoses all day long when I 'm not filling pails and pools. We do seriously need rain. Even the back well is sputtering.

Each time I refill the water pails they are covered with a layer of dust within minutes. I know my lungs feel it so the dogs certainly do as well. The best of the worst days are the ones with lower humidity, fewer flies/gnats, etc.

We're treating for various summer maladies: allergies, hot spots, ear infections, one has a chronic cough (dust); they eat grass and it plays havoc with their digestion and they're just plain bored and hot. While they protest their baths, they do seem much happier after they are bathed.

Retiree Walks

This is a great photo because each of these tough female dogs holds her own in a dominance challenge, yet they trail run peacefully , side by side.

Sierra, the little Elkhound , was found in a dumpster and brought to us as a rescue (age 11); Liller, leader from Iditarod 2001 (age 12); Chena, Queen of the house and a rescue, (Lab) (age approx 14/15) and Sulatna, (age 13)wonderful and spirited 'gazelle' and leader... they tolerate each other well on trail walks and enjoy sniffing out wildlife scents together. Each of these dogs has some health challenges but they are doing fairly well and enjoying life. Each of these is a good house dog as well.

Surviving Summer with "Showers"

Songs that come to mind: "Where have all the flowers gone?" (into the shade) and

"All the fields are brown and the skies are gray, " ( now if only the sky were gray!)

We're using every means we have to keep down the dust, the heat, the bugs. This summer is very labor intensive as , without rain, I am the rainmaker. I schedule my time away from the kennel to be late day, if at all.

For all the stress on them, the dogs are doing very well. They still come out for their free runs in the mornings, shortened, but free. We still take our trail walks, but also shortened and early before the relentless sun is too hot.

So the days are about feeding early, cleaning and filling water buckets, cleaning and filling pools, repairing tarps, moving sprinkler hoses around , hosing down dust, bathing dogs and being thankful when the sun goes down!! Ice cream is their favored late day treat.

Another wrinkle is that both of my dog food suppliers ran out. This is fully unexpected.

More of the same for the next few days, whew, enough already! Soon I'll start on rebuilding dog houses, but for now it's just summer survival.

Good Manners with Ice Cream

Medio, Frita, Yuki and Swix share the ice cream without a tussle.

HOT!

The sun is not shining on this thermometer. It's at about 103 / 104 outside. The dogs are being very quiet. Lillen, in the photo, has seen both extremes of temps in her lifetime.

Today we cleaned and filled pools several times, changed water more than several times, added more tarps, sprayed down the pens, sprayed down the dogs, washed the dog dishes, and we just had our special hot day treat, ice cream. And there is no relief in sight for tomorrow.

Most of the dogs are digging further into dens or standing in the pools. Some of the dogs willinglyly came into the air conditioning. It is a scorcher.

Summer Progresses

We're back in a heat cycle again... high 80's and, for now ,not so humid, but that is coming back too. We've had very little rain so the pens are very dusty. Much of my morning is spent watering... changing buckets, changing pools, watering the dusty pens and if there is time, watering the sunflowers. The dogs continue to take their free runs on their schedules (and they know their schedules). We haven't seen the bears again but the dogs are a bit edgy on our morning walks, sniffing with great interest. Trail camera only films deer so far. The apples are ripe and the ground is trampled under the trees.

The dogs with health problems are hanging in there, but Sulatna's tumor has regrown, inoperable this time; Liller's recovery from tumor removal is good so far. Chena continues to hang in there on her meds and this is a photo of her enjoying her favorite place and activity. We have four dogs in at night enjoying the air conditioning.

Pups doing well out East

Heard from John Rogers in New York yesterday that Liller's and Skinny's pups

(Isabella and Emmett, now known as Quest and Yukon) led him to two first place finishes last year.

This photo credit is to Sled Dog Central... looks like Bella and Emmett in the lead (siblings of Herman, Ruthie, Buffy, Matilda , Rosie, Kiddo, Quattro, Evalina, Josie, Medio of SPK).

y'

Everyone had fun

Even the good dog tried the tubing... he was enthusiastic at first, but the startup was too slow for him, so he ditched it and watched from shore. He is wonderful with all of the children and supervises their water activities very closely. For some reason he doesn't like them in the hot tub

.

Family Summer Place

We had a whirlwind of activity for the past week as all of my children and grandchildren were here. It coincided with a visit to town /fundraiser for cancer with some former Green Bay Packers (Gilbert Brown and LeRoy Butler, in photo) so we added that into the busy schedule of lots of swimming, kayaking, water skiing, go go go, all ages/ all summer activities. And somehow we managed to keep all of the dogs happy too! A bit lonesome getting back to normal here.

The field ferns/ bushes are browning up a bit, growth slowing down, berries ripening, deer around the apple trees, haven't seen anymore of the bears but the berries will bring them back in. It has been hot but bearable (no pun intended). The dogs with cancer are holding their own, but the prognosis is not good. Liller's tumor was removed; Sulatna has a regrowth of her tumor and a new tumor but for now they are happy and going on runs.

Amaroq, In Memoriam, July 3, 2007

Amaroq was born on October 20, 1994. His mother, Scuba, had run the Iditarod with Susan Butcher. She arrived here, bred, on October 19th and the next day her pups were born, our first team: Amaroq, Geronimo, Nocturne, Stardust, Jasmine, Rosie, T. Merton and T. Rusty Bear. Amaroq is the lone survivor of that great team.

Amaroq was always a great dog. He ran lead and was highly competitive with his brother, Geronimo. One day we hooked up two teams and took off without Amaroq. He leaped two fences (8 feet, 10 feet), circled out ahead of us , surprising and intercepting us from the woods, far out on the trail.

He was also the great dog who broke four of my teeth one day as I was rehooking his harness having tried to get a red squirrel on our takeoff out the road. We called him Circus Dog because he could leap so high. He did lead a team down Highway 101 one night, dumping his driver, the most frightening of his episodes. A police man caught them. When I arrived he said he had never been happier to see someone . He didn't know what he would do with a dog team and a sled.

Sweet and tough and always dominant, he has succumbed to nerve deterioration in his spine. We've done extras to keep him comfortable in his aging but this is not reparable. I will miss him every day.

Godspeed, Amaroq! Thank you for many years of enjoying you.

Bears

The day after a neighbor stopped to inquire if I had seen any bears (which I had not), I was driving into my land and saw a large female bear, who, once I stopped and put down my window and said 'Hey!', stood on her hind legs, head swinging, and I saw three very small cubs scramble out of the tall grass, up the hillside. Now we know why Timber and Chena were so alert in that area just a few days ago.

We stayed out of there yesterday, but today went back on a walk down that trail... a log had been turned over and the dogs were very alert, but no signs of bears. I hope they've gone on a long walk to somewhere else. This morning I had five dogs, a bit more noise.

Needing rain

It seems that even though we have furious storms with heavy downpours, we can't get enough rain. The river is getting low again and the fields are very dry. The winds have been strong and I've lost several large trees, most recently, one at the cottage that has stood as the marker there for many years. The Pine on the Point is how it was known. Now it is down, but in its uprooting it has exposed some nice sandy beach. We will miss that beautiful Pine.

The Pine River in the photo is usually a bit faster at this spot. It was a nice lazy paddle.

Paddling the Peaceful Pine

It was pushing 90 degrees with hoo/hoo humidity, but I took my first solo paddle of the summer , The river was just a bit low, I did get slightly hung up twice, but for the most part it was a beautiful paddle. Very nice to be back to paddling. I like the Pine River the best, just out of Florence about 8 miles, on County Road N, it's an Oxbow and easy in and out. I usually see a bit of wildlife... today a couple of dragonflies hitchhiked along with me; saw several groupings of iris which are believed to have been planted by early French explorers, the fleur de lis; also quite a grouping of forget-me-nots just before the takeout. This would have been an easy river for the early explorers, a relief from rivers with more rapids and no portaging. One duck did fly over me as well, but no eagles today.

Furss Up!

Is that a dog anagram of "Surf's Up?" The dogs were hot on the trail of some other wild traffic as we took our early a.m. walk. I was a believer as they dragged me along the trail. Old aching Chena revved up and ran growling into the bushes.

One morning last week we met a fox head on, but they seemed more alarmed about this scent (no musk ). Could have been anything... a skunk, the bear who left the scat last week, the fox... whatever, it had them interested. I put my trail camera down there later on... maybe we'll see something.

Cabin Refreshed

The summer moves along and it is nice to have fresh paint on the cabin. Keeping the dogs away from it is another thing. Right now the living room is a semi nursing home. Four dogs

are in the cooler air conditioning. Liller is having a tough time and is now on two pain killers.

She must have them before she can get up to walk outside. We are debating whether another surgery will help her and will have to make that decision this next week.

The last few days have been cooler, a break from the intense blue sky heat. The dogs were restless from being confined while the painters were here, but we're now back in our exercise rotation.

The trail camera caught a photo of a young fawn. The painters heard a baa-ing and a yelp the other day, which set the dogs to howling. I went looking later but didn't see any signs of an injured fawn.

Thunder, dogs and horses

Of course, while we took time out to go to the first horse show of the summer, today, up came a thunder storm. I called a neighbor to check on the dogs and all dogs were in their right places when I did make it home, shortly thereafter.

Holli and Bull (in photo) placed third in Walk Trot Open, English, today. It was Holli's first time showing so that was great. She used to run dogs here but horses became her main 'thing'. It does seem like horse people and sled dog people cross paths often.

Our veterinarian was at the horse show, luckily, as she was there to jump in the ring to grab a horse spooked by the thunder, after he threw his rider. Liller has to go in for a visit tomorrow for her tumor and a related leg problem. She tore her skin in a thunder storm last week, diving under a fence and it is possible she injured her leg at the same time. As tough as she is, she didn't complain much until Saturday (yesterday).

Roses

Hot hot continues

The one good thing about this heat ( nearly 90 each day, blue sky/hot sun) is that the grass slows down in growing, less mowing on trails!

It's hard for the dogs, day after day, to be so hot. The field flowers are beautiful, although hard to photo in the stark light. The wild roses are ablaze. We take our daily walk at about 7:30 AM to beat the heat.

Water, Water

We're having a heat wave for a few days and it's water, water, water. They love their pools which turn muddy quickly. Their water buckets get hot just an hour after I fill them. Keeping them all watered and cool is a full time job.

Liller and Amaroq, two retirees are having some serious problems. I'm watching them for a day or so to see just what should be done for them. Liller has had two cancer surgeries and has a new tumor . Amaroq is just aged and has some spinal degeneration. But their spirits are great!

Settling into Summer

Our schedule has changed to meet summer temperatures. Our long daily trail walk with various dogs, mostly retirees, is early in the morning to beat the heat and humidity. We range from four to seven dogs on this early a.m. walk. Dogs in the photo range in age from eleven to fifteen.

Dogs are digging their dens, but also, the local rabbits, squirrels, etc are taunting the dogs and every night about dusk one or two dogs try to dig out to chase after them.

Memorial Day

It's been awhile since we last posted any kennel news, but Spring continues to be hectic.
We are still not finished with hauling straw, but now, of course, the pens need trimming constantly to keep the grass/bugs down. It has been dry and very windy so we work to keep the dogs' area safe (tarps down, dogs eating bungees, concern for fire prevention, etc).

Each day we keep a chart on the exercising of the dogs. For the most part the dogs are good on their free runs but two of them just wait their chances to run off through the woods which results in a lot of worry. Skinny and Sherpa are the most adventurous and therefore least likely to be allowed to run free.

Storm and Blossoms

Spring is wild this year. We had a storm that knocked down quite a few very large trees. One tall maple was completely uprooted. My upper trail is blocked in three places, two large maples and one large hemlock have fallen across the trail.

Meanwhile the blossoms stayed on the trees pretty well. Looks like a good year for apples, 14 apple trees in blossom around the acreage. Wildlife will enjoy the apples.

Spring and New Granddaughter!

We have a wonderful new granddaughter, the best gift of Spring!

On the day she was born we had cherry blossoms, daffodils, wild violets, wild strawberry flowers and May flowers. And now the apple blossoms are out, early.

And we're still hauling straw and will be for awhile.

The rivers are open, but a bit low. Still they beckon my kayak and me. Soon.

Deer

We'll stop feeding the deer as soon as the fields are green, but for now they come running in looking for their dessert, each evening. I put out the feed and call them and they come running.

They don't mind the house dogs being with me.

Lady Sulatna

Sulatna looks like such a lady (and she can be) but she is a mighty leader (retired), hunter,

scavenger. She occasionally chases off (as yesterday ) and sometimes comes home with a piece of deer hide. She caches her finds out on the trails as well, sometimes a dog biscuit, sometimes an animal bone. This Spring I had to haul off two deer legs which were cached by another animal. She's very crafty . I would love to know what breeds are in her background as she is very fast, smart, sensitive , pretty and TOUGH. She is from Susan Butcher's Poppers and Emmitt Peters' Yukon. She has a regrowth of her aggressive cancer but it is not yet bothering her too much. She is 13 and acts like a 3 year old.

Photo: Sulatna, on the hillside during a walk yesterday

Hazards of Spring

Skinny woke up with an eye infection, with the third lid covering his eye so another trip to vet. He'll be on eye drops for a week.

Last week Yeti went to the vet for having chewed up a Jolly Ball and having a semiblockage. He stayed overnight on an IV. Needless to say, we try to avoid having to go to the vet, but both trips were necessary.

Dogs who live alone can have a toy , but the penned pals are too competitive. They swallow whatever is available , playing "keep away" from their pen partners. They particularly like to steal gloves, handkerchiefs, bungee cords (hard to swallow, thankfully). Liller buries anything she finds next to her pen, so when others are out they try to dig up what she buried.

Dogs are free running every day on a schedule, of sorts. They know when their turn is coming and all others are the cheerleaders. The risk, of course, is that they'll run off. If they do run off, they don't get another chance for awhile. Mostly they're very good.

Last night after feeding and calling in the deer, I took a short walk and just over a rise met a fox feeding . Sulatna took after her and while I doubt a fox would hurt a dog, the porcupines and skunks are out there. She came back with a strong fox musky smell , into the house. L(

And, the ticks are out. They'll last until mid July. Also, we've had a couple of thunder storms. The fields are very dry , always fire danger, but we did have a nice rain. The Pine River is very low, our favorite kayaking spot.

And yet another " hazard", I have a large blister on my foot from wearing lighter socks while walking.

It's great that we can use hoses for watering (not hauling pails) and we're getting the straw cleaned up, bit by bit. The dogs are enjoying sunbathing.

Photo: Skinny's eye; Herman, son of Skinny and Liller, free running.

Pam Flowers

We had a chance to hear Pam Flower's presentation on her solo trek across the arctic with 8 dogs. Very interesting and great slides. The group had good questions... in answer to what would she do differently, only thing was take more lines as they frayed.

She met many challenges, worst of which was early melt on the ocean ice, requiring her to stay put in a village for 5 months.

Her books are: Alone Across the Arctic and a childrens book about her dog, Anna. She is a very honest and interesting speaker. I also bought her video of her trip with 3 dogs to the Magnetic North Pole. It is very interesting and shows a clip of a polar bear visiting her camp site.
She said the Inuit's say: Leave a bear alone and it will leave you alone, which is exactly what she did. Very interesting.

April 12th

Buffy takes her turn in running laps.

The new routine is to let as many as possible take free runs in the mornings. The few dogs who need to be on leashes go in the afternoons.

We had about 4 inches of snow on April 12th. 23 dogs ran free, including Glory, Power, Balto and King from the back pen (older dogs). Like kids out of school .

The Spring that Isn't

And the winter that wasn't!

Yesterday all had dried out and frozen again, but in the night we've had about three inches of new snow and still snowing. Tomorrow it will be in the 40's and next in the 50's so back to mud and shoveling .

The deer are coming right up to the house these days. When I go out, they watch me as I walk around. The dogs are very accustomed to them standing around. Soon they'll have better places to feed but for now they're enjoying the new grass and I see them eating some of the tree buds. They go into the trees when the dogs are free running.

A mama fox ran by in the early a.m.... her belly was covered with mud. Looked like she had been out hunting and had crawled out of her muddy den, maybe young ones in the den now.

We had 23 dogs free running on Tuesday, 15 yesterday. We keep a chart to make sure all get their turns. Quattro will have to wait a bit for another turn as she took off for an hour yesterday. She would run back in to tease everyone, so I knew she was ok, but no one else could be out while she had her fun.

The neighbors are clear cutting their land right up to our East borders. Will be putting up a fence to keep it safe for dogs . It was a dense woods with much wildlife. Just a few pines left standing, all the rest slashed. Would like to see that through an animal's mind, their habitat vanished.