spksummer.blogspot.com

We've had some publishing problems at the other site so will try this location for now,
spksummer.blogspot.com

Solved

Lillen and I walked to the pit last night. I used my trusty wrench to get the choke to work on the ATV, the snow had melted just enough that I could move forward and we hightailed it out of the mucky mess. One small victory. Lillen was busy looking for the musky smelling foxes which we must have kicked up.

Balto came home from ear surgery, doing much better. Those ear hematomas are very painful.
I sanitized her pen and covered it with a tarp... hope she can handle the outdoors as she is just too spicey to be in with my old gals/guys .

Back to Summer Blog; Dilemma

Well, I managed to get the old and battered ATV stuck in the lower waste pit and the quirky little thing is going to be tough to get out. It is missing its choke grip so it requires a wrench to pull the choke. Unfortunately, the old battery dies easily and it is about 1/4 mile from the electricity for charging. The solution appears to be that I will haul out my new portable charger, once the weather warms up, and the snow in which its stuck , melts. There is always a solution to a dilemma and hopefully this is it! Since it is tucked away from anyone/anywhere, it is best for me not to roll it over in my attempts to get it out from its precariously leaning position. The saga of the waste pit, a necessary place, continues. (the trail is narrow, has a tight turn at the bottom, and both entrance and exit are steep hills. )

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