Oh, Brother

I thought I might make an entry on each dog. I'll do it randomly. I've got a lot of good pictures, so I think I'll put them to good use. THIS IS BROTHER.
He's 10 months old as of Saturday. He's a goofy sweetheart. His mommy is Oakley and his daddy is the infamous Kuzin (more to come on each). Brother is the biggest baby. Ever. I have him in a kennel with Klonnie, and I had no idea she could be so dominant. That's the funny part, Klonnie is the most submissive, neutral dog in the world...but Brother is terrified of her. He's very attentive, but not quite as fast or driven as his sisters. He won't ever make a competitive team, but he knows his business and works steadily. He's comfortable at 13-15mph, but only for a very short time. His actual working pace is more like 10mph. This summer, I'm planning to introduce him to agility or at least make sure he'll walk on a loose leash. He has such an easy-going personality that I plan to use him as a jogging/rollerblading partner this summer. Next on his list of big plans is getting neutered! Haha he may not be that excited about it, but I am!

12 above

We won our race at Atlanta! We didn't put up the best speed, but we made it. The trail was a lot more twisty than I remember, so it proved a definite challenge. Also, here and now I'll congratulate myself on not flipping multiple times! Don't get me wrong, I've be driving a sled for quite some time, but my friend waxed my runners, and it just about killed me. I honestly thought something was wrong with my sled for a few miles until I remembered. Whew...I've got to work on getting used to the feeling of wax!
For 5dog I had Tune in single lead with Brew and Desna in the middle and Guniess and Nakoma in wheel. This team was mish-mash of dogs who were left over from our big teams. Tune and Brew are mine of course, but the other three are Lynzie's. I've tried Nakoma before and had to turn him loose because the boy refused to run for me, but that was with my fast team. I figured that because he'd be running next to his buddy and because I didn't plan on setting any land speed records, that he would decide not to hate me. Just for a day. Wrong-o. We weren't even a mile out and he put on the brakes. The poor guy is SUCH a momma's boy! He realized the sled was being driven by, what looked to be a maniac, and immediately decided to jump ship. I was highly considering bagging him (and I'm glad I decided against that....I would have flipped!), but I figured I could just call him up and keep them slow. Luckily, just then Kim passed me (well, okay, it wasn't awesome in the competitive sense) and I told her what was going on. I explained that I wanted to stick close so that Nakoma could chase something. Away we went. We hung in behind her for another mile I'd say and then the trail opened up into an awesome straight away. I was dying to let them go, but Nakoma kept refusing. Finally, I decided to set the hook and wait for Lynzie like the stubborn sun-of-a-gun I am. She was 4 places behind me. Not even a minute later, I see her team dump out onto the straight away and head our direction. She pulled up next to me, called to Koma, and swung in front. I just let them chase. Shortly after, we both caught and passed Kim. Tune was content (a little TOO content...like always) to follow one step behind, so we finished the race like that. When we got near the finish, Lynzie and were going to put on a show and act like we were actually racing, but the trail emptied out about 100yrds short of the finish chute and everyone went a different direction. It was a little crazy for a minute because we were talking and each team dove off the trial so fast, we were caught off guard. Tune wrapped herself around one of the campground grills, but it was all right...no hotdogs were harmed.
The 7dog was a much better run. I had Keytone and Fred in front, Heini and Fox in the middle with Tannick and Fern in back. Once again, my teams are a little messed up, so I had to grab two of Lynzie's dogs to fill out my team. We left the chute number 8 and passed all 7 teams. Like I said, we didn't set a blistering pace, not nearly, but they gave me a solid run considering all the sharp corners a few other little problems.

'cause gypsies never get tied down

This weekend was Kalkaska. The trail was the best I have ever seen! Saturday got unbelievably hot, but the trail wasn't ruined at all. I tried to lead Heini on Saturday, but I couldn't get her to focus enough. I had to make a last minute (literally LAST MINUTE) swap in the chute and put Keytone up next to Freddie. They were both perfect in front. I was worried that Fred was going to overheat, but she had no problem. Sunday I was able to have a friend of mine hold Heini in the chute. She was still a little spooked, but Kim dealt with her very well and I left with no problems. The dogs were absolutely perfect. We were a solid 2 or 3 minutes off winning times, but I simply cannot complain about how they ran. I have TONS of pictures and video to add, so I'll get to work on that. Jockey, May, Star and Oak were just as impressive in the 4dog. Those little babies held 13mph, which really shocked me. Beyond that, Kuz, June, and Roary also got to race. They are out of shape and very slow, but they know their business, behaved beautifully and finished strong.
Because everything warmed up so much this weekend and then froze overnight, the ground is completely iced over. I doubt I'll be able to run at all this week. It's just not worth the risk to run on the ice. This coming weekend is Atlanta, but the weather isn't looking good and the chairman doubts the snow will hold. So, if we're out of another race, we'll go to Baldwin or maybe Lost Lake for a fun run...hopefully still on sleds.