Second place times two

Lost Lake was a great weekend! I had to flip flop teams a little, but everything worked out perfectly in the end. The trail was incredible. I just can't get over how great it was to be able to let the dogs really open up.

I wanted to go out with a bang, and I'm excited to say that we finished in second place not once, but twice! The 3dog class was out of 35. Tune ran PERFECTLY in single lead with Brew and Joppie behind. Petunia was simply amazing. Joppie was giving her all and worked her butt off. Brew was solid and provided so much power. That boy has come so far! (Did I mention that I led him the other day?) We were beat fair and square by a semi-retired team that has worked very hard to get where they are now. I respect this competitor very much and we are becoming very good friends. I was happy to see her win. I'm still just thrilled to be at the top of that many teams.

My 5dog team was Fred, Fox, Heini, Wiskee and Tanick. Freddie gave me exactly what I wanted. She was 100% the main leader for that team. On Saturday, I ran Heini up there with Fred and Heini helped a little with speed but she didn't pass as strongly as I had hoped. I was going to put Wiskee with Fred on Sunday, but I didn't want to risk him pulling a Kazon on me, so I used Fox instead. We were way too fast for her, but she gave her all. I ran Tanick at Atlanta and loved her, so I was more than happy to use her this weekend. Just like last time, the little alligator dog drove her heart out! The 5dog class was the highlight of the whole weekend. I had second place on Saturday by almost 2 minutes, so I didn't expect to be able to make it up. In first place was a friend of mine whom I helped learn to mush back when we were like 10 and I've even been on family vacations with her. On Sunday, I was dying to catch her....and I did. I passed her right around a mile from the finish. Her team hung on all the way in. She and I both thought I had it. We were both wrong. We were able to laugh about it a few hours later when times were posted, showing she had beat me by 20 seconds. It was such an exciting chase and finish. We both loved the competition.

Lost Lake might go again this weekend as a race. We're waiting on word from Drummond about snow conditions. If LL doesn't go and Drummond does, I just plan to call it a season and run at Ft. Custer this weekend. Kinross is a certain go, but I'll wait until next season for that one. This weekend was the last race of the season, but next weekend might be the last race, too.

Friendly Freddie

Freddie, Freddie, Freddie. When it's cold and she looks pitiful enough, she sleeps in the house. I bought her as a started leader, but she has turned into a main leader. I've used her up front for both races this season, and I'll lead her this weekend. Freddie has a super fun personality. She's nothing but a damn goofball, which is why I love her. The only time she can be the least bit frustrating is when she jumps up unexpectedly...which has almost resulted in a broken nose on my behalf. I taught her to play fetch, so I'm excited to see what I can do with that this summer. I'm not sure if she'll swim for the ball, but I know she'll at least try- because she does like the water. Like the rest of the hounds, she's a perfect all-around dog. She can lead at 20mph, is social with other dogs, but is calm and attentive. She's perfectly trustworthy to free-drop, but I have to keep an eye on her because she'll see a person, assume they want a hug, and dive-bomb them. Freddie is only three, so she still has her entire career ahead of her. This summer, I plan to bike/rollerjour with her quite a bit.

the doliac agenda

A) The Doliac Agenda is not real. It's from a tv show. It's from Alias to be exact. I needed a title and I refuse mediocrity, thus I tend to choose the most random-ass titles ever. My titles never fit my posts. As a student of journalism, I know it breaks every rule in the book, but, still as a student of journalism, it feels so liberating to steer away from conventional news style writing.

B) The rest of the story....
I ran yesterday (Sunday). Well, hold on, I'm already getting ahead of myself. First, I want to mention Keytone. I am totally bummed to announce that she is done for the season. I am really upset because I still do not even know what's wrong with her. Obviously I'm assuming it's a training injuring, which makes me angry at myself, but I have yet to pinpoint the cause. She's been battling it all season, but the limp and stiffness has grown worse and worse. It first presented itself in late December as a small limp. I brought her in the house, gave her two days off and she was back to full power. I trained normally after, bringing her inside when she seemed stiff. Last week, I took her to the vet and he found nothing structurally wrong...hips, toes, back, knees. We continued training and I kept combating it with time off and time inside (because it's heated). The past two weeks, time off won't touch it. I last ran her on Thursday. After the run (6 miles) her entire back end was weak. My next step is setting up an appointment with a dog chiropractor/acupuncturist to see if it's a muscle/ligament/tendon issue of some type.
Her injury really shapes the rest of the season. I had planned to run 7dog at Lost Lake and 6dog pro at Kinross, but I've changed my mind. With her out, I'm only running 5 dog at Lost Lake with 4 dogs:Fox, Fred, Heini, Tune. And I think Kinross is out of the picture. It's still possible, but I'd only be in 4dog and my training buddy bailed, so I have to look into a way of getting there. Decisions, decisions.
But onto the run yesterday....I only had the 4 girls because I left Keytone at home. I wanted to wind them for a long trail, so we did 6.5 miles, which is a lot of work for 4 doglets. They did really well, but we were slow. Fox and Tune led, which means we didn't go over 14 or 15 I'd say. I hope to go out with a bang and do really well this weekend. I guess it's just hard to believe that I'm already looking at the end of the season...we hit two, but the second was a 1 day. The third was canceled, fourth we decided against, fifth will be LL, and sixth is looking to be out also. Man oh man.
In other news, I skijoured with Elsie and Jockey last weekend. They were perfect, but we hardly went half a mile. I was having ski issues...and there was a rogue 'possum with beady little eyes. Ahhh maybe I am ready for spring. (that statement tastes like blasphemy!)

you've really got a hold on me

The main team from about a month ago....we have a LOT more snow now.

But anyway, SNOW! I am happy to announce that we got around 11 inches! It's pretty much just in time to be too late, but I'll take it. We're not going to Alpena this weekend...long story and artistic differences, so I'm just going to hang around home. I was able to get in 4 days last week, running 4.5 miles each time. We got belted Monday night, so the roads were too bad to run Tuesday, and my school schedule doesn't permit running Wednesdays, so I ran Thursday (like usual), today (Friday) and I'll run Sunday. Today we did the 7dog, which is 6.2. There's about two miles give or take of that loop that requires breaking trail. I ran 5 dogs....there were tired! These poor sprint monsters have no idea what it means to buckle down and PULL. Haha I'll quit being mean- they were great considering they have no idea how to trot (which is a testament to thorough training!), so I gave them a few breaks. All of that heavy pulling on top of not having the wind for 6 miles anymore made for a tough day! They still easily held 10mph through the deep snow and kicked it back up to a tired 15mph on the "packed" sections.
On a brighter note (just kidding, it's a dark and frustrating note), Tillie is in heat. Oh, it's wonderful. Most of my boys are neutered....all but the one 14 year old Pointer mix- who has given me a heart attack almost every day this week. I KEEP FORGETTING that the old bastard is alive, more less potent. Ugh.
Before it gets too dark, I'm headed out to play fetch with Connor and Elsie. They're currently grossly obese, so I'm working on it. They were fat when I got home this summer....and just never lost it. I had Elsie down for a while, but then we started feeding raw meat...and she became a vacuum. She needs to be in shape for disc and water sports this summer, so off I go.

I call her my Heini

Heini, Heini, Heini. I wrote about her originally when I had planned to just use her for the season....forget that. Heini's mine! I had her for a month or two, called Lori and asked her the price because she has been such a great dog. She's a little squirrel, but she's so cute she kills me. She has been really shaping up as a leader. I've been running a different circuit each time, so it has helped to keep everyone on their toes. She's only 2, so she has a long career ahead of her. I have just been so happy with her and I'm still thankful that Lori thought of me when she needed a place for her. Last year, she and Freddie were on the same competitive 8dog team with Will as wheel dogs, so they've got tons of speed. Leading them together is flippin' fantastic and it's my favorite combination. She needs work on settling down so that I can lead her at races. Kalkaska was a good wake-up, realizing she still has some puppy habits up front. For next season, I expect her to be my absolute main leader (with Freddie). The pictures aren't the best because I've posted the good ones already.

the only john wayne left in this town

Truck! The infamous Kuzin. Beyond that, I call him Leader Boy Extraordinaire. He's the resident daddy dog (but never again). The babies were on purpose, planned for three years in fact, but I just don't see my kennel going in that direction anymore. Anyway, this boy has been a phenomenal sidekick and driven leader for eight years. He's absolutely single-minded and is one of those dogs happiest either in a harness, pulling his guts out, or relaxing in the kennel. He detests the house and is a very independent dog. Kuz is a sweetheart who loves to cuddle, but again, he's comfortable spending time alone. His best friend in the world is his sister, June (more to come). What I love about Kuz is that he's so damn predicable. Truck! Actually, sometimes it drives me up the wall! For instance, if we're on a run, I can predict what turns he'll take. He always speeds up before a turn or intersection and has an impeccable sense of direction. We can be out in the middle of a trail system, he'll feel us turn towards home and pour on the speed. Truck! Okay, the truck story. It's more than a story....the truck is Kuzin's life. Speaking of pouring on the speed, just tell him "truck" and the dog is on fire. When I cross the line, I never have to give a command; that dog is on a quest the minute we step off the trail. Of course, sometimes it's ridiculously infuriating when we're training and he refuses to leave the truck after a run....even the one time we took a wrong turn and were back at the truck in less than two minutes. But anyway, I owe Kuz a lot. He was an incredible leader in his day, he never fights and never really gets into trouble at all(unless he's being stubborn on a turn!).