did you eat paint chips as a kid?

Ahhhh Tommy Boy. A classic.

Annnnywho, I'm deciding on paint color for the sheds and dog houses. I've been thinking on it for a few weeks, and I have yet to make a decision. I have made a little progress though...I think I want a dark color. I was going to go with a lighter blue, but dark green or deep red sounds best. For the sheds, I'd like a dark khaki/ not quite brown, brown with green trim. I saw some buildings like this at a storage unit on Saturday and I they looked nice. Maybe I could paint the houses to match? Meh, brown dog houses would be painfully boring. Or, I could do the sheds khaki with green trim and have the doghouses a deep green. Hmmmm

Speaking of Saturday, it was awesome. We went to an upland hunt test put on by the Great Lakes Hunting Retriever Club. I had never been to one before, so it was tons of fun. My mom has been on a waiting list for a lab pup because she wants to get into hunting, so she suggested we watch this trial to learn a little. I had never been interested in hunting before, but watching the dogs work certainly perked my interest. I"m hopefully going out to hunt later this week with a person I know through UAD to learn even more.
Connor is far from a hunting lab (which is my fault), but I'm now interested in trying this sport in earnest. I haven't officially begun looking for pups on a time line, but a squirmy BLACK (and only black) mini monster might be in my future!
I took Tilly and Elsie rollerblading yesterday. Things didn't go as planned. For one, it started raining the minute we pulled into the parking lot,so I decided to switch parks. Instead of rollerblading, I was going to just let them run around for a while and maybe play fetch. We got to the second park and I decided to hell with it, so I put on my rollerblades. Things went well for a while. But then the pavement went to hell and we were headed down a hill....and there was a stick on the trail. Painful story with a quick ending: I fell and it hurt like crazy! My knee is sooo swollen today. It was little Tilly's first outing though, so things went well considering.

They've started putting the docks in at Gull Lake, so spring training here we come! Elsie is psyched. Hopefully Freddie and maybe Tilly will swim too.

'Rora Mutt

This is the stunning, but fat, Aurora. She's Kuz, June and Reb's sister...collectively I call them the Fantastic Four. Roary will lead a little, but not very well. I didn't even race her until she was almost three. At eight, she'll line out and pass and all, she's just not a real lead dog. In the middle of the team, she's great and minds her own business. Though, the heavier she is, the less she works. Her weight has always been a problem, and being that I didn't work her very hard this past season, I know I've let her slip a little anyway. She is a fun, happy, lovey girl.My favorite story about her is the first time she got loose last year, I just saw a streak of black and white headed for the road, so, completely out of ingrained habit, I dropped to one knee and said "c'mon! (whistle)" and spread my arms just like I do in the kennel when I'm offering her a hug. She whirled around perfectly and sprinted into my arms! Quite the feat for a Siberian!

Fox

Fox aka "rock star"

She's 8 right now and will be 9 in October. She's very easy going and VERY easy to handle. Foxer is an excellent racing leader because she has had so much experience...she has probably raced more in her 8 years than I have in the 11 years I've been mushing. Fox has led some of the most competitive teams in the country and that is no exaggeration. When it comes to training, I've found her to be a bit stubborn in lead, but most dogs are when they've run the same trail for 3 months. I kept her a little heavy this winter because I think she looks a little better with some weight on her, but it definitely slowed her down, as she had trouble with anything past a high and consistent 17.4mph (which we only keep for 5-7 miles on the best trails...[though we should always be running at least that, but that's a different story for another day]). For next season, partly because physically she's ready to slow down a little (not that she's unhealthy, it's just that a 9 year old can only be so competitive), I think I'll use her in my speedy sibe team....I add the word speedy just to make myself feel good! Instead of having to hit 20mph out of the chute and maintain the high teens, she'll be able to settle in at 14mph with bursts of 18mph tops. She'll be a great asset to the younger team as a leader.

Spring Cleaning and Spring Snow

Oakley (this is from last spring around this same time when she was pregnant)









Maddie







Kuz and June having a good time
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Yesterday was a big cleaning day in the kennel. From re-bedding (adding straw) often to their houses and from feeding lots of bones and raw meant, there was plenty to clean! I pulled the tractor up into the yard (well okay, I instructed that the tractor be pulled into the kennel...I didn't actually drive it) and started filling the front-end loader full of junk. It took me allll afternoon to get everything done. The dogs always love fresh straw and I felt good about getting everything clean. Everything was dry (finally!) so it made the job pretty easy. We also used the tractor to back-scrape the ground in the kennel. We do this every spring and ever fall before it freezes. It fills in the holes and acts as a giant rake to clean leaves and sticks that have accumulated. By the end of the day, everything looked fresh and clean. It definitely put me in the mood for summer!
.....
And then it started snowing this morning.
.....
The dogs have had 3 weeks off since we last ran at Lost Lake, the last race of the season. The last race was at a perfect time because it has been way too warm to run ever since. In those 3 weeks, spring break-up has come and gone. Everything is thoroughly dry (just barely muddy) and it has been around 60. Anyway, because of the warm weather and because the season is over anyway, I haven't been running any teams. I've been playing a lot of fetch with everyone and giving them plenty of free time in the field and play pen, but they're still pretty bored. Today when I noticed it was only 34 degrees by 11am, I decided to run.
The first team was Oakley, the four pups and Fox. The second team was the rest of the hounds and Brew. I should have put Brew with the sibes and Fox in the big team, but I wanted a good leader with the sibes. We did 2.5 miles and everyone was awesome. They've been so calm and quiet for the rest of the afternoon. I fed everyone dinner and I haven't heard a peep.
This snow wont stick, but the cool down was nice so that the dogs could get some exercise. I'll run them throughout the summer every two weeks or so just to keep them in the zone and moving. I plan to get the girls swimming, which will be great for them.

I have a few projects left, but it has to warm up again first. The dogs are loving it though...because as long as it stays cold, I'll be keep running them.

Not so........skijoring

THIS is how I started the 2 mile race. May, running beautifully and displaying confidence that made me so proud, while I steadily skied behind her....like a pro. That only last for so long. Hahahahaha


..........




And THIS is how I ended it. On my own two feet! I kept falling and I felt so bad for poor May baby that I decided to ditch the skis and just huff it across the finish line. Everyone asked me if I was ever planning to run in the skijoring class ever again. My answer? "Yeah, with a dog sled." For the record, I CAN ski.....just apparently not with the particular pair I was trying to use. It made for a fun weekend with lots of laughs and little May stuck in there and didn't let my colorful language on the trail distract her at all.

Hunny Bunny

How she escaped without a "T" name, I do not know! Once she grows up, we'll never know what litter she's from...just kidding. She's definitely the odd ball of the entire litter though. There's Tilly, Tazzie, Tara, Trent and Toby....and Hunny. Anyway, she is a great looking dog. She has grown up perfectly and she just looks awesome right now. I think she has the best build aside from Tilly, but we'll see. Her personality isn't as fun and outgoing as the others. It took her a while to learn to speak dog- she was super shy and nervous at first, so it was terribly annoying when she used to piss off the entire kennel on accident. She has changed a lot so far and she gets along with everyone now....she doesn't drive them crazy anymore. She's completely sweet and gentle, but she's a got a shy side that makes it hard to work with her. She tends to panic way before the others. She forgives quickly and hasn't completely shut down ever, but I can see problems in her future. She really is a cuddle bug though and she stays around perfectly, so I hope she'll be a phenomenal dog.

Tazzie

Tazzie is a very quite, sweet, squirrely little dog. She's not shy or scared, but almost pensive in that she's not the first one to charge into new situations. She doesn't stick around as well as the other three, but she's still very easy to handle. She seems to have a good gate, though she might be a little thick through the front.

Tilly

The infamous Tilly cake! Tilly is from Lori's litter that I've had all winter and I've succeeded in spoiling her rotten. I guess I have never previously understood the real extent of that phrase until raising Tilly. We moved her in the house during the winter because she was just too pitiful sitting out there with her sisters. She's a lot smaller than the others, but she has the same fun personality. If I could keep her, I would hope to put her on a 4dog team this season. She has been a lot of fun to work with this whole time. I've taught her to play fetch and I'm beginning frisbee work.

Tara

This is one of the pups I've had all winter. She's full of piss and vinegar, but that makes life exciting. She has turned into an absolutely gorgeous dog- very well proportioned, nice shoulders and back. Her coat is just icing on the cake. She's crazy, but once she has a few minutes to run wild she'll calm down and turn into such a sweetie. I have no idea if I'll get to keep her, but she would make a great addition. I'll know for sure by the summer or early fall.

best.season.ever

Tanick-I've got a giant crush on her! She has been amazing for me this season.

What a way to end it! First place in 5dog and second place in 3dog! I seriously love that trail so much.
Saturday's excitement:
I left the chute #13 in 5dog. One turn that is typically blocked off was left open...so Petunia and I had a small fight over that. Wiskee and Tanick ended up telling us both to shut up and lunged forward, breaking the sled free and pretty much braking it in the process. I grabbed it no problem, but had to let them drag me for a few yards before they rolled their eyes and stopped to let me on. During this commotion, between trying to turn, the yelling, the eventual on-by, the diving for the sled, and the dragging, Heini slipped her collar. She's a damn squirrel anyway, so without being able to solidly stop my sled, I couldn't do anything about it. I didn't train with necklines for the majority of the season, so her being free didn't bother either of us, but necklines are mandatory for sprint racing, and I didn't want to risk a DQ. I knew that at the top corner of the trail, there was ALWAYS trail help, so I just let her collar dangle for that half mile or so. The problem? I came up on the intersection where I expected the trail help to be just in time to see Kurt, the trail help, place a log across the trail and speed off on the snow machine. For a second, I honestly thought I was in 7dog, but then I counted my dogs and realized I wasn't crazy. I called Tune and Freddie to the left and we jumped the logs. I was able to flag Kurt down and explain to him, not quite hysterically, that the class wasn't over and there were still five teams behind me. He held my break while I put Heini's collar on and then sped off to fix the blockades. After that, Saturday's run was fast and uneventful. Sunday was clean and I caught number 1 early, so we were going pretty fast. 3dog was painfully slooooooow both days, but better on Sunday.
For next season, I need to work on being more competitive in pro classes. I have no problem with the rec races, but with the caliber of dog I'm running, I should be in bigger races. I'll chew on it all summer...and update about the new additions I've planned!