January 31, 2010

The end of January has come and still winter eludes us in northern Idaho.  Warm temperatures continue and storms continue to bring largely rain rather than snow.  Nonetheless some snow remains in favored locations.  We've managed to get our teams out at Fernan Saddle and at the Granite Creek Snow Park.  Thursday we returned to Fernan Saddle where we enjoyed a bright sunny day and temperatures around freezing. 

I continue to work with the samoyed team, searching for another steady leader to work alongside Rose.  Several of the dogs will run in the position, but so far none as confident and driving as Rose.   Fortunately her abilities continue to grow and she seems unphased by whoever her partner is and whatever her partner might be distracted by!  Here she is lining out with Skye.  I am hoping though to develop some of the other dogs to be as focused as she is.  Rose has learned this role well from a couple of good role models:  Jezebel and Xena.

My 4 dog siberian husky team continues to be a joy to run.  So far I have 3 of the four dogs in lead, Cooper, Roper and McGee and all have done very well.  My favorite lineup is with Cooper and McGee in lead and brothers Ernie and Roper at wheel.  This matches up two pairs with very similar sizes and gaits, but really all of them work well together.  I am so impressed with the focus and athletic abilities of these four.  Their desire to run is infectious.  Ernie is a very driving dog, with alot of energy and not alot of patience at hookup.  His brother Roper is an easy gentle dog but he's no slouch once the command is given to go.  Young McGee is so much fun to run. Only a yearling, already he shows much maturity in every position he runs in. 

Fresh snow has fallen today, and we enjoyed our traditional pancake breakfast this morning, tomorrow we will celebrate the snow and drive up to Priest Lake for some more training runs.