Fall is here, the training run

The first run is always a momentous occasion! In a way, it is a little like "going back to school". That is the best thing I can compare it to because once you do that first run, training season has begun in earnest. That means getting up early on weekends to run when it is cold, getting up earlier on week days to get the runs in order to get "real" work done later. Though each run may not take all that long, the total time spent in the endeavor takes several hours by the time we load our dogs into our truck, drive to our training site (which may be anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes or even an hour away), unload the dogs and equipment, run them, feed them, drive home, unload them. It is a major investment in time and effort. Each dog weighs from 40 to 60 pounds and must be lifted up into the truck. The dogs can help on the boxes on the lower deck but for the upper deck it takes some upper body strength.

Wedsnesday we got up at 6:00 which is not all that early. The first thing we did was give the dogs some "baited water" which is water with a little meat or canned food or something to get them to drink so that they are hydrated before they start their run. We usually use a special raw meat product for this, but our shipment is not here yet so canned food it is. Then we had our breakfast. After we had breakfast we hooked up the trailer to the truck and drove down to the dogyard to load. We have a good setup and can load 16 dogs,water, and food into our truck in about 15 minutes. Then we started off to a place about 10 minutes from the house here, called Granite Plantation, it is mixed ownership with Forest Service, State Land and private timber. It has a wonderful network of roads with loops up to 10 miles in length.

I have 3 girls in heat now so I brought all the Samoyeds but ran them in separate boys and girls teams. I am also running a 4 year old Siberian Husky as a leader to work with my leaders. Wednesday she ran with the boys because I have two boys on the team who are not fond of each other and with the girls in heat I wanted to make sure that there would be no chance of "issues". So there were 4 boys and Cooper and 6 girls on each team. I ran the boys first, because one of those boys, Skye, will chew his tail in his dog box if he has to wait very long :0!!! Skye ran up at lead with Cooper, Pepper ran at swing/point by himself. He is also a leader and this a great place to train leaders. My wheel dogs were my two beloved brothers, Donner and Blizzard.

When the dogs were dropped from their boxes, and attached to their drop chains their excitement was evident. Tails were wagging. Some were spinning in circles. Some were barking. All eyes were on me. When the harnesses came out, each one laid out next to the right dog,the excitement clearly intensified, more barking. They love to get their harnesses on because I always give them a little rubdown as I do.Next the cart was hooked up, a snubline was attached between the cart and truck, brakes on cart set, 6 dog line set out. Now time to hook up!!! First the leaders, Cooper and Skye are hooked up, then the swing dog/s, then the wheel dogs. At this point it can get REALLY noisy, but my dogs are actually pretty calm. My call to get started is to say "Are you ready", then "lets go". "Are you ready" is when I want to see them lean into their harnesses, with the lines stretched out tight. When I say "let's go", I will release all the brakes and off we go. So wednesday I cried out "Ready" and Cooper slammed into her harness and Skye followed her lead. Off we went!They were running full out at the start but I held their speed down with my brakes. It is unwise early in the season to let dogs run full throttle. This can lead to injuries until they build up their muscles to protect their joints. They can also be more susceptible to sprains. Not far into the run their pace falls off. Their muscles are still "soft" from summer, we settle into an easy trot. At about a half mile I see just a couple tugs look like that are going a bit slack. Tugs are short for "tuglines" and are the lines that connect the gangline to the harnesses on the dogs. When dogs are pulling hard those are very tight. I stop for a break to give the dogs a rest. I wait until their energy builds, they begin to strain in their harnesses to go or bark. You have to understand that you can't make a sled dog run but you can shape good behavior. By waiting for them to regain their energy, they know that they can trust me. Sometimes I ask for a little more, as they get in better condition, on some days I may do hill or interval training, but I am always fair, my relationship to my team is built completely on trust and mutual respect. I stopped several times today, to give them a breather and then we would be off.

It was magical to be out in the woods, to see hear them breathing, to see them moving in synchrony, to feel their power. When we returned I put them back onto their drop chains on the truck for a nice broth of water baited with canned food again. All tails are wagging, all eyes still follow me. Its time to take the harnesses off, give each dog a little rub down, a dog biscuit or two.

Next I had my second team, the girls, to take out. I was so jazzed about this run. My leaders were youngsters, homebred Rose, and kennelmate Starr. At swing was Nova and her daughter Saffron. At wheel were partners in crime Willow and Kes (another story). I had contemplated whether to use the big cart or the little cart because these girls are not as big as the boys…..Silly me to wonder. I decided to use the big cart. We hooked up the grrrrrls team and when I said Are you Ready? Rose and Starr slammed their harnesses. Hmmmm I was pretty pleased (much of last year Rose ran lead with our old alaskan leader Jezebel). Off we went and this team of all grrrrls, all Samoyeds, was keeping up as good a pace as my first team which had Cooper and my big boys in it. At the first turn, there was a pause, these leaders are not real sure about their turn commands I can see. But Starr started to go in the "right" direction, I praised her with a "Good Gee" and then to my surprise and pleasure the team took off at a dead run. I slowed them down a bit with my brakes. At the next corner, at which point there is a lovely view down into the Hoodoo Valley, the team settled into a trot and we stopped for a breather and I admired the view. Next there is a left turn, and at this point we are halfway done with our run. At the next and final turn to the left we paused again. Rose and Starr were anxious at each stop to get going again but I was keeping a close eye on Kestrel who is 9 years old. The cardinal rule in training and racing as well is go as fast as your slowest dog. Otherwise you will be overrunning your dogs, which is frustrating for them, and because they do have a hard time keeping up also ends up teaching them not to pull because they simply won't be able to. They may not be "necklining" or dragging, but they may not be working. At some point you may make a decision, if a dog is just holding back the rest of your team, well maybe that dog is just not a good fit. But maybe that dog is not having a good day that day, there could be a slight injury even. In Kestrel's case, she is 9 and I think she deserves the right to go a little slower and I also know she loves to go and as she gets in condition she will do fine. It just takes her a little longer now. I have to pay attention more to her needs.

Now we are on the home stretch, a squirrel races across the trail ahead and up a tree. What say Rose and Starr, a Squirrel??? Like any self respecting Samoyed, they completely forget what they are doing (leading and running on a sled team) and head straight up the tree trunk, jumping at the base, their teammates behind them. Ok, time to stop, set my dirt brake, go up and line out my leaders, who promptly go back over to the tree where the squirrel is, sigh. I line them out a second time, telling them to "leave it" and to "line out". Hey they do it, they must have learned something last year!!! Sammies lining out with squirrel in tree. WooHOOOOO! Excited after the squirrel incident there was an extra boost in their stride for the next quarter mile or so. They thought about chasing some chickadees that were flitting about but kept going straight ahead.

I am grinning from ear to ear. This is why I keep 20 dogs. Sometimes at midsummer feeding 20 mouths I ask myself, why do I have so many dogs????? It's hard for me to do anything spontaneous. We always have to find someone to take care of the dogs. We can't just leave, you can't board 20 dogs and it takes awhile to train someone to properly care for them in our absence. But when fall arrives and the magic happens, I remember again that special relationship, what it is like to be out in the woods, larch turning, birds singing, just me and my team. Not every run goes perfect but that is the challenge, trying to put myself in their heads, what motivates them? I learn from the runs that don't go perfectly and sometimes from the ones that do like today that I didn't think would ;). Most of all I rejoice in the time we have spent together, them and I.Til we run again….Jill and the Dashing Sams (and Cooper)

Spring/Summer is finally here

June 16, the days are long and summer officially starts only days away. True summer is short in northern Idaho, so it must be enjoyed to the fullest while it is here. The garden is in full swing. The parade of spring flowers is nearing its climax.

The kennel welcomes a new member, Cooper, a purebred siberian husky who joins us from Prineville Oregon where she was bred by Karen Yeargain. Cooper is a 4 year old and will be working with the Dashing teams in future years. She is fitting in nicely and we are enjoying her company, and learning how to "sibe - proof" our yard!

Our running days are now distant memories, though I am able to take individual dogs out with a bike via spring or k-9 cruiser for some exercise, when mornings are cool. I am hoping that this will help to keep them in some minimum level of fitness for next fall. It is also that time of year when we explore other activities, particularly agility. I have been accumulating some equipment and have converted the old "puppy" yard into an agility training area.

April 3, 2009

Winter is very slowly releasing its icy grip on the north country in Idaho. It has receded from our yards, leaving just the piles on the north side of our house and other buildings. We find ourselves not enjoying its continued gifts of snow, however beautiful.....and instead looking forward to spring. There are still trails to be skijored or venture by sled but our energies have been somewhat low after the finish of the race season. We are looking forward to some carting and scootering when the trails clear




The dogs are enjoying themselves, however; playing in the yards, enjoying those last snow mounds playing king of the mound. Here are some images of them doing what they do. Above is Starr and Saffron. Pictured here is Saffron again.







This is pretty Kes, she especially enjoys this time of year as she is an avid digger. Her coat nonetheless stays amazingly clean.











Brother Blizzard (l) and Donner (r) enjoying each others company. Looks like Donner is asking his brother here if he would like to romp.









Portrait of handsome Blizzard, showing off his distinctive biscuit mask.

A winter/spring day

The snow is almost gone in the exercise yards around our kennel, which means it is mud season....Snow is also going in many of our favorite training locales and the temperatures are warming which means but the time we travel to them conditions can be a bit less than optimal. We are awaiting some more of the snow to melt and local trails to dry out so we might get out on out carts and scooters.

The new cart that I got Bob for his birthday has arrived and I will need to take some photos so that I can post here. It is made by Artis carts and looks like it is going to be a very nice addition to our suite of training equipment here. It is similar in design to the carts made by German designer Fritz Dyck but with a few differences. It has a wider wheel base, and a slightly different dirt brake mechanism. At this point Artis carts only come in a three wheel version. One of the nice features of this cart is that it has a very easy to use lever for the dirt brake, a feature not found on the Fritz Dyck three wheel cart, at least when we purchased one. These two brands of carts are the only that we know of that have a dirt brake. We have been very impressed over the years by the the ability of this device to hold and control a team while out on the trail. We have been using both the Fritz Dyck SAM and TOM in our training program for several years. In the future I will post some pictures of the new cart but meanwhile here are some pictures taken around our place today of the house and dogs.



Happy Pepper

Pepper above and Nova below

Dasher and Back Yard

Spring....yahooo! But...that means MUD

We are down to a 4 inch snow pack now on the property. It has been disappearing much more quickly as our nights have grown warmer, temperatures above freezing. Yes I admit to a certain obsession with this topic. I do enjoy the snow and winter and there is a part of me that is sorry to see it all go. But once it does start to go, this in between stage is just not for me! What is it about retreating snow that leaves mud the consistency of clay ready to be worked. Clay that sticks to whatever crosses over it, whether it be my dogs or me. Of course the young dogs are always filthy this time of year. They can get a bath one day and within another day or two it is hard to tell that any shampoo touched their bodies. Much of it will fall off once the dogs are dry so that is the best strategy for me!

In addition to receding snow, and encroaching mud, other signs of spring here include the morning cacophony of birds. We are starting to see greater variety at our feeders, today a downey woodpecker, towhee, red breasted nuthatch all came to visit. We've had chickadees, juncos, and house finches as regular visitors, along with occasional goldfinches.

Another recent discovery has been "facebook". Funny how one discovers that all of sudden there has been this whole other world of electronic communication out there that they were not aware of. The networking abilities available through this tool seem boundless.

The Long Winter

The long winter continues.......After relatively mild weather through January and most of February, winter came back for at least one last blast this week. Several inches of snow fell in northern Idaho followed by a very strong cold snap. Night temperatures after the storm fell below zero across the inland northwest, breaking records across the region. As snow has many words in different languages, it can have a different feel depending upon temperature. Cold snow, that in the teens or single digits has an almost stiff or crunchy feel when walked upon, perhaps a reflection of its more hardy harsh nature than its warmer cousin at 25 to 32 degrees. We expect more snow this weekend, though temperatures are not expected to be as cold.

Frog Lake 2 Race

This past weekend was our last snow race of the season at Frog Lake. Seems like about 1/3 of the time we visit this race we find rain waiting for us. This time Saturday was gorgeous and the view of Mt. Hood travelling to and from the race were incredible. A storm had passed through two days before leaving the trees covered with snow, so the scenery was stunning. The Frog Lake 2 race is a fun race for everyone. It is not part of the PNC (Pacific Coast Championships) Series, rather a fun race allowing everyone time to get together one last time. The host club, the Cascade Sled Dog Club threw a wonderful barbecue on saturday for all participants with burgers, hot dogs, chili and lots of other side dishes. We also heard that this year, the club was celebrating its 50th year of existence! It is the oldest sled dog club in the northwest. Sunday, the rain caught up with us. The morning was showery, the afternoon for most heats the rain was steady. It cleared up for the awards ceremony though.

I had a pretty good first day, somewhat slower than the last couple races, but this course is listed as being a little longer so that would figure. I later figured out that with the course length as noted as 6 miles we did about the same as we have all season. I am very pleased with the consistency of the team and with the progress that the puppies have made. The Frog Lake 6 dog course is a nice one, it has the longest hill of any of the course that we do for sprint. This weekend with Xena on the team we had to do a few more stops and encouragement as she learned to work with the sams. She is a very hard worker, and no doubt wondering why they were not making quite as much progress as she thought they should be. Below as some photos. The first two are from Frog Lake, start and finish the third is from Priest Lake.