September 23rd When the Mood Strikes

Sometimes I wax poetic. I know it is a flaw of mine, but it's been with me since childhood.

Ode to my Demon Elvis

From the winds you came to me
Heart of the wild, soul of the free
The pain in your eyes no mystery
The person you loved left you in misery

With hopeful regard you came to my home
Trusted as I gave you a place to roam
Without a word you became my best friend
My staunch supporter until the very end

Your only wish was to see me smile
And to run mile after mile
Grateful for the food in your bowl
Your gentle love made me whole

Spirit of the wolf, singing to me
Speaking of our bond beyond eternity
You connect deeply with my inner child
And I join you in your call of the wild

Our howls lift gently with the wind
Timeless, ageless; without end
Ancestors hear our hallowed call
Around the fires of late fall

They join in our song of ages
Through history’s uncharted pages
A song before records began
When the first wolf came to the camp of man

Took the race team out Saturday and wow! Buck did great with the team!

He and Bandit were screaming to go, and according to Jim, they got a little snappy because we didn't get moving fast enough. Well, the attitude is great, the snappy, not so much, so will be working with those two, on that. It may be they were biting at the neck line in excitement, but still sounds like some obedience work is needed.

We went to the 1.25 mile mark (the donkey farm) and back for 2.5 miles the fastest yet! Only one problem on the way, Bandit stepped over the gangline, so I had to stop before he got rubbed by the line under the armpit. On the way back, Freya decided that she wanted to go through the hunting grounds behind us and turned off on the trail regardless of my 'Gee'... she's normally an awesome leader and does everything flawlessly. Don't know what wild hair got in to her Saturday. This caused me to lock up the breaks and burn out my right rear tire trying to stop the team. The tire popped, and went flat immediately, as I told Freya to 'come around Gee'.

She executed a perfect 130 degree turn onto the road home that time. Just goes to show you they sometimes have a mind of their own about where they want to go. Guess she thought she'd bring home the venison. So, for the last .25 miles I half ran, half rode leaning sideways up the hill home. But what a rush! I have my race team, and they are incredible!

Sunday was no run as now I have to either replace my right rear tier or get a new rig. The small pedal cart has done a great job for a year and a half, but it's time to graduate to a rig I can race with.

Last night we managed to make it to the class. Princess was full of energy and rearing to go (she didn't get her prior to class walk to calm her down), which generally means she was a bit unruly at first. This of course had me a bit flustered, so was probably giving her some wrong clues until corrected by our instructor.

Princess wore herself and me out, but once she was settled enough not to gallop every time I started out, she did great! She knows her stuff, and is getting much better about being touched by other people for reasons other than petting (judges checking her bite, her structure and whatnot). She loves to get petted and freely gives kisses, but isn't so fond of being poked and prodded. She sometimes tries to shrink away from unwanted contact. She started doing it yesterday, but a quick correction and a couple minutes with our instructor and she stopped shying away.

She really is a great pup, and judging by her reaction in harness will make an even greater sled dog! I have no doubt she is probably one of the most intelligent dogs I've had, and after having great intellects like Susie and Valkrys, that's saying a whole lot! She is at least as smart as Freya, and far less of a wild child. She is going to be a tremendous leader if she chooses to lead.

September 14th Weekend Run

Saturday I hooked up Samantha and Moon in lead with Princess and Buck in wheel to the pedal cart. Since Samantha doesn't like the x-back harnesses and is slower than the race team, this turned out to be a good match for Princess and Buck's first run and Moon's second. She kept a good steady slow lope that was easy for the puppies to keep up with and still pull on their harnesses. The pups and Samantha had a blast, almost as much fun as I did! Princess was whining to get going, and as soon as she is done with her show career, she's definitely moving up to the race team. In the meantime Buck will get his shot on the fast team this coming weekend hopefully (weather and time allowing).

Sunday I took out Freya and Yukon in lead with Demon and Bandit. WOW! What a team! Bandit is as frisky and eager to get moving as Freya, but thankfully more controllable! He had no problems keeping the pace with Freya and Yukon! What a powerhouse runner! Demon, on the other hand, was having definite trouble keeping up. He's a great dog and a strong puller, he just doesn't have the fast build. By the 3/4 mile mark, I halted the team to unhook Demon's tug line and let him just run along. He barely kept up, poor guy, so he is going on the puppy team for now. In a way that is a bit of a relief, as he is so shy he would be a lot of trouble taking to a race and I'm not sure I would be able to recover him should he ever get loose in an unfamiliar area.

The race team now consists of Freya, Yukon and Bandit with a possible inclusion of Buck. One thing is clear, though, as fast as they ran, they wore their pads slightly, so it is time to get booties for them. They are ready to hit up the circuit this year! So I'm planning on attending one or two non-pro events to see how they do and get them some experience before hitting the real competition. Their progress is so exciting! I wish I had a radar to clock our speed, cause man did we fly!

Trying to plan out what events to attend, though is a real kicker. The budget is the main constraint, and none of them are very near to where I live. So it's going to be tough.

September 8th PhD And I don't mean the degree...

The whole house was quiet, just a lot of sleeping dogs and I. Jim and James went to visit Jim's parents, and this is what we did while he was gone. (Yes Buck was really sleeping in that position lol). The week of the 30th was spent gettin all my work caught up and getting ready for the Blue Grass Classic. I had meant to go to class on Tuesday, but ended up with a massive headache.
The show started on the 2nd, and we arrived there bright and early.


Believe it or not, Princess was really enjoying herself although it is hard to tell in this pic. She doesn't like me messing with her back legs...

Yes, that was a dogshow, no, me wear a dress? Preposterous! Oh wait...

Princess and I had a great time, met some wonderful people and dogs, and got some more experience. Princess was so cute, every day as soon as she saw me finish my shower and get dressed, she would run from me to the door and whine until we left for the show. 5 days of primping, showing, and hanging out. She is such a pretty girl! We didn't win any majors, but got blue ribbons for her class, and it was great experience.

Princess LOVED all the attention and just had to be in the center of things all the time. If I took her out of the central tent she would whine unless we met up with some people or did something fun. She's such an attention hound! When she thought she could get away with it, she'd play shy hoping to get a treat. If it was for sure she wasn't going to get one, she was miss social.

Unfortunately though, when I got back to work, those days I missed caught up with me.

August 26th 22 Years Ago

I married this guy who became just as much a backwoods hillbilly as me. See what I did to him? LOL!

Gonna miss him for the next few days as he visits his parents, but I'm sure all the dogs will help keep me company. It will also give me the chance to work on a couple of things I've been anxious to get started on. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. First up is the outdoor training area, and second up is my deer blind. I'm itching for some venison sausage this year, and I'm sure the dogs will appreciate some bones, hooves and organ stew.

The weather is getting cooler, and I'm hoping it will be cool enough to hook up the team this evening. If not, hopefully I can get in a quick run in the morning before Jim hits the road.

August 23rd Quick Update

Ok this has to be my all-time favorite Demon pic. Gotta luv it!

Been terribly busy without much time for updating the Blog. Work has me a bit snowed under for the next couple of months. Too bad it isn't real snow.

Still preparing for the Show Sept 2-6 in Lexington, and spent Saturday searching for suitable attire. Saturday evening I grilled out with Princess who I mistakenly put the loop of her lead over the gear shift on the lawn mower. She pulled it out of gear, and it went for a short trip into the side of the shed.

Fortunately the incline was not steep and the mower was only about five feet away from it. But I learned a valuable lesson out of the deal. Never under-estimate the pulling power of a husky, even just a puppy. So I pulled the mower back about three feet, set the parking brake and found something else to keep Princess from straying too far away. The weather was in the mid 80's, but there was a nice mountain breeze blowing that kept me from melting too much.

Sunday we re-arranged and cleaned out the living room where the boys have been spending a lot of time while in the house. We still have Samantha and Freya in standing heat, Xena has seen the end of her heat, but we are still cautious because this is what happened last time with Freya she was out of heat, still got it from Yukon, and she went right back into heat and was pregnant... So no boys with Xena until a week after all girls are over it. Speaking of which, Ace and Princess have yet to go in to heat. Lordy another month of this...

Moon has completely recovered from her surgery, and I even caught her on tape playing in the yard with Princess. Yup, she even left the porch and was running along the back fence, and I have the proof.

Princess and I practiced her stance yesterday and I taught her how to catch a thrown treat. She did great. It will be fun teaching her more tricks once she's done showing. She catches on so fast. I love that little girl.

G'kar is escorted everywhere by the two girls, Freya and Samantha who both vie for his attentions even though he's fixed. Bless the old man for trying to keep up with them, but I think he's gonna hurt himself. Going on fifteen years and feeling his age. I give him a glucosamine biscuit and a doggy asprin every day which helps, as he's much less cranky afterwards. I still worry about him, and know his time is running short. I keep hoping his digestion deals well with the aspirin because I know it is rough on old dogs. So far he's been doing ok with it, and it really helps him with his arthritis. He does have cataracts though, and I'm always careful to call his name before petting him so he knows it's me. He's not an ornery dog ordinarily, but he doesn't like being harassed by puppies, and it puts him at ease to know it is a person touching him. I know a hard decision is ahead of us, but as long as he still likes to run and play fetch I believe his quality of life is still ok. The day he no longer begs to play with his squeaky ball is the day I will dread.