Thursday was cold and rainy, so we stayed indoors and tried to keep the mud from being tracked through the house. We ate at the buffet instead of fixing an elaborate dinner at home. Less cleanup and more variety, win-win in my book.
The pups all got a hot dog treat when we got back, and lots of loving.
Saturday we had a dusting of snow! It was great to see water flowing in the creek again! So, I dragged out the gangline for the ATV and bootied up Bandit's back feet, he wasn't too happy about it at first, but he was so eager to run he ignored the booties. Bucky was his usual screaming whining, neckline biting and yanking self. I really need to get him a chain neck line to break him of that, especially since he yanked so hard, he pulled Yukon's collar off! Good thing he was still hooked up via his harness and was more interested in pulling than running off.
The ATV hadn't been started in 3 weeks, so it did not fire up on the downhill. This slowed the team enough to have trouble getting up the next incline, so I had to jump off and push until they got going with enough momentum. At the next slight downhill I tried again, and it fit started and coughed, and I finally nursed the engine to life alternating between choke and gassing it. We went to the ~1mile mark, and turned around since the dogs had been pulling hard the majority of the way. It was good strength training for them, I suppose. That ATV never truly come fully out of gear when you pull in the clutch all the way. The way the rigged the cable prevents it. I stalled on the turn around, but was easily able to re-start on the downhill and give an assist on the two remaining inclines.
The running dogs all got their frozen meat patty treat, and passed a full checkup including feet. Bandit still had his booties on, and no damage to his rear claws this time. I think he forgot about them because he gave me this really odd look when I took them off. With happy smiles they found their favorite places to nap for a couple of hours.
Sunday I got Princess and Ace harnessed up and got out with the bike, but Ace was having none of it. We went the .25 miles to the bridge, but she just did not want to pull, so despite Princess' protests, we turned around and went back to the house. I switched out Ace for Xena who seemed eager at first, but once past the bridge she began to pull back. Princess was furious that she had to return to the house again, but I didn't want to force either Xena or Ace. She forgot her irritation and frustration when she got her frozen meat patty though, and forgave me for cutting her run short. One good thing is that Princess did pretty well, ignoring the neighbor dog when I said 'Leave it', executing a good Haw, even though she did get confused when I asked her to turn around and go back to the house. A few more team runs with her and I think she will make a great leader. She sure does love to run!
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