Pretending it's winter...

Since winter won't really arrive here this year, we are relagated to using the ATV some more. God, I hate that thing! But a tired husky is a good husky and my dogs have not been tired lately. Yesterday, Heyoka went after Preacher first thing in the mornign, Mac and Founder got into it in the afternoon, then the whole pack of them chased Pacer around in the evening and freaked him right out. Fortunately, there were no injuries or serious alteracations, but it was painfully clear that there would be and soon. The dogs needed to run!

So I hooked up a 7 dog team, should have been 8, but Hobo wanted to run and he has to run alone. There were nine dogs in total as Mac and Daisy(not one of mine, but she tags along anyway) ran loose. I consider them my early warning system. I always know when there is something ahead of us on the trail and can kind of prepare for it. Unfortunately, their reaction is the same to a loose dog, a hiker, a skier or a moose so I never know exactly what is coming at us!

"Why are we stopping? Put the camera away, we don't need a break yet!" They ran 15km with very little help from me and never did need a break. Several of them would have run the loop again!

The trails were very busy today. It's too nice out so everyone is out walking. I greatly prefer it when it's -25C and almost everyone stays home! Pingo lead us by several loose dogs, walkers and skiers without incident. She has picked up Paxil's habit at barking at people with loose dogs--"Get your **&%$%$ @## dog outta my way!"

I was a little worried about this combination when I hooked them up. Franklin and Deuce have never met and certainly never run together, but they are similar in size and stride. I tend to worry about Deuce as I'm still waiting for the aggression I was warned about to suddenly surface. I suppose after 7 months I can relax a bit. I've never seen any sign of aggression from Deuce. He's a great dog and it makes me ill to think his extreme energy level almost cost him his life!

Franklin has issues with loose dogs. He has no problem with other teams or people, skiers, or skidoos. It's just loose dogs. He has been jumped so many times, that now he is the aggressor. He's an alligator. I've been trying to run him when the trails were quiet and hopefully build up his confidence. Turns out that putting him beside Deuce may have done just that. Deuce has a one track mind in harness. He's working and that's it. He keeps his head down and his tug line tight. He never veers off the trail, never even looks up at distractions. Today when Franklin thought about going after a yappy little Jack Russell, Deuce kept him on the trail and moving straight ahead. Franklin never had any negative interactions with any dogs today! I will be running these two together much more often!

Tuckered out Deucey! I love his frosty look! He's very sweet when he's tired too. No bouncing into my nose which makes him much more pleasant to pet!

Ozzy and Antare, just because I adore these two timid little souls.

Going to do a snow dance tonight...hate the ATV, hate it! I just need enough to convince myself I could set a snowhook if I had to!