Water dogs...

There were lots of good places to cool off yesterday! Notice the nice new quad. Unfortunately, not mine. My 22 year old piece of crap quad is out on a hunting trip. So I borrowed the neighbor's ATV to run the dogs. Same neighbor who saved me from the bat a couple weeks ago! Ya gotta love neighbors like that. I just left a note on his door--"I borrowed your quad, I'll bring it back later". I did return it full of gas, very muddy, but full of gas! I love the parking gear on that quad, plus it's an automatic. I've been told that automatics suck for training dog teams, but I love it! I hate my quad more after every time I borrow Dean's!


Franklin looks exhausted in this picture. It was their longest run so far this year, but he wasn't tired at all. I don't know if Franklin gets tired. Franklin may look familiar to some readers. His spitting image sisters are frequently referred to as The Monsters on Stacie's blog!


Paxil would like me to point out that she is a snow dog, not a water dog. She got sick of the puddles very quickly and started dragging the team around them! The leader princess does not like wet paws!


Anvik has no wet paw avoidance issues. In his world, the best way to get a drink is to jump right into the water dish. Yes, it's really a bathtub. There are recycled bath tubs in every pen. That way I know they always have water, even when I'm late for work and don't have time to carry buckets around!

Waiting out the weather....

It was snowing when I got up this morning, but that quickly turned to a constant, steady rain that hasn't let up for a second all day. Real sled dog, those who don't moonlight as pampered pets, would be curled up in their doghouses waiting out the weather. My dogs had other ideas:

Ozzy thought it would be a good chance to determine just how dirty one dog can get! His underside and legs are supposed to be white! Oh well, he had fun anyway! There's no way he's coming inside tonight though!

Bandit, who announced his full retirement last spring, spent the day in the comfy chair! I have trouble not tipping that thing, but Bandit never seems to have that problem!

And the cats? Well, they are cats, they would have to wake up to even notice it was raining!

Annie can lead...

Anvik, aka Annie, Annikins, ect, can lead! He took his first run beside Paxil this afternoon. He did alright. I don't think he's done much leading before. He really wanted to run down the road instead of straight across it. We have to cross one road shortly after leaving the yard. Certainly explains how he got to the highway the other night when he jumped the fence! Yup, he can lead and jump 6 foot fences in a single bound!

He didn't really know the commands, but Paxil does so that wasn't a huge issue. More importantly, Anvik had fun up front! He wasn't stressed by it; he was just happy to be running! Since you can never have too many lead dogs, this is a good thing!

I should just go pay his adoption fee now!

Be glad you aren't my neighbor...

This is what my neighbors get to listen to several times a week. The dogs always think I am way too slow hooking them up!

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Aren't you glad you don't live next door?

Snafu Lake trip...

We spent yesterday kayaking on Snafu Lake. Actually made it to all three lakes in the chain!

The day started out like this. Not pretty, but dang it, I had rented a kayak for Stuart and I've been wanting to paddle this lake all year. A little rain was not going to stop me. Good time to test all the fancy paddling clothes I've bought this year. The Level 6 paddling jacket ROCKS!! Stayed dry and reasonably warm too!

The weather got better as the day went on. It cleared up and the beautiful fall colors were much more visible.

The lake is full of loons(and not just the ones in boats!). I love listening to these birds talk and sing.

For a normal kayaker, if there is such a thing, running into a beaver dam like this one, means "that's as far as I can go, time to turn around." Normal is not something anyone would call my husband, so instead of turning around, like I suggested, we portaged over the stupid dam! (The MEC paddling pants and booties did a nice job of keeping my feet warm and fairly dry)

I suppose the scenery was worth struggling over a few beaver dams! Never did see the beavers though!

8 hours later we made it back to the boat launch in one piece and still speaking to each other! Stuart has decided we need to spend more time together so we are going to buy the kayak he rented. I thought I would like it more than my Carolina. It's a Perception Eclipse 17, longer, lighter and faster than the Carolina. It is a nice boat and I did enjoy paddling it, but getting back into my Carolina was like climbing back into your own bed after sleeping in a hotel for a week--familiar, comfortable and damn nice. Stuart liked the bigger cockpit in the Eclipse and since he has issues with feeling like his legs are trapped, he'll be paddling that boat when we go together. I can take either of them the rest of the time!

One last picture...Little Atlin Lake on the way home. If my arms hadn't been dead weights I'd have been tempted to unload the boats and paddle it too! Oh, well, next time!

How to make a dumped sled dog happy....

How to make a dumped sled dog happy again?

The easiest way is just to let him be a sled dog again! See any new husky butts in the picture??

Introducing Anvik! Anvik's been at the shelter for a several months and wasn't doing very well. The staff had him to the vet last week as they thought he was ill. The vet's diagnosis was that Anvik was one depressed dog! Since he's already trained to be a sled dog, I said we'd "foster" him. Foster in quotes since regular readers will know that around here that often means I just haven't paid the adoption fee yet!

He's fitting in really well. He's a bit of a howler which is odd sinc the shelter staff said they'd never heard his voice. He never, ever made a sound when I saw him in his kennel. But he's been howling his fool head around here, especially if he's alone. I moved him into Sundin's pen so he'd have a buddy and it seems to help shut him up too! He might be good for Sundin too. Anvik can't get enough attention. He's very socialable. Sundin is just starting to come out of his shell. This afternoon while I was playing with Anvik, Sundin was taking treats from my hand and even gave me a couple quick kisses.

This was the first time Sundin has ever jumped up for a treat in the 10 months he's lived here!

Anvik has only been here for a few days, but he came for his first training run this evening.

He knew exactly what was going on and he was very happy about it. He sounded like a seal!

He ran beside Chum without any trouble. That's a testament to a solid temperment. Chum can be a serious pain in the ass to other dogs sometimes, but Anvik didn't care; he was too busy running to bother with Chum!

It's kinda nice having a newbie that doesn't think people are all evil! Anvik is a little needier than I'm used to, but that's nice in it's own way!

Freakin' Cats!!!

I love my cats, I really do and usually they cause me much less trouble than the dogs do. So why am I up in the middle of the dang night posting about my cats?? Well, simply because I am too freaked out to go back into my bedroom! Boots the Mighty Hunter Kitty brought me a present tonight. I am quite used to cleaning up mouse entrails and bird feathers. Boots does a fine job of keeping the cat enclosure free of stupid small creatures--only the stupid or suicidal mouse would go into a fenced area full of cats!!

Don't let this sweet face fool you. It hides the heart of feline mass murderer!! Tonight, Boots outdid himself though. He brought me a BAT. Now I have no problem with bats, even like having them around. Those little guys eat a whole lot of bugs. I do have a small problem with bats in my bedroom! I have a slightly larger problem with that situation when my husband has left just hours earlier to go sheep hunting.

So with much screaming, cuz ya gotta scream when a bat is flying around your bedroom, I have shooed the critters out of the room and sealed it off--except for a couple open windows, which hopefully the bat will find it's way out of. I am praying it's not as stupid as the mice that Boots catches and I'm hanging out in the office since I can guarentee it's a bat-free zone!