Sometime while I wasn't looking, Paxil got old. How did I miss that!??
I took her for a walk tonight with Tehya. Probably not a great mix, but there is so much I'd like Tehya to learn from Paxil. We went maybe four kilometres. That was probably as far as she could go. Tehya knocked her over twice acting like, well, a young dog! I called her a hooligan, but she was really just being Tehya! Getting up the big hill on the way home took two tries. There's no way she'd get up that hill leading a team.
In her prime and well beyond, she was the best damn lead dog ever---unfailing, strong, smarter than her musher, always reliable and willing. The first dog team I ever ran was lead by Paxil. Last winter her tug line wasn't always tight and she had slowed down, but she still wanted to go and she never missed a command, unless I was dead wrong and told her to "gee" when she knew I meant "haw". I suspect she will still want to go this winter(this fall even when I get brakes on the quad again!). She will be seriously ticked when I leave her in the yard! I'm gonna hear all about how much she hates retirement, so will everyone in the subdivision!
I will hate her retirement almost as much as she does! Her lead dog booties will be hard to fill!
