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Solstice in Alaska means the daylight never ends - lots of time to get work done!! We've been clearing trail, digging drainage ditches, re-painting the trailer, doing maintenance... there is a long list of things that must be done before the snow flies (it's never far from our minds).
The pups are growing and turning into little terrors. We turn Barley the vicious pit bull loose on them. Yes, I know it looks like he is eating them for lunch, but they keep coming back for more....
Last year we got 3 pups from Ryan Redington's best dogs in exchange for caring the pups during the summer while he was on the glacier. Ryan liked the pups so well that he bred the same parents again and we're going to split another litter. So Crackle is back at our house and had her pups last night. There are seven new ones.
They are one week old in these pictures, and already much bigger than on day one. In another week or so, their eyes will be opening, and by about 3 weeks they will be toddling around. But for now they don't do much but eat and sleep and make little whimpery sounds. In a year they will be big, athletic, tough sled dogs. Hard to believe looking at their tiny faces right now!
The dogs will spend the summer sunning and loafing around. They deserve a break after all their work this winter. And anything over 50 degrees is just too hot for them anyway. While we humans may also deserve a break, we have plenty to keep us busy for the next few months, with major improvement projects around the kennel and the possibility (just maybe) of working on our own house which needs some work as well. But starting next winter we have big plans for these dogs. Our goal for next year is to complete a 300 mile race, necessary to qualify for the Iditarod. I’d like to compete in the daunting Copper Basin 300 – the toughest 300 mile race in Alaska. But this race is notorious for very bad trails, with the potential for injuring dogs. We will have to weigh the options and see what it looks like at the time. If the trail isn’t good, we could run the Klondike or the Don Bowers. In addition to the 300 mile qualifier, I’d like to run as many other two hundred milers as we can fit in our schedule and also do the Goose Bay 120 again. The more experience for me and for our young dogs, the better. We are also seriously considering the Serum Run, an 800 mile re-enactment of the famous race to save Nome. The Serum Run covers much of the Iditarod Trail and would be a great learning experience for the entire team. But it is a much larger commitment than a 2-3 day race, so we will have to decide this fall if we can swing it. A lot will depend on the progress of our very young team. All of this will prepare us for running the Iditarod in the following season! Stay tuned for more developments at Blue on Black.
Well, my trip to Nome at the end of Iditarod was probably a mistake. While I was there I spent a lot of time hanging out with a lot of mushers. All of them just laughed when I said I really wasn't sure if I wanted to run the Iditarod. The consensus was that I should quit trying to fight the addiction and just get on with it.
So....Next year we will race and train and let our little pups grow up into sled dogs. Then we'll point our sights towards Iditarod in 2009. If we can find a way to finance the enormous expenses of training and racing....If we can find the time to train and take care of the millions of chores that come with the dogs....If I am tough enough to survive 1,000 grueling miles in subzero temperatures over trails that you just can't prepare for....
To help us kick off our 24 month project, my mother and my aunt threw a "Fishing for Funding" salmon bake in Mt. Baldy, our home town. The turnout was truly impressive and they even found several people willing to sponsor a dog.
This is a great start - but we have a long way to go.
Maybe we should call it the Purple, Green, and Blue on Black Kennel... All this from a tiny little tip-over at slow speeds. Just happened to land right on a punji stake. (This bruise got much more impressive later, while I was in Nome. Eventually it extended to mid calf and turned some very violent colors)
For the next week or so we will be wrapped helping with Iditarod. As far as running the dogs, our racing season is over and the puppies are learning to become sled dogs. We'll run lots of miles between now and break up, but we may not have much worth posting. Unless something really interesting happens, we'll see you next season...
We harness broke the Cinco de Mayo pups today. They looked like they were born running in a team and were very excited to get harnessed up. They’ve been watching teams leave the yard all winter, and they knew exactly what was happening. We did a quick 2 miles, and they never put a foot wrong. It will be fun to watch them develop and learn this spring. We will get the KWS litter into harness soon – it is just a matter of finding time to run all these dogs!!
This is the third weekend in a row that we were out racing our dogs. This is the pay-off for all those months of training and toil. Varan took the team in the Nome Sign 40, a quick one-day race from Knik Lake, down the Iditarod Trail to the sign that points to Nome.
We had a leisurely morning and showed up at the lake about 10:45, plenty of time for the 1:00 start. That’s when all the Redingtons ran over and told us the start was in 15 minutes. They had the dogs out of the truck and harnessed, and the sled set up in just a few minutes. It is great having a pit-crew that really knows what they are doing!
Varan didn’t even have time to get nervous before he pulled the hook and roared off down the trail. As usual, we had Scooby and Angel in lead. They completed the race in just under 3 ½ hours, taking third place.
He was all smiles, and very proud of how well the dogs responded to him.
Ryan Redington has watched our team in the last couple of races, and knows that they are well trained and ready to go. His two best leaders were recently injured, and he has asked to borrow our Angel for the Iditarod. We are excited for Angel, who truly loves to race, and also proud that one of our dogs would be considered good enough to help head up a Redington team.
On the other hand, she is a strange little dog, and very picky. She doesn’t warm up to people very quickly, and may not work well until she knows Ryan better. The best way to her heart is to run her, so we hope Ryan has enough time to win her over.
All week we did short, fast, fun runs, in an effort to get the dogs moving a little bit faster for our next race. The dogs were definitely able to do the distance, they just needed to lope instead of trot.
I was very intimidated at the start of the Goose Bay 120. The place was crawling with top teams - Ryan Redington, Martin Buser and his son Rohn, Cim Smyth, Zach Steer and his handler, Tim Osmar, and Jason Mackey, to name a few. I knew my dogs were slower than they should be, and I was just praying we wouldn’t be that last team out there, hours behind the pace.
We had a lot of good help at the start, and several friends from work showed up to get us going. We started in 9th, and easily cleared the starting chute. The road crossing caused problems for several teams, but Scooby and Angel sailed right through. They both led the whole race, and are becoming a really nice duo up front.
Just a little bit of fine tuning last week made a big difference – the dogs were really moving! We passed a few teams, and went about 30 miles before anyone passed us. We rolled into the ½ way point with only 5 teams in front of us!
Ryan told me that he kept expecting to pass me, and when several hours had gone by he thought maybe I had taken a wrong turn and gotten lost. Turns out we were just faster than anyone expected.
After caring for the dogs, we went up to Luce’s Roadhouse for spaghetti. It was fun hanging out with the “big time” mushers and listening to their banter. They all wondered who the heck I was. Someone even asked me whose dogs I was running, assuming I must be running dogs from a known kennel to have a team up near the front. That made me feel pretty good, but I wasn’t sure if we could maintain our speed on the second half of the race.
The eight hour layover seemed to go on forever, and all the dogs were restless long before it was time to go. I tried to nap, but I was restless too and didn’t sleep a bit. We had to wait an extra 30 minutes to make up for the start time differential, so several more teams got to leave before we did.
As I was getting the dogs ready to leave they were all screaming and leaping, excited to get running again. With about 7 more minutes to go, I was bootying my leaders, and just about ready to pull the front hook that holds out the leaders. Then I would stand on the brake and hold the sled until I was cleared to go.
But the dogs had other ideas – they easily ripped the snow hooks out of the soft, fluffy snow, and ran over the top of me. I managed to grab the sled as it went by, but the dragging snow hook was trapped under the sled, and mostly useless anyway in the soft snow. I flipped the sled on its side and used it as anchor to stop the team, but it took about 100 feet before they came to a halt. They continued to leap and lunge, jerking the sled forward bit by bit. I laid on the overturned sled, waiting for a checker to come help me hold them until it was time to go.
It ended up taking four of us to hold them for those last few minutes – the dogs were very strong! As the checker counted down, they all helped me turn the sled upright, yank out the snow hook and take off running, all in one motion.
We had a nice run down the Susitna River. There were a few headlamp lights just behind me, and some just in front, but I ran by moonlight most of the way back. This was partly for enjoyment, but also because I didn’t want the nearby teams to see how close I was and try to catch me. We loped all the way back, stopping only to snack the dogs and give them a quick scratch.
We finished the race at 6:30 in the morning, and came in 10th place out of 24 good teams. I was amazed and really proud of our dogs. Our good friend Ryan won the race, beating out the Busers and all those other top teams. He stuck around to see us finish, and all the Redingtons helped me put the dogs up. Poor Varan was still at home – we had no idea I would finish that early!
We celebrated our anniversary by finishing the Don Bowers 200 early in the morning, then sleeping it off for the rest of the day.
Karin brought the team to a 6th place finish. Not very competitive, but we learned a few things and had a good time. Diana Moroney, Erin Redington, and Barb Redington all came out to the start to help us get going. It was really neat to have such prestigious handlers!
The weather was very warm, which made it tough on the dogs - they prefer it to be about 10 below, not 25 above. The trail was slow and very punchy, but we didn't have any serious injuries, and everybody finished the race in good shape.
I learned that our dogs our better trained and better behaved than most of the other teams in the race. It seemed that no one out there could pass without causing enormous tangles, fights, and general mayhem. Our dogs sailed right by, even when we had to detour into deeper snow to get past. I was very proud of them, and several other mushers commented on what a great job they did. However, I also learned that we need to train a little faster - we were slower than I expected.
Scooby led the whole race and was fantastic! I am really proud of him - he just recently started leading but is already a real pro. Angel of course was also super in lead. The rest of the dogs worked hard and did a great job, too. Fly and Skeeter had to learn to rest, not goof around when we stopped, but they figured it out very quickly!
The first leg of the race was mostly in daylight. Lots of teams bunched up, lots of passing. The more competitive teams ran right through, 100 miles to the layover. I didn't want to push the dogs that hard, so after 6 hours of running, we pulled over to camp. I fed and watered the dogs, took care of their feet, and let them rest 4 1/2 hours. Then we pulled out and ran another 7 hours to the half way point.
The second leg was tortuous for me, although the dogs appreciated the cooler night temperatures. Lots of body parts hurt, and my lower back was on fire. I was nauseated from fatigue, couldn't focus my eyes, and it was a battle to stay awake and keep going. If I could have just laid down to sleep, I would have quit right there. We arrived at the half way point at 6 in the morning. At that point I had been going for 24 hours with only a 45 minute catnap, and I was trying to figure out why I was putting myself through this torture.
Dog care and settling in for our 8-hour break helped me to wake up and I started feeling better. It took me about an hour to get the dogs fed, watered, and bedded down. Then I sorted through my gear, prepared the next meal, and repacked the sled. At this point I wasn't even sleepy anymore, but I lay down in the straw with the dogs and had a couple of short naps.
We checked out at 2 pm and had a much faster run back. I was tired, but functioning well. And once we started catching and passing teams, I remembered why sled dog racing is fun.
After 6 hours of running, we stopped for a 3 hour rest (I dozed for maybe an hour), and then pushed on. The dogs are amazing - once I started getting ready to go again, they leaped to their feet and were shouting and leaping to run. We pushed on through to the finish about 6 on Sunday morning, and I slept all the way home while Varan drove.
We are already thinking about next race, the Goose Bay 120 this coming weekend.
Bad news - Kroto and Maggot are back on the injured list. After several good runs, we took a last few longer runs and they both started showing problems again. As disappointed that we are that they won't get to race this year, it is much better to find out now, rather than have problems in the middle of a race.
Luckily we have GREAT friends in the dog mushing world. Ryan Redington immediately loaned us two more nice dogs to round out our team. We picked up Redline and Annie tonight and ran them for the first (and only) time before the race. They fit right in and worked well with the other dogs. We owe a big thank you to Ryan and Erin!!
We are prepping for the Don Bowers 200, which starts on Friday the 26th. So we've been snacking up meat (cutting it into "snack" size chunks), rolling booties (bundling up sets of 4 booties per dog), filling tubes with foot ointment, and getting all the gear assembled. During the race we will go through about 50 pounds of commercial kibble, 30 pounds of ground meat, 40 pounds of snacks, and 200 booties.
Meanwhile, we are still putting miles on the dogs, mostly 20 and 30 mile runs. Kroto and Maggot are back in harness and doing great after a week and half of rest.
We tried Scooby in lead last week, and suddenly he is one of our top leaders! The big dumb boys often lack the focus to lead. They bounce around, look behind them, get distracted. Not Scooby - this guy wants to run, and he keeps the line tight. He also knows his gees and haws very well, which was unexpected.
The team is looking great and moving fast with Scooby in lead.
Our dogs spend a lot of time playing and wrestling when they are at home. Barley is usually in the middle of it. This photo was taken after a 20 mile run - Kroto and Fly are clearly not tired!
Sunday I was out on a training run, planning to go for 5 hours or so. Just as I was congratulating myself for training all season with no injuries, I noticed that Kroto's head was bobbing - just a little. I watched. He didn't start limping, but that little head bob kept up. He was still pulling like a maniac, but with only 12 dogs we can't afford to loose any due to injury. I was weighing the options - cut the run short, or see if he could keep going without too much damage. I looked over the rest of the team. They all looked great! Except, wasn't that Maggot with just a hint of limp? We headed home. Maggot and Kroto are fine, just a little stiff. But they'll need a week or two off in order to be sure they are completely healed before the Don Bowers race at the end of January. Hopefully they won't loose too much condition during their time off...
The miles are adding up, and the dogs are doing great. Our sites are still set on the Don Bowers 200, starting on January 26. Last week we did our first 40 mile run. With 3-4 inches of fresh snow, our pace was a bit slow, but everyone worked hard and kept their lines tight to the end. They were all in good spirits when we finished - rolling in the snow and happy to be home.
Kroto, our yearling, is doing great. He has proven to be VERY enthusiastic about being a sled dog, and is a hard worker. But as we increase our mileage, we watch him closely. Sometimes young dogs will get really discouraged when they start to get tired. They don't know that they can run 40 miles - they've never done it before. They don't know that we won't push them too hard, that we will stop before the team is exhausted. So while our more experienced dogs will tough it out and finish up a longer run even if they start to tire, a younger dog may decide they just can't keep going. While Kroto was clearly tired on the last few miles of our long run, he never slacked off. He would start to droop, and they you could visibly see him redirect his energy, tighten up his line, and keep on trudging. We are really glad we kept this pup!
Maggot is proving herself to be a true leader, taking on the role of instructor as she teaches some of the other dogs how to lead. She has learned the trick of bumping her co-leader over onto the correct trail if they don't respond to a direction command. And she will put her head down and just drag them down the trail if they are not keeping the line tight. This is hard work, and proves that she really knows her job AND has a desire to do it.
Today we plan to go up to the start of the Knik 200. After helping the racers get started, we'll hook up our own dogs and do a nice long run on a new trail. For the next 3 weeks, we'll be putting in lots of miles. We have been out with the dogs 4-8 hours a day, 5 days a week (they get Mondays and Fridays off), and this will continue until the end of the race season. We'll post some updates when we have a spare moment.....
SNOW, SNOW, SNOW!!! (Finally) With over a foot on the ground, and more on the way, we finally have snow to run on! We even have enough to leave the yard with a full team of 12. The trail out of our house is no picnic, but with the new snow it can now be done. Happy Solstice!!
We are gradually adding miles, getting the team ready to do a race in mid-late January. In a typical race, you run 5-6 hours (50-60 miles), then rest for 5-6 hours, then run, then rest, in equal amounts. Our longest training run so far was 22 miles, so we're a bit behind. But even when we increase mileage the dogs come in happy and energetic. No injuries so far, so we must be doing something right.
Last week I never made it in the door and out of my gear before 9:30 p.m. Then I still need to shower, eat, and get ready for work the next day. I haven't yet had time to grocery shop or run any errands. Good thing I got my Christmas shopping done early before we started running longer...
The longer runs mean longer nights of training, less sleep for us, and more doubt - can we really do this? There is never enough time, there is never enough money. How can we find the time to put in 40 and 50 mile runs?
And we still don't know if we can afford this adventure. Everything is costly, from a larger mortgage to get the land we needed, to vet bills, to feed costs that are more than we budgeted for.
The only way to see if we can do it is to jump in with both feet. But now we're wondering if we're in over our heads. We have so much invested in this; heart and soul and money, and so many people rooting for us. So, we carry on. The house doesn't get cleaned, but the dog lot does. We aren't eating steak, but the team is. Choices, choices. Can't wait to see what's next.....
Ugh - we have rain, sleet, and sloppy wet snow. Back to the four wheeler. Sigh. Wet conditions are miserable - it's easy to get cold if you are already wet. Much easier than if it is nice and cold and dry. The wet is also much harder on the dog's feet. They are more prone to cuts and splits in the webbing when their feet are soaked and soft. Also, once it gets cold again, that wet snow will freeze into sharp, slicing crystals.
We're trying to figure out which races we can pull of this year. Most of the distance races are in December and January. With our late start to training, the dogs won't have the miles to do a distance race (200 miles or more) until late January. We're hoping that Varan will run the Don Bowers 200 on the last weekend in January. Karin will do some other shorter races - maybe the Chugiak 25/25 in mid December (if there is snow) and the Nome Sign 40 in early February. We'll keep you posted.
Had a good run last night. We trucked to the dog trails and I ran 10 dogs back home with the sled (Scooby and Kroto are still on rest but they'll get to run this weekend). The dogs are pretty crazy right now - early season and first sled runs get them more excited than usual. Maggot was being a little brat and taking wrong turns. On minimal snow, and with over- excited dogs there was no way to stop, so we went a few places I wasn't planning on going...and ended up doing about 18 miles. As soon as I could, I put Cricket up in lead (she doesn't know much, but at least she won't argue with Angel), put Maggot way back in the team, and moved Iggy up to swing to give us a little more control. We roared back into our yard with tons of energy, so I don't think the bump in miles bothered them any.
Well, there is good news and there is bad news. First, we got a bit more snow, so were are now running sleds. The dogs love the switch, and so do we. But....we tried out the trail leaving from our house, and it ain't pretty. We took 2 small teams of 5 dogs each. That's the most excitement I've had with a small team in a long time!
After scooting down a steep hill and banging over the railroad tracks, the trail dives down another steep drop, and then makes a sharp right turn. It wouldn't be so bad after the dogs have had a mile or two to burn off their hysteria. But right off the bat it is a bit scary. I don't think we want to do that with a full team!
The next mile of our trail is also do-able but a little ugly. Lots of side hills, sloping overflow (slick frozen water on top of the snow), and plenty of trees to skip off of.
Tomorrow I will spend some time with the saw and loppers, and see if I can straighten out some of the tighter turns.
Every dog in the team is important. But without good leaders, you aren’t going anywhere. If your leader decides to stop, the whole team must stop (or you end up with a humongous tangle as they all pile up). Your leader also determines the direction that the whole team will go. A leader that responds to gee and haw is essential. Generally, you can’t turn the team around in place, so once your leader takes you down the wrong trail, that is where you will be going.
Having two good leaders is nice. It’s even better to have several to choose from in case someone gets tired or hurt, and to give the main leaders a break from the pressure of guiding the team and responding to commands.
You can’t buy a good leader. You can never have enough good leaders, and no one wants to sell a dog that could keep your team going towards the finish line. We are lucky to have Angel, our super leader. She does everything right; she keeps the line tight during runs, is a perfect command leader, and keeps the team moving at a good pace.
We are working to train up other leaders for our team, and have several good candidates who are learning the skills. This week Maggot made some big strides towards becoming a good leader by learning to “line out”. When you are hooking the dogs to the gangline or stopped for a break out on a run, your leaders must stay at the front of the line and hold the team out. If they come back to visit with other dogs in the team, you end with a 50 foot long string of dogs tied in a giant knot.
While Angel lines out beautifully, she is a little girl and usually can’t override a partner who is determined to go the wrong way. So we have been training the new leaders how to line out. We show the dogs where we want them to go (down the trail), and correct them if they turn around or start to come back to the team. In the chaos of hooking up, it is hard to know if they understand.
In the last few runs, it seems that Maggot has figured out what we are asking for, and has held the line tight while we’ve clipped in the rest of the dogs. She is also responding to directional commands, and does a great job bouncing down the trail on the ‘sharp end’. As we start to do longer runs, we’ll see if she has the focus to stay up front and keep leading even when she’s tired.
Fly is also shaping into a leader, although he’s had less time up front recently since Angel is in heat. We have plans to try Alice, Cricket, Skeeter, and maybe even Scooby up front.
If you spend much time around dog mushers, you know that keeping the dogs healthy and fit is one of our biggest interests. It is a constant topic of conversation. Usually this revolves around training (“How far ya going?”), what is going into the dogs (“So what are you feeding?”), and what is coming out of the dogs (OK, do I need to demonstrate?).
In fact, it’s a rare conversation where poop doesn’t at least make an appearance. The quality, quantity, and consistency of the stool is a prime indicator of dog health. It’s also a source of annoyance (it gets on tuglines and sometimes freezes the snaps shut) and even humor (last week when I was cleaning up the yard, Cricket proudly collected a turd and brought it over to my bucket – thanks for the help girl!!).
This week in our yard, the main issue was balls. I told you we don’t shy away from anything when it comes to dog health. If you don’t really want to know, just skip this section…
Scooby and Kroto have quite a bit of hound in them, and don’t have real heavy coats. Even though we haven’t been out for long runs and the weather hasn’t been all that cold, they both got a little nip on their nuts...That is, they got a little frostbite on a very sensitive area. Once the skin has been nipped it is much more prone to problems in the future, so the boys are getting neutered to remove the problem area. The other males in the yard are fine – they have hairy ones…
Angels pups line up for their school photo. Top row: Voodoo, Aberdeen, Trouble, Chase Bottom row: Shotgun, Deja, Highway
The team is working beautifully together. We're running 3-4 days per week, but still only very low miles (about 5). It pays to start them slowly and let their bodies limber up and get fit after the long summer off. But the dogs don't understand that - they want to keep going!! They come in after runs hyped up, goofing around, and wagging for more.
Time becomes precious during training season. There is always more to do, but running comes first. I still have a few more stories floating around in my head, but finding time to put them down and post them is elusive. Maybe this weekend, I keep saying. And another week goes by....
Barley loves his sled. Deja will learn soon.
Once we have enough snow, we will be able to run sleds from our house, but during 4-wheeler training, we have to load up the dogs and truck them to the dog tracks nearby. We've been working hard to get a trailer built so we can start training.
Tonight training began with a 2 mile run. The dogs are ecstatic to be running again, and so are we!
Angels pups, born in late July, are really becoming a handful!
When pups attack.....
After running thousands of miles while training teams for other people, we are working to build our own kennel. We worked our asses off all summer to put in the kennel.
First we cut down a forest and cleared brush.
Then we yanked out the stumps with a backhoe (thanks Dusty - we would have had to rent that thing for a week without your help!)
Next we hauled in gravel and spread out a pad (can you believe we spent $1,400 dollars on dirt?)
Finally, we pounded posts to tie the dogs off.
We also:
All while working full time and trying to have a little fun.
Now we have 8 sled dogs, 10 pups, 4 dogs on loan, and 1 pet dog. It’s time to start training! |
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