OK, I admit. I should have posted sooner. I've been busy! So....

Yes - I did sign up for Iditarod again. Thanks to Ted and Joyce Griffith and Pacific Tugboat Services, who made it possible in the nick of time! The sign up picnic was lots of fun. After the picnic, several teachers who use Iditarod as part of their curriculum came to visit the kennel, along with Hugh Neff, who is always hilarious to talk with.

And yes - I did get my Iditarod license plate. To date, a total of 687 individual people have ever finished the Iditarod. Of those, probably less than 2/3 live in Alaska and drive a vehicle here. Only those people are qualified to get one of these very special license plates. I don't think their is a cooler car in Alaska, maybe anywhere.

Happy Solstice to everyone. Around here, Solstice is a big deal. After June 21, the days start getting shorter again. That means winter is on its way!

And that means Sign Up for next year's Iditarod is just around the corner, too - next weekend, to be precise. And while I am DEFINITELY planning to sign up and race in 2011, I might not be able to swing the entry fee just yet. So don't panic if you don't see my name on the list. We have until then end of November to get our entries in.

And here's a little fix for all you puppy junkies:

Some pictures by Martha Ethridge

Free time in the dog lot

Uncle Barley and Halo (4 weeks)

Hellix (Deja's pup) at 2 weeks. Eyes just opened!

Knee surgery on May 20 had me out of commission - even sitting up at the computer was more than I could handle for over a week. Now that the swelling is under control, I am making progress. It is supposed to take 7 months before I can return to sports. As long as we don't consider fall training 'sports', I should be great for next season!

The only exciting thing to happen during this entire time was that Deja had a pup on May 23! She was not supposed to be pregnant, and didn't show even one sign. But when she started getting restless and upset one evening, we knew what was going on. We made her a nest in the office, which she continually abandoned in favor of my lap. She was nervous and unsure, and just wanted to be with us - very atypical, as mothers tend to want to whelp in privacy. Being on my lap was a bit of a problem considering I was only 3 days post-op, so we made her a space on the couch next to me. And that is where she had her single pup, a tiny but strong male. Once she had the pup, she was instantly a protective mama, and was happy to keep him cuddled close in the office.

The pups eyes opened yesterday, the same day as the leaves finally started to unfold. Dogs are enjoying free time running around in our giant fenced pasture. Mud has mostly dried up, and I can hear 4 or 5 different bird calls from my deck. Definitely spring!

Harp - hamming it up

Halo yawning

Barley LOVES puppies!

Back in 2006 when were first starting to build our kennel, before we even bought them, there was an accidental breeding between Fly and Angel.  Not that it was a bad match up, but we were just getting started, and weren't even contemplating raising our own pups yet. But that litter became the core of our team. In the 2009 Iditarod, all six of them made the team, 5 finished, and one made it over 800 miles to Unalakleet. This year the five finishers made the team again, and Deja (the 6th) was ruled out only because she was in heat. So we were pretty excited to try that match up again, and hoping for a nice sized litter to keep our kennel numbers up as some of the older dogs approach retirement.  

Angels pups weren't due until May 3rd, but I've never seen any woman - human, dog, or horse - stick to the schedule someone else told them to follow when it comes to having babies. So we were keeping an eye on things. Angel was already established in a cozy, dry stall in the barn so that she would be comfortable and happy when it came time for her to deliver.

Thursday night (April 29) was no different than any other.  She wolfed down her food, just like any good sled dog should. Usually the first sign that labor is coming on will be when the dog refuses a meal, but this doesn't mean much when it comes to Angel - she doesn't follow this rule either. On her last litter, between delivering pups, she got up and went over to her food dish and insisted on being fed when all the other dogs were. Then she went back and laid down and had three more pups. So we weren't expecting her to give us much notice.

Around 10:30 Varan went out to shut the doors to one of the other barn stalls. When he came back in he told me that Angel was acting really restless.  So I set my alarm, and an hour later we went out to check on her. Still restless, definitely something was up. But who knows, it could be indigestion. Back out at 1:30 a.m. to check again, and there was a tiny dark female pup, latched on and nursing strongly.

I sat up for the next hour with Angel, waiting for the next pup. Not that she needed my help - sled dogs rarely have any trouble whelping. But I wanted to see her pups born - I've been there for all our litters so far. She seemed to be in labor, panting and grunting lightly, but never started pushing. Finally about 2:30 I got cold and went inside. At 5:00 I went back out to check again, and still just the one pup. Angel was dozing and no longer seemed to be in labor. It is possible to have a litter of one, but I just thought something was not quite right.

I called in to work and loaded Angel and her pup into the back of the car. We were headed for the vet in Wasilla, over an hour away. A quick x-ray showed one more pup, way up under the rib cage. There was no way of knowing if the pup was still viable, but it sure couldn't stay in there! There was no obvious reason the pup hadn't come yet, as it wasn't even near enough to the birth canal to actually get stuck, and Angel was full of energy, obviously not too tired to get the job done.

I sat with Angel for an hour while we waited to see if a shot of oxytocin would get the contractions going again. And another hour, to see if two would do the trick. Still nothing, and it was time to get that pup out. Angel headed into surgery for a C-section, and I headed to work to get caught up on a couple of important projects. Around 2:00 the vet called to tell me that everything went great, and they delivered a strong female pup who 'came out screaming' and started nursing immediately. 

Angel and pups are home now, in a nest in the study. All our pups are usually bred, born, and raised outside, like the tough sled dogs they are. But with her stitches Angel needs to be kept extra clean, and this way we can really keep an eye on her. Lucky for us, all our dogs have spent plenty of time indoors and are happy to come in to visit, unlike most sled dogs who find it terrifying.

Uncle Barley has been dieing to come in to visit the new pups (one of his primary duties), and Angel is perfectly relaxed about having a pitbull kiss her newborns. He is very respectful and approaches carefully to make sure he isn't going to piss off mama, but he takes his job as puppy nanny very seriously.

As you can see from the pictures, the pups (one day old in these photos) are fat and healthy, and mom is alert and relaxed.

The birch trees all look as if lit by the dawn, buds swelling with rosy color. Soon there will be the delicate unfurling of new green leaves, but not yet, not quite. The snow is creeping back on itself, revealing the dry crackle of last year's grass.  Icy puddles give way each day to luscious, oozing mud. Snow buntings flock from dry patch to tree top, a frantic  activity that's been absent since the winds of autumn blew them south. A few lone cranes go skirling overhead, sounding lonely and remote. Melt water trickles quietly. The sun circles, setting briefly in the north.  

The fundraiser last weekend was great! We had lots of fun, saw lots of friends, and raised some money towards next year's Iditarod. So far we are just under $4,000 - and it is still only April, the first month of the 'new year'. Our projected costs are close to $35,000, so we have a way to go yet...click here for a break down of costs.

For those of you who don't know, our home town in Mt Baldy California (yes, southern California!) has some of the best steep, challenging skiing anywhere. Varan and I were both pretty serious, experienced skiers, although we don't get much opportunity now that dogs take up all our time and money. BUT the snow was incredible on our trip south this year, and we got in several excellent days on super steep, fun terrain.

And I got to host the fundraiser and do my presentation in a full leg splint after blowing out my ACL. It was completely worth it, because that knee has been giving me trouble for some time and it was bound to go eventually. Better now at the beginning of summer than during the training season! Surgery should happen in a couple of weeks - I don't have details yet.

Shari and Andy Megaw have made another beautiful quilt to raffle off. The drawing will be held next February, right before Iditarod. See the store for more information. Last year the quilt raised almost $500! We have such awesome, creative sponsors!

And last, but not least, Angel is due to have pups in early May. We don't know yet how many names we'll need, but we were thinking it would be cool to do an 'Angel theme' litter. We need your help! Send us your ideas. Names should fit the Angel theme, should be one or two syllables only, and preferably not people names. So far we have come up with: