Freeze Warning!

Cold morning = good run



Cool sunrise

With temperatures in the upper 20's, it was a good morning to run the dogs.


Ellen: "Please, sir, may I have a run?"

Hooked up with Maggie in lead with Ellen, followed by Browning, then Nick, then Logan and Nucky. Down the field, across the waterway and into the woods. Maggie did pretty good, although she wanted to check out a couple of things off the trail.


"Take that hill!"

The woods were pretty and the trail is the exact opposite or the smooth, straight and flat rail bed - this one has plenty of twists and turns, with enough elevation changes to give quite the workout.


"Bring it on home!"

After just under 3 miles, we took the nice long, steady grade up the field and back home. A nice little jaunt, but I think we're ALL looking forward to really putting some miles on. Kind of depressing to spend twice as much time hooking up as actually running!

FALL TRAINING HAS BEGUN!

IS THAT FOR TRAINING THE DOGS OR THE MUSHER?

Finally, after 6 months of waiting, and several weeks of teasing weather, we have a cool morning and all my gear is in place. Oh, those words I've longed to say:
"Time to run the dogs!!!!"


Staging

Last season, I had four dogs and a puppy. With two additional dogs, plus the pup being a year-and-a-half, I am ready to run seven dogs. Should be interesting!


Hooked up and looking good!

After the usual hijinks of harnessing and hooking up, the team appeared to be ready to go. Alice was already standing backwards with her harness half-over her head, and the new boys were getting hopelessly tangled, but all of that was expected. Usually we get moving and then stop for a quick untangle.

"Usually"

After I unhooked the leaders, Ellen and Nick, from the "line-out tire", mayhem ensued. They turned and ran the other way, around the trailer towards the garage. This pulled the rest of the team sideways, across the fire pit and under the rear of the trailer. I pulled them back to the front of the team, commanded "Line out!" and ran back to the quad. Same issue.


My Ride

"Now what?" I wondered. It is true we were running out of our yard on a new trail, and in the past, we ran off the opposite side of the farm, so it could be they were thinking they needed to go over there. Or, it could be that Nick wanted to check out the kitties in the garage, as he does when allowed to run free in our yard.

"Line out!" Hmm, this is getting ridiculous! And dangerous - the new brothers, Logan and Nucky, had shown me at the CopperDog race last year that they were adept at tangling themselves - up and over like the Russian tumblers on Ed Sullivan! (Yes - I really AM that old!) In fact, they were so incredibly tangled with Maggie and Browning in wheel, that the four of them were basically hooked together side-by-side. Oh, now Alice is chewing at her harness.


Alice

So, I unravel as best as I can (in other words, enough to at least get them in line), and try once more. This time, Nick decides maybe he should toss in the towel, and he pulls the entire team through the gate into the dogyard! Poor Biscuit, who was the only one left in the yard, was surrounded by the team! Over him and around him, lines a twisting! As I untangled and attempted to get them back in front of the quad, I realized he was actually hooked in to a line!

Time for a New Plan.

Alice was done. She has always exhibited this behavior and indeed, that's the reason for seven dogs when intending to race six. And now she was attempting to free herself by eating the gangline. No brainer, she's sitting this one out. That brought the stress level down a bit. Now, what to do about the "leaders"? Ellen was starting to balk, most likely from my swearing at Nick, and she was backing out of her harness. Join your friend Alice back in the yard, E! Now for Mr. Nick. He was out of his head, bouncing around and dragging the team back and forth. Timeout for you, Mister!


Maggie and Browning in Lead

I had noticed that Maggie and Browning both leaned in their harnesses and tried to pull in the right direction every time I called it. And the young brothers seemed to be attempting to do the same. What was there to lose?


Logan and Nucky in Wheel

I tied off Browning to a tree, and untangled the rest of them (by now, they had rolled through weeds, which were woven into the lines). I removed one section of tugs, so we were down to a six-dog line. I put the brothers in the back in wheel position, and hooked Maggie and Browning in lead. "Line out!" Well what do you know? They DID! Untie from the tree, unhook the quad, give the command, "Hike!" and we started moving in the right direction!

Maggie seemed to understand "Gee" and "Haw". Browning would look around and try each way until he was pointed the right way and I could yell,"Yep!" We were off like a shot!

Across the yard, through some trees and onto the edge of the field. The leaders seemed to know what they were looking for. Across the waterway to the edge of the timber. Point of no return - we were either heading into the woods and down a steep hill, or turning back. The dogs were still fresh, we had barely started. I know I'll have to run and help push the quad back up the hill - so what??? "Hike!" and away we go!

Nice and easy down the big hill. Up and down, and around corners. Smart puppy looking back for guidance. We stop at the bottom. It's the first run, we're staying under two miles, they seem good but I know its uphill all the way back. "Oh, please, Daddy!" they implore. OK, let's go farther.

At the next stop, I know we need to turn back. Turning around by hand on a narrow trail is never easy, and these are my (so-called) "B Team", so it could get rough. Or, they would just do it easily, with a minimal amount of tangles. Hooray! Line out, turn the quad around, only minor difficulties. As we head back, the leaders take the wrong trail. "Gee!" I command. "Maggie! Bruno! GEEEE!!!" They look at me like I'm stupid. I lock down and get off and start to run up front, I'll have to pull them over to the correct trail. Huh, look at that - what I "thought" was the correct trail is just some tire tracks - my leaders were right the whole time! Um, never mind, here we go.

The hill was tough - I walked, we stopped several times, but we made it. Across the waterway to the edge of the muddy field. Uphill, muddy and not much of a "trail". With several stops, and much running by me, we eventually returned home.

Wow! I don't know about the dogs, but the MUSHER sure learned a few things!


Happy little team after the run

The New Trail

We've only ran the trail loop around my farm this season. A couple of loops would give us two to three miles. It was time to find a new route.


There is a long 'rails-to-trails' path that is 50 miles long, between two major cites, and passes by about 20 miles from home. Last Saturday, I decided to check it out.



This portion runs down and along the river. High winds had knocked down several trees, and the floods of '08 took out a bridge over the river, leaving this portion fairly untraveled. There were trees we could go over, under and around. As I scouted it, it became apparent that without significant tree removal, I could only go about a mile-and-a-half before having to return to the trailhead. But it would be a start on this new trail!


Sunday, I loaded the dogs in the daylight, and took off. For Maggie and myself, it would be the longest trip with the dog boxes. Nearly half an hour.


We hooked up and headed out. The weather was in the upper 30s, the sky clear. A beautiful day in the woods! Almost immediately, a young buck jumped onto the trail, turned and saw the dogs heading directly at him, so he took off. Ellen was VERY interested, but the command of "On by", plus the fact that Nick would rather run than chase deer, kept us on the path. We went around obstacles flawlessly. The first time I turned the team around, we had a major tangle! But otherwise, no troubles. We ran back to the truck, and didn't want to stop - we were just getting warmed up! Nick and Ellen looked at me, and I said, "Straight ahead!", so we went across the road and headed into uncharted territory!


This segment was fun, although I knew that there was a large tree blocking the trail near the next road crossing. But I figured if we could add a mile or so (round-trip), then it would be worth it. As we approached the tree, I saw that we could get around it, as long as I didn't dump the quad into the ditch. "Easy!", is an important command, and the dogs know it well. Nice and easy and slow - no problem! The next road crossing - "Straight ahead!" and we kept going.


I knew that the next crossing would be in town, and I was thinking we'd turn around well before that. We came to a large clearing, so I pulled over and gave them treats and a drink of water. But they were raring to go, and so we continued down the trail. It was humorous to me that we ALL were leaning forward, trying to see what was around the next bend, time and time again. I kept telling myself that it was time to return, but we were all so motivated to see where this trail was taking us. Finally, we came to the road crossing at the edge of town. I thought we'd go across and turn around in a parking lot, but the leaders were unsure about the road, and there was a car coming. I knew they were getting tired, so I decided it was time to return to the truck. This time, as I turned the team, I made sure to grab Alice and Maggie, the middle team, and keep them from rushing ahead and tangling the team. Success!


Drinks and treats around, and then we headed for the truck. A little slower going, but no issues to speak of. Then we were back to the truck, getting unhooked. The GPS read 6.05 miles. The girls went in their boxes, Maggie and the boys hung out at the trailer, eating grass. Nice and leisurely time packing the gear and loading the quad, finishing up with my pal Browning hanging out.