Fridays training

  Rachel and Ben trained their second teams after school. Rachel first and Ben behind her.  They both looked good leaving the yard. It was warm so I didn't expect that the teams would look that good coming home. I was right the dogs were tired and you could see the effects of the warmer weather on them. It is very important to never overheat a dog. If you do your dog will have problems for the rest of it's life exercising.  Overheating dogs damages their internal temp. regulators sort of speak. The dogs just do not seem the same again while exercising in warmer temp. Wide variates in Temp. also effect the dog worse than before.  I did it once by accident when I was just starting out and didn't recognize overheating in a dog.  The dog will have sunken eyes and pant so bad that it looks like the dog is smiling extra hard. It will be unsteady on its feet as well. It happens really fast. It is usually the dog that works really really hard when temps. are not just optimal that it happens to. You really have to watch the temps with those hard working dogs. 

  Ben and Rachel went around the training trail with no difficulties. Ben lost his snow hook while trying to stop. The hook is the emergency brake for dog sleds. It looks like a rams horn that sits upside down on the ground. The two ends of the horn go into the snow and the rope is attached to the other end which is tied to the sled. When you stop you stick the curved steel ends into the snow and that holds the dogs from taking off. I don't know how he managed to lose a hook but he had two hooks so he was okay with one for the rest of the run. Good day of training today! Ben and Rachel will run again tomorrow and do something shorter if the heat is still turned up here in the Yukon.  That is all 4 now.