beautiful weather

  Hi everyone. beautiful weather. Yes but a little on the cool side. Mind you we will take it rather than rain. The snow fell again since my last blog. around an inch and a half. The weather is cold in the morning, around 30 below. It is okay because by the time Ben and Rachel are ready to train it has warmed up to 24 below. If they are training after school then it cools off quite a bit more by the time they get the runs in. On the week-end the temp in the afternoon is perfect. Maybe a bit on the cool side. I am scared of that warm weather ! 

  The dogs are taking some days off. The trail will be worked because of the new snow. The stick men that are on the trail will get new cloths and some ribbons put on their arms. They will also be moved to a new location.  I got this idea from the Streepers. What we did is made some people out of wood that stand up on the trial. The dogs see it and think it is something scary  the first time they run by.  Some dogs know right away it isn't going to hurt them  others act as though it is all the time. Why is probably your question. I think it has everything to do with the dogs personality. Not what they see. Or whether they are smarter than the other dogs and learn that it won't hurt them , quicker than the other dogs. Some dogs are just nervous and everything they see that is not there before becomes stress to them. It could be a stick with a flag  blowing and some dogs that seem to be more nervous than others bark like it is going to kill them when they go by it.  It is not to say that if you make your scare crow as human like as possible that dogs do not recognize it as something that has a human profile they just learn it isn't going to hurt them quicker if they have a calmer personality. I don't know if it is a calmer personality but a different personality than other dogs. They are all a little different from each other. I would rather see my dogs bark at it and run away from it as to stop and go visit every time they see something on the side of the trail.

  The point of this exercise is to get your dog team used to going by strange things they see on the trail. This could be allot of things but most things they see are photographers standing in all kinds of different positions to take pictures. If you can duplicate things the dogs will run by then in a race they will run by it without being so bothered by it.  I like it and it is funny to see some of the dogs reactions to the surprise visitors on the side of the trail.

  We would also like to duplicate a bridge and a tunnel. The world championships will have both obstacles at the race. If the dogs see and run over a bridge and through a tunnel enough times they get used to that as well. One of the problems if they see these obstacles at a race for the fist time is this. The dogs are running in the race and suddenly they are half way across a bridge when they realize it. They start to panic but the momentum of the team gets you off the bridge. If the experience startled them bad enough they will remember it. They will remember where it happened on the trail and try and stop in the same area the next day in the race when you cross the bridge again. During a race can be a difficult time to teach a team that it is Okay to cross the bridge or go under the tunnel. Most of the time if you have a well trained dog team they will manage during the race. It is better if you can get them used to it first. Why make it a bad experience for them during a race ?

  All this and other ideas for training is what makes it so much fun to train dogs. You have to think of how to duplicate what they will see at a race. If you can duplicate as many conditions you see on a race trail at different races then the dogs will be ready for it no matter where you go and race. 

  Ben and Rachel will take some more time off and train mid week or so. Then again on the week-end.

 Bye for now.

hello everyone

  Well we are back in the training mode and the dogs are moving great. The dogs are ready to race. The trail is good. It has taken some work but it is the best it has been this year. The teams are divided into three eight dog teams. The first two teams are Ben and Rachel's racing teams. The third team is running with some of the older dogs in it with some of next years dogs. We will be adding some more younger dogs so we may be running 4 or 5 teams soon. Right now the Gps is saying that the average is moving up to 18 mph. This is what we are looking for. Now that the  trail is fast and the dogs are ready for the speeds Ben and  Rachel will see the slower ones. It is looking right now that they are all lookin really good !  The worst thing is there is no races in  the Yukon to go to ! This is a bad year. We have not heard about three races and whether they will be on this yr. or not. It doesn't seem so.

  This is becoming the biggest problem here in the Yukon. There is one new race that is more of a get together for friends than a race. The rules are different than anywhere we have been and the age grouping for kids and distances they race is not like anything we have seen. So really it doesn't match any other races we would train for or go to.  The few races that are established in the Yukon are dying out.  So unless we work and put on a race for Ben and Rachel to go to there isn't much going on. 

  We do enjoy going to Alaska to race. It is just becoming more and more expensive every year. I don't know what will happen in the future. It is hard to keep sled dogs when there is no races to go to. It just takes allot of traveling to and from different areas of Canada and Alaska. 

  The dogs are ready and we are ready to go and race ..........somewhere.  We look forward to 

the next race. Bye 4 now .

hip hip hurray

  It snowed! Yes ! This is very good. It snowed four to six inches. It cooled off and the forecast is for colder weather.  Our helper has been working on the trail.  The trail is shaping up. Ben and Rachel will be training again on the trail tomorrow.  It will be good for the dogs to get back out running again. We have seven pups that are eight months old that will need to go for free runs behind the ski-doo. The kids will be running these dogs next year. These pups need to run 2-3 times a week. The hope is that all the pups will be able to run 6 miles by the end of the season. 

   Here is hoping for better weather for the rest of the season. This way we can keep the training  up. This year you never know what the weather could be. We will be back on the trail soon.

   All the best everyone. talk to you later

Weather

    The weather remains warm. The trail needs to be groomed with our steel groomer. The helper went out and ran around the trail with the groomer to shave the ice off the top. This was yesterday. Today we had another warm day so I don't know how the trail is. It started to snow while we were driving home later this afternoon. It has cooled off a bit but not much. The snow will make a world of difference as it will freeze on top of any ice that was left on top of the trail.  Once snow freezes on top it makes a surface that the dogs can run on without slipping.

   Ben and Rachel kept their teams off the trail while it has been warm. The surface of the trail has been soft so it was better to stay off. Ben and Rachel's teams can wait until the weather stabilizes a little. We have been doing our best to keep any dog foot punch holes out of the surface so when it does freeze again we don't have to fill all the holes in. When the trail freezes with punch holes in the surface the dogs can really hurt themselves by stepping in the holes while running 20 mph. We do our best to keep it safe. Training at home is a real poor time to injure the dogs. If it is going to happen better it happens in a race not at home training. 

  Ben and Rachel will have their work cut out by culling all the slowest dogs from their teams. This is not easy because some of the dogs are only .5 mph too slow. The dogs do let you know when they are not comfortable at those speeds. Ben and Rachel will then sell those dogs to friends that are racing else where. If their friends do not buy them then some go to local long distance racers. The money that they can make from their dogs go into some expenses for this years racing or next years racing. 

  The next training runs will involve intravel training, some slower average runs about 85 percent of their max. speed. Then some fast runs trying to keep the average speed near 18-19 mph. During the higher average speeds the GPS comes back with speeds spiking around 23-26 mph. These speeds are too fast to make the dogs maintain but Ben and Rachel find a way to go that fast. Once the speeds average in the area of 18-19 mph it is easy to see which dog cannot make the team. 

  It has been worrisome to see the weather turn so warm but I think the forecast is correct and it will snow and cool off.  Ben and Rachel can continue where they left off in their training without too much negative effect on their teams. We will keep you posted. That is all 4 now. 

  

More melt down

It has been warm again with the blowing wind being the snow killer. We need some cooler temp. The training trail is getting very icy as well as the yard. This is hard on dogs feet in the yard and on the training trail. We will have to fabricate a drag to pull behind the skidoo to scrape the ice off the surface of the trail.
Yesterday Ben and Rachel ran a team each. They are now running eight dogs each. This makes it easier to train. There is a eight dog team left over for Florian and he trains them. This way Ben and Rachel only have to hook up once each on a training day. Helps a bit for their time schedule with other activities makes it hard to train two teams each. If they intend on racing into the future it will not be this easy for them. When they race bigger teams this means more dogs to train up for each racing season. This will be the future for them if they stay at it. Time will tell. For now we will be happy with a decent trail and some steady training leading up to the Junior World Championships.
Two teams will go today, conditions willing. Ben went skiing today again and will train later today. Rachel is home and will train her team this morning and another one with the new dogs.

Talk to ya all later. Here is hoping our trail stays.

Warm weather

It has been warm here. It feels like it should be March not Jan. The weather got well below freezing at night. This made the trail very hard for training today. Florian ran a eight dog team today again. Today we tried to run them faster coming home. I told Florian to hold them back until the turn around coming home. He did and it made a difference in his team's performance on the way home. Florian is running an older leader that did really well today even with the speed of the team. I was impressed with the old guy.
The trail is the best it has ever been. We have some overlapping activities this weekend so we all have to figure out the best schedule for training. Rachel needs to start training some new dogs that we got while in Ft.Nelson. They all look good but not too sure how they will run. We will find out soon. Everyone is going skiing in the morning and training dogs in early afternoon. I hope that this happens both Sat. and Sun. We will know after we talk to Ben and Rachel and see what works best.

Another successful training day.

Florian ran a team of eight here today. Ben and Rachel each ran 8 dogs. The weather is warm and the snow is getting soft. We hope the warm doesn't stay too long. Florian ran a four mile to day. Some of the dogs I think were nervous having a new driver. That will get better the more he runs. The trail is in excellent shape. We have been looking after it on a daily basic now that Florian is here. All the snow that we had has packed down nice. The warm weather will tighten the snow up so it is even harder.
Ben and Rachel will need to train their teams hard this month to prepair for any races that are looming around the corner. We are looking forward to going to the races. Some races are hard to get info from. We will be looking to find the next best race to go to.
Ben ran his team of eight six miles. It was very warm but the team did well. Whenever I saw the dogs they all looked great.
Rachel ran her team today as well. They looked alittle sick of the routine at this point. They need a slight atitude adjustment. Other than that the teams look great.

Home again

  We left Toad River at 7 am. It had snowed that night about 3 inches. Great, now the snow to deal with. We got up early. Had a great breakfast and hit the road. It was slow going. No plow trucks out yet. Lots of snow on the road. We slowly wound our way through the mountains until we made it to the liard hot springs. I stopped there to rest while Ben, Rachel and Florian went into the hotsprings for a swim. I was hoping that some plow trucks make it out while we are stopped at the hotsprings. 

  After the swim we made our way up the highway and stopped to feed dogs. It was nine p.m. before we made it home. Leanne, Florian. Ben and Rachel unloaded the truck and put the dogs into the dog yard. 

  Today was a total rest day for me. I never left the house and rested as much as I could inside on the couch. I needed the day of rest for sure. We have dog trail to break in the morning and it has to be groomed for training tomorrow. I see that A truck has been out on the trail so it will need to be repaired. What a mess to come home to. Lots of snow here now. 

   Ben and Rachel need to take the dogs out this week for some six mile runs. We brought new dogs home from Ft. Nelson that need to be trained. The next race maybe some local races around the area then off to the world championships in Anchorage Alaska.

  The dogs all look good, we just need some races to go to now. There has been some cancellations down south so we will go North from now on. The cold weather has had an impact on some of the races. Some are a go but no prize money on the races. We are going to go to as many races as possible that is all we can do.  All are happy to be home

back from Ft. Nelson

  What a nightmare in Ft/ Nelson. This town is sad. Not a nice place. Sorry residents. I was stuck there since Weds. Night. After breaking down in Toad river and meeting some very nice people who saved us. We finally got a tow truck to pick up the truck and dogs.

  The shop was notified and the owner stayed up late to meet us in the Tow truck. My helper Florian and I rode in the flat deck truck with my dog tuck on it to Ft. Nelson. Ben and Rachel stayed behind at Colin and Heather peakes place near Toad river. We have been waiting in town for three days to get it fixed. Florian and I looked after the dogs. Well I should say Florian looked after the dogs. I gave the orders. 

  The air pump which was just fixed quit spinning. The shop had to order the right air pump and idler pulleys. This turned out to be a hassle as nothing fit proper. We finally got all the idler pulleys and air pump fixed. It was very expensive. I couldn't believe the bill. Florian and I just made it back to toad river where the kids stayed. Everything went good for the kids. What nice people.

   While we were in Ft. Nelson Florian ran Ben and Rachel's teams. There were four teams of six to run and they are all done. I am very happy that the dogs were run and we are all back together. Thank god for all these nice people that live in the north. 

  My truck runs really good now. The mechanic also noticed some other issues with the truck which he fixed. I think that it may get better mileage now that it is running better. 

  Tonight we will shift some meat around from the truck to the horse trailer and head home in the morning. Organization is the main thing for the truck tonight. I want to leave early in the morning..

failure to arrive home

 This has not been a great day in some ways.  We left Ft. Nelson at 6 am heading for Whitehorse. Yesterday I had the truck in to get looked at. The pulley on the  air pump on the power brakes was sticking. I had it looked at in Ft. Nelson. The mechanics said it was A OK. 

  While we were on our way the pulley stopped and the belt broke. All systems were down. 38 below and a 20 mph wind. No power brakes no power steering no alternator no water pump. We were stopped on the side of the road 205 km from Ft. Nelson in the middle of no where. The closes place is Toad river lodge. Which is closed

  I was stopped working on finding a way to drive it far enough forward to get it off the road when a highway plow truck pulled up to ask what was going on. I told him I need a tow truck he said he would phone for one. I worked on getting a rope around the pulleys to run enough stuff to move the truck or at least keep Ben and Rachel warm inside the truck. A gov. truck pulled up and heard the news. His name is Colin leake. He said he would take Ben and Rachel back to his place. I was nervous about that but something about him told me it was Ok. So away they went back to toad river. Florian and I stayed behind  to look after the dogs. The same highway truck driver came back and picked us up to go back to toad river. We have been here and feeling quite at home. It has been great. I met Heather leake their daughter and Herb stumpf here at their home. This is the way that it has been a good day!

  The tow truck will be here in the morning around 11 a.m. to pick the truck up. I hope that we will be able to drive with the truck to Ft. Nelson. We have to be with the dogs when the truck goes to town for repair. We hope that it can be done tomorrow?  Then another night in Fr. Nelson and home on Thurs. This is if every thing goes good.

  Colin Leake went with us to the truck to feed dogs. After the dogs were fed we unhooked the horse trailer and Colin pulled it back here to his house in Toad River. This way we have our supplies with us and don't have to deal with the trailer when they tow the truck. I hope that this is not a sign of things to come. 

  Ben and Rachel are such a big help when it comes to this kind of thing it makes me pretty proud to see how they can cope with adversity at their age. This is what life is all about.

 I often wonder where my new truck is ? Maybe that isn't the answer. We had a friend that has a newer truck and he is broke down in Ft. St. John with a blown head gasket? 

  I am ready to end this day. I will talk to you all later

A sucessful weekend

  The weekend in Ft. Nelson is over. It was cold again today . 30 below with a wind. Rachel finished in fourth place and sixth place yesterday. Ben finished seventh and third yesterday. It is a mass start race. This means that it is very difficult to get a true feel for how your team is running. All the teams leave the starting line at the same time. It ends up that four or more teams run side by side. This is a major distraction to the dogs. It means that they do not run to their full potential and is frustrating for the dog driver. It is also frustrating to the parent watching the race. As a matter of fact I cannot watch the race until Ben and Rachel and the  dogs are near the end of the race. The whole race is visible from the starting area but I cannot watch it all. 

  Our helper turned out to be good help for the weekend and I hope he can stick it out for the rest of the winter. He seems to be distracted by things back in Germany. Ben and Rachel were given three dogs from the winner of the six dog team. The more the older mushers see the work that Ben and Rachel put into their teams the more they want to help them out by giving them good dogs. We leave Ft. Nelson with 27 dogs on the truck. 

  The truck needs to see a mechanic tomorrow. This is due to a air pump that is driven by the fan belt of the truck. The air pump helps to boost the brakes on the truck. The pulley on the pump is not turning and the belt is slipping over the pulley. The brake light comes on and the brakes fail to work. This problem was just fixed. The truck ran all weekend to keep everyone warm.  I started to hear some grinding noise and belt squealing noise coming from the engine compartment. Then the brake light started to come on. I hope to leave here by Tuesday morning the latest.

  We went to Terry Streepers for supper after the race. It seems to be an annual thing to do after the race. Deb Streeper and family looks after everyone who was there to race. Just a great time. 

  I met the Erharts from the village or Tanana. This a village is northern Alaska. Great people and a pleasure to meet. I hope that they stop by when they are heading north through Whitehorse. 

  We had a great weekend as usual when we come to the Canadian open in Ft. Nelson B.C. We are now qualified to race in the event next year when they have a very high purse to race for.

  Ben and Rachel did an excellent job with the dogs. It is amazing what they do with those dogs. Not even the cold weather can stop them from racing their dogs. To say that I am proud of them is an understatement. 

   We were planning to go on to a race in Taylor B.C. but the race has been cancelled. So we will head back north to Whitehorse in search of races to prepare for the World Championships in Anchorage. Not the original plan. 

 We will be in touch again when we are home.

Sat. day one

  Today Rachel and Ben raced and it was 37 below C. It was cold. I mean cold. I told Ben and Rachel that it was totally up to them whether they ran or not. I almost said stay and not run. They really wanted to so I let them go.

  Ben and Rachel ran in the six dog race. The race was approx. six miles. Ben was third. He had a great run. Rachel was held back to sixth place due to trouble passing. It is hard because this race is mass start so every team leaves at the same time. This style of race does not leave the fastest team to win. IT is the one that has the least trouble with passing and being crowded in by other teams. Rachel was okay with the results. Rachel also ran new young dogs. The point of this race is to give the dogs experience. That was done and done well. Today was a success for both teams and the young dogs in each team.

  Tomorrow is the same trail and Rachel and Ben can switch dogs for the second day. I hope it is a little warmer tomorrow. 

  Talk to you later on

Better late than later

 Sorry I have been out of the typing mode. I will do my best to catch up.  We now have our helper Florian Hill.  He has done some helping of other kennels. This can at times be a problem as some of this kind of helpers have their ideas about how they should do things. This idea comes from what they have learnt from other mushers. We are in need of help that can learn our way of doing things. This would be the same for any other musher. Everyone of us do things somewhat differently. 

  Florian is great so far! I do not fore see that changing. He is patient enough for Ben and Rachel.. He even listens to Rachel tell him things to do. It is great so far. He stays busy and is very manner full around the rest of the family. He seems very interested in learning every day. What a big help for Leanne, Ben and Rachel. It sure makes a difference to have the help.

   Our friend stopped by on Monday night They were off to the same races as us. Arleigh Reynolds and his helper stopped by. We had a good visit. He wanted to get away early in the morning. When Arleigh went to start up the truck it started no problem but it soon died. IT would not start again. The whole system acted like it was dead. We talked to everyone in town that was booked solid until the end of Jan. for ideas. I then tested the batteries and they were low on power.  I went to town and picked up two new batteries and an alternator.  

  I have not talked to Arleigh yet but I am hoping he made it from our house to Ft. Nelson. I didn't see him on the hi-way from Whitehorse. We all made it to our destination in Ft. Nelson and we will prepare for the race this coming weekend.

    We had a good trip and are looking forward to the weekend of racing. I will do my best to keep in touch with you all as things unfold