It got colder

Hi from the Yukon. Our temp finally dropped to 10 below C in the morning and 0 in the afternoon. . This is good for training. Problem is it had rained really hard before the temp dropped. Now our trail system is pure ice. This is bad for dog's feet. When you train them on this ice there is a chance to cut their feet. This is a bad is time to cut up feet so early in the yr. I guess any time is a bad time to cut feet. LOL . Also they can slip on the ice causing injury this early in the yr. It is not a good idea either. so the dogs are back to running loose in their fenced area. This area is quite big and provides exercise and social activity that is important to the dogs well being. Although I would rather have them run five miles in training this is better than nothing. It isn't worth the risk out on the training trail at the moment. Patients is a big part of this type of sport.
We now have one of our main sponsors. SUPREME DIESEL PERFORMANCE . They are located in Sexsmith Alberta. Big thanks to them their contribution will go a long way to races this season. Thanks supreme diesel performance !
We are hoping for some snow now and we will go right away to running with the sleds. When this happens we will reduce our team sizes to six dogs in a team. This will be a good time to train leaders to lead small teams. We need to train three pairs of leaders to be able to lead the four six and eight dog teams that Rachel will be racing this year. There is lots of training left this year. So we are really in need to get them out as much as possible. The dogs are young this year and need lots of hours to figure it all out.

sponsors

Hi again. I forgot to mention that we are collecting sponsors for the season. Right now we have a sponsor that is interested in helping us out in Grand Prairie. Called supreme Diesel. We had engine problems there at the Arctic Winter Games last spring. This shop helped us get out of a bind and treated us better than most shops have ever treated us. We had 26 dogs with us on the truck. while we were in the shop getting the work done. the mechanics agreed to open the shop doors to let in some cooler air for the dogs. It made it more uncomfortable for the mechanics while they were working but did it anyway. Then we had to let the dogs out to feed them and let them do their business. They have a small area that is fenced beside the shop. We let all the dogs go in the fenced area to run and play and to feed them. This shop went the extra mile to make it good for our dogs. This is something we would do for them and it isn't very often you find a shop that would do the same. very good service. fair prices and great people to boot. Check them out if you are doing any work on your truck or car. Supreme diesel in Sexsmith Alberta. If you are in the area no need to go anywhere else.

Some snow for us

we started the skidoo today. yahey. Rachel went around the three mile and four mile loop to pack it down just with the sled. It isn't cold yet though and we might lose it that is why we pack it down. I am looking at buying a new trail groomer for this season then it would be used for the Arctic winter Games here in Whitehorse 2012. We have various ways to groom our trail now. We use a wooden drag now to float over the trail and drop any snow that is needed into the low spots. We don't want it to dig into the ground that is way it is made out of 2x6 boards and is about 16 feet long. The longer it is the flatter the trail will be. Then later in the year when we have 4 inches of base for trail we use a steel drag that can push snow off or bring it onto the trial depending on the condition. For now we just want to keep what is on the trail by packing it down. PRetty soon we will be on the sleds which is much better than using four wheelers and such. Soon enough we will be wishing the snow was gone and it was warmer out. Dogs are getting excited because of the snow. Talk to you later.

It isn't gettin as cold as usual

This fall is acting a little weird. Not as cold as usual for this time of year. The dogs have totally switched over to red meat. Beef. No more fish except for snacks. I picked up half a pallet of beef today in town. Shipped all the way from Quebec. This is the cheapest deal we can get. All the way from the east if you can believe it. You would think Alberta would have some beef around too? We are still feeding last years beef that was left over. We don't have much of that left so I am glad that the beef got here as quick as it did.
Still no real snow. Nor real cold temperatures. It has been raining today and thawing again. We have a dog that filled it's mouth up with fox tail last time we hooked the dogs up. She just went for the fox tail like it was dog food. Gulped it up like crazy. I never saw a dog do this before. I tried to get it all out of her mouth but was not successful. I had looked into her mouth the other day and what a mess. Fox tail is the worse thing ever I hate the stuff. I had a horse that got into fox tail when I was young and It really made a mess of her mouth. Same as this dogs mouth. It is full of sores and fox tail burrowing into her mouth in a bunch of spots. I put her on atibiotics and held her mouth open to get out as many as possible. All you see are the tails. I think while she was tied in her spot she reached out and ate a bunch of them. The when we hooked her up to run she reached out to eat a bunch more thinking this was going to clear them from her mouth but only made it worse. It is the worse stuff. It is like a quill it will just work it's way through the dog if you don't pull it out. We have had dogs get abscesses where they exited the body after starting in the mouth. IF she doesn't improve we will have to take her in to the vet. Never a dull moment.
This morning the blue healers got out of the "feed shack" and made a rung cuss outside. Mother running up and down the dog fence defending here puppies and all the sled dogs barking at her while all the puppies cried to get back in. We moved them outside to the whelping pen where our sled dogs have their puppies. Lots of room and safe inside of there. one of the heelers have blue eyes. really nice blue eyes. I might want to keep her. She is also the runt of the litter. she is very cute. Hopefully it is cold enough to train in the morning. Rachel and I will put a run on them. We are only running them three miles and once in a while a four mile. So it isn't very far at all yet. No hurry because they have lots of time to get ready. It is faster for them to run in the snow as well. They really do not like the slow pulling of the four wheeler. It is just too slow for them. They like to go fast. That is some of the news out here. I will keep you informed as time goes on.

frozen trail and cold weather.

Hi. We are very busy raising heelers. We have a litter every year. The kids raise them up and then they sell them. This is one way in which they try and support themselves during the winter months while traveling to races and purchasing gear,sleds, lines, harnesses etc. They sell for 450.00 each. So it is a little drop in the bucket but better than none.
We are hooking dog up now in front of a six wheeler. It even has a cab and heat. HA HA. In the twenty yrs I have trained dogs I never had this. It used to be the 10 speed bike in the fall. It is nice to have. Dogs are all a little heavy right now so they are looking pretty sluggish on the trail. It is pretty slow for them too. They like to go fast all the time but you have to slow them down this time of year. It looks like we will be racing in Alaska again during the Christmas holidays. Will be in Anchorage at the world championships as well. The races in December are local races that we go to. It helps to prepare the dogs for the championships later on in the year. We also have some races in Fairbanks alaska. There are some aldult races as well and if Rachel and leanne agree Leanne will race Rachels team in these races so they can gain experience while racing. Leanne did a great job last year and acually enjoyed it. It was fun to see her race some dogs again.
The diet has also switched back to the red meat. We fed allot of dish during the summer it was all salmon. It kept them muscled up better on the off season. They run in the summer and still need a good meat diet but not as good as beef or something like that. When the temps drop and the training gets further and further runs with colder weather means more energy better fat and protein. That is where horse and beef come in as a better meat for the dogs. We are adding some oil now. corn oil and some fat when it gets colder. They eat really well during the summer now they get a awesome diet to help them be the best athlete they can.

I will do my best to blog on a regular basis now that the season is getting underway. Such a short summer. ............