Much better :)

Well this morning I got brave and decided we had to get back at it regardless of the shinaningans of yesterdays outings.
When I went to hook up we had our normal problems, this was a good indication that things were going to run smoothly somehow.

Sure enough, once everyone was hooked up, we took off. I took my camera out with me today to snap some pics, still have no video camera for the time being so photos will have to do.
Here is what it looked like on take off.


Looks fantastic, Karma and Elmo in lead, and both seemed pretty focused.
HOWEVER, apparently after yesterdays headaches Karma still thought it would be a fantastic idea to drag the entire team off on her crazy trail from yesterday. Elmo wasn't having it and corrected her "mistake" by getting the team going in the direction I asked them to, you can see him objecting to her attempt to go to the right here.


After Elmo got this sorted out like a champ, I decided I wasn't going to let Karma pull any more of this free thinking stuff on me and demoted her out of lead switching her with Tibby.
That prevented any more problems for our outing today.
I was super proud of Elmo and Tibby for continuing on track even when a bush chicken crossed their path into the bushes. They took a look in the direction of the bird but chose to keep going straight.


We only went around twice as I had to head back and do horse water and a whole bunch of things before heading to work for the evening, but I did stop them after the first trip around to take a break, it was warm out this morning for the heavies. I love this picture as each dog is keeping an eye out on their side of the team.


From that point everything went well, nothing to blog about other than the bush chicken flying out of a tree on the way back out towards the house spooking both myself and the dogs. They handled it very well, all of them jumped to the left a bit but didn't break their pace. Tibby is checking out in the direction of the commotion but kept right on going.


The whole time down the bush trail I was dreading that last turn to go back up to the house where the dogs had decided to run straight yesterday.
As we approached I gave a stern and to the point "Gee" and...

Perfection :)


Going to go back out tomorrow morning as well or maybe Friday, I want to give them a day off from this before this weekend. I am off all weekend and am planning on picking up Maybelle the standard poodle again this weekend to get some speed again. This slow and steady stuff is nice too, but I want to get them moving a bit faster now and Maybelle just may be the trick. I will start with just her and Elmo and slowly start adding the heavies to the team one by one. Pretty fired up for a fun filled possible headache-y weekend too ;)

"Feels like the first time"

What an awful day on the trail today!
It has taken me hours to figure out todays misadventures but after posting a brief complaint about it on Facebook today a REAL musher posted this:
It's always the weather.
1. "the dogs looked flat" = sticky snow
2. "the wheels fell off" = too warm
3. "leaders were distracted" = too sunny
4. "this sport sucks" = 4th day in a row of rain/mud
5. "dogs flew down the trail" = nice and cold

Well... today the wheels definitely fell off and the lead dogs were not just distracted but they had totally lost their minds. Perhaps their brains fell out.

We hooked up like a dream today, it almost went WAY too smoothly.
First command out of the driveway was our traditional "hike" and Elmo took off like a bolt of lightning until he tightened up the lines on the TM's then we slowed right down as usual.
Our first corner down past the horses is always a haw followed by a slight gee and heading towards the trail is a sharp haw. This has been our route for weeks now.
HOWEVER, today this is NOT what they had in mind. Apparently Elmo felt that haw meant take a sharp gee and make our own trails. I stopped the sled when he figured he would go his own way, got us straitened out and set up down the trail.
As we were on our way into the wooded area I said hike again and just as I was going to follow with a "good" to let them know they were on the right track they ALL decided hike now meant lets hit the bush and start bush whacking through the trees and up hill doing a 90 degree haw. I got us out of the trees and back on the trail.
At this point I was wondering WTF are they thinking???
Clearly they just weren't.
As we made it through the wooded part of the trail we usually take a haw to head down the trail that is more downhill, today I wanted them to go straight. As we hit the "option" they actually went straight. I was pleased with this and thought that todays problems were now over.
I WAS WRONG, so very wrong.
Not even 30 seconds into the oval "backwards" I asked for a haw which really is just following the trail but for some reason I can NOT figure out Elmo and Tibby figured this meant go straight into a part of the field we have NEVER sled on.
Again I straightened the team out and made it all the way around the oval.
We went around twice, quite smoothly but I noticed that Marv was doing ALL the work. Elmo had slacked right off and Karma was floating around spaced out on the line.

We went back up to the house and I removed Tibby and Marv from the line, took the line apart and hooked up 2 dogs. Elmo and Karma.
I don't know why I thought this would be a good idea, my PLAN was to just get the two of them back involved with pulling down the wooded part and back. Thats all I wanted.
Well, apparently they had a little hissy fit about being a 2 dog team and decided to go stupid on me.

Before I even asked for the haw to head towards the bush trail, Karma decided she was taking a hard gee and heading towards the road. At this point I was quite annoyed with them and thought, FINE... lets do it your way but you're going to regret it.

Off we went, through pretty much virgin snow which had them swimming to move. I got off the sled as even though I was upset with our day thus far I wasn't going to make them swim and pull, I do have a heart.
From their swimming trail to the road they decided that they were going into the bottom end of the field where we did have a trail at one time but it has long since drifted over.
They worked their fool asses off just getting through the snow, as did I. It was waist deep at some points but I just kept quiet and let them get this crap of free thinking out of their minds.
It took forever for us to find the skidoo tracks again but we did, and we were tired. All of us.

As soon as we got on the easy trail again I stopped them to give them a little break, I needed one too, badly.

So now that I had refreshed my mind, let go of the mess I let the dogs take me through and everyone had their breath back. I straightened them up and walked back to the sled and gave the hike command. I wont lie, I was fearing what they were going to pull on me this time. I guess they were just a bit too tired to object any more and ran the trail properly.
Now we were running it backwards again and by running, I mean walking.
We went down the slight hill and they let loose a bit, we were up to a nice pace, no one really working too hard but both dogs were working together which is all I wanted them to do in the first place.

We went around once, head back out the wooded area and sure as shit as soon as we hit the part of the trail where we could either go home up to the house with a gee, they thought they would try that suicide trail they just went down!
I wasn't letting them get away with that again. Admittedly I was really annoyed now that they were going to ignore another command.
I stopped them and gave them both a little piece of my mind and demanded the gee with some fancy arm gesture to remind them what the heck that meant.
Karma decided to comply with my request and moved Elmo with her a few steps and then decided to zig zag and try for the deep snow again.
I was furious at this point but kept my cool about it. Got them pointed back to the bush and ran them back down the trail towards the oval again. I didn't make them go around though, I stopped them at the Y and looped them to head back out to the house.
When we were approaching the mess of a right turn they just bombed a few minutes ago I was dreading the shit they were going to pull, but, I think they gave up on the challenge part and complied with my request for a gee.
We went up to the house at a nice slow walk, I got off the sled and just walked behind it as I was drained, and I'm quite sure they were both mentally drained as well, they should also have been physically drained but not sure.

I called it a day when we got back. There was no way I was going to introduce the skidoo trail to them today.
They are going to get a few days off now, unless I have the guts to get them out early in the morning before work tomorrow... Actually, I think it would be best to do just that.
I'll be sure to let you all know how tomorrow morning goes. *sigh
I have to let today go, hopefully they have as well.

Not a lot new on the sled front

As the title indicates nothing is super new with our training. I had taken a few days off after the last post because of my work hours and then 2 days off prior to this post because I have been hunted down and stricken with a cold almost as fierce as a man cold, but clearly not as I am a woman and that cold does not cross genders!

Today we did a lot of runs, it was beautiful out and I wasn't going to let a cold get in my way (another sign it is not actually the man cold) I hooked up the heavies and Elmo as usual. I have switched up the order as I don't really want Tibby pulling right now much and I have to 'force' Karma into getting involved a bit more as she is smart enough to know how to not have to pull when in lead.
She does a good job of keeping the sled going the right way even if not in lead, Elmo I wouldn't say knows the commands as much as he knows the routine of the training oval but for now I am happy with that. I figure once it gets too warm out for the heavies I will spend a lot of time with him this spring doing dryland command training as well as getting him to ignore distractions.

We went around 5 times in total at a nice steady pace, nothing fast as I want to focus on getting everyone engaged with this exercise. Our last lap was amazing, all 3 heavies got into it with Elmo and everyone pulled together as a team, I think they clued in that if they all work together it is much easier. Marv also discovered that by keeping his line tight it is also easier for and on him.

I was very pleased with our runs today and called it a day. Or so I thought.
It was just so beautiful that I decided to go back out with Elmo, but I figured he would be a bit tuckered out so I thought I would try out my 9 year old Rottie Boxer mix Kita and hook Rambo up just by his collar so he could get some energy out too ( Rambo is a Pem Corgi)

WELL... that was exactly like hooking up Maybelle last week. We were flying down the trail. Kita as though she had done this sledding thing her whole life just got into it and started running her heart out, Elmo was so happy to have someone who runs that he tried to race her, Rambo, who considering is dwarf legged was keeping up with them no problem! I almost wiped out twice turning corners and took a bit of jump as well over a small hill on the trail. It was amazing.
I wont lie, but I want to FLY across the trails next year! I know I dont really have the dogs for speed but I figure I can find some somewhere :)

It is safe to say that I am officially obsessed with dog sledding again. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided I wanted to do conformation showing to be honest??? Where is the energy and exhilaration in that? Maybe some people feel it, but I sure as shit don't. I feel most alive when I am flying down a trail standing on 2 very thin skis listening to the dogs feet digging in the snow and the runners gliding across it. Amazing!

For any of you who are reading this by chance and have a dog that is "too energetic" try dog sledding!

Hard work is paying off

Today had to be the most perfect day to be out and about with the dogs, the sun was shining, there was hardly any wind and the temperature was above zero.
It was a perfect day for me to be out with them, but the heavies ( aka the TM's) have a little bit of a hard time being in full winter coat on these mild days and running.

Today all 4 were hooked up, we have our team straightened out with who goes where now and I have decided to focus on them in that formation for a while but will start switching up my leads once and a while to make sure everyone is comfortable running in lead if need be.

Karma and Elmo are the current lead dogs and I must say, this blog may start getting a bit repetitive and possibly boring because they are doing so well up there. I have tricked Karma into putting a bit of effort into her pulling by shortening her line a bit. She doesn't have the same LOVE to work as Elmo does and will gladly run lead with him but lagging behind not really doing much other than being my gee and haw leader which is quite important don't get me wrong. Now that I have her temporarily tricked her into putting a bit more effort into being a team member as well. Working pretty good thus far I must say.

Elmo is just giving this whole team thing all he has, much like he does with everything he does, what ever this dog is breed wise, is amazing. He has such heart and determination. The others all have their strong points too but he literally gives anything I ask him to do every thing he has.

Marv and Tibby were running behind them as usual, both of them put a bit of effort into the first part of the run today but all 3 of the heavies over heated quick being so warm out.

Twice around the oval and we went back up to the house. As much as I wanted to keep going all day with them all there was no way I could make them do that. Elmo still had plenty of get up n go left in him so I called a friend and grabbed another dog.
A sled dog? No
A husky? No
I returned home an hour after phone calls and in tow was sweet Maybelle


Yes a Poodle. She's a 4 year old hyper active ball of energy, I figured she would enjoy a good run and could be a good little addition to the team.
After an introduction to the whole group here as she has never met anyone here before, I have barely met her before. So once we were all acquainted and to my surprise the entire pack took to her immediately.
I hooked her up with Elmo LOL

Well, Gazelle a poo's as I like to call her, and bullies make for one heck of an interesting combo on a gangline.
Maybelle spent a good couple minutes bounding all over the place, dragging Elmo with her every where she went, to the left to the right, backwards, jumping on him, over him and initiating play that I got a little worried I may have just thrown away all our hard work and training and that Elmo would think that it was ok to do what she was doing. But... my little rockstar just got down to business once he got his crazy wild little girlfriend under control they started working together wonderfully.
Little Maybelle figured out the sledding thing very quick and was just flying down the trail with Elmo with the sled gliding at record speeds (for us)
I was so impressed with Elmo and felt a whole lot of pride after seeing that our training has indeed worked and paid off. I may not be doing this whole training to dog sled thing the traditional way, but am so proud that we are getting as far as we are without breaking down and borrowing an experienced dog to show them the ropes :) Its been a bit hard at times to not make a call and ask for a dog but I'm happy we haven't. We're doing ok after all!

I'm thinking all our team needed was a little poodle influence to get us really going. I will be going to pick her up again tomorrow I am certain. Her quirkyness was just fantastic and she needs to get some energy burned out and what better way than spending the day running on a team or with a pack of dogs who get along so well.

I really wanted to get some video of her and Elmo pulling for her owner but my camera wont read the memory card anymore so it looks like there wont be any vids for a bit unfortunately.

Enjoy a few pics of most of the dogs playing with Maybelle after her sledding adventure.

Road run

Today was just beautiful and I was off work to enjoy it :) What a great combo.
Took the dogs out on the oval early on today (or yesterday now that it is almost 1 am and I am blogging this) Got brave and hooked everyone up, Elmo and Karma lead, Tibby and Marv wheel.
It went quite well surprisingly, Elmo is spending a lot of time jerking around on the oval now though and I believe it is because he is bored with the same trail all the time. I am still waiting to hear back from a few people about borrowing fields to run around, but can't make any thing too long as the TM's over heat fast.
They all gave it their all at the beginning of the run but part way around the oval they were hot, and it was clear. We just head back to the house slowly, Elmo was being a complete clown as stated earlier and it was just going to go from bad to worse with him doing all the work now that the TM's were "tired" and hot.

A few hours later I decided to take Karma and Elmo out again, but this time down the road. Something new, something different.
It went VERY well, I had to shorten Karma's line though because she has taken to making everyone else do all the work and just trotting along side of poor Elmo who gives it his all no matter what (as long as he isn't jerking around of course)

When we came back down the hill towards the house though the sled and I were sideways for most of that journey and the dogs were hauling ass since there was no pressure really. Super fun! I could have gone with out being sideways down the hill but it was a great feeling to be going that fast :)

As we got closer to the house and the stupid neighbour dogs that irritate me every day for various reasons I got off the sled and guided them back to the house.

After todays total of 1.5 hours of dogsledding, Elmo is exhausted. That poor guy does everything I ask of him with all that he is. I really need just one more dog with work ethic like he has... and legs. Its sad that I have Rambo who could haul ass too on the team but has no legs to keep up that long and no where near the strength of the rest.

Have to work for the next 2 days, but am hoping to get out early tomorrow morning with Karma and Elmo once again, just for a short run to help build some stamina in them and keep up the improvements. That and when Elmo doesn't burn excess energy he destroys things he see's as hazards in the house ie, duvets :(