Training Called Off... for now...

Wolves in the news again... our snow is so thin that its tough for them to catch game and they are still going after the pet dogs in the area. Frustrating that we have people living here that let their dogs loose to get into neighbors yards, to relieve themselves or get hit by cars. Now they are also habituating the wildlife to see dogs as a food source!

Sled dogs, and loose dogs alike, are taken every year. Most times the news is passed along by a short blip in the paper, nothing more. But this year its happening so often that its become front page news.

I have no idea when our snow will come. Every time they forecast it it never shows and now that we are getting into our deep freeze months I fear it will be longer still until more of it is on the ground.

The team and I can still run the trails easily with the conditions we do have but because of the risk of the wolves Ive decided to call it off for now. No one knows how desperate they are going to become in the coming weeks/months. Ive never heard a story of a wolf attacking a dog team but I'm sure it can happen... I wont take the risk of my dogs being a headline.

Their lives mean more to me than the harnesses I put on their backs. If they don't get to run this year, so be it... there is always the summer to look forward to, more time to relax in the dog yard and to spend more time with the puppies.

I'm extremely grateful that we were able to take the runs we did and that I was able to see the caliber of the entire team. I'm very, very pleased with that and I know that same energy will be there when the snows come... and if it doesn't come, that energy will be there next year, and the next, and the next...

I pray that we get more snow, not just for our sake but for the sake of the wolves. The moose I hear are faring very well and getting quite fat based on the delivery of meat and bone scraps from a recent hunt. This is all a cycle of nature but the balance seems to be tipped far to one side.