Wonderful Run

Laya came out and joined us yesterday and she was excellent! Its a miracle I had a harness small enough for her and she pulled very well against it.

Since she is so light I had no worries about bagging her if she got tired, which she did but made it much farther into our run than I thought she would. She was great!!

And she rode in the bag incredibly well. Most times I had forgotten about her since she was so quiet. She nestled in on top of my down filled pants with my down parka over her and tried to sleep through the rest of the bumpy trail.

When we got back to the truck I was busy unharnessing and loading every one else so I let her sleep. Apparently the sled was stationary long enough that she woke up and got out half way before it was clear she needed my help. Shes a real gem!

The team is shaping up again and made it well through our run with a bit of energy to spare. I kept their speed constant and a bit slower than last time so I'm sure that helped a lot. And I remembered to bring Hera this time! Boy was she ready to go! She even loaded herself into the dog truck which is a stretch for her since she hates vehicles.

She loves to run and would love to run all the way there rather than ride but its always a struggle for her to load in her box. Once shes in shes calm but being carried by sled or by truck is something she has never enjoyed.

She did peeter out at the end but only at the very end, probably a mile and a half before the truck. I let her run loose a little bit but she wanted to stay on the line either next to Remus in wheel or further up next to Salmon. I tried to get the team going fast enough she would realize she could run behind but every time we went faster she did too!

Laya will have her spay appointment on Thursday so Im not sure if she will be able to run with us before then. My schedule is still tight so we may be running while shes in surgery. Hopefully we can take shy Stripes out and see how he does but I will have to play that by ear. Hes still very timid and I need him to relax more within our routine before putting any more stress on him.

Im not sure what our mileage was since I didnt have my GPS with me but I know they were moving along at a steady fast speed. We probably went 11 or 12 miles?

I finally found the new trail Ive been looking for so Im super excited to get back and break it out. You can see the difference in the snow from our warm spell by comparing the photo posted here to the video here: http://leaddoggraphics.blogspot.com/2008/12/breaking-video.html ... a HUGE difference. Not so great for setting a hook but its a godsend for breaking trail and exploring. Its snowing now though so we may have a bit more work cut out for us but probably not much.

I also found my leader hook that I lost weeks ago... thats one of the many good things about running trails barely used. If I loose something out there its a good bet that I can get it back!

On our way back to the truck is sometimes a bit boring on the long straight stretch so I switched leaders around and tried some new things. Thani still loves to lead as well as Hermes. Reba is getting a bit more stressed about being up front so Ive taken her off that position for a while and Boreas does not want to lead at all!! He HATES it!! Very interesting to see, and his opinion may change over time, but for now he can stay in team and put forth his effort there. He runs best next to his brother Thani... those two are a very strong source of power!