Unfortunately we are not on sleds yet. Due to my poor planning, and unexpected dump of recent snow, I neglected to check with James (my personal auto mechanic :)) to see if the dog truck was up to speed.It needs a change of seals to make sure the breaks are in top form so we decided to go with the four wheeler again. Not my first choice but we did get the dogs out so I cant complain! :)
Our main teams did 11.7 miles at about 10mph. I used engine assistance most of the way to get through the deep snow and to haul myself, Nita and Miriam around on the rig. On our second trip out we towed the sled so Miriam could get some runner experience and it helped break up the monotony of taking the same trail twice.
Nita also had her chance on the sled and I had a blast driving making sure the dogs were in good form and that I wasn't dumping Nita off in a ditch somewhere! Miriam did a good job watching out for her and Nita watched during Miriam's time to make sure we were all safe and sound.
The newbies also got to take a spin for about four miles to get them up to speed. Nita brought along her Oji and I took Juno out again in lead with Bonnie and Sasha mixed around in wheel and in team.All the dogs did great but Sasha is a real stubborn girl, very typical of the malamute breed. She loves her job but she may have to stay in wheel since she wont listen or line out on a constant basis. She does great pulling though, just need to work on her stamina a bit and we will be all set.
We have many dogs to work this season and many trails to break out with all this new snow. I hope to get a jump on it, pack down our new routes and open up some old ones before the snow is too deep. With a little construction to Nita's dog trailer tomorrow night we should have sleds on the trail by Friday and with James expert mechanic skills be fully mobile with the dog truck by late next week.
Thanks again to Miriam and Nita for their help today and for these wonderful pictures I can share with our visitors...
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