Another April Adventure

Temperature is finally getting warm here... today its supposed to be 50... the snow might go now.

Still seems strange to be running this late in April but we got out for another run yesterday. It was up in the 40's by the time we got out there and reading 50-something on Robert's thermometer on his truck, though it might have been affected by the sun even though we were blessed with an overcast sky the whole time we were out there.

Had a few breaks with the dogs to keep them cool, let them dip snow and relax. We checked out a trail I had been meaning to get back to all year. Was really nice to see a snowmachine had gone through before us and packed down the extra two inches of new snow we got that morning... still, it was hard work for the dogs. The snow was really wet and I could feel it sticking to the bottom on my toboggan sled.

The dogs pulled well and Hermes had his first real time in harness. I was amazed at how quickly he took to it!

I think he also made a new friend in Robert today. Hermes and Boreas let Robert pet them, Hermes was more willing... another shock considering how shy he is. It was really nice to see him interact with someone other than myself.

The wildlife has been coming out more and more... it was snowshoe hares on our last run, this time a huge bird of prey was circling overhead. Couldn't tell what kind it was, it was so high in the sky.

Ran 11-12 dogs today. Griffin opted to come out at the end, I was very impressed at how hard he worked and stayed in the team despite the heat. He is improving on distance, speed and staying in the team longer each time we head out.

The core of the team is very strong and doing very, very well. This summer I'm going to work with the four wheeler and see about putting Gemini back in as well as working our shelter fosters some more. I don't see any of the dogs I ran this season dropping out any time soon so we may start the season with a 12 dog string or larger.

Mercury may be able to come back in as a loose runner but I wont know if he can do it until the snow falls again. Aquila and Spock are both definitely out. Aquila still has something going on with her wrist and Spock's ankle (a trouble hes had since birth) still looks unstable to me. He still runs around the yard like a pup and shows no sign of pain but I worry about arthritis later on and if trail miles will do more harm than good.

But as the snow moves out the older ones will move in and take full advantage of free running in the fields scaring up geese and playing in the grass. Its going to be great for them to get out again and the pups may come along as well. They need more work in their recall commands. Some of them, like Boreas and Chronos have it down, but the other three need a bit more work.