Winter Days

Time has again become short... winter seemed to sneak up on us, either that or I wasn't paying enough attention.

Over the last few weeks James and I found ourselves frantically preparing for winter before the cold becomes too much to bear for regular outside chores. Its been really nice to work out in the dog yard in mittens but my dexterity is lacking for the detailed things. Fortunately most of the work is cooking moose, hanging lights and playing with the dogs. Nothing too complicated! : )

With Christmas getting close we have been very busy trying to plan winter shows, get our products out and keep up with the demand.

A trip to Valdez and Kantishna (Denali Park) was also thrown into our schedules just to heighten the chaos factor... actually both trips were extremely enjoyable and have furthered James and I to look more to Alaska for adventure.

Its really hard for me to go down to the lower 48 for a vacation break so exploring Alaska, or Canada, is the way to go. There is something about the land not being as touched by human hands as the rest of the world that I love so dearly. Its like the magic is still present in the deep areas of the wilds and that touches my soul like nothing else.

But its hard to enjoy our adventures with work on my mind. Ive set about a rule that I forbid any work to follow me on these trips and that seems to help. Of course it doesnt help me stay on track with the business which is part of the reason why Ive been so darn busy these few weeks catching up on everything. Today is the only day since we headed out for our weekend fishing that Ive felt a sense of being caught up, or at least close to it.

There are so many stories to tell of our adventures, our great luck fishing for silver salmon in Valdez, our trip into Kantishna to pick up the dogs, our Sunday four wheeler runs with the pups and our new 10 week old addition to the kennel. I may let my photography try and tell the tale that I don't have time to focus on right now.

Our new pup doesnt have a name yet but is quite the spit fire... very gentle but a real wailer if left alone. She is out of Miki and Julie Collins big trap line leader and the mom is a nice looking large female from Eagle.

I have pictures of her mom, her dad and siblings from her mothers last litter. All the boys in that litter grew to be 80lbs or larger. One is incredibly huge and bigger then Spock! Its rare to see dogs bigger than he. Its a wonderful thing to be in the presence of such a large working dog.

We weren't looking for another pup but a breeding like this is hard to come by. Her mother extremely attentive and smart so we hope that translates well to her. What ever she grows into it will be nice to have a good sized female around for a breeding with Thani years down the road.

I'm really enjoying Calypso, her personality, her thick coat, her loving nature but shes still so tiny. Shes about the size of Juno (our smallest dog) and thats a trait I dont want to take the chance on breeding. Thani on the other hand is as tall as Remus but much more filled out in bulk. I remember thinking that Remus was the height I would love to see in my dogs but with a bit more mass. Looks like Ive got it!

Thani continues to be a love and has started growing out of his puppy looks. Hes becoming quite handsome and continues to do well up in lead for our short Sunday runs. The other Buffalo Brother, Boreas, is slowing down his growth just a bit but is still a very big boy and very close to Thani in size.