Today was an amazing day, started out slow but ended very nicely...We have had so much support since we started the summer show and the fosters are loving all the new attention, opening up to strangers and desperate for it to be their day to enjoy the summer days with me. I have figured out how to get up to eight dogs in my Jeep at one time and, since everyone knows not to fight, they have enjoyed their rides into town very much. Its asking a lot of them in the morning when they are still so full of energy to relax on the way in but once we head home, with all their bellies full of biscuits, they nap until we get back to the kennel.
Some days are heavy bus days with over 300 people passing through. The buses drop them off for lunch, they mingle in town then come and see us at the Yukon Quest gift shop. Some visit, leave for lunch, then come back to hand out more biscuits and get their 'dog fix' before their bus comes to pick them up.
We hear a lot of stories about how people have rescued their own dogs or are homesick for their own waiting back at home. They tell us how wonderful their dog is, how much they miss them and some point out the ones we have and say how much they look alike.
I even had one couple that said their next destination was Denali National Park and when they said they had to leave for that part of their trip the next day they seemed almost sad, they didnt want to stop visiting with our dogs!! Never in a million years did I think our pups would be such a hit with strangers.
The donations have been awesome all summer! I am amazed at how generous people are and how willing they are to give to our cause of helping the shelter dogs. Every week we are steadily getting our bills paid off, our advertising purchased and all the little details that we need as we roll along with this Sled Dog Sanctuary project. There are so many details still to work out but seeing things get checked off our list one by one is so encouraging!!
Today I had the nicest surprise. It was a heavy traffic day, lots of people and I had to empty out the donation box early from all the one dollar bills that were donated. As I was tallying the sheet the tiniest lady bug landed on my counting sheet, stayed for a moment, then flew off to another destination. I have always seen lady bugs as good luck, and butterflies, especially when they land directly on me. Since this one landed on our donation sheet I thought it would bring us a bit of luck but didnt think much more of it.
I am so thankful to all the ladies who work at the Quest. Marti has been great, she brought us blueberry ice cream today, Trish and Barb have been such a great help with the dogs and Abby West (who was just recently hired) is wonderful as well. And the other merchandising manager has made my life so much easier. For some reason I always forget her name, forgive me, Im so great remembering the names of dogs but people take me a while to remember! :)
Everyone is always ready to help with the show when I have a need and they are so great talking with the many visitors that come into the store on a regular basis. Funds are always important and the more I can sell of my retail supply the more it helps everything, especially the Sanctuary.
We are looking forward to getting more help from volunteers. Johnny is the newest one to start helping out and he was super. I would like to get a few more folks who are interested in coming down to help walk some of the foster dogs around town and to get them even more used to the noises and cars. Its great advertising for them to show people they are available for adoption and also to direct other folks back to the Quest shop for shopping and more socializing with the rest of them.
And our last little baby left today to head off to her new home. It was bittersweet but now that she has her new owner to look after her we can focus on bringing in more of the adults. Maude, who is not the best with puppies, will be taking her first trip in to see the public tomorro w. After Stripe and Sassy have their vet check on Friday they will also start their own rotations to get used to public life and being spoiled by biscuits.
And if the weather stays nice and cool like it is I might sneak in an early run or two on the fourwheeler. It wont be a long run but I am itchin' for snow. It cant come soon enough and I have quite a few dogs who need a refresher course and dogs like Pandora who have never been in harness before. I am very excited to see how she will do, shes getting big enough to start learning the ropes and by the time fall rolls around she will have grown enough to do full runs with the big dogs.
And so my heart is so full of hope, so full of gratitude and excitement for all we have accomplished thus far. There is still so much more we have yet to do but it will all come in good time. I already have people wanting to schedule their dog sled rides with us and so much to look forward to this winter. This summer is flying by so darn fast and I am so grateful, it will seem like the blink of an eye before winter is here again and the dogs and I are once again explori ng the wide open country side. I can hardly wait!!I also want to extend a HUGE thank you to Nita for the use of her portable garage. We just got it set up a few a few days ago and are gradually clearing out the inside to make way for all the sleds and winter gear we have to store during the summer. It will be so wonderful to have it all in the same place so we can do inventory on it and have it much more organized to see what we need and what needs to be repaired before training starts.
Mike and I also walked out the back side of the dog yard to pace out the area for the new foster yard. We will still have the old foster pen in use but it will most likely be converted to more of a free run pen than having dogs on individual houses. The old area has a few wet places but the new area is a bit higher and should offer some better drainage. Dogs like Stripe and Mad eline, who are not working dogs, will be able to enjoy free run time all year as compensation for the fun they will miss out on when not working. Madeline may work at some point, if she relaxes enough to be handled, but Stripe will be retired his whole life due to his lung condition. The steroids we have him on are working very well but he doesn't have enough lung function to comfortably pull a sled.
There are still so many things to be done before summer is over and even more plans we have for our new property on the Parks Hwy but it will all come in good time. Its exciting to see all that we have accomplished so far and all we still have to look forward to. Well, exciting is a bit of an understatement, its really far more than exciting but I don't think there is a word in the English dictionary to describe it... :)
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