New Friends

A run with a fellow scooter dog makes a day's run so much more exciting.

Pictured here are Blizzard and Flurry with their new friend Luna. Luna ran her first run with a fellow scooter team today.

Winning Battles

Remind me if I win no races, I managed to teach two Siberian Huskies to walk with a loose leash (most of the time).

I have not done much running with these two dogs since I started this blog, but I just walked them around the block on regular collars. I could have walked three miles without gaining a blister with how well they were walking tonight.

Whatever battles lay ahead for this team and I, we have conquered one of the biggest challenges.

I see myself in my husky’s eyes.

I feel trapped.
I’ll dig, I’ll climb,
I’ll chew my way out.

I want to see what’s over that hill.
I want to see what’s around the bend.
Run through the grass,
Jump through snow banks,
Tromp through mud and streams.
Freedom.

Then at the end of the day,
When the fun is over,
And I am just a little tired,
I want only one thing,
The comfort and security of my pack.

So when I make my break follow me,
we can take our adventures together.
Yes, follow me, I will lead us.

I see myself in my husky’s eyes.

Weekend Adventurers

Well, I live in a city and am some what stuck with only two dogs. You may ask, “Janine, why don’t you just leave the city and move out to the country or go to Alaska?”

The truth is I finally have a good job, that job is in the city, and I would spend hours commuting if I moved any farther from my downtown job. I am young and still seek adventure and without this job, I would have left already. However, with this job, I can finally afford this sport.

Having a sled team costs money; dog food, vet bills, equipment, travel expenses to get to races and replacement doors, windows, screens, furniture, and occasionally actual dog toys. If you dream of making money by winning races, you may want to rethink your plans. Most of the races I plan to enter may earn me enough to pay for the trip, if I win.

It also takes time. Each dog needs exercise and care. For example, I wake up every morning and walk the same neighborhood. Nothing changes, except which house is for sale this week. It is a routine, which never ends. The dogs learn to expect the routine and if you do not follow it, they will retaliate. If you cannot handle this routine, you would be miserable in a long sled race, where routine and lack of sleep apparently rule.

I am not ready for a big team or thousand mile races. I have my sights on four dogs and a sled. Just enough to compete and not too many dogs that I do not have time for each one. I just have to figure out how to accomplish this in my current situation.

These city dogs think they are tough and they can handle the real outdoors. The same is true for this city girl. We may just be weekend adventures from the city, but we are lean, mean (if wagging tails count as mean), and ready to race.

Pale Blue Eyes

When you get home from work and you find four pale blue eyes staring at you, it is hard to sit down at your computer and think of things to write in your blog. When the owners of those blue eyes are waiting patiently for you to move, put on a shoe, or make any indication that you are going somewhere, you just cannot help but do something with them.

I started the morning with our usual three mile walk (with no weird women, today). Then tonight I took the dogs to the dog park when I got home. I could not let this beautify day go to waste. It was sunny, cool, and perfect.

At the park, I ran a little and walked a little. The dog ran a lot, swam a little, and each took a turn disappearing into the woods for a while (good thing there is a fence to prevent them from getting too far).

They were otherwise well behaved, as they love to run laps around me. They even jumped in the car without me having to hunt them down. It pays to have salmon treats as rewards for getting in the car (they get them every time we leave a park or get back in the car after a run).

Now I am back at home, sitting here again with those blue eyes still staring. Luckily, their eyelids are getting heavy and I will get a break until my early morning walk up call.

Attack of the White Wolves

As I wait for the weather to cool off, I am continuing my regular three mile walks with my two huskies. The weekends are great for walking, because I can get out during daylight hours. During the week, I have to leave for work early to fight the traffic (or park on the freeway). Since it is best to leave huskies tired (or as close to it as you can) when leaving them for the day, I walk the dogs before I leave. As fall approaches, it just keeps getting darker and darker when I leave the house. It will only be a mater of weeks until the whole 45-minute walk will be completely in darkness.

Today I was reminded of the woman I encountered a few weeks ago when I was walking. It was dark and I came up behind her because she was walking quite slow and wandering on and off the sidewalk. Instead of trying to pass this strange woman, I went to cross the street at which time she notice us.

“Ahh, you scared me,” she said. Not wanting to hold conversations with strange women in the dark, I apologized and continued to cross the street. She than continued, “You shouldn’t sneak up on people with wolves, you might get shot.”

I gave a kind of half laugh and continued to head away from the woman. Shortly she felt the need to clarify that she did not have a gun, but I just kept on walking. I thought maybe I should apologize again, this time for not seeing that she was with her wolves, but I felt it was best not to mess with a woman with invisible wolves. I looked back shortly to make sure she was not going the same direction as I was. She was not.

The dogs and I made it home safe, but now we know we should watch out for people with wolves.