For someone who is terrified of going fast downhill, I don't know why I continue to pursue non-snow, mushing sports. Could be because the opportunity to dog sled is so rare and I so want to be on a dog sled. But a dog sled has brakes that slow and even stop forward motion. Not so with my new cart. Today I finished remodeling my sail boat trailer into a dog cart trailer. Being pleased with myself, I loaded up the dogs and took it out for a spin.
The road I have been fantasising running the cart on turned out to have way too many and very steep hills. Funny how terrain looks different when being evaluated for limited braking power going downhill and pushing a cart uphill. High speed impact on asphalt was not how I want to spend my day - ever!
The road I have been fantasising running the cart on turned out to have way too many and very steep hills. Funny how terrain looks different when being evaluated for limited braking power going downhill and pushing a cart uphill. High speed impact on asphalt was not how I want to spend my day - ever! I drove back home for the trailer shake down cruise. I could easily get the rig off-loaded - check. The dogs did not eat their harnesses while waiting in the van - check. Hooking the snub line to the trailer was adequate to hold the rig while excited dogs lunged - check. I got on board, pulled the release snatch block and we were off.
Our part of Oregon has been having record rain. Everything is saturated. The property dirt road goes through last summer's log loading deck. The loading area has not been cleared of branches, small logs, unearthed boulders or 1" thick chunks of bark. It is also on a downhill stretch. The cart was jostled and tossed about as I tried in vain to slow it down. The brakes and tire tread were coated with slick clay mud. The dogs had a great time running full speed and leaping over obstacles as I yelled "easy" then "whoa". If I was an adrenalin junkie, I would have called the ride exhilarating. But I am not. I am an old lady.
Willy, McKenzie and the cart coated with mud from the run. (Cedar went for a swim to wash off prior to this picture being taken).
This one here compared to how big his head is now...bigger than the Otter toy now. 
I showed them how to find phone numbers on line and created a header tab so they could follow my blog. Iris showed me her really cool reading aid that shows whatever she wants to read on her TV. She can change the font size to suit her vision. Dad is occupying himself with Photoshop. He cuts and pastes photobits into fantasy pictures. Not bad for a couple in their 9th decade.
So Dad - let me know when you found the tab and read this.
One of her favourite games was sitting on top of the firewood box on the deck and taking out all of the wood piece by piece. She also had a bit of a fright upon seeing two very large and fluffy black dogs come racing full speed at her, dressed in what looked like full body neoprene doggy wetsuits. I don't think she had ever seen anything like that before, and it was a first for me as well!! Muku seems to have grown a lot in the last few weeks, both in size and also she is seeming more grown up. The neighbours dog, who has no tolerance for puppies, finally allowed her to join him in a game of fetch today. Ben takes great delight in the fact that Muku obeys his commands and will sit, lay down, spin, or shake a paw for him. He's still sometimes not sure about being licked in the face, which is Muku's favourite pastime, but I think he's getting used to it.
I no longer keep her contained in her gated kitchen space when we leave (her safe-zone when she had to stay home alone as a puppy), and she is excellent about being left alone in the house now--no barking, no whining, no destruction (of course she always has access to about 10 bones and a million toys, which she likes to distribute across the floor). She's become a bit shy with some strangers entering our house, but I think it's just the ones that make 'ooo doggie' type noises and immediately reach out towards her head (understandable--I wouldn't appreciate that if it were directed towards me!) I want to start working with her on the 'say hello' command you do with Cedar, which could really help with the shyness, since so many people you meet on the street reach out before you have a chance to ask them not to, and the reaching out is the only thing that seems to phase her. 
Isn't she a beauty?
Getting these four to sit-stay long enough for a picture proved to be quite a challenge.
Koyuk went to obedience class yesterday. Most of the students hadn't seen her since she was a few weeks old. 
The first team got in about 2 a.m. Over 2' of heavy, wet, snow fell during the 50 mile run between checkpoints. Even with snowmobile support, he had to break trail much of the way. Everyone was suffering severe vertigo from the tunnel vision of driving over a very rough trail, in a blizzard with only the light of a headlamp. The first musher has done all the big races, including the Iditarod 3 times, and said that this was one of his worst nights ever.
My sled in the morning - who knew one inch wide runners could support over a foot of snow? 
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