Mar 31st 2010
wolfmoonsleddog
Midwest
Location: Finland, MN
Time - 7:14pm Central Daylight Time
Temperature: 60 degrees F (14C)
Conditions: Mostly clear, warm, breezy
Forecast: Partly cloudy tonight, chance of showers late tomorrow. Lows in the 30s, highs in the 60s
Alcan, the surprise puppy who was born along the Alcan Highway while Blake, Phil and Forrest were traveling to Alaska. It’s strange having just one puppy around, rather than a whole litter.
Blake, Phil and the dogs arrived back last Sunday, the day after I returned to MCK. And let me tell you, it is shocking how little snow there is here right now. A year ago this time we were still running sleds out of the yard. In fact, we were well into April before the snow cover became scant. Right now the weather is like it was when my parents came up here last May!!
Phil has since left and the feeling that this mushing Season has come to a close is in the air. Things have wound down and much of our work right now is dedicated to putting Winter equipment away, ready for the 2010-2011 season. We’ve enjoyed hearing Blake’s Iditarod stories too. He has some tales to tell!
The dog kennel is completely full right now. Every pen has at least two dogs inside and every chain in BOTH the girl yard and boy yard has a dog on it. This has never before happened in my time here. Some of the dogs are going, of course, as Blake and Jen will be selling some dogs this Spring. They have to, especially since Jen’s “two-legged” baby will be arriving this Spring.
Some of the dogs have already gone. Ghengis, Kahn and Hagar (all on my 2009 puppy team and training this year on the A and B teams.) have found an excellent home in Alaska. Hagar especially sounds very happy there. Nic has also found another good home and his new owners sound happy with him. I miss Nic though, it was amazing to see one of the dogs I was running last year go on to run the Iditarod with Blake this year. Nic’s brother, Rocket, also on my team last year, also running the Iditarod with Blake this year, is still around and I have given him a lot of attention.
Of course, I’ve tried to give ALL the dogs attention. Mass coat blowing has started and I spent some of the afternoon today out in the dogyard armed with a brush. Fur is flying!
The Punto/Domita babies (now 8 months old) are looking really nice. They are fluffy and fat, of course, but they will be good dogs I think. They are in the “Blues Brothers” litter so they have names like Jake, Elwood, Ray, BlueLou, Mr. Fabulous (my favorite right now), Bones, etc.
The orphans, now yearlings are SO FUNNY! Today Chloe climbed into my arms with her back feet hanging down. When I tried to put her back on the ground, she came climing back up.
I think I will be getting another dog to add to my own team this Spring but I don’t know who yet. There are so many nice dogs in the kennel and I know I will be happy with whoever I get.
A TV crew from Fox21 news came by the kennel today to do a follow-up to their pre-Iditarod piece on Blake. It will be interesting to see how that comes out. I will post a link when it is put online.
Like I said, the days are warm. T-shirt weather (although I will admit that I had my bikini top on again yesterday - with my coveralls no less!). Things are more relaxed. It is starting to feel like Summer.
I am trying to plan out my future. I will be leaving MCK next month. I would like to be back next year as I absolutely love it here but I am also aware that I have goals for myself and I cannot keep working as a handler indefinitely. I want to build my own team, my own kennel, my own life. Next Fall I am planning to start vet tech school and am very excited about that. In the meantime, I am hoping to avoid another horribly humid Georgia Summer and have applied for work in Alaska. I’ve had an interview and should know very soon whether I will head North or South when I leave Manitou Crossing Kennels next month. Whatever happens, I know I shall miss this place and the people and dogs I have come to know and call my friends.
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2 Responses to “The Boys Are Back In Town (And So Am I!)”
Dave Lukosik on 01 Apr 2010 at 8:37 pm # edit this
Alcan is a sweetheart and has had quite an adventure during his 5 weeks of life! I just saw the TV video you were talking about and you are in it too. Sent you an e-mail with the Sleddog-L link. Thanks to Dave and Bonnie Lundburg for posting it! Blake and the MCK team had quite an adventure, glad it all worked out well! I think we all are in for an early Summer if this weather pattern keeps up. Best wishes to you on your future schooling and Summer job prospects! Keep us posted!
wolfmoonsleddog on 06 Apr 2010 at 8:22 am # edit this
Alcan is REALLY growing! He’s tearing around now (well, as much as a 6-week-old puppy can “tear around”).
The video of Blake was taken offline due to an issue with the photo credits and now I cannot even find the article. I was going to post it here but it seems to have disappeared.
Will email you in the next couple of days.
A
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