Making A Point

Making A Point
Jan 15th 2010
wolfmoonsleddog
Midwest

Location: Finland, MN
Time - 7:46pm Central Standard Time
Temperature: 28 degrees F (minus 2 C)
Conditions: Mostly clear, slight breeze
Forecast: Mostly cloudy tonight and tomorrow. Highs in the 30s, lows in the teens

The above picture is from a 40-mile run I did today. The team is, from front to back

Telly Fiona
Violet Susan
Bonnie Hjordis
Mothra Chime
Kyat Elina

It’s been very warm. By warm, I mean it was 34 degrees ABOVE zero the other day. This is January too, not March or April. It’s not supposed to be this warm this time of year. To give you (esp. those of you in Georgia) an idea of how warm 30 degrees ABOVE feels after 30 degrees BELOW zero…It’s like going from 30 above to 90 above. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Or, just check out the photos below. 34 degrees and I was entirely comfortable dressed like that.




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4 Responses to “Making A Point”
Dave Lukosik on 15 Jan 2010 at 8:42 pm # edit this

I think you made your point! Some of the dogs in the dog yard might be thinking she’s gone bonkers in that get up! Is the cabin in the background one of the dog handlers cabin? Thanks for the info on the drag mat fastners. The temps in Eastern NC got above freezing(50+) for the first time today in almost two weeks of temps in the 20’s! Hope the trails stay snowy for the Beargrease coming up soon. Enjoy your training runs and the “warm spells” while they last!

wolfmoonsleddog on 16 Jan 2010 at 6:25 pm # edit this

Everybody thinks I’ve gone bonkers already!

Believe it or not, the cabin in the background is Blake and Jen’s house! It’s the main cabin right now, although since their family is expanding, they are in the process of building a bigger house. Everybody is quite surprised at how small the main cabin is.

I’ve been hearing about the low temperatures in the Southeast. Apparently people from my area of GA say they can’t remember it being that cold for that long.

Another warm day here, another 40-miler. Wish it had been cooler. Fortunately it’s supposed to be cooler soon.

All the best to you and your pups!

A

Tiffany on 20 Jan 2010 at 7:30 am # edit this

You run dogs as a profession? How do you get into something like that?? Do you run dogs for a family?

Here in Lawrenceville, GA it was in the 60’s both Monday and yesterday. It was fabulous! I took Jasmine out on a bike ride on monday and the poor girl was pretty hot so we had to take a lot of breaks and she had to take a ride in the trailer for a little while.

wolfmoonsleddog on 23 Jan 2010 at 8:08 pm # edit this

I am a sled dog handler, which is not exactly a professional position!! There are professional handlers who work for kennels for a living but I cannot see myself doing this forever as I plan to have my own kennel eventually. I am doing this to gain as much experience as I can about running sled dogs.

The job description for handlers is usually a LOT of kennel chores (feeding dogs, scooping poop, race prep etc.) running young teams and, in some cases (like mine) running young teams in races to give them experience. It’s a great way to introduce oneself to the sled dog lifestyle without buying an entire kennel of one’s own. I work for room, board and the experience of working with some awesome Siberian huskies. It’s hard work but well worth it if you really love what you are doing. I wrote Blake and Jen after seeing on their website that they were looking for handlers. As I recall, the job description was “Long hours and low pay.”

There are very few people who can make a living running dogs. Blake and Jen are serious mushers and their life revolves around their dogs and the races that they run but they still have their own seperate jobs. Jen is a veterinarian and Blake works for the forest service.

I’m glad it’s not 60 degrees here! When I was doing dryland in Georgia, I had to always be careful about the temperature when I ran. In the Fall there I think 60 was my cutoff point but during the Winter it was a good bit lower. Remember to bring fresh water for you and your pups whenever you go on a run!

Oh, and if you ARE interested in handling, check out http://www.sleddogcentral.com/classifieds/classads_wanted.htm#helpwanted Just seriously find out as much as you can ahead of time about anyone you might want to work with as I have heard a few horror stories of handlers who went to work for not-so-great kennels they found online.

Sorry if this is long-winded.

Hugs to Jasmine and the other pups!

A