Wolf Moon Dogsledding

Location: Finland, MN
Time - 8:24am Central Daylight Time
Temperature: 64 degrees F (18 C)
Conditions: Mostly cloudy, windy
Forecast: Possible rain showers today, highs in the 80s. Sunny tomorrow, lows in the 40s

The above picture shows Jen and me coming into the yard with the yearling team. It was taken by either Bonnie or Colton, I am not sure which. They were visiting the kennel last week and we all had a blast!

Here is one seriously nice thing about Minnesota. When it gets “hot” up here, it’s not the muggy, oppressive heat we have in Georgia. When it is hot in Minnesota, I actually feel like doing things outside. While in Georgia, I just want to stay out of the heat!

Calypso and Susan are settling in. They spent the first few days in a kennel run but now have been moved out to the female yard. They are doing fine and seem quite content. I am planning to take them on a scooter run today.

The orphan puppies from last March (see http://sleddoggin.com/blogs/wolfmoonsleddog/2009/03/28/call-me-octo-mom-2/ ) are huge and beautiful now. They are currently running and playing out in the new free-run enclosure. It is the nicest enclosure I think I have seen. I cannot get over how big it is! There are trees and brush for the dogs to play in, and a nice path for them to run. For Calypso, it’s the biggest area she has ever been able to run free in (excluding when she was a puppy and I could let her run around off-leash with me).

We have been training most mornings and the teams are looking good. The yearlings were hilarious when we took them out!

Just as going back to Georgia was culture shock, coming back to Minnesota was a kind of culture shock of it’s own. I love it up here though. And there are puppies!

Be sure to check out the latest post on the Manitou Crossing Kennel blog, which was posted just before I left Georgia - http://mck-blog.blogspot.com/2009/08/august-2009-puppies-berries-and.html

I am getting my video camera ready to roll today and plan on taking as much footage as I can this Season, so I will have a “Life At MCK” video.

In other news, I should probably mention that I can’t send emails right now. I don’t know why and am trying to work on the problem. I can still receive emails, I just can’t send any out.

Later!

A

3 Comments »

Location: Finland, MN
Time - 9:57 Central Daylight Time
Temperature: 55 degrees F
Conditions: Clear, cool
Forecast: Mostly sunny today and tomorrow. Highs in the 60s, lows in the 30s or 40s

Just a quick note to let you all know that I am back at Manitou Crossing Kennels and Fall training has begun. I am having issues with pictures and email but hopefully I will get that fixed in the next few days.

Things here are good - the orphan puppies are HUGE and the new puppies are entirely too cute! It is nice being here again.

The trip up was great. I have a lot of pictures that I will post soon.

No Comments »

Location: Monticello, MN
Time - 8:58am Central Daylight Tim
Temperature: 50 degrees F (10 C)
Conditions: Partly sunny, still
Forecast: Showers today, partly cloudy tomorrow. Highs in the 60s, lows in the 40s

Pond across the road from Little Mountain Siberian husky kennel, where we are staying.

Calypso and Susan at Little Mountain, in the pen beside the house

The Little Mountain Siberians themselves

The view from the backyard

Another backyard view.

More soon!

2 Comments »

Location: Monticello, MN
Time - 10:30pm Central Daylight Time
Temperature: 63 degrees F (17 C)
Conditions: Clear, breezy
Forecast: Clear tonight, chance of thundershowers tomorrow. Highs in the 70s, lows in the 40s

Well, we are still in Minnesota but it’s a MN entirely different from the one where I’ve been for the past nine months. We are currently staying with Dave and Bonnie Lundberg at Little Mountain Siberians (http://www.furwheeler.com/) in Monticello, not too far from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul). We are staying here before making our way back to Georgia.

Right now I have Calypso and Susan in a crate in the room where I am staying and the window is open. Outside a chorus of frogs is showing no sign of ceasing! Spring is well underway in this part of Minnesota, far removed from the boreal forest it seems. It was amazing watching the terrain and habitat change when we came down here.

Calypso has taken an enthusiastic “ho-hum” attitude towards this trip but Susan is wide-eyed. I think she is a little stressed by her first big trip so it’s good that she has Calypso, whom she knows very well (the two have been living in the same kennel run and sharing a crate for several weeks now). Susie is rather shy around people she doesn’t know, especially when she is in strange situations like this one. Such a different personality from Calypso yet the two huskies couldn’t get along better!

It was really hard leaving Manitou Crossing and the Northwoods. However it was made easier by the fact that I will see Jen, Blake and the Jedeye dogs when I come back later this Summer. Still, it is nowhere near easy to say goodbye to a litter of seven-week-old orphan puppies you have helped raise. They are soooo cute and mischievious! They are going to be so much BIGGER when I get back! I miss them already.

I have really enjoyed seeing Dave and Bonnie’s kennel. Their dogs jumped all over me with great excitement when they smelled my jacket (it smelled like puppies from MCK I am sure). It’s amazing how much warmer it is in Monticello and how much the flowers are blooming now.

But, at least for right now, I am still “North” and still among sled dogs.

No Comments »

Location: Finland, MN
Time - 9:03am
Temperature: 43 degrees F
Conditions: Mostly cloudy, windy
Forecast: Cloudy today and tomorrow with rain tomorrow. Highs in the 50s, lows in the 20s.

Thought you would all like to see some new pictures of the puppies! Spring is definitely here now and most of our snow is gone. I’ve heard it said that this area has 4 seasons - Summer, Fall, Winter and Mud, and this is pretty accurate. All the feet of snow has to go somewhere when it melts. In just a few short weeks we went from stomping through snow to stomping through mud.

All the puppies are doing well and are growing absurdly fast! The following pictures were taken by Sarah Lynch.

2 Comments »

Location: Finland, MN
Time - 12:41pm Central Daylight Time
Temperature: 65 degrees F (20 C)
Conditions: Partly cloudy
Forecast: Mostly cloudy today, highs in the 60s, lows in the 30s. Cloudy tomorrow with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s

Well, as promised here are pictures of all the puppies!

ORLA. One of the big girls in the litter. Orla was known as Ringtail when she was very small because of the white band on her tail.

PADDY - Another of the big girls, Paddy loves to use her loud voice when she is ready to eat or play. She was first known as Pibald.

ROISIN (”Ro-Sheen”) - The biggest girl in the litter. Her initial nickname was No Spot but now she has become known as Chunk.

SHANE - The smaller of the two boys in the litter, it is amazing that Shane has survived. Yet, thanks to everyone’s determination that he have a chance at life, the “Little Dude” is still with us.

SAORISE (”Sore-Sha”) - One of the smaller girls, whom I initially called Starfish because of the star-like marking on her shoulders. I am now calling her Squirrel because of her perky little ears.

CHLOE - A fat little naughty girl, Chloe likes to get into everything - and is sure she can get away with anything.

FIONN (”Fin”) - The Big Boy. Fionn is probably the biggest puppy in the litter now. He also seems to have the biggest ears!

KATIE - One of the smaller girls, Katie has turned into quite a happy puppy who, despite her small size, eats a lot!

4 Comments »

Location: Finland, MN
Time - 9:44pm Central Daylight Time
Temperature: 30 degrees F
Conditions: Clear
Forecast: Partly cloudy tonight and tomorrow. Highs in the 40s, lows in the 20s to teens

Well, Spring is definitely here in Northern Minnesota. The snow is turning to slush and the parking area is wet and muddy. It’s warm during the day and I wear a T-shirt most of the time now. The puppies are growing. Their eyes are open and they are discovering they can use their voices to (loudly) express their feelings. They all are developing very distinct personalities and they wag their tails and pounce and play, with us and each other.

The puppies will be four weeks old on Tuesday. Their names (Irish names in the theme of St. Patrick’s Day when they were born) are Shane, Fionn (prounounced Fin), Roisin (pronounced Ro-Sheen), Orla, Katie, Saoirse (pronounced Sore-Sha), Chloe and Paddy. Stay tuned for pictures of each pup over the next few days!

4 Comments »

Location: Finland, MN
Time - 2:19pm Central Daylight Time
Temperature: 39 degrees F
Conditions: Overcast with light snow
Forecast: Cloudy today and tomorrow with snow showers. Highs in the 30s, lows in the teens

The dog in the picture above is Black-Eyed Susan (or Susie for short). You have probably seen pictures of her before. She is the daughter of Inga, who ran lead on my team most of the Season (and in the Beargrease 150). Susan will be a yearling soon and we have worked with her and the other 2008 pups this Spring (see http://mck-blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/training-pups.html ).

Anyway, I am very excited to report that little Susie will now be joining Calypso in my micro-kennel! She was just spayed the other day so she is now staying inside with me and the Ziggy pups.

Speaking of the Ziggy pups, they are now two weeks old and are really growing and changing. Their eyes are open now! I’ve included a couple of pictures of them too.

Chloe

Roisin (pronounced Ro-Sheen), nicknamed the Chunk.

No Comments »

Location: Finland, MN
Time - 8:31pm
Temperature: 21 degrees F
Conditions: Partly cloudy
Forecast: Partly coudy tonight and tomorrow. Highs in the 30s, lows in the single digits

Well life has been interesting these past eleven days. On St. Patrick’s Day, Ziggy, one of the MCK dogs, gave birth to eight puppies. We celebrated the arrival of the pups but quickly realized that there was something wrong with Ziggy. To make a long story short, she had ruptured her uterus and although everyone did all they could, she passed away following emergency surgery.

Although all of us are shocked and saddened, our attention has turned to the eight puppies Ziggy left behind. It has been a roller coaster hand-raising them but they are all still here and doing well. I have been saddled with the nickname of Octo-Mom, although I think it might be more appropriate to say it takes eight people to do the work of one mother dog. Everyone has pitched in to help.

We have become very attached to the puppies and it’s obvious that they recognize us by smell. It is an around-the-clock job for all of us to raise them. Phil, the other handler here, gave all the pups Irish names. It was only fair since the litter was born on St. Patrick’s Day and Phil is from Ireland.

Here are some pictures of the pups from last week. They have already grown tremendously since I uploaded the pics.

Above is a picture I took of Ziggy last Winter. She was a great leader and everyone here misses her. I know I do.

4 Comments »

Location: Finland, MN
Time - 4:48pm Central Daylight Time
Temperature: 16 degrees F
Conditions: Clear, sunny
Forecast: Mostly cloudy today and tomorrow. Highs in the teens, lows just below zero

The moon this morning

Bonnie (left) and Violet

It was clear and twenty below this morning. One more cold snap. We had a “Winter Storm” that dumped some more snow on us, covering up all the bare patches. However despite the cold and snow, Spring is definitely on the way. It warmed up nicely today for our puppy runs. The pups are all doing well and there will be more about them soon!

1 Comment »