WooHoo!

Five years ago we brought home our first rescue. so afraid of life she stayed hidden in her dog house for well over a year. She left only when I sat on the ground, planted a foot on each side of the door and pulled her out to go out for walks and skijors. When she was out on the trail she'd crawl up into a treewell as far away from us as she could get and shake. She walked in back of us, as far as she could get, because feet made scarey sounds in the snow and they kicked rocks making even scarier noises. For several years Saint Nicki and I wondered out loud about her. but we knew if we let her go and gave up on her, she was gone for good, and she deserved better than that.

Christmas 3 years ago, her adrenal gland gave out. Too much fear. But that was the beginning of her sunrise. I guess she finally decided maybe, just maybe she could trust us. Since then she's never spent the night out in her dog house, hasn't wanted to.

Roll forward to this fall when she let me throw my arms around her for a hug. By now we've had her for 5 years and we were giving and getting our first hugs! Life is good. Until last night...when things got even better as you can see from the picture.

I am pretty sure I'd never gotten involved with rescue, volunteering at the local SPCA, and starting a malamute rescue group without Babe's assistance and her guiding light. Several phrases come to mind when I think about her, "you can only move as fast as the dog does" and "always stay with the dog, they won't let you down". There are plenty of people who've told both Saint Nicki and I what a wonderful job we've done. Maybe so, but I really think Babe was the guide. She was the one who led us onto better things. She's the one who started it all. We were lucky enough to have our eyes open and pay attention enough to follow.

Happy Howl-idays

Happy Howl-days and WooWoos to you! Our best wishes for a happy new year and healthy and prosperous year ahead.

Ski Club Skis

Once a month or so now, more often in the spring, we lead backcountry tours for the ski club. With winds approach 25 mph, cloudy skies but temps near freezing we headed up the South Fork of Eagle River. With days as short as they are, its nice to get out and enjoy the little daylight we have.


Looking up at Cantata Peak



Lunch!


Babe loves running free during the ski outings. A far cry from a year or 2 ago where she tried to get as far away from folks as possible. She now walks around them, taking handouts whenever they are offered.

Obligatory Skijor Picture

Everybody who skijors seems to have these kind of pictures on their blog. So I guess I better put one on her too.

Our latest foster malamute Kilitoq



I prefer looking at their face through, the backend of a dog really does nothing for me :)



Here's one of Valley, gotta get one of my crew in here LOL.

Skijor the fundogs

With fresh snow and warm temperatures, what's a funhog to do? Skijor the fundogs!

Clear and Cold

More Clear and cold conditions making some fantastic surface hoar. Fields of spikey and flakey surface hoar producing some fantastic touring conditions underfoot.

Letting Nature Run Wild

We are not getting much snow but we are seeing some nice surface hoar.

High Pressure Systems

High pressure systems are nice for sunshine, crisp snow, and great skiing.


Kickstep Mountain





Sunset over Turnagain Arm and Cooke Inlet.

What makes a dog go faster?

...The smell and sight of moose. Out for a skijor on a sunny and cold day but not many moose, not like yesterday where we had to peel them out of the trail to get by.


Babe pulling hard...



Nicki skijoring with Babe.



Ganik and Valley pulling me!


That's right, that's Ganik pulling. He seemed fine on an even or groomed snow filled trail while out walking, made us think of trying him skijoring again. Now he seems fine afterwards. Having him around gives Valley so much more confidence.

A chance to go ski moose

Moose rut hasn't finished and we decided to go ski some moose. You'll see they get upfront and rather personal.


Valley looking forward to moving upstream to see some moose.




This guy was pushed down on us by some folks trying to move down the trail. Pretty gosh darn close.



Slithered by her on the way back home. Stop, let her look at me, when she goes back eating...move, stop when she looks at me, when she goes back eating...move ... you get it, moved very slowly keeping her eating and not engaging with us. This is the size of the moose, no zoom on the camera needed...



Same moose, different view :)

All in a Days Hike

Out for a day hike, saw a bunch of nice critters. All in all 9 moose and 27 sheep. Its been awhile since I've seen sheep up so close down low.

5

today we celebrate our 5th anniversary with Babe. It might be five years since we brought her home but it feels like 5 dog years...well it has been 5 dog years but you know what I mean. I knew when she arrived in our home we were going on a unique journey, I just didn't know it both of us were going to grow this much.

Even a year ago I could have never said, "Babe booted St. Nicki off her 4 inch foamie while car camping making for a night in the pickup for St Nicki". I never thought she'd sleep between Nicki and I while we tent camped, at least she doesn't steal the sleeping bags out from underneath us. Who would have thought she'd push whatever dog I pet out of the way, plant her bottom down and insist I pet her? Her Perry Como sweet singing voice turned into a baseball announcer--play by play and color.

So here we go, embarking on another year, but first I need to get the pot roast with carrots out of the oven for her dinner.

Another Day at the Ballpark

When we go to the ballpark sometimes we get to chase the ball. Ganik usually get's there first :(



Damnit! I want the ball!



I can Fly! I can Fly! I love chasing that ball.



Get it! Get It!



Now What?

Season Opener

Enough snow had fallen at one of our favorite ski spots, it was time to venture out with Valley and see if we could enjoy the day skijoring. We found 2 feet had fallen, a bit too much for skijoring, so Valley accompanied me instead of trying to pull.

She's looking pretty happy at the start of the skiing. "Finally ski season is here", she seems to be saying.





Now that its snowing she is still looking happy. When I took the second picture, I am sure I heard her say, "Hey I like this skiing sport even if it is snowing".




Finally, we are in the pass, its snowing heavily and blowing pretty hard. She's kind of saying she doesn't like it here and would like to leave now thank you. Mouse Click the picture to really see what's going on :)


Everybody had a fun time, for once I didn't get hurt on opening day.

The Jersey is Back On

We put Ganik's hiking jersey back on for a trip up Tincan today. His back seemed so much better and I thought a hike up a soft trail would do him good since he never likes being left behind. Of course we kept him tethered so he wouldn't over due it. Post hike he's tired but fine.

Here's a pic of both him and Babe on the ridge we ski off of.



Me and Valley. What a gorgeous day.




Valley napping. We all tried that routine. :)



Saw a black bear up near the summit ridge. A big one!

First Snow

Today we received our first snow of the season. More like afternoon flurries but it was snow! Didn't get a picture of that, but did get one of Ptarmigan Peak while out walking.

Here Kitty Kitty

Its moose rut which provides some great wildlife viewing opportunities. So no kitty cat but moose.

About 15 meters off the trail this first bull appeared.






Followed by the cow and calf hidden back in the hemlock.




With moose so close to the trail, one has to be very very careful. Its actually nice to have the dogs because they are good about detecting the bedded down moose who otherwise would turn into the boogey monster.


Occasionally, the Malamutes don't let us know when Bullwinkle is around. That means one still have to be on your toes.

Without any notice the cow appeared (the moose is upset by the way, LOL) out of the brush. I had stopped to take a leak and was unaware of what was around in the grasses and brush.



That's Saint Nicki and Babe backing up after the bull surprised us by popping up out of the brush after I walked by. Maybe not apparent but she's walking backwards away from the small bull.






Its nice to let nature run wild.

Play Ball!

Its pretty common for folks to take their dogs to the little league fields for exercise and play after the baseball season has ended. The ball parks are completely fenced in, folks will not enter the field if another dog and owner are in there, and we found it a wonderful place to work on recall.

They love to run run run when they are first released, then we start walking around practicing the recall and finding ways to play. This time we didn't expect to find not only a baseball but a golf ball as well. We found this evening they love to chase after the ball, play catch with themselves and when the ball escapes, all 3 get in the action to scoop the ball up and play keep-away and bitenecking.
In the first picture you can see the golf ball below Valley's left eye and next to her schoz-ola. Tthe 2nd picture shows Ganik playing catch.

Twenty or 30 minutes of this kind of fun make for some dead tired dogs after dinner. I know the Lathrop High School in Fairbanks has the Malemutes as a mascot, maybe I can sign these guys off to play for a little league team next summer.

Batter Up!

Fall Colors

Fall colors are full out on in the tundra. Great time of the year to get out and ooooo and ahhh at Nature's Lightshow. We walked into the first snow of the season. Snow mixed with Rain. Woohoo, winter is knocking at our door.

Row Row Row your Boat

We launched the FV Ganik tonight. That's FV for Funhog Vessel not Fishing Vessel.

I added the rowing mechanism to the canoe so I could maneuver the boat by myself and gave him a lifejacket since nobody gets in the boat unless they are wearing one. He was a little nervous at first but settled right down and enjoyed the view. We chose the lake to see how it goes, if he keeps it up, we'll gradually improve to some running water. The Ruff wear Lifejacket fit well and seems well constructed. You can see its a color easily seen even on bad days, has a sturdy handle on the back to grab him with and the life jacket holds when you lift him with it.

With his back, this might be a good ticket to enjoy the out of doors with him.

It'd definitely be the way to go if I could teach him to fish. I'd be happy to run the net if he could reel them in.

Time to Play Hockey

Well not playing hockey but playing in the hockey rink. The rink is fully enclosed except for an entrance so we blocked it off. Let the dogs loose, then they chased each other. After a bit of that we had them chase us. Then we practiced their recall. Baseball diamonds, like the little league down the road are good for this, if they are fully enclosed like ours is. A much softer surface, but they were working on it so we went with our 2nd choice, the neighborhood school hockey rink. Fun for all!

Here we have Valley giving chase to Ganik, and Valley coming to her call. (As always, click on the picture to enlarge.)