The only place that isn't sloppy and muddy is this 3/4 of a mile of our trail through the woods. It's the only time I take my goggles off. I guess the one plus to the warm, wet weather is all the puddles on the trail that help keep the dogs cool. We're still driving through the creek just to get them cooled off. I don't remember a year when we were still going through the creek this late. It's usually frozen over by now. Anyway, good run today. This is Abigail and Flash in lead. They are stars!! She's a little half pint but more heart and drive than any dog I've ever driven. Her feet are still not completely healed form her little "escape" on the very first free run so I protect her feet with booties. I've been running 2/3rds of the team every day now, so that makes 10 or 11 dog teams and 2 days on and 1 off for each dog. They're so young and still learning how to behave and how to handle trail situations so it's good to be driving a small team. However, I think tomorrow I'll pull out the 20 dog gangline and attempt to take them all at once. That would be 16 dogs. A few of the boys still get overly excited on take off and like to harass they're partner so I want to run them single for awhile longer. Thus, the longer gangline.
Since these are all young dogs with very little, if any, leader experience, it's quite exciting at times. If you're leaders don't stay lined out, or follow the commands or, in general, don't know what to do....well, that can lead to quite the tangles and having to deal with some major issues on the spot. Flash and Abigail are doing so well that I'm using those two to help train the rest. Happy, Two Face, Hasty, Smiley and Rachel have all been leading and doing quite well. One of Martin's goals for this team for Iditarod is for me to run every dog in lead on at least one section of trail. Kind of a tall order, but I think we'll get there. It's just going to take lots of planning, practice and willingness, on my part, to be out of my comfort zone on each run. That's why I love Iditarod! It's the training for the race (especially with these young guns) where your perseverance, courage and willingness to push yourself beyond what's comfortable, that helps you grow as a person. OK, who am I kidding??? The race is no piece of cake either. When all is said and done and you're heading down Front Street in March with a healthy, happy dog team....well, you get the picture!
I'll be posting pictures of the dogs soon, I hope.
Leave a comment