Insert funny title here

So. Spring is in the air and the dogs are frisky. I went up to Lance Mackey's (Iditarod and Yukon Quest champion) place a couple days ago to look at two dogs he has up for sale. Vinnie and Aqua are both three-year-olds with lots of miles on them and some race experience. They've both run in lead but are not command leaders. And despite him giving me a $1000 friend discount, I still couldn't afford them. So, I went down the road to Ken and Gwen's and bought Capiche. She's a bit older than I'd like, but she's finished three Iditarods, including this year when Ken finished seventh. She's a solid leader and has remained healthy, never missing a race because of injury. So, I brought her home yesterday and threw her into the lion's den, or pen as the case may be. She immediately bit Bully and Strider right on their keisters. The puppies were so curious about this tough, new broad in their pen, but very cautious at the same time. They slithered close to her on their bellies to show they were no threat. She still bit them. Nothing serious of course, she's just defensive and trying to show that she's not one to mess with. This morning she's calmed down and is starting to play nice. I think it's good for the puppies to have someone in the pen who doesn't take their shenanigans. Strider has fun with them but is not a very conscientious babysitter. Capiche is not a fighter but she doesn't back down either. She really is sweet and, better yet, a hard-working girl.
Yesterday I went in to the News Miner, even though I didn't have to work on the copy desk, to try and get some other work done. I have eight micro-stories for the visitor's guide due on Monday, a freelance piece due for the wire ASAP and a film review also due as soon as possible. The dogs were just too distracting, so I set up my laptop in the studio to try and avoid distractions in the newsroom. It still didn't really work, as I had the luxury of high speed internet. But, I got some done and will head in there again this afternoon before starting my regular shift at 4:30. I'm trying to get most of this done so I'll be able to enjoy my weekend around here, but I'm a master at procrastination, so we'll see.
Besides the new dog, not much is new and exciting in my currently-quotidian life. Sam's good, dogs are good. We're all looking forward to summer to get out on the river.
Peace.

Here's Capiche telling Pete to back off in a not-so-polite kind of way. She really is sweet, but Sneaky Pete's been pushing her buttons and not in a good way.




Here's my reaction. She didn't actually bite him, she's just telling him he's too close.



Yeah, that's right, she's tough. She looks pretty ugly here, but she's actually really cute. I think all my dogs are cute though. Sam, on the other hand, only thinks that Hazel is cute. He's a bit more choosy.