One in the bag and one in the hole

Well, I'm not going to that 20-mile race at the track today. My dogs were a little sore this morning and I don't want to push it. Plus, Sam just informed me that it'll cost me $50 to enter a little 20-mile event so eff that.
The 52-miler in the White Mountains yesterday was absolutely perfect. The dogs looked fantastic for the entire run, the trail was perfect, the weather was heavenly and, mostly importantly we were having fun!!! There was one glitch that cost me about 20 minutes, but I still did the run in about six hours and 15 minutes, and that included two snack breaks and a couple of cuddle stops. The glitch came at about the 30-mile mark. Sipsi stopped pulling. I stopped briefly and took off her front booties, which have been irritating her dew claws. That's the reason dew claws are removed on sled dog pups, but Sipsi Lou was a pound dog and still has her little thumbs. We took off and she still wasn't pulling; almost to the point of necklining, so I stopped again. I stretched her out and she whimpered. Sore right shoulder. I went back to the sled, rearranged some things, made a little bed for her out of dog jackets, grabbed my bag of meat snacks, snacked the team and brought Sipsi back to the sled. Usually, the dogs freak out when they have to get loaded but Sipsi Lou, who is usually afraid of her own shadow, happily hopped in, curled up in a ball and went to sleep. It was about that time I looked to the front of the team and noticed Rohn had turned around and was humping Summer. He's an uncut boy I borrowed from Rich. Good dog, good leader, but uber horny. I screeched his name and ran up front. Too late. They were locked together in husky love. I grabbed a handful of snow and tried to freeze his nards and wiener so they'd shrink up and the dogs would come apart. Nope. Shit! Well, I wanted to breed Summer and seeing as she had a false pregnancy last summer in Skagway, I still don't have any pups. (By the way, Capiche never ended up being preggers.) So, I waited. And waited. I walked up the line, checking feet, flexing wrists and stretching out shoulders and hips. Everyone looked great and wanted to get going. So did I! But when dogs do it, it's no quickie affair. I got my thermos of coffee and went up to sit beside the rogue lovers. I wanted to make sure there were no fights with dogs around them and also as soon as they were done, it was back to running. Summer tried to sit on my lap, dragging Rohn and his wiener behind her. "For Christ's sake, Summer, at least pretend to enjoy it! Fake it or something..."
About 20 minutes after they locked together, they were done. I gave them a second to say their goodbyes and then moved Summer back to wheel with Bully, who sniffed but wasn't interested in sloppy seconds. We were off again and the dogs finished strong. Sipsi was reluctant to give up her spot in the sled, even when we got back to the truck. Upon arriving home, I brought her in the house, massaged her whole body with liniment and she slept on the bed with Bully, Capiche and Roy. I'll keep you posted on the baby-mama drama. Pray to Ku for puppies!! My first litter!
Hopefully they'll have Summer's looks, heart, disposition and feet, and Rohn's appetite and unrelenting drive...to run, not hump...
Peace.


Into the night...


Do I always look this cockeyed?

Lil' Lou in the sled. Her name has morphed from Sipsi, to Sipsi-Lou, to Lou, to Lil' Lou. That's the way it works. I hardly ever call any of the dogs by their real names. They all have at least three nicknames. Bull is Bully, Bull-Wool, Wooly, Woolis, Boo, Boos, Boosalou...etc...Capiche is Piche, Pichers or Pinhead. Hazel is Hazel-Mouse, Mouse, Mousey, Micro-Tiny, Basil, Hazelnut...You get the idea...



And here's Lou (post-massage) back at home with Roy's bone.