Let It Snow

What's the saying ? No news is good news. Well it is the truth, things have been busy, busy, busy. November brought us some colder weather and some early snow. These pictures are from a 13 mile run in -19 with a bitterly cold wind that cut through me like a knife.

The Dogs Didn't seem to notice

They just wanted to go, go, go.....

Meanwhile the musher froze. I know it looks like it's 50 below but believe me that wind was not nice.

We got a good dump of snow that made it possible to make three sled runs and they were so nice.

Aimee enjoyed a ride in my sled bag on a 13 mile run

We welcomed 2 new dogs to our group as well. Catapolt (on the left) is 3 years old. She is a sweet natured girl who can trot like crazy. Piper (on the right) is 2 years old and has quite a story. She was the only survivor in a litter of four and when she was just a puppy another mommy dog wanted her and tried to pull her through a wire fence. The side of her face was a mess but Dr. Barth did an excellant job stitching her back up. She has a bit of a funny look to her now with her one eye a little off kilter and her sideways ear but it gives her character and doesn't change the fact that she is cheerleader and a hard pulling loper. These two girls have given my team some umph and we can't wait to really see what they can do on a sled when we finally get some snow.

Unfortunately the snow did not stay and we were soon back on the quad. We haven't seen any amount of real snow since and until this last week, where we had 40 below and wind chill factors to 47 below, we had unseasonably warm weather. Here is Mari teaching Catapolt how to be a leader on a 15 mile road run, or what I like to call the gravel treadmill. Since this run we have only done 5 runs. I always find it difficult to run consitently during December as we seem to be so busy getting ready for the holiday season and the kids have so much going on at school. The weather turned on us and we began to get rain which turned to ice of course and made standing upright outside dangerous let alone trying to hook up a dog team.

I was able to make some time to have an old friend that worked with me at the Adam Ranch come out with her kids and her relative from Australia to show them how it's done. She took some great shots but his one is my very favourite. Me and my gals, Fox Trot and her mom Mari, having a little heart to heart before we leave.

And then in Janaury I got the call I have been waiting for since September. Well I should start at the begginning.....

3 years ago while helping my friend Aaron with his dogs, 2 litters of puppies were born within a day of each other. 10 pups in one litter and 8 in the other, yes your math is correct 18 puppies in two days. Cataplot was one of these puppies and the dog you see above was from the other litter. A few of these pups were sold as pets. As I was flippin through ads on Kijiji one day I saw this dog and knew she was one of the puppies that had been sold (her markings were unmistakable) She had been abandoned by her owners and was on her third home and to top it off she had a littler of pups. Her brother was a star athlete for my friend in the Wyoming Stage Stop Race last winter and so we decided to rescue her and see what she was made of. On Mothers Day my girls and I travelled the 3 hours to Edson to pick her up (That's when you know you are a true musher). The problem arouse when we returned home. She was not having anything to do with us and acted like she would rather eat us than be a sled dog. I was mortified that this seemingly sweet dog that I picked up had turned into an absolute monster that I couldn't even get out of the sky kennel. I enlisted the help of my hubby and we managed to free her of the cage and get her tied in the dog yard. She seemed to calm down a bit but was still baring her teeth at us more often than not. She was extremly skinny as well so with patience and some yummy sled dog stew she began to come around. We soon had all fallen in love with her for her personality and on free runs she would run so fast I was afraid she would hurt herself. I wanted her to live up to her potential and so in September she moved to Aaron's dog yard to train with the Race Team. It looked as if we had lost her forever, she was a fast dog with a natural love to run in harness and was even leading occasionally, the miles were adding up and then the call came that Aaron felt she was better suited for shorter distances and did I have a spot for her here. I did have a spot and even if I didn't I would have made room. We were all so excited to have her back. So with excited anticipation of what she will bring to my team I introduce, Sage. More updates on Sage will be coming when I have a chance to get her out on the trail. I need another leader this winter as Aimee's team consits of four of my best leaders. Catapolt, Piper and Sage will all be learning and we wil see who can handle this very important job.

As you can see our winter is not quite going the way we want it to and because of our no snow issue we had to postpone the race I am helping organize. Hopefully we will have a good amount of snow for the date we have chosen. Check out my You Tube roll at the top of the page for some videos of my sled runs and we will see you down the trail.

September to November In Review

We've had another incredibly busy fall and as such some things have just been pushed off our priority list. We have had some incredible runs and the dogs are looking and feeling great. We are now up to 12 mile training runs and we have a beautiful skiff of snow on the ground that seems as though it is willing to stick around. Not enough to sled on yet but I am hoping to be on the sled runners by the end of this month. Our dogs now have a large free run dog run to play in and I have a new gate that leads us out onto the trails. It's a thing of beauty after fighting with the old one all last winter.

We have had some exciting incidents happen to us during training...like this

Fortunately we were able to get the dogs off the gangline and out of the dog yard safely.

We have also suffered some losses

Jaunary 2002 - November 2011 -Ochocco passed away during the night with me by her side. She was a great leader and at 9 1/2 still loved to play. She will be greatly missed for her energetic spirit and loving nature.

April 2002 - November 2011 - Bircha passed away the next day due to an accident in the yard. She was a cheerleader and was showing real promise during leader training. Gone too soon and I miss her smiling face every day.

The girls have a place of honour in the house for the winter. I have placed their urns next to our patio door. During the fall and winter I use this door to exit and enter the house to and from the dog yard. I pass my girls at least twice a day. They are always in my thoughts and my heart.

I have also been lax on my record keeping this year so I am not sure how many miles we have under the quad tires but I am guessing (and when I say guessing I mean I have looked in my previous years records and have made an educated guess) we are around 100 - 125 miles of training runs give or take a few.

We are gearing up for our Grande Prairie Sled Dog Derby that will take place January 7th & 8th, 2012. I have only 6 race dogs now and will have to make some decisions before the race. Aimee may have the oppurtunity to run a team in the Arctic Winer Games in Whitehorse if this is the case she will run her time trials with her 4 dog team at our race.

It's looks like it will be another great year here at Leaps and Bounds Kennel. Keep Checking in.

See You Down The Trail.

My little gals on a 10 mile training run : Fox Trot and sister Jazz

A beautiful fall run with Mari and daughter Fox Trot in lead.

Fun pics after a run - My girl Lucy and I - Say Cheese Luce

My Boy

Siboon doesn't get seen very often because he is usually running in wheel. He is no less more important than the rest of the team and in fact has a tough job at the back. Wheel dogs work the hardest and he has to keep my sled on the trail. He is good at his job and I think he likes having the girls to himself on the trail.

Love this picture of Mari (far left) and her daughters Jazz and Fox Trot. That's Thunder in the foreground. Thunder is now retired and just hanging out with us and enjoying his work free days.

Heavy Frost on the quad seat prior to a training run

My favourite picture of Bircha (student) and Mari (teacher)

Aimee still loves to run with me and the team.

She will be racing Mari and her daughters Jazz, Jitterbug and Fox Trot this winter.

This was Monday's 12 mile run with fresh snow and a lovely wind that blew little, hard, icy snowflakes into my face. Was glad to have extra clothes along.

Cold Face, Cold Feet, Cold Hands, Warm Heart

Fall Back, Spring Ahead and Everything In Between

Oh My Goodness...I am not even sure where to start. If you are following me you know that I haven't blogged since November and so much has happened since then. New Years Eve weekend we kicked off our inaugural Grande Prairie Sled Dog Race in which I helped organize as well as raced in. We had a pretty great turn out and are hoping it will just grow and become the race "not to miss" in upcoming years. I ran the 4 dog 4 mile division and took Fox Trot, Jitterbug, Jazz and Lucy. We did alright for it being our first ever sprint race and encountered head on passes on both days which Fox Trot and Jitterbug had never before dealt with without an experienced older leader in front of them. They passed that test with flying colours and I was very proud of my all girl team. Aimee ran in the Junior Division with Ochocco and Thunder and of course that smile stayed plastered on her face the whole way around the track. Although she is now looking for faster dogs for next year (she would really like it if I would give up Jazz and Lucy).

Aimee Loving Up Her Dogs Before Her Race At The Grande Prairie Sled Dog Race

This is my favourite picture from this winter

Just About to Cross The Finish Line

The rest of January was really hit and miss for dog sledding....we had some crazy cold weather mixed with some very heavy snowfall that neither dog sled or snowmobile could conquer and so we sat with bated breath until the warm weather melted the snow enough to get that snowmobile back out there to break trails and that pretty much sums up the rest of the winter. We have had lots of extreme cold with mountains of snow and then this year Mother Nature has been huffing and puffing and blowing my trails, the driveway, the highways and the roads in. The kids have missed more school this year due to poor road conditions and high wind chill factors than I have ever witnessed. I am confident that until recently I have spent more time on the snowmobile breaking and re opening my dog trails than I have on the runners of my sled as I type this we are again experiencing a snowfall warning and winds up to 30 km/hr..trails that I was running the dogs on yesterday are completely blown in....back on the snowmobile tomorrow instead of a planned run with the team and the sled. I did get desperate enough to make 4 runs with the quad. This works well because I can take all the dogs but it just feels wrong when there is all this wonderful snow around.

That is a dog house on the left side of the picture..yes that big lump of snow...I had Thunder in the house for 4 days because he wasn't feeling well and this is what his house looked when the weather finally turned.

I was invited to give a presentation and dog sled rides at a local school this year on Valentines day which was incredibly fun. We gave every student from Playschool to Grade 9 a ride as well as most of the teachers and just this past weekend I again was asked by a local Dog 4-H club if they could come out for a presentation and some rides...I enjoy spreading the passion of my hobby on others and its always neat to hear what the kids think as the dogs roar out of the yard doing what they love. Of course Cricket was a big hit as he ran beside the dog team barking and and basically just trying not to get run over by the team or the sled. Crazy Little Dog.

We said goodbye to a team member over the winter. Cha Cha had been struggling since she joined us with a vomiting problem when she pulled the quad or sled. I had tried everything I knew and talked to my vet about her twice and after a year came to the conclusion that she needed to be re homed to a pet home. It was a hard decision and I was still struggling with it when a perfect person came along and gave her a safe loving home on Vancouver Island. I get many updates and she is doing very well and adapting to being a pet dog extremely well. We are so happy for Cha Cha that she is happy and doing well.

She looks quite comfortable in her new role

We have recently welcomed two new team members to the kennel and we are excited to see the changes these two dogs will bring to the team. First I'll introduce Bircha....

Bircha will be a year old this spring..she is a happy puppy who I believe will be a great benefit to our team. Her Dad and Mom had a very romantic tryst in the dog yard while the humans were away in Alaska during the Iditarod. In fact her dad Birch climbed a birch tree to get over a 6 foot high fence because he was so in love with Bircha's mom Catapult.

Our second addition is one I am very pleased to be introducing...this is Mari

I have been saving a spot in the dog yard for this lovely girl for the last two years. She is the Dancing Girls Mom and the sweetest dog you will ever meet. She is gentle and kind and one heck of a good leader. She has a long resume of races her most recent being the leader on the B team at the Three Forts Sled Dog Race in Fort McMurray. There is no doubt that Mari will live out the rest of her years here and we are happy to have her call this home.

Tomorrow I will once again be out on the snowmobile re opening dog trails so that I am able to run a team on Tuesday. Hopefully Mother Nature will start cooperating with me and I can get out there a whole bunch before the pussy willows and tulips come out to greet us.

Until Next Time

Happy Trails and Wagging Tails

This picture was featured in a local newspaper...YES...it's me and the Girls finishing the 4 dog 4 mile division of the Grande Prairie Sled Dog Race

One of my favourite little pieces of trail

Running the whole yard on the road with the quad...look at those snowbanks

Picture and Video Blog

December is almost here and we are finally experiencing colder temperatures. Today it is -25 C and it's supposed to drop to -35 C tonight. We have been very fortunate to have a mild, long fall. Although it hasn't been as condusive to run dogs in we have still managed to put in 21 runs since September. This is 6 runs less than last year at this time but, life seems to be getting in the way more this year as the kids are older and have more things going on. I am mostly updating you all through pictures and videos this time around as I have missed blogging for the last 6 runs.

Run # 16 was what I call the Snake Pit Run as we run along the edge of a field that follows a creek that leads down to the Smoky River and a place us locals call the Snake Pit. This is where the garder snakes hibernate in a south facing slope for the winter.

Running on the road allowance with the Smoky River Valley in the distance.

My Superstar Leaders Fox Trot and Jazz...never been on this trail before and didn't even hesitate at the "Gee" command

Run # 17 was a beautiful Sunday run with Aimee. We crossed the 4 lane highway to run to another musher friends house to say hello. A nice 8 mile run. When we came home Aimee wanted to get a picture of her and I and our pack. What insued was a series of running to beat the timer, dusting off the knocked over camera and at one point rescuing the camera from Jitterbugs mouth. But we finally managed to get the picture you see above.

I think this picture is neat. Prophet stepped in front of the camera just as the timer went off

Siboon wanted to be a lap dog after the run

Lucy snugged in her house watching all the action

Run #18 was a great morning run. Aimee (who was home "sick" from school) and I loaded up the dogs and drove down to the Adam Ranch and my friend, Aaron's dog yard for a lovely 8 mile run to the Wapiti River. What better way to spend a morning that running your team into the sunrise.

The team stopped at the Wapiti River for a refreshing drink

Let's go...Aimee was taping our little break then mommy tried to run her over..Ha Ha

All done for the day...loading the dogs back in the dog box for the ride home =)


Run #19 was a frosty morning run...a great picture of the team with Cha Cha running free in front. Young leaders Jitterbug and Fox Trot did an excellant job this day until.....

they spotted four partridge in the bushes..oh well...who can blame them partridge are YUMMY.

Meet the team =)

Superstars Fox Trot and Jitterbug

Run #20 and 21 were both great runs 10 to 12 miles each and the dogs are really doing well. We have a little snow on the ground now and hopefully we can get enough in the next couple weeks that we can switch from quad to sled. Till Then...

Happy Trails and Wagging Tails

We're Coming Together

I apologize for the lack of blog material in the last month but, we have had some great runs and the dogs have been working real nice. A quick run down of what you've missed

This is Run #8 : a short 4 mile run as it was too warm to go any further but the excitement was my new gangline from Canadog Supply. I have just been using a rope gangline for the last year but this makes it difficult to change your team numbers. If I want to go from running 6 dogs to running 8 I have to make a new rope gangline. With this new one I just add a section or remove a section to go with less dogs and away we go. Also on this run young Fox Trot shows off some major leader talent as she pulls a more experienced leader Gee when asked. I'll be keeping my eye on her.

This is Run #9: Gage was doing a project in school based on the Flat Stanley Books. He had a Flat Pen Pal (Kaeli) from California visiting for a month. Flat Kaeli got to experience all sorts of things here in Bezanson but I am sure she'll never forget mushing dogs with Gage. On this day we also had a flat on the quad...luckily my father in law lives close and was able to pump it up for me so I could carry on my way..but not before my mother in law got tripped by a 9 dog team and their gangline..SORRY =)

The sunrise off my deck the morning of Run #9

Run #11: Nice trail..off the roads finally. Chased a cow moose, lost my water bowls, found a glove I lost during run #9. Had to water the dogs with my hands..BRRRR..chilly fingers and seen a stray cow.

Run #12: I LOVED this run...the sunrise, dogs breath making fog around them. It was a real peaceful morning and the dogs were running exceptionally well. As you can see I found the lost water bowls. Young Fox Trot proves to me that last time was not a fluke. When asking my two most experienced leaders to Gee they decide to argue with me...Fox Trot steps up from swing position and pulls the team in the right direction. Needless to say she definitely has my attention now and receives extra ear scratchings and 2 milk bones for a job well done.

Run # 13: Snake Pit run. Not sure of distances for any of these runs because I have borrowed my mom's quad and the odometer doesn't work. I think I had this clocked at 8 miles last spring.

Two young leaders up front for the whole run on new trails. Fox Trot and Jazz prove to be a great combination..very good listeners. Found these new trough like rubber water bowls that are big enough so the dogs can share. They are much nicer to pack on the quad than my nine little round ones that refused to stay on the quad in the bumpy fields and the dogs seem to like them.

My good girls. These sisters were 2 in July and they rocked the trails on this day.

1 more mile and the team is moving beautifully

Today was Run #14: It was a crisp -4 C this morning and I had to break up the ice on the dogs water buckets. Lucy and Jitterbug were my leaders today and I really challenged them on their commands today. In an open field where we usually only travel right along the edge I asked them to leave the trail and then get back on it, then leave it again and again get back on it and lastly to leave it completely and travel straight across the field to our trail on the other side.
Most of the run I asked them for commands that I don't normally ask for and by the end of the run you could sure tell they had their listening ears turned on. A great pairing in these two. Lucy finds it difficult to stay lined out when we stop but we are slowly gaining on that too.

The look of a VERY happy dog =)

Here are a few videos of what happens in the dog yard after a run. Enjoy

.....See You On The Trail.....