Nice running

I took the dogs out yesterday and ran 2 teams of 14 dogs (wow, our dog yard sure has grown!). The A team ran very strong, with Just and Feather leading. Taurus and Plato also joined the A team and are actually managing just fine. I'm not sure how they'll do as we do our longer runs (we do varying runs to keep things interesting, especially since we're STILL on the ATV). I'm not too worried about Taurus, he's a veteran who ran both the Quest and Iditarod; so, he'll have no trouble. Plato is a young guy who hasn't really been out on any type of distance, so I'll probably drop him down to the B team and move someone from the B team up to take Plato's spot. We don't like to push our yearlings very much and usually wait until our dogs, particularly our hounds, are 2 years old before we start taking them on long runs.

The B team only ran 4 miles today. I had Dutchess and Munchkin in lead, but then about half way, I put Spike up front. That wasn't such a great idea. She didn't have a problem being there, but when we slowed down, like on a hill, she'd start messing with Dutchess. So, I pulled her out and put Munchkin back up there. She's really turned into a nice leader. I'm hoping to get her past that 20 mile wall that she kept hitting last year. She works so hard, that she just burns herself out in 20 miles. She has learned to trot this year though, so I think she'll handle the distance just fine. I had Wrangler and Banjo in the rear of the team, just in front of wheel. Banjo, while shy, is a hard charger! She laid into her harness the entire way, had no trouble with speed (I stretched them out at 16mph on a flat stretch) and did the 4 miles without a problem. Wrangler worked well too, seemed to handle the speed, but appeared a bit unsure at times. I think that with more runs/miles, she'll improve. She does have a nice gait. We'll see if she can do the distance as the year goes on.

We picked up a new guy from Andi Huetten over the weekend. Deez is a SMALL little guy, with a big heart. He is about Feather's size (she's the smallest dog in the yard!), looks just like Skuuga (all black, white front legs with little black spots on them) and is a ball of dynamite. I ran him with the B team and he seemed to be driven, except when passing other dogs. Then, he'd become unfocused and nervous. I'm sure time and training will help him with that. Remus is down in Nenana trying out life as a sprinter. He's a GREAT dog and I'll really miss his drive on the A team, but his short coat just isn't good for distance racing. Last year, he ended up with a bit of "nip" in a very sensitive area during our cold snap, so he'll be prone to getting frostbite on those masculine parts again. Ouch!!!

I'm all signed up for the Cantwell Classic, so we're gearing up for that. Think SNOW!! I really, really want to get on sleds before the races! Sheesh!