New Blog Site

Ok, since I'm slowly changing our kennel name and things back, that means that I've also had to start a new blog! So, here's the link to that one. I'll begin posting there, as I build the new site. Bear with me during the "construction" please!! Thanks!

http://RogueSummitKennel.blogspot.com/

Training report

Training goes forward, with the A team about ready to jump up in miles. We like to do a couple of hard runs, with the dogs pulling the wheeler the whole way without help. When they come in looking good, then we up the mileage by a few miles. We alternate between hard, pulling runs and interval runs, where they speed up, then slow down, then pull hard, then run along. All of these are important for conditioning and muscling the dogs. Too much heavy work, and the dogs bulk up, slowing them down. Too much speed work, and the dogs don't build the muscles/endurance they need for the hill work or hard pulling they will see on races. It's imperative that the musher try to present every possible scenario that the team will see on a race; that way, the dogs (and musher!) are prepared for what's to come.

Manny has been rotating leaders in and out on each run. Yesterday, Dusk and Just took a turn in lead, working well and pulling hard together. Today, the B team goes out and I think he's planning on running Dutchess with Munchkin, or Riley, or Torus, or ? ? ? I'll find out later. ;o) Next run for the A team (if there's time today), he wants to put Sunshine in lead to see how he'll do. He was super slow last year, compared to our other leaders...so we'll see. Sunshine handles any speed in the team but tends to slow down in lead. Weird, but true. Temps are about 37F today...pretty warm. So, I imagine that the B team will be S-L-O-W. However, our trails have been groomed by our local sprint musher (Thanks, Mike!), so the dogs will now be running on hard, fast trail. Good training all around.

We've been discussing our kennel name and have decided to revert back to our original name, "Rogue Summit Kennel". We changed it upon moving to Alaska/Two Rivers...as there weren't any "summits" close-by. Our name derived from one of our first huskies, a beautiful red & white siberian named Rogue. He was a fantastic dog, a good friend and a good sled dog. Sadly, he passed away on the operating table, after a routine surgery. It broke our hearts, as Rogue was like one of our children. So, due to the combination of losing our guy and moving from the Bitteroot Mountains to Two Rivers, Alaska; we changed to Running Swift Kennel. However, now we've started seeing are a LOT of kennels with the "Running" theme. Also, we'd like to remember our good buddy, Rogue and at times, we feel like "rogues" ourselves. ;o) So, I'll slowly be switching our kennel name back to the original "Rogue Summit". Bear with me though...there are a lot of places where I'll need to change it!

-Tammi

Fox Hats and Beaver Hats

Devlyn wanted to model my new Red Fox hat. Nice, eh? I was being a total girl when I got it!

Here's Conor wearing his brother's beaver hat. He wanted to try on a fur hat, too!

Winter Time

There is just something to the great Northland. Man is it pretty out there! When I walked outside in the early morning hours, the luminous moon shed its silvery light across the newly fallen snow. The hush in the air excited me...like the Earth was holding her breath in anticipation of a new day, like that first present on Christmas morn. I started the car to warm it before my trek to town and headed back to the porch. As I gazed up, I was thrilled to see the starburst pattern of a few buds of the aurora, opening up into ribbons that spread across the sky. No matter how long I'll live, I'll never get over the wonder and beauty of watching the Northern Lights as they perform their ballet across that indigo stage. Breathtaking! Aww...it's a good day to be alive and living in the North.

Training is going well. The dogs are getting conditioned for the upcoming season, hard pulling; but, great for them. The trails have about 9 inches of mushy snow, like porridge and the warm temps make it hot for the furrier huskies in the team. Flashbacks to the Cantwell Classic!! Ha ha ha! However, it's great to get some trail breaking in and get the dogs used to soft, punchy trails. Then, we'll just need to alternate between those and the hard, fast trails to prevent injuries this year. All in all, things are looking good. Zen & Feather led the team for today's run, even though both girls have been giving Manny fits. Guess they figured out that their girly antics weren't going to work....that Manny was going to make them lead regardless of a heat cycle or not. Both girls led wonderfully, not giving Manny a single problem today. In fact, even with the soft trails, Manny said that the dogs really picked up on the run, doing even the rough section of trail faster than normal. Right on!! :o) These veteran dogs never cease to amaze me.

ADMA Symposium 2007

The Symposium was a LOT of fun this year! I was pretty much camped out there, though a few club members were great and took a turn or two at the TRDMA table. We had several memberships, a few folks got race packets for either the Solstice, the Two Rivers 200 or both and we sold several t-shirts. All in all, a good weekend. Oh, and we sold the Arctic Oven tent within the first hour! Too cool.

I had a great time at the Quest Birthday party, as well as the ADMA auction on Saturday night. Got to catch up with lots of friends all weekend. I had to give Gerry my usual ration of "Scheiße" (hope I spelled that right, Gerry). ;o) Just kidding! It's always fun to joke around and talk with Gerry. It was great to see Laura & Tamra, as well as Sebastian, Hans and many others. It was also fun to catch up with local friends, such as Aliy & Allan, Lance, Benedikt, Jessica & Tom, Judy & Devan, most of whom I only see on the trails in passing, or on races. It's funny, because a lot of us live within a 10 mile radius of each other. Such as Jessica and Tom...we live just 2 miles from them and we all run the same trails...yet we usually only talk at length at Symposium or at local races. I guess we're all just too busy working/running dogs.

Oooo...I have to share a great deal I got this weekend! Ever since my beaver hat got washed (don't ask!), I've needed a new fur hat. But, I just got by with a rabbit fur hat. That worked fine, until I was on the Quest trail and it got soaking wet with condensation. So, there I was, just 2 tables down from Julie Collins's table, with all of her beautiful furs, hats, mitts, etc. I couldn't take it anymore, and decided that it was past time for me to have a new hat. I looked through them all, and I loved the wolf and marten. But talking with Julie, I wanted something durable, yet warm. I've always had beaver hats, so of course I looked at that. Quite beautiful, but a tad big on me. I could've lived with that though, and just put my hair in a ponytail. But then, I tried on the red fox. It was so SOFT and luxurious! Truly beautiful. I couldn't decide at all, so I asked Julie. She suggested the fox...and even gave me a bit of a break on it...so how could I say no? I LOVE it! I have to admit that I was being a "Girl"...because it's really pretty, looks good on me (a plus) and even matches my parka and sled bag! Ha ha ha! Then, I had to show it off. I was like a little kid, giddy with excitement. But, I rarely splurge on myself...it's always for the boys or my hubby. This was just for me, and I felt a bit sinful getting the hat. But, I really did need a new fur hat. ;o) I'll post pics up later...I'm off to bed. The weekend was fun to visit, but I'm beat! Laters.....
-Tammi

Crossing Eagle

There's Dusk there on the right, leading over Eagle Summit for Eric Butcher in 2006. Immediately behind Dusk is Torus, and Rocket is back there by the sled, the dark dog with his tail up. I'll be glad to have these three veterans with me, when we run the 08 Quest 300 this season! It's coming!

Truckin' Along with Chevy

Chevy is doing so well with us! We originally bought Chevy from Gerry to be a wheel dog with our A team. We really need a wheel dog to match Inu, who works hard and really does well "steering" the sled. But, Zen, one of our main leaders has come into heat. She wasn't taking commands and wouldn't take the turns Manny wanted her to take (he went longer with the team, requiring them to take a different trail). So, he took her out of lead and put Chevy in lead with Dusk. He said those boys took every single command without question! How exciting!!! He said that he really thinks Chevy could be a very nice leader. Right on!

Now, we're working on expanding the horse paddock, well...Manny, Jimmy & Devlyn are right at this moment. ;o) A really nice Percheron/Quarterhorse gelding named Sampson, needs a new home. He's a well trained horse, who has been ridden and packed all over Alaska. He's also a dynamite kid's horse! He's big...bigger than Bismark, but a very nice gentleman. Therefore, we really had to make the pen MUCH bigger to accomodate this guy. We hope to be done by tomorrow, so that we can bring Sampson home. Lots of things happening. It always seems like there's more and more work to do. Ho hum. And Manny is STILL working! We are ready for him to be done for the winter, as the dogs are running nicely and we need to concentrate on them full time at this point. We have several races that we want to do this year, so it's definitely time to 'get cracking'. Here's the run-down for this season: Solstice 100 (Manny), Cantwell Classic 200 (Tammi), Don Bowers 300 (Manny), Yukon Quest 300 (Tammi), and the Chatanika 200 (Manny). As you can see, we have a full schedule! Good thing we have 28 dogs in training right now! And, I'm comfortable saying we have about 22-24 dogs capable of racing. Excellent!

Well, I'm off to help haul logs and put up rails. Have a great day everyone!
-Tammi

Upping mileage and Jury Duty

Well, the race dogs have bumped up in mileage and they STILL came in barking. Man, that's nice to see!!! I planned on taking the B team out today, but I had jury duty and was selected for a jury. So, I had to run back to my classroom in order to prep for a sub. Of course, it's never that smooth...turns out that I'm going to miss some meetings, so I had to fill out forms to cover my absence, straighten my desk, get supplies ready to do projects, etc. Needless to say, no running today. That's ok though. I do have to say it was NICE to come home to fed dogs! Jimmy was in the yard when we pulled up, finishing up on the watering. Now, THAT is cool!! He's also going to help run dogs. Yea, buddy!

Other news, Chevy ran in lead for the first time. He came in looking nice, wagging his tail. I think he was just waiting for us to run him in lead. He's been shy since we got him from Gerry....now he's doing better. Feather was acting up in lead, not taking commands, tangling the team...so Manny switched her out. I think she does it to him because she knows he'll get tired of it and take her out of lead. He said as much after a run...so little Miss "Ice Princess" will be in for it on the next run. Hee hee hee! I think I'll be taking 12 dog teams from now on, as the snow has made the turns slicker than normal. These dogs are really looking nice!! :o)

I'm off to bed...jury duty comes early. Laters!
-Tammi

Running yearlings

I took the B team out and ran the 3 yearlings for the first time. Odin and Zeus took to it like they were old pros. At hook up, they stood there, waiting to go. No twisting and jumping. Way cool! Peiper, though, decided to snap at Plato. I was a bit worried, because I was afraid Plato would just lay into the pup...but, to my surprise, Plato just tried to get over away from Peiper. Before take off though, Herod, old dog that he is, decided to mix it up with Riley back in wheel. Herod ended up with a strip of skin missing off of the top of his nose. Man did it bleed! I wasn't going to take him...but Manny got a paper towel, cleaned it and I saw that it was missing a bit of skin. Well, maybe that would teach Herod to leave Ri-ri alone. It must have...Herod didn't pull any more shenanigans for the rest of hookup or the run. Odin and Zeus pulled fantastically! From the start, they were laying into their harnesses and pulled great. Peiper necklined a bit for the first 1/8-1/4 mile...but soon figured it out and started running nicely as well. I kept the dogs down to about 7-8 miles an hour, not letting them go over 10 mph during the run. They worked hard and came in looking good. It's harder for us at this point, as Manny is still working...so we're having to run after work. He doesn't get home til about 7:30pm, which is just about the kids' bed time. A good thing though, is that my brother, Jimmy is moving up here on Friday, so he'll be around to help run dogs. What a relief until Manny is off of work for the season and back to running dogs full time.

Laters all! I did get some pictures...though Devlyn took them with the regular film camera and not the digital. So, you'll have to wait for pics! Ok, off to get dinner. Phew!

Running in the mud

Manny took the dogs out today, well, at least 14 of them. Of course, since I'd just sewed up the 4 harnesses that had been chomped; Sunshine decided to chomp another one while we hooked up the rest of the team. Danged dog!!! And while all of the other dogs, though very rambunctious, didn't do any damage to gear or themselves...Sunshine decided to also chomp on Jericho. I guess we moved too slow for him, so in his frustration, he kept laying into Jericho, his partner. Luckily, there was no blood letting. The dogs did well, though I guess Just decided that he didn't want to pass by another team, so ended up balling the whole team up. I guess he's back to his old bull-headed stuff again this season. By the end of last season, he was taking commands nicely and running great lead. This fall, he's back to going where HE wants to go. "Oh, you said Gee? I don't think so! Whose the lead dog around here, huh?" I can just see him saying that, if he could talk. What a booger! Speaking of Booger....he and Ahab went out of here as white dogs...they came back brown. Manny said that the rain yesterday (or day before?) left big old mud puddles along the trail. That's ok...good to keep the dogs cool. But, so much for my white dogs!!! Ha ha ha! We'll see how Spike, Banjo and Odin look tomorrow. I'll try to remember to grab the camera and snap some photos.

Rabies clinic in the morning. Manny didn't want to put the dog boxes on the truck just yet, as we still have to haul hay in a week or so. Jodi was going to loan us her box to just put on top of the truck bed...but it wasn't wide enough. So, we're going to be using kennels. Yay! So much for looking professional, eh? Ha ha ha! Oh well! At least they'll get their rabies vaccines, no matter how we get 'em there. ;o)

Jake is BACK!!

Jakers is back! He has been missing from Leonora's dogyard since June. Jake retired from racing this year and as promised, went back to Leonora, his original owner. But, just about a week or so after arriving, Jake went missing. It looked as if someone had let him off of his chain, but we'll probably never know. Jake wasn't one to wander. He got loose at our house once and stayed right in the dogyard. However, he disappeared back in June and though many of us looked high and low, he wasn't found. Until today. Actually, it was on August 21st that Animal Control picked him up, in the same area that he dissapeared from. He was well fed and looked cared for. A mix up with his paperwork (he'd been listed as female on the paperwork) and a miss in the shelter database (they revamped their missing dog reports in July, which meant that since Jake had been reported in June, he was not entered in the new report) which all resulted in them not realizing that Jake was our missing dog. I happened by the shelter today and as soon as I saw Jake, with his little black scar across the top of his nose, I knew we'd found him. Ironically, my son Devlyn had just mentioned Jake this morning, and I said that I doubted we'd ever know what happened, since he'd been missing for so long. Then, lo and behold, there he is on house G in the shelter dog yard. I immediately looked closer to verify that this dog was our missing Jakers....then, went to the front desk to tell them that this was our missing dog. I asked if they found a Quest microchip and my #3 Quest tag on his collar. They said they sure did. Righteous! We'd found Jake. They allowed me to spring Jake from the shelter so that I could take him back home to Leonora's (a promise is a promise).

At first, I was very worried, as Jake wasn't very responsive and even looked sick (though he's really FAT). I got him to the car, and the boys and I just kept talking to him. Within 5 minutes, he started resting his nose on my shoulder (he was sitting in the back seat, just behind me). Then, he was responding to his name, kept nudging me and Devlyn to pet him and by the time we'd got him to Leonora's, he was jumping on me again, giving me hugs. What a happy dog he was to be home!! We are so very thankful that this old guy is safe and sound now. He's been missing for 3 months! We'd all but lost hope of finding him. Then, there he was. I wanted to bring him home with us....but, he's a retired Quest dog and he was promised to go back to Leonora, his original owner once he retired. So, he's now back and happy.

Moral of the story? Never give up. Something told me to go check the shelter, even though I hadn't been there in a few weeks. I'm glad I listened to that voice, because it was already late afternoon and I had thought that perhaps we should just head home. But, I listened to my instincts and found our boy. I guess I should have never doubted him...Jake's a tough, Quest dog. I'm so happy he's home!! Right on!!

Wes Rau Clinic

Just finished the 2 day clinic that TRDMA organized with Wes Rau. Originally, there was to be a 2 day Basic class and a 2 day Advanced class...but, we didn't have enough folks for both classes. So, we trimmed it down to a 2 day intense course. I have to say that for all those who missed it...you really missed out on an incredible opportunity. With 10 of us there, Wes was able to do a lot more hands-on and one-on-one training with all of us. That really made a big difference and we were able to learn a LOT about our dogs, how to diagnose problems, and then how to FIX them! If I'd known half of what I learned this weekend when I ran the Quest 300 last February, we would have been able to finish...and probably with most of my dogs, too. We learned how to diagnose shoulder issues, neck/back issues, wrist issues, and hip issues. Then, Wes walked us through how to help/fix each one. I gained so much, that I feel truly confident that I can now help avoid and/or alleviate joint issues...or at least figure out what is going on with my dogs if I see one of them start to limp, or pull funny, etc.

I took Radar the first day, as I thought he'd be a bit calmer and such. Turned out the opposite and he became Spazzoid dog! Plus, while working on shoulders, we found out that pointers tend to have straighter and even thicker bones/joints. I had a real hard time trying to get a scapula lift on him (though my partner, Jillian got it right away). So, knowing that we'd work on wrists today, I took Feather with me. I found out quickly that she truly hated to be put down on her side...which meant that we ended up with a squirming ball of fury most of the time. My partner had to leave right after lunch, so I was on my own working with the Ice Princess. Turned out to be the best thing that could've happened. I not only got Feather to lay down...but was able to do the techniques that we learned today. Then, because I didn't have a partner that needed to do the techniques, I was able to practice all of the things that we learned yesterday as well! This resulted in a dog that became relaxed and at ease. I could actually see and feel her relax/get more flexible as I worked on her. It was great! I am so glad that I went ahead and did the clinic. I feel more confident that I'll be able to care for my dogs 10 times better than I have in the past. Right ON!!! And, handling Feather on my own was great practice, because it'll be just me out on the trail...so it is good to know that I managed to work with Feather by myself. :o)

Here's the litte "Ice Princess" looking very satisfied after a well earned treat.

Well, I'm off because the clinic was intense and I'm beat. Happy Labor's Day to All! Cheers!

Hunting Season Starts Tomorrow

Well, the guys are off at their moose camp, hoping to score for the season. Keeping the fingers crossed here at home. I'm hoping the weather starts to cool off soon. The mornings are cool enough, but when you have to be at work early in the morning, it's just not possible to train dogs at that point. So, evenings it is. The weatherman is saying the first frost could hit tonight in the low lying areas. We're more up on a hill, but still...it's great to hear that the colder temps ARE coming. Lots of plans this winter...we now need Mother Nature to cooperate.

My Intern is GREAT and it seems to be a good fit. I hope that I help her on her road to being a good teacher. It's rather odd to think about me having an intern, particularly since I can remember being in her position not too many years ago. It is pretty cool! And, the coolest thing is that she will take over my classes right when I'm racing this season. That definitely works!

Well, I'm off. It's been a long week and I have to be up early in the am for the Wes Rau clinic at Mushers Hall. As soon as we start training, I'll try to post more frequent updates on here. Not too much happening at this point...just waiting for the coolness to arrive.

Later!

First day back at work

Today was my first work day back at school. I'm looking forward to a great school year. I have a wonderful intern who will be observing my classroom, lessons and other teachers in the building, while she's learning "the ropes". This program is good in that it gets teachers-in-training in the class so that they learn in a hands on environment. I was very glad to have been able to be with a great mentor teacher, as I learned a lot more than I ever could have from books and lectures. Right on!

The weather is getting cooler....I'll be glad when it freezes, as the little gnats are driving us crazy! And it'll be nice to get out with the dogs...though that will be a little tricky while Manny's still working so much. We're hoping they'll back off a little on the hours so that we won't be out there at 9pm running the dogs...but if that's what we have to do, so be it. We hear our neighbors back behind us hooking up, already starting their fall training. I'm anxious to get out there...but have to get that darned atv stuff done. Grrrr.

I'm off. Have a good one and get out there with those doggies!
-Tam

Future cowboy

Ride em, Conor! This is Conor up on Bismark. Yes, that's Manny behind Bizzy's head...that shows you how big Bismark has gotten. Manny is 6'1".

Quest signups, the fair and other happenings

Opening day for sign up at the Yukon Quest Cache!!

This has been a whirl wind week, as it usually is right before school starts up again. Devlyn and I have been helping out at the fair, which started last Friday. Then, Saturday was CRAZY! We had Quest signups at 9am, then a soccer game at 10am, then the Pet show at the fair at 1pm. We were running from here to there, getting things done.

Here I am with Devlyn and Kim, being the first to sign up for the 2008 Yukon Quest 300. It's official! I'm hoping that this third time on the trail will be a success (I tried to run the race back in 2003, but we had so many problems that I never made it to the startline and had to withdraw). In 2006, the blizzard took us out on Rosebud Summit. In 2007, the trail was an icy highway after we had been training through powder, breaking trail all season, which put us out at McCabe Creek, just 90 miles from the finish. The dogs just had too many injuries, and though I was managing them, the vet said it just wasn't good. On a positive note, I've gained tons of experience and feel sooo ready to hit the trail for a successful season. :)

Devlyn's soccer team won their tournament...I mean they won EVERY game! It was great to see those boys working together out on the field. They really came together as a team this season...right on!! Devlyn is so proud of the medals that they all got. Very cool!

Now, I'm hoping to just enjoy my last week of summer, before I start work next Monday. It's hard to believe that the summer is about over, at least for me. But, that means that it's time to start running dogs again!!! :) Yahoo! We could have done so today, as it's a nasty, raining, chilly day. Unfortunately, the whole household is in various stages of illness...I have achy joints and sinuses; Manny has a sore throat, achy body and headaches; Devlyn is getting over strep throat; and Conor has a case of snail trails (really snotty nose...but don't you love the visual you get from snail trails?? Tee hee hee!!). It figures!! Still, the lows are supposed to be in the mid to upper 40s this week. So, it's time to do the maintenance on the ATV, get the ganglines and harnesses out to go over, and scout the trails. ;o)

Ciao!!

Golden Days Parade

Here is a great picture that Tania Simpson (new Quest Director) sent of our "float" in this year's Golden Days Parade. Julie was in lead with Sammy and then in swing is my little leader Feather and myself. Devlyn is sitting in the front seat of the cart (blue shirt) holding one of Ken & Gwen's pups (that's Ken in wheel to the right). Tania is at the helm of this "dog team". She did finally get the commands down! :o)

It is really fun to do this event each year. As a musher, I usually can't volunteer much in the winters, as I'm out on the trails, running in the races. However, summers will find me helping out wherever I can. It's important for us to remember that we have to give back to these great organizations (Yukon Quest, Two Rivers Dog Mushers, etc.), or we won't have the wonderful races to run each year. I usually have a great time volunteering at booths, for events, etc., because it allows me to talk to people about something I truly love...running dogs. It doesn't get much better than that. If you can't run the dogs, then the next best thing is talking about running the dogs. ;o)

-Tammi

My Arabian buddy...

This is my gorgeous Arabian gelding, Druid. He sure is a beauty, isn't he? His dapples get better and better each year. Dru is 7 years old now...we've had him since he was a yearling. He's my boy!

It's been a very nice summer so far. Hot and sunny, though we've been getting plenty of rain (mainly in the late afternoons/evenings). We got the yardwork done today, so now I can see the dogs again! Ha ha ha! It looks soooo much better. We actually have a yard instead of a jungle! Next is to fence off the area (behind Druid in the picture) for the horses. Manny is working so much that we just haven't been able to get the permanent fencing up...so, we figured we'll do the wide, electric tape fencing for now, then get the permanent wood fence up later.

The parade was a blast! Ken Anderson brought his big cart, along with harnesses and we all "harnessed up" and hooked into the gangline to "mush" our way downtown. Devlyn helped hold the pups that Gwen brought, while he rode in the cart. We had Feather with us, so we put a harness on her as well; so, Feather and I were the "swing" dogs during the parade. It was hot; but, Donna really pulled through for us and was our "water girl" throughout, making sure Feather, Sammy (Julie's pooch) and all of us "sled dogs" were well hydrated. It was a lot of fun! Hopefully I'll get some pictures to follow soon. Until then, enjoy your summer and don't forget to hug your kids (both the 2 legged & 4 legged variety)! :o)

Summertime, summertime...

This is a picture of Bismark, our Percheron getting tacked up for his very first ride down the road. He did GREAT! He's turned into a beautiful, BIG boy.

Sorry for the long delay on updating the blog. I was off in New Orleans at a Education Conference, learning LOTS to bring back to school. Hard to believe that summer is on it's way out...boo hoo! I'm really enjoying summer this year...no classes, no work, nada! Just me, the boys, the dogs, the horses and the sunshine. You GOTTA love that! ;o) I have to confess that I've been rather lazy, not getting much done. But you know what? Life's too short to worry about it. Building great memories with the boys are more important than getting projects done. The work will be there tomorrow, or the next day. The kids are only kids once.

The puppies are growing and are more rambunctious everyday. We've named them: Hale (the male pup), Storm (his twin sister) and Rain (the dark colored female). We've started taking them out for walks around the yard and all three are little lovers and very outgoing pups. I think that this is a fantastic breeding! I'm bummed that we didn't get to do the breeding between Zen and Zorro...but that's ok. We can always do it next spring. In the meantime, we have Hiltey and Chevy, two VERY nice males who we hope are excellent additions to the kennel.

I have to get pictures developed and get more photos on the digital so you can all keep up with us here in Two Rivers. We've been having 80F, beautiful summer days. While I was gone, the grass grew like crazy...so we're doing yard work again this weekend. The veggies that I planted are really flourishing! We've already eaten some lettuce and broccoli...next are tomatoes as there are a couple starting to ripen...and green peppers on the plants, along with cucumbers! Wahoo! I'm not very good at gardening...so this is pretty cool. ;o)

Well, more to come...but I'm going to sign off for now. Devlyn & I are going to be in the Golden Days Parade tomorrow morning, supporting the Yukon Quest. So, look for us along the route...our "float" is like number 55 or something. You won't be able to miss it. :o)

-Tammi

Chevy has arrived!

Today, Devlyn, Conor and I took a trip down to Tok to meet Gerry Willomitzer, who was on his way to Anchorage for a BBQ at Martin Buser's...and Iditarod signups and BBQ tomorrow. We bought Chevy from Gerry a few months ago, but had to figure a way to get him up here. This worked out nicely, as it was a beautiful day...the boys and I had a fun drive (we counted 5 moose and a possible bear out on one of the rivers), had lunch in Tok at Fast Eddy's, Gerry dropped Chevy off with us and then we headed back (after a refreshing ice cream cone...Chevy didn't like it much). Chevy is a beautiful black and white husky...about 50 lbs with 4 white feet and a white stripe down his nose (as you can see from his photo). He was a bit shy and wasn't sure about us and riding in the car, but he took it in stride and soon settled down on the floor (he was riding shotgun, but decided he liked to lay under the dash on the passenger side better). This actually worked out, because it was really hot and though I had the vents going and windows down, poor Chevy was HOT. I put the air on the floor and it came out nice and cool. Chevy finally stopped panting and dozed.

I didn't get the camera out for some new pictures yet, as it was threatening to thunderstorm, so I rushed to get the chores done outside, then get dinner made by the time Manny got home from work. But, I'll try to get some tomorrow night. Chevy is out of Gerry's main leader/stud Black Jack (Gatt) and Blue (Gatt). I'll post Chevy's lines on my Noatak site as soon as Gerry gets back home and emails them.

Dutchess is doing fine and seems to have recovered from her bout of bloat the other night. I'm still being very careful with her and staying right with her as she eats, to make sure that she doesn't spill her food. I'm going to get her a spill proof bowl tomorrow. The puppies look great! I got them to drink some water tonight. I'm going to start them on soaked kibble tomorrow, since they are showing interest in food and water now. I had to put a ramp on the pup house, because 2 of them crawled out and were toddling around on the ground. They truly are outgoing pups!

Well, I'm off to bed. All that driving really wipes a person out. Check back for pics and updates! Ciao!

-Tammi

Puppy pictures!!

Dutchess and Dusk really produced some beautiful pups together. And boy are they big! What little honkers they are! They are toddling around and are ready to start eating some mushy kibble. I like to also put dried milk, or milk replacer in with the kibble. They will also be getting wormed, along with Dutchess. I want to wait a little bit before I do that though, because of Dutchess being on antibiotics...I don't want to add any more stress on her or the pups' systems.

Hello, World! Here's Dutchess and her babies. This is one of the girls (the bigger one of the 2 girls), making her way towards me when she heard my voice. They are so cute!!

Here's Dutchess's only boy with our resident Puppy Manager. Devlyn is so great with puppies and he's doing a wonderful job socializing them. Conor likes to help, too when we bring the pups in the house for "social hour".

And last but not least, Dutchess's other little girl pup. She was the smallest of the 3 pups, but now she's the most outgoing of the bunch. She decided to climb out of the pup house today. She's the first to head toward us and is just a little lover.

We haven't decided on names yet. We'll figure their names out as their personalities emerge. They sure are some nice looking puppies and we are so happy to have them. It'll be great to watch them grow and develop. I know that they'll turn out to be great sled dogs, just like their parents. :o) Cheers!

Bloat Emergency!

Dutchess really scared the crap out of me last night! I went out to check on her and the pups before bed (around 11pm). I noticed that her belly was a little swollen...I listened to her stomach and heard normal gut sounds. Plus, when she walked, I could hear water sloshing. She acted alright, but I didn't feel right. I searched through the First Aid info for information on bloat. Within 30 minutes, I heard Dutchess start to whine and she tried retching, but only foam came out. I knew she was bloating and according to all of the literature on bloat, it says that you have to get the dog to the vet within minutes, or relieve the pressure. Tubing was recommended, but that was out, as I didn't have the equipment. The other steps were to administer simethicone (vet recommends 1mg per pound of body weight), and relieve some of the pressure with a syringe. So, that's what I did, though I didn't use a large gauge needle, as I was worried about perforating the stomach wall, allowing fluid to leak out, causing more problems. I did get some liquid and then air out, which seemed to help Dutchess a little and bought some time. At that point, I was on the phone to the After Hours Vet and we were in the car.

Upon arrival, Dutchess's stomach had bloated so big, that it looked like someone had inflated a ballon in her abdomen. It was really hard and sounded like a drum when you tapped it. The vet went over the possible outcomes, from a simple bloating/air to torsion and dead tissue/damaged organs. Luckily, there is a blood test that indicates if there is dead tissue, or if a tube might relieve the pressure. Her blood work looked good, which meant that she probably didn't have a twisted gut. The vet and vet techs were AWESOME! I was able to assist and stay with Dutchess the entire time. We tubed her, and she immediately belched. They flushed her stomach a couple of times and discovered some gravel. Dr. Lane figures that Dutchess spilled her food on the ground and inadvertently ate some gravel with the food, which irritated her stomach, causing her to drink a LOT of water. She's not a rock eater and never had a problem before this. Dutchess recovered nicely and is doing fine now. She had her oatmeal with her kibble this morning, her antibiotic and a dose of simethicone. I’ll be keeping a close eye on her. Dr. Lane suggested feeding her oatmeal for the next 2 days with her kibble to help clear out any remaining gravel, put her on Amoxicillin for a week, and simethicone at least for today, if not tomorrow, too.

That was very scary! I hadn’t ever had a dog bloat before…I’m just glad I checked on her before bed and recognized the symptoms. Dutchess has been such an amazing leader for us and gave us 3 beautiful pups; it would have been heart wrenching to lose this girl (not that it's ever easy to lose any of them). Make sure you know the signs and symptoms of bloat and what to do if it happens to one of your fur kids. Hug your fur kids (and all your loved ones), as you never know what could happen.

-Tammi

Happy Solstice!

Peiper and Odin (in the back) coaxing me to come play!

Today is the longest day of the year, which doesn't say too much in the Land of the Midnight Sun! :o) I volunteered at the Yukon Quest Booth during the Solstice celebration in downtown Fairbanks and had a great time. Those who know me know that I love to talk and it's always a fun time talking with folks about the Quest and dog racing in general. Plus, since I'm home with the boys most days and Manny is working a LOT, it's really nice to have other ADULTS to talk with! Ha ha ha!

The pups are looking great and their eyes should open any time now. It's really hot out, so I put a tarp over the top of the puppy pen to provide even more shade. As I went through the dogyard yesterday, the sun was just beating down at almost 90F. And though the dogyard does get shade at various times of the day, I felt really bad for the dogs. So, as I made my way through the yard with the hose, I sprayed down each of the dogs. It was hilarious....as a few of the dogs just stood there, enjoying the cool water (I swear they were saying "Ahhh!"). Others acted like the water was a dog eating monster, so I just sprayed it up in the air like rain on them. No matter what, I could tell that they felt better afterward. I know I did, as I got soaking wet! Ha ha ha!

I'm off. Take care, have a great day and we'll catch you on the flip side!

-Tammi

Chillin'

Have you played with your dog today?

Here's Feather, playing with me. She is such a goof ball! She normally acts like she's the Queen of the dogyard, but here, you can see that she still has some 'puppy' in there.

Most of our fur kids here love to play. I take the time to go through the yard and play with each one of them, as I go through giving pets and hugs. Soon though, I need to go through the yard and give everyone baths! I try to do baths for everyone in the summer, as it's important for them. Besides, I know I feel so much better after a bath; so, I imagine the dogs do, too.

Dutchess and pups are doing great. We've moved them out to the puppy pen, which is much more comfortable for Dutchess. The pups are already growing and looking great. Also, I had to correct the last post; I goofed on listing the pups. We have 2 Girls and 1 Boy. They are really nice looking and beautifully marked. Eventually, I'll get the camera out there.

Well, it's a gray, rainy day so we're just hanging out. Devlyn had his 2nd soccer game last night and his team won again, 2-0. Way to go Wolverines! I was going to practice passing with Devlyn & Conor today, but it's one of those days to hang out with a good book, cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie, or play in the house. So, I'm off. Have a great day all!

Fur kids

Jaeger at 7 months old. Man, he's getting big; but, he's SO handsome!

"No, we're not spoiled, Mom!" That's Fergus the cat, Otto (check out him using the pillow) and Lady girl.

This is Hiltey. He came to us from Mackey's Come-back Kennels

Happy Birthday Dutchess pups!

Now, we rarely have litters here at RSK, because there are good dogs out there who need homes all the time. However, with most of our kennel getting older (the first pointer litter turned 7 years old this year!), we decided that we were ready for pups. With Dutchess getting older (she has been the main leader and core of our team), we knew if we wanted pups from her, this would be our last chance. So, we decided to breed Dutchess with Dusk. This year, Dusk developed into a solid Gee/Haw leader, leading every race that we ran, for the entire race. Dusk is a nice boy, who really shines in our yard. We felt that Dusk would be a great sire for pups with Dutchess.

Dutchess had her pups last night. We are happy to report that we have 3 beautiful puppies: 2 girls and 1 boy! They have gorgeous markings and look like they'll have nice coats, though we'll have to wait until they get older to see how thick. I'll get pictures up of them in a few days. All three will be staying here at RSK, as we don't breed sled dog pups to sell. Devlyn, our "Puppy Manager" is very happy that we have pups, as he takes his job seriously and loves to help with pups.

Well done Dutchess! Mom and pups are in the house, all doing great. :o)

-Tammi

SNIP clinic a sucess!

Yesterday, thanks to the wonderful efforts and assistance from Lynn Orbison, 8 of our brood FINALLY got spayed/neutered. Dr. Jeanne Olson volunteered to perform the surgeries at her clinic, Raven Vet. Lynn came over to the house with her dog truck, we loaded up the pooches and headed out, all in the rain. It proceeded to rain all throughout the clinic, making for some wet dogs and a wet musher! Still, it was great to have the dogs taken care of so nicely. Dr. O really makes sure that the dogs are as comfortable as possible, giving each their own "bed", fuzzy blankets and ice packs to help at the incision site to keep swelling down. We had dogs all over the clinic in various stages of recovery. I forgot my camera, or I would post a picture of it. The list of "tutored" dogs (as Lynn likes to put it, cuz she says they get smarter afterward) are: Jaeger, Bane, Spike, Inu, Ahab, Odin, Peiper and Zeus...7 neuters and 1 spay. Jaeger decided to pee everywhere as he was coming out of the anesthesia (I swear, that dog pee'd a gallon!), but the mop and bucket easily took care of that.

A HUGE thank you goes out to Lynn and Dr. O for taking care of my brood, and to Donna for the SNIP stuff. You Ladies are awesome! All of the dogs are home safe and sound, doing fine.

Kids and dogs

Here's Jaeger...growing, growing, growing!

Future mushers reading the comics...hey, is that a Tundra cartoon?

Summer time!!

Wow! It's been a while since I last blogged...sorry bout that. The last month of school is always just Cuh-Raaaazy! Still, I've survived yet another year of teaching high school. I thought for a while there, that I wouldn't continue, as I had a pretty rough year. But, then I watched the movie "Freedom Writers" and it reminded me "Why" I became a teacher. So, I'll be there again in the fall, this time taking on a student teacher as well. :o) If you haven't had the opportunity to watch "Freedom Writers", I highly recommend it.

In other news, Otto has come back to the kennel. For those of you who don't know him, Otto is a long-haired, red dachsund who we gave to Manny's brother, Michael when we had Kaiser. Kaiser (our 1st Great Dane) used to pounce on Otto, almost crushing him. We were afraid that Kaiser would hurt Otto. Sadly, Kaiser ended up having heart problems and was put to sleep not long after. Otto stayed with Michael, but we really missed him. So, Michael gave Otto back to us today. We are all happy...we have the cuteness back and Otto is LOVING being back in the house on our laps. I have to get him in to Lynn at Petco soon...he is in SERIOUS need of a good grooming and it's more than I want to take on!

In the interim, we have had a new dog come to the kennel from Lance Mackey. Hilty is a 2 1/2 yr old black male husky. I'll add him to our Noatak site once I've gotten his bloodlines from Lance. Hilty is a sweet guy who was a contender for Lance's Iditarod team. So, we are really looking forward to seeing this guy in action this winter! Another addition coming to the kennel soon is Chevy. Chevy is a 3 yr old male husky from Gerry Willomitzer. Chevy's sire is Gerry's main stud/leader, BlackJack, who we wanted to breed to. However, now that we were able to get Chevy (who is a great gee/haw leader), we will have the bloodlines that we want in our kennel. Too awesome!

Jenny will be heading to Kantishna on Friday. We have adopted Jenny through SCL; however, we really feel that a summer doing tours down in Kantishna will do wonders for her shyness. I don't expect her to ever get over it, but I think that she will benefit from the daily influx of tourists. Then, she'll come back to the kennel in the fall, just in time to start training. I plan on racing Jenny this upcoming season. She is a very nice running dog and I feel she'll be a good race dog.

I am off for the summer, so I plan on getting lots of work done around the house and kennel. I will try to get more pictures up as the summer goes by, as well. Devlyn is officially a 3rd grader now...man, they grow so fast, eh?! Conor is a 2 year old and is definitely living up to the monicker "The Terrible Twos"....though in reality, it could be worse. ;o) Conor is really looking forward to this winter, as he keeps telling his Daddy and I that it's his turn "to run doggies!" Devlyn has been helping around the house, doing chores to earn his allowance. He's really proud that he's big enough to help out now. What a great kid he is!

Well, that's enough for now. I'm the secretary for TRDMA again, so it's time to get to work on the monthly newsletter. Check back for pictures later.

-Tammi

Freezing

Freezing

Living in this cold world
breathing is hard to do
when you're drowning in
all the uncaring.
The Cold stings and burns
as you take it down into
your lungs, into your soul,
freezing.
What's happened
to the love, the emotion,
the burning need to be
with someone?
The Darkness comes
enfolding all in her
forgiving arms,
forgetting.

Pups

Thor and Polar are 2 brothers who are looking for new homes. We took the whole litter from another musher, though we'd only planned to take 3 (the other 3 boys are in the dogyard). Polar and Thor needed to gain a bit more weight, we wormed them and gave them their vaccines. Now, at 6 months, they are ready to go out in the yard, start training in harness and start bonding with a new owner. Interested?? Let us know! Their bloodlines are from Kotzebue (Baker lines) x Buser/Jonrowe.

Here's Thor playing around.

Polar looking for his brother...

Spring cleaning and such

Spring has certainly sprung at Running Swift Kennel! While we've been lucky in only dealing with about a week or so of mud in the dogyard, there are some remnants of ice/snow hidden under scattered straw, though not much. The main chores in the dogyard will commence this weekend, when I go through each house, clean out all the old straw, and replace it with fresh, dry shavings. Then, I'll need to rake up the loose straw to dispose of. I've already gone through the yard giving everyone a new can for water, as the warmer days allow for fresh water 24 hours/day. The dogs have been switched to their summer diet (the same kibble, just no meat added in) and will be getting brushings/baths as the summer commences. It's great to look out the window and see my babies basking in the sun, enjoying the warm days. Once the trails harden, we'll be able to get out with the dogs, giving them exercise and just frolicking around, having fun.

Summer chores seem endless! With our new house comes a long to-do list: painting, re-staining the logs, redo the deck, build/paint/fix dog houses, build or refurbish the dogboxes for the truck, build new puppy pens, fence off the horse paddocks, etc., etc., etc. Luckily, I plan to take the summer off to spend with the boys, ride the horses and work with the dogs. This will be the first summer off that I've had! I usually either get a job, take classes (almost finished with that Masters degree!) or something. It'll be nice not to have to rush around at all, though I'll have plenty to keep me busy. :o)

Other news: We're getting a new dog from Gerry Willomitzer. Chevy is a NICE dog from Gerry's Black Jack. We've wanted these bloodlines for a while, so we're very excited to have the chance to acquire Chevy. We're planning on doing a breeding this summer, if Zen comes into heat soon enough. I'm working on lining up the stud, though haven't managed that just yet. We were going to breed to Black Jack, but now that we are getting a good, solid son of his, we want to get some of those Mackey lines in the yard. You just can't beat back-to-back wins in the Quest and Iditarod in the same year, with virtually the same dogs!! Folks would be CRAZY not to want to get some of those "iron dog" bloodlines in their kennel.

On the Bear Dog front, we took in a new male Karelian. His name was Bear, but we've changed it to Bane, since we already have a Bear. Bane is a beautiful boy who had an unfortunate accident with a cat when he was a puppy, leaving him partially blind in one eye. That doesn't stop this guy though! He is a sweety, though he hasn't had much training. He is also the grandson of our Alpine and Kiley. We are working with him on basic obedience commands, and may start field work this summer, unless we find a home for him in the meantime. If interested in adopting Bane, contact us at runswift@alaska.net and we'll give you more information.

Happy Spring all!

-Tammi

Valley Funale 2007

The Valley Funale was an astounding success this year. Lots of teams showed up to race, along with a few skijorers....there were 16 teams for the 20 mile race (more like 26-27 miles) with 23 teams in the Adult 6 dog, 1 team in the Junior 6 dog and 3 skijorers. Additionally, there was an Easter Egg hunt, 1 and 2 dog classes for the little ones (34 racers!) and the Hungry Dog Contest. Lots of food and fun was had by all. I ran the 10 dog class, taking a few new dogs that I hadn't run yet. I had a crazy start...the snow hook was stuck and as I tried to get it out at my countdown, I had to step off the brake. As soon as I got the hook loose, the dogs lunged and I got pulled right off my feet! I jumped and managed to get a foot on the left runner, which caused the sled to tip onto it's side. So, there I was, at the start of my race, dragging on my face. Lucky for me, Scott Chesney was at the road. He dove onto the front of my sled and held the team, while Manny came up behind and helped me get righted. After that, I took off, having had one of the most embarrassing starts that I've EVER had. No wonder I hate race starts!!! The trail was really fast, with sharp turns all over. I did just fine, until I relaxed a bit, took a sharp, sloped turn and ended in the soft snow. The sled tipped, I landed into deep snow, which kept me in one spot while the dogs ripped the sled from my grip. Lucky for me, the dogs stopped just ahead, with the sled tipped in the deep snow. I must say, it was VERY scary! The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. We caught up with a few teams, but Dusk (in lead) was REALLY hot with the sun baking down. He just didn't have the 'umph' we needed to sustain a lope. I put Just in lead with him, relegating Zen to wheel. Just tried his hardest, but Dusk just wasn't into passing those other teams. Still, we managed a 9th place finish out of 16...really not too bad considering the heat, my goof ups with the team, etc.

Devlyn ran the 2 dog class with Munchkin and Herod. Sunshine just plain didn't have it in him to do the 2 dog...I almost had to load him due to the heat during the 10 dog class. So, Devlyn used his 2 faithful dogs. Devlyn took off and the dogs were hauling! He hit the bump in the trail, which caused him to fall to his knees. But, that boy just jumped right up, back onto the runners to finish the trail! He ended up tying for 2nd place, even with his bobble!! He earned a medal and a nice ice cream from Pleasant Valley store.

Next was the Hungry Dog Contest. I'd thought about entering Just, since he's such a chow hound...but changed my mind and took Inu. Boy, can that dog eat! He scarfs every meal down like it's his last, even during races. And he sure didn't let me down this time, either. Good ole Inu won the Hungry dog!!! Way to go, Good Boy! He won some biscuits and snacks.

We all had a good time, even Conor was out, running around in the snow. It turned out to be such a gorgeous day! The next event is MUSH for Kids Day, at Pioneer Park this Saturday, from 11-3pm. Lots of fun, food and information can be had. There's a Mushers' Olympics, puppies for petting, sled dog rides, demonstrations, etc. So, try to come on out! We'll be there, giving sled dog rides to all the kiddies.

Think Spring and Happy Easter!!

-Tammi

Congratulations Manny!!!!

First off, I'm sorry that it has taken so long to do an update. Between work, kids, dogs and dealing with this illness that has really taken me down these past few weeks, I haven't been online much. So, many apologies!!!

A HUGE Congratulations goes out to my wonderful husband, Manny. He took 2nd place in the Chatanika Challenge 100; his first mid-distance race. Way to Go, HONEY!!! He said that the dogs were just running so nicely and he had a great time. When he got into the finish, he said that he wished he had signed up for the 200. Looks like we'll be flipping a coin to see which one of us gets the race dogs next season! Ha ha ha! Lucky for us that we have enough nice dogs to field 2 teams. :o)

The Chatanika is a GREAT race. The first leg, which runs through a lot of hills, starts at Chatanika Lodge, runs for 43 miles (though Ilana and I think it's a bit more than that...more like 47-48 miles) to the 18 mile road crossing over Chena Hot Springs road. The wind was just howling up there, literally blowing dogs and sleds around like they were nothing. The dogs had to break a lot of trail, as the wind kept drifting the trails over. Manny said that after he crossed through Fort Knox Gold mine, that the winds weren't as bad; but, then that meant that the sun was beating down on the teams, making it hot and the trails punchy. Manny ended up doing that first leg slower than he had planned, but so did a few other teams. The winds and breaking trails took a lot out of some of the teams. Our guys have dealt with this stuff all season. It was the heat/punchy trails that slowed the team down a bit. But, once they dropped down Iowa dome (which Manny said kept him awake...there were lots of moguls from snow machines, throwing the sleds around), the dogs started picking back up.

After the road crossing, the dogs were back on the winter trail, which they just LOVE. Manny said they started to really haul at that point. He had been prepared to camp, but the plan was to do a straight 100. The dogs were running nicely, so with stops for snack breaks and to check/replace booties, that's what they did. Manny passed a few mushers on the way to Pleasant Valley Store, giving him a 2nd place finish with an overall time of 12 hours, 11 minutes. He said that he would have been in even quicker, but had some troubles with Dusk in lead. China, one of our swing dogs, came into full-blown heat, which distracted Dusk. This was odd, because I had no problems with Dusk on the Quest 300, even though Feather had been in heat. Regardless, Manny eventually took Dusk out of lead, putting Torus up front with Zen. This slowed the team, because while Torus is a great dog, he is 8 years old and s-l-o-w up front. Therefore, Manny figures that he would have been well under 12 hours, had he not had to deal with Dusk stopping, taking wrong turns and just plain turning around to say Hi to China...then losing speed with the Old Man up front. Aw well...we're still very thrilled with Manny's finish. Not bad for his first race! The dogs all ate/drank very well at the truck after the race, and were even wagging their tails at the finish line. What a great team!! We did have a couple of Jodi's dogs, as we weren't sure of a couple of our guys making a straight 100 miler after the Quest 300. So, it was great to see all of these guys work so well together. Thanks again, Jodi!

At this point, we have one more fun race that we'll do, which is the Valley Funale. It is a fun time, held the last Saturday of March at Pleasant Valley store. Sign ups start at 10am. There are 2 classes for adults, the 10 dog, 20 mile class; and the 6 dog, 10 mile class. There is also a junior class of 6 dog, 10 miles, as well. As usual, there are plenty of other great activities designed for the whole family, with an Easter Egg hunt for the kids, a Hungry Dog contest, plus 1 and 2 dog classes for the children, and a yummy potluck/barbeque. So, plan to come on out, bring your favorite dish to share, bring a few dogs, or just bring yourselves. It is always a fun time for the whole family.

Manny plans to run the 10 dog class, while I'll do the 6 dog class. Devlyn will run in the 2 dog, while Conor may be making his 1 dog debut. We have to try him out on the little sled with a slow, older dog first. I can't help it...I'm always a bit nervous when my guys do their first races. But, Conor has been begging us all season, telling us that it's "His turn to run doggies" or that he's wants to "Run doggies, too." So, we'll see if he's big enough to hold on first here at the house, then if he is, we'll let him do the 1 dog class.

Now that spring is almost here, and the season is coming to a close for us, we'll concentrate on those younger dogs, new dogs and the pups that we were given earlier this year. Spring is my favorite time, as I'm the one who gets to work with the puppies their first time in teams and such. I usually take Devlyn with me, as I run small, 6 dog teams to break the pups in gently. It's a great learning experience for the puppies and for Devlyn, as he loves to go with me, riding the runners just in front of me. I let him work the brake and basically run the team, while I'm there to help stop them, etc. We have lots of fun. :o)

Well, since I'm battling a bad bout of pneumonia, I think I'll sign off. I want to again take this opportunity to thank everyone who assisted us this season, from folks who sponsored my Quest 300 race, to the friendly people in the Yukon (thanks again for the support, Stacie!!), and those along the race trails...all those volunteers without whom, we could not run races. You folks make it possible for us to do what we do. Thank you!!!!

Have a great Spring Break, Everyone!

-Tammi

Thank you, my Handlers!

Photo by Scott Chesney

Carmacks. The checker was checking for the mandatory equipment: Vet book, axe, snowshoes and sleeping bag. They checked for booties when we'd sign out of the checkpoint. That's Alyssa Quaile, Tammi's handler and fellow musher, standing on the sled. Alyssa raced in the 06 Quest 300 and spent 2 nights on the top of Rosebud Summit, as she was just above me when we all got pinned down by a blizzard that dumped over 2 feet of snow with 90 mph winds, which obliterated the trail and wiped out trail markers. Alyssa, her friend Laura, and a German visitor, Inge were my "entourage" while on the 07 Quest 300. They truly gave me and the dogs the "royal treatment" and spoiled us all rotten. A HUGE thank you goes out to them. I couldn't have done it without them. Handlers are truly the most overlooked, but most important part of running any race. They are the ones supporting the musher, who is generally the one in the limelight. The handlers take care of the dogs, scoop the poop, pick up the straw, sort the left over drop bags, etc. They are the unsung heroes of the Quest.

THANK YOU, Our wonderful, loyal Handlers!!!!

Quest 300

The race started out well. I drew position #3, which put me out at 5:09pm. I made the run to the Takhini River Bridge in just 1 hour, even though I was on the drag the whole way and had Torus, our 8 yr old leader in lead with Dusk, to try and keep the speed down. The trails were hard and FAST. We quickly caught and passed Sean, team #1 and had Paul Geoffrion in our sights for quite a ways. We almost caught him, but then Torus had to stop and poop. We held on to the 2nd position in the race for a good 2-3 hours, then when I stopped the dogs to snack, Thomas Tetz caught me followed closely by Roland and Micheal. We kept up with them all the way to the overland trail, but that's when Torus really slowed (he hates hills). I was passed by 3 more teams before I pulled Torus out of lead and put Just up front. Then we started moving. I began looking for a camping spot at the 5 hour mark, but the spots were all taken. I finally found a spot up on a ridge, which was PERFECT! There was straw already there from a Quest team, no wind and it was warm. The dogs rested nicely for about 3 hours, but then teams started to pass by and the dogs were barking. So, I pulled out after 4 hours. The run into Braeburn was uneventful, until I made the drop down to Braeburn lake on my face (no fun) and dumped the sled in the twisty, narrow trees just before the checkpoint.

We rested 8 hours, instead of 6 1/2, because I didn't get a wake up and then I ended up needing to drop Just and Anya due to sore wrists. I was really scared of the next section...as I knew that the Braeburn to Carmacks run is one of the roughest on the race. But, I was down to 10 dogs, which I had been training with all season and we took off. The Lakes were rather boring, but the overland sections sure were hairy. The downhills were steep, twisty and the trail was filled with rocks, dirt and roots. It was all we could do just to keep the sleds off the wheel dogs. At one point, a tree caught my shoulder on a tight turn and the sled ripped out of my hands...but the dogs responded to my "Whoa!" and stopped. I jumped up and grabbed the sled. By this time, I was running with Martin Jahr, as I was nervous about my sled handling skills. We stopped to camp with Leonard and Simi, who had just set up camp about 10 minutes or so before Martin and I arrived. By this time, my bibs had ripped out from knee to knee, the temp was -40C, my gloves were soaked and though I had dry gloves, I somehow forgot the liners. Martin tossed me a pair, then started a fire, as I was having trouble keeping warm (a first for me!). I was really down at this point, but Martin and Leonard talked to me and got my spirits back up.

The run after that was GREAT! Pinball Alley (the part I was afraid of) was my favorite part of the entire trail. It was so beautiful and then I got to see the sun come as we crested a ridge over the Yukon River. Amazing country! About 10 miles from Carmacks, the trail got real rough again, with climbs and drops, twists and turns, logs sticking out in the trail, jumble ice on the river, cracks in the ice, etc. Booger dropped on me out of the blue and scared the bejesus out of me (turns out he was just tired). I loaded him in the sled and we finished the run into Carmacks.

Carmacks was great, but I was worried about my team. Dusk hadn't wanted to eat at the camp, but then he ate snacks before we left. Then, Feather didn't want snacks on the run in, and she was acting off. I dropped Booger, then had to drop Hopper who had a sore shoulder. The vet was worried about Feather and China (she had a bit of blood in her stool...but it turned out to be fine)...but they both ate very well and Feather's temp went down so the vet ok'd both of them. I left Carmacks in very high spirits, with sewed up bibs, another sweatshirt, dried gloves, a full belly and a decent team of 8 good dogs (though 4 had slight wrist injuries). I kept the team slow, but after a while, Ahab started to limp. I stopped and massaged him, but it kept up. After a while, he stopped limping so I thought it was just a sore muscle. The run to McCabe is mostly on nice trails, though there was one heck of a climb up to this ridge...it was sidehilling in a few places, pretty dangerous since the downhill went straight down the mountain. Afterwards, we ran through some CRAZY jumble ice on the Yukon...it looked like we were on the moon! We ran up what looked like a waterfall of ice, bouncing and bumping....in a huge pinball machine. At one point, we came around a sharp turn, the sled tipped and Inu stepped in a crack. He started to fall forward and I thought his leg would snap, but he pulled it free at the last second. I righted the sled and we ran in to McCabe. The whole time, I had been following behind Martin, purposely staying there to keep the team slow.

McCabe Creek Dog Drop is AWESOME! I parked the dogs in Frank Turner's spot, just in front of the shop so the dogs had nice straw. I got HOT water for the dogs, had them fed, watered, massaged and wrapped all within 30 minutes. It was really nice to get back in the rhythm that I'm used to at rest stops. I almost froze my nose though! I had been so warm on the sled, that when I arrived at McCabe, I took off my parka and pulled my neckwarmer down off of my face. I soon realized how cold it was!! Yikes!

After a nice 3 hour (WOW!) nap for me, I got up and went out to get the dogs ready to go. I watered, but only 4 dogs showed interest. So, I tried some snacks...but, 2 dogs wanted nothing (Ahab and Inu). I got the vet to look at them, and the prognosis wasn't good. She found 5 dogs with tight shoulders, almost all had wrist injuries and she said that I'd have to drop Ahab, Inu and Rocket. That left me with only 5 dogs....not enough to continue. I could have gone on, as she said I might be able to baby Rocket through. I asked the vet to be straight with me...she said if I had 6 healthy dogs, then by all means...go for it. But, I didn't. I had no choice but to scratch from the race, just 90 miles from the finish. It was heartbreaking. I had a real hard time, facing the fact that I'd made it so far, through some of the worst parts of the trail (it was a breeze from there to the finish!), had an intact sled...mostly intact musher...yet, somehow, I had not managed the team well enough to avoid injuries. It was a very hard pill to swallow. But, something we all have to remember is that these dogs are living, breathing, feeling beings...they are NOT machines. If I had pushed the team further, I would have lost their trust and I might have possibly crippled a dog. NOTHING is worth that...absolutely nothing. There will be more races next year...that's all there is to it.

I don't feel like a failure or a quitter....I managed to handle some things that I never thought I could do...90 degree turns, trees tight on most corners, severe twisting downhills, etc. I trained the dogs for the Quest trail...overflow, water, ice, soft trails, breaking trail, etc. Who would have thought that it would have been a hard-packed highway!?! Live and learn, eh?

Looks like Frank Turner has now scratched...same reason as me. Too many injuries. Seems to be the theme for this year's race...injuries and dogs not eating. Yuka Honda has also scratched..I'm sorry to see that after all she went through. Greg Parvin was overdue, but then found safe and sound, though it looks like he'll be pulled from the race. Lance Mackey is burning up the trail, but Hans is close on his heels and has cut the lead down to just 4 hours...and they haven't gotten into Circle yet. Manny and I will be volunteering at the Hot Springs...looks like it'll be rough getting the teams in and out across the icy bridge that leads into the Hot springs, but we'll see.

Well, now we're focusing on getting the dogs healthy and happy again. So far, they are all looking SO much better now. Manny is planning out his race, as he's running the Chatanika Challenge 200 in March. What's nice about this race is that it's all home trails, with good hills at the beginning and hills at the end. As a matter of fact, the hills at the end are the Fireline trail....the trail that our dogs have been running on all season. How cool is that?!? I'm looking forward to seeing how the dogs do with Manny at the helm.

Stayed tuned as we make preparations for Manny's race. :o) And please keep the Quest Mushers who are still out on the trail in your thoughts and hearts as they begin some very rough trail. The overflow is really bad, so hopefully all of the mushers and dogs will make it through safe and sound.

-Tammi

Just 90 miles from the finish line...

Wow. Just that one word holds so much in describing the Quest 300 this year.

I finally made it home very late last night (ok, this morning) and who was waiting up for me but my loving, wonderful, handsome husband, Manny. Man, it sure was good to see him after being gone for a week! He helped unload the truck, we got the dogs bedded down and headed inside. Phew, it is good to be home! But, it also feels weird. After spending 3-4 days (I lost count) out on the trail with the dogs, it feels weird to be sitting here at home. I keep feeling like I need to get back on the trail. I took a sick day, as I'm still exhausted (and a bit sore, to say the least!) and figured I need a day to recoup. Seems I may have bruised a rib in a collision with a tree (more later, when I give my race report), so it hurts a bit to breath but the vets (yeah, no human doctors for us mushers!) assured me it would be good with some rest (maybe a good Algyval rub?). Manny just fed and watered the dogs (it was hard for me not to be out there!) and the dogs ate and drank, except Feather. But, she is in full blown heat, which the vets feel really contributed to her not wanting to eat/drink well on the trail.

We made it all the way to McCabe Creek, which (depending on who you talked to) was only approx. 90 miles from the finish. Just 3 runs, and we would have been there. Unfortunately, every one of my dogs sustained either wrist or shoulder injuries from the hard packed (concrete!) trails, cracks in the river ice, downhills which were fast, twisty and steep and just plain missteps along the way. Leaving Carmacks, I was down to 8 dogs, and 4 had slight wrist injuries that I was managing with massages, wristwraps and Algyval. When I went out to prepare to leave from McCabe, most of the dogs just didn't look happy. When the vet started going through the team, that's when we started discovering more injuries. She recommended that I drop 3 dogs (Ahab, Inu and Rocket), which left me with only 5, all of which had some type of injury, though managable. I asked her to be straight with me, because I refused to cripple my dogs or ask them to do more than they could or should. She suggested that I not continue on, and I agreed with her. It was hard for me, as I was so close to finishing and really felt that I would. It never crossed my mind that I wouldn't finish once I got into Carmacks. But, stuff happens and you just have to roll with it.

Looking back and speaking with the vets, I did everything right. I slowed the team way down (took us 7 hours to make the run to McCabe!), kept the dogs slow on downhills, massaged and algyvaled, etc. The only thing that I could have done more of was massage/algyval ALL the dogs at every camp spot, even before any injuries popped up. I started doing that at Carmacks, but should have been doing it the whole time. Our biggest problem is that most of the training the dogs have done weren't on hard, fast trails...but softer, slower trails. Additionally, I practiced overflow, breaking trail, etc. While there was a bit of overflow, there really wasn't a whole lot and no breaking trails at all. Well, you live and learn. The next race, I will massage every dog, at every stop; get the dogs out on hard, fast trails more; take a more varied selection of meats/snacks for the dogs. As for sled handling, my confidence has soared in that area, as while I did have some falls, had one run in with a tree (me, not the sled) and went down to Breaburn Lake on my face; I did ok! I didn't crash/bust the sled up and have become pretty good at sharp 90 degree turns and steep, twisty downhills. :o)

Well, I will write out a race summary later, to lay out how each run went. Overall, the trail was GREAT! However, one must remember that it IS the Quest trail...not meant to be easy. To me, there were some great, fun sections in between some rough, crazy sections. All in all, I did enjoy myself, once I got over my fear of crashing the sled.

A HUGE thank you goes out to all race officials, volunteers and fellow racers, particularly Martin Jahr (he was a great help to me..Thanks for the fire!!), Leonard McGlynn (who decided that I'd had enough sleep at Carmacks) and Simi Morrison for having such a great outlook. Also, Jeremy Keller was truly an inspiration...this guy was trailing all of us, taking it super easy with his team, and he always came in smiling and just full of energy. His dogs also came in looking happy and healthy. He said that this is his Iditarod qualifier, and that he just wanted to ensure that his dogs had a happy, healthy experience. :o) That is really cool! Here I was, whining/complaining about crashing, etc. and Jeremy comes in all smiles and grins. Gave me a new perspective, that's for sure.

More to come later....
-Tammi

News from Whitehorse!

Alyssa, Laura, Inge and I, along with 12 of my wonderful dogs, made it into Whitehorse very early this morning (5am!). It took us 14 hours to drive from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, because once we crossed the Canadian Border, the roads deteriorated drastically and we found that in many places we were only able to drive 30-40mph! Plus, we did have to stop to drop/feed the dogs as we traveled. However, we all survived, though very tired...and made it to a hotel to sleep (not the original one that we had reservations for, that's another story of its own). Just a few hours later, we found ourselves at the Westmark Hotel in our Quest 300 driver/handler meeting. We got a nice trail report (not that I'll remember most of it...something about a Haw, Gee, DUCK under the McCabe bridge, then Haw again), went over rules, answered questions then did our bib draw. Laura said, "Wouldn't it be funny if you drew number 3, Tammi? This is your third try at this race, 3's a charm, and 3 is your lucky number." Guess what I drew?? Yep! Number 3. :o) Everything else has been uneventful, though Alyssa, Laura and Inge are truly wonderful handlers and are spoiling me rotten! Plus, they are having tons of fun with the video camera. (Yikes!)

The dogs are all looking frisky tonight, they were out playing and barking like puppies! We are looking forward to a full night of sleep (awww...Heaven!), then we're going to take care of the dogs again, go get breakfast and watch the start of the YQ1000 mile race at 11am Whitehorse time. After that, we are to be at our parking spot by 3pm, for the race start at 5pm. I leave at 5:06pm, as the 3rd musher out of a field of 17 in the YQ300.

For those wishing to follow along, please visit Stacie's blog at www.chaoskennel13.blogspot.com or www.yukonquest300.com for updates on the YQ300. They are having trouble with the Quest 300 site, so Stacie will place updates on both her blog and the YQ300 website (when it's working) as she gets them.

Wish us luck! The trail is fast and hard; so, I'm looking forward to a very fun race. Take care and I'll see you all on the other side!!! :)

-Tammi & (the Quest 300 team): Feather, China, Just, Dusk, Hopper, Anya, Ahab, Torus, Jake, Booger, Inu & Rocket.

And we're Off!!

Well, this will be the last blog that you get from me until I return to Fairbanks next week. Thanks to the great support of the staff here at Hutchison, I will be hitting the road with my "crew" (Alyssa, Laura, Inge and the dogs) at 1pm today, from the Hutchison High School Parking Lot. We hope to be in Whitehorse by late tonight, so that we can get some sleep before the Musher/Handler meeting at 10am on Friday. My vet check is scheduled for 4:15pm, after the Musher meeting.

Right now, I'm very anxious to get on the road. I'm trying to envision peaceful things...but my stomach is just doing flip-flops. It's the drive down. Tok is like the Bermuda Triangle for me and the last time I had signed up for the Quest 300 in Whitehorse, I didn't make it to the starting line (see my journal on my webpage www.geocities.com/runningswiftkennel/). So, if we can make it to Whitehorse safely and in good time, I will feel SO much better.

After that, it'll all be focusing on the trail. Not the whole trail...but each section/leg at a time. I plan to do a run/rest schedule that will allow my dogs to run at their peak speeds, then rest before they would start getting overtired. This is a conservative strategy, but one that will help keep the dogs healthy and happy. I will gauge off of the dogs, reading them to see how they are performing and make decisions based on those observations. Yes, I'd like to be competitive...but the main goal is to finish, period.

I'll be back with updates and stories...stay tuned! In the meantime, you can follow the race at www.yukonquest300.com for updates along the trail.

Thank you to EVERYONE who helped us get to this point. Without you, we wouldn't be able to do this race. Cheers!

-Tammi and the pooches

Way to go, Devlyn!

Devlyn raced at the Junior races on Saturday in the 2 dog class. The day was bright, sunny and WARM! Seems to be a theme for the past few weeks. He took off from the starting line with Herod and Munchkin, an SCL adopted pooch and they practically FLEW down the hill! Devlyn was really going fast. We were worried that Munchkin would tried to poop on the run, like she did last weekend; but she didn't. Devlyn said that the turn was very slick and he slid around the corner, almost tipping; but, managed to keep the sled upright throughout. The dogs were loping hard all the way to the finish line. Devlyn came in smiling and waving. He had a good, clean run finishing with a time of 3:45....giving him a 3rd place finish!! That was out of 10 racers. Way to go, Devlyn!!! :o) We don't know if he'll be able to get a faster time, as Herod is an 8 year old dog. However, it's been so warm, that with cooler temps, their time may improve even more. Regardless, Devlyn is having a great time and is doing very well running his 2 dogs.

Manny took the main race team out yesterday, as I had quite a few papers to grade and lots to do. He did a 3 1/2 hour run up and down the Firebreak. I guess the dogs ran so well, that he ended up getting all the way to the switchbacks on the Firebreak, just before it connects into the Winter trail on the way to Angel Creek!! He said the hills were major and the snow had thawed, then froze again into an icy glaze on the trail. Still, he managed to keep their speed down coming back down the steep hills. Also, he said someone decided to plow the logging road, creating big holes in the trail. Some people have no idea that stuff like that can cripple dogs!! Sheesh!!

We're finishing up last minute preparations for my race this weekend. We'll be heading for Whitehorse at 1pm on Thursday. Only 5 more days until race start! :o)

Cool runnings? I wish!

Conor is "helping" his Dad make some adjustments to the sled.

This next week will be a very busy, hectic time for us. I leave on Thursday for Whitehorse, as the YQ300 mushers have a mandatory driver/handler meeting, followed by our vet check. It's a long drive, so Alyssa, Laura, Inge and I will be pretty tired as we make it to the capital of the Yukon Territory. But, with the meetings set for the afternoon, we should be able to get a few hours of shut eye. Manny is running the team right now, as I type. He just called me from the top of the fireline. He says the dogs are running good, even though it's hot with punchy trails. He's stopping every so often to let the dogs munch snow and roll around in the cool stuff to keep them from overheating. Who would have thought that overheating the dogs would be a worry the 1st day of February in Two Rivers, Alaska?!?! CRAZY, Baaaby!

Until next time.....