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