Northern Blast Sled Dogs

Happy mother's day to the three generations of mom's here at Northern Blast!

Holly, Spirit, and Kwyta.

Yesterday we said good-bye to our oldest, and retired recreational dog, Ahhsoo.

We acquired Ahhsoo 7 years ago, just a few months after our first litter was born. Alan drove to the southern Oregon coast to pick up a cart, a couple of sleds, and some additional eqipment from a college student looking to get out of dogs. He also had one dog, a Siberian Husky named Ahhsoo, that he was looking for a home for so Ahhsoo made the drive back wtih Alan. We were his third owners and we were told that he was 6 years old making him 13 now although he appeared much older the last couple of years making me believe he may have actually been older than we were told.

Ahhsoo came to us with some racing experience such as the Mail Run on the dunes of Oregon. Although he never raced with us he added some real enthusiasm and drive to our recreational team. He was very strong and would bang like mad in his harness until it was time to go. His enthusiasm caught on and soon the other dogs started showing their anticipation to run as well. Ahhsoo made best friends with Keeper. They were kennel neighbors and were often partnered on the gangline. They could also be found hanging out together in the play yard. Keeper passed away 2 years ago.

Keeper and Ahhsoo

Ahhsoo did not like receiving too much attention. He would take a pet or two on his head but he did not like to be handled, making him difficult to work with in many situations such as brushing him. He hated it and Alan and I often would have to work together wrestling him into a body clinch in order to brush him out. The last two years when he began to show how much he aged, we didn't even bother. He hated to be lifted into the truck when we went on runs and he would tense and complain the entire few seconds it took to accomplish this. Worming him was another struggle and I usually did him last knowing I would end up wearing half of it! So, of all the things that  could have taken him, it was arthritis that found it's way into Ahhsoo's joints. He slowed down considerably this past year and stiffness started to set in. On Thursday he still came out of his kennel to walk the yard during exercise time. But on Friday morning he didn't get up to exercise or even to take his biscuit. His condition never improved throughout the day although he ate and drank everything that was put in front of him. Alan tried to see if he could assist him up but Ahhsoo instantly gave his disapproval forcing Alan to react quickly or risk injury. (Any other dog here would still have allowed us to pick them up.) It was obvious what needed to be done, but it was just as obvious that we were not going to be able to get him to the vet. So Saturday morning I did something I had never done before. I called our vet and requested a house call and a couple hours later she and an assistant showed up. Within a few seconds Ahhsoo drifted away peacefully and painlessly into Dr. Edwards gentle hands.  I can only imagine that Keeper was the first there to greet him. Buddies again for eternity.

Good-bye Ahhsoo. We will never forget you!

Well, it's a couple months later than planned, but we finally got the puppies out for their first training run. They turned 9 months old last week so this is the oldest that we have started puppies. A few of the pups outgrew their first harnesses before they ever got to use them so I had to do another fitting with them during the weekend. Once at the training spot I was a little concerned with hooking the pups to the drop chains. They don't have much experience with this and most weren't too happy with those other attempts. But they all did much better today. Some were more relaxed with it while others were too nervous to move. I think being at a new location (for them) actually helped. Meanwhile the rest of the dogs were going berserk, so happy to be out on a run. With the exception of the pups getting whacked with the chain a few times, I think this helped them as I am sure the adults behavior told them that something great was about to happen and it would all be worth it.

With 17 dogs I had to refigure how to fit them all into the gangline. I don't like pairing puppies together on their first runs and not all of the adults have taken a liking to the pups yet, I wanted good leaders as role models as well, and we had one girl in season. All of this had to be taken into consideration. I decided to run them in two groups on a 10-dog line with Kwyta and Looker leading both groups. Both runs were right around 2 miles or just shy. There was a little chaos at the beginning of the first run as necklines were being chewed apart left and right. We were replacing them as quickly as we could while watching that more wouldn't get chewed and that the pups didn't panic and tangle themselves. Finally I ran for the quad and started it quickly while Alan undid the stake-out as fast as possible and we were off!

Nezi, Cheyenne and Apache were in the first group. Nezi fell right into step like she had done this before, just as I thought she might. I actually considered putting her in lead but decided not to on the first run so she ran in swing right behind the leaders. Cheyenne was behind her and her first 5 steps or so were a bit awkward but then she fell right into step behind Nezi. Those two looked good running in line with each other. I was a little concerned about Apache as he can be a little more apprehensive when introduced to something new and he seemed almost stiff-legged at first like he was going to stop and pull back at any moment. But he never did and just maintained his forward movement and concentration the whole time and looked a little more relaxed on the way back to the truck. Here are their pics:

Cheyenne before the run looking a little rigid and unsure of the situation.

On the run and looking good. Starting in lead and going L to R: Kwyta & Looker, Nezi & Lizzy (swing), Cheyenne & Spirit, Orbit & Apache, and in wheel Tundra and Bounder.

Another team shot. Orbit moved over running right next to Apache who handled it better than I thought he might.

Team after the run.

Nezi on the right, with Aunt Lizzy.

Cheyenne on the right, with grandma Spirit.

Apache on the left, looking happy with his twin father Orbit.

Cheyenne (L) and Nezi after the run and looking much more relaxed on the drop chain.

Apache after the run and doing much better as well.

Ana and Cree were in the second group. Cree was unsure of all this and as soon as we took off he ducked under the gangline to run close to his partner, great Aunt Rosie. This seemed to help him and Rosie allowed it. At the half mile point Cree, feeling better I would assume, hopped over the gangline back to his side where he stayed for the rest of the run. So he mastered gangline negotiation on his first run. Cool! Ana meanwhile looked like an expert from her first step. This was another successful run. Having only two pups, less aduts, Kwyta and Looker not as excited, and no necklines snapping, this run had a much smoother start. Unfortunately my memory card became full in the middle so I don't have as many pictures but here they are:

Cree prior to the Run. Also pictured is Rosie, Joy, and Faith.

On the run. Starting in lead and going L to R: Kwyta & Looker, Ana & Drew (in swing), Eagle (alone), Rosie & Cree, and Faith & Joy in wheel. This is where Cree ran with Rosie on her side.

Looking much better in this picture as Cree moved back over to his position.

Ana after the run and looking sharp.

Cree looking confident at the finish.

I also took a couple of video clips, one of each group. Unfortunately is was during the second clip that my memory card became full so it is quite short. What I am saying when it cuts is that Cree is in front of the wheel dogs. So the pups look good although you can tell they are trying to figure it all out. The potholes seemed to get them all as they would make funny last minute acrobatic maneuvers over them. You might see some of that in the videos. Back at the truck they were all very receptive to praise which tells me that they enjoyed themselves. Here are the links to the videos:

Puppies First Training Run: Group 1

Puppies First Training Run: Group 2

How many dogs do you count? On Saturday we took the pups along with Kwyta, Orbit, and Eagle to visit Karen and their relatives at Tumnatki Kennel in Prineville, OR. This amazing picture shows how well our 8 intermixed with several of Karen's dogs. We had 20+ dogs in the play yard together without having any scuffles or issues. 

There were so many similarities among many of the dogs that we were easily mixing them up. Orbit got to visit with his sister Halley whom he hasn't seen since they were 10 weeks old. Their recogonition and happiness to see each other was obvious and it was interesting to see how much Ana is like her aunt Halley. And Eagle got to reunite with his litter mates, brother Bridger and sister Opal. It was amazing how much alike those 3 are!

It was fun to watch all the dogs make new friends with each other. Everyone had a wonderful time. Click here to see the complete photo album.

I also took a short video clip of all the dogs together. This is a must see. Click here to view.

We had a great time and great weather. It was so nice to have dry dogs for a while. But by the evening long after we had returned to our rain forest home, the dogs were all wet again and it wasn't even raining! What a contrast of environments. The pups were exposed to a number of new things and did great with their first adventure.

Last Week

Here are a few fun pictures I took last week.

Cree

Apache

Love this body shot of Kwyta.

Parting Shot:

Ana really wanted to have this hole in her kennel. I would refill it and she would dig it out again. Moments before this picture was taken she was standing so nicely next to the fencing. She must have taken a side step or two and fell back first into the hole, and her feet went up. Seems she trapped herself and it took several seconds of struggling to get herself out. I snapped this picture and worked real hard not to laugh out loud at her.

Saturday was Orbit's 2nd birthday and he got to celebrate it with his kids! How fun!

Current picture of Orbit. Love the tongue!

Like Father, Like Son

On Saturday night at the end of the day I was sitting with the boys in the small yard on the brick wall. Tundra took a common position next to me with his front feet on my thigh. Orbit came up and started annoying Tundra, licking quickly at his face while Tundra kept trying to duck his head away. Saying Orbit's name loudly I scolded him and moved him away from Tundra. Then I saw Orbit 25 feet away heading straight for me. How could that be? Isn't he just a few feet away to where I moved him. That's when I realized it was Apache that was doing the annoying which makes more sence since he's a pup and this quick annoying licking is what he does, and GOOD Orbit was responding to hearing his name and obediently came to me. I apologized to, then praised Orbit and I scolded Apache for getting his dad in trouble, and on his birthday! Gosh they are so much alike! Sunday was worming day and I only have a couple of dogs that are difficult with this. Well, now I can add Orbit and Apache to that list as they BOTH decided this time that they weren't going to take it. In the evening I gave them all a new little treat. While everyone always gobble down their treats, Orbit has always been slow at this as he takes his time, nibbling at it just as he did last night, and Apache did as well! They were the last to finish their's. Amazing how alike these two are.

Those Girls

Nezi:

Not too long ago I wrote how Nezi learned to jump over her kennel gate. Since we took that option from her, she then discovered how to land herself into her grandmother's and great aunt's kennel, shared by Spirit and Rosie. We weren't quite sure how she was doing this and she only did so during the excitement of meal time. She wasn't digging her way over and if she jumped it, it would be around a 7 foot jump. She could have climbed over, there is only a short section of fencing that has a 2X2 attached to the top without any top fencing going across it. We also thought she might have used the top of her doghouse to launch herself over although this would be a bit of a tricky manouever since there is top fencing above her doghouse, meaning she would had to of jumped out and around the fencing to clear it. Alan moved her dog house to the opposite side of her kennel anyhow and so far we haven't found her in the other kennel.

Ana:

Ana has been an escape artist of a different nature and scared the heck out of me. A week ago I had two groups of dogs out as usual while I was doing the normal nighttime chores. The light in the big yard had gone out the day before and we hadn't fixed it yet so it was much darker than usual. When it was time to call it a night I called all the boys in first then went over to the big yard and called the girls in but Ana never came. I called several times and looked left and right with my headlight. No eyes shined and I wished my headlight was brighter. Panicked I ran to the section of yard with the most digging activity and started walking the fenceline and quickly found the dug out tunnel made under the fencing and an obvious path through the berry bushes on the other side. I then ran in the house, got Alan and some brighter lights and went out the back to the lower fencing of Busters yard with Alan right behind me. What's scary is the neighbor behind us has 200 acres of pasture, woods, and a creek. Beyond the creek is more wilderness. Ana could be anywhere! I scanned the field with the flashlight and picked up her eyes just on the other side of the fence only about 20 feet from us. Whew, she didn't go far! But now to get her without scaring her off. Alan climbed over the fence and easily sweet talked himself towards her. She did not run and in fact, I think she might have scared herself and was glad she was found. I've seen this happen before and the dog never attempts that again. I hoped that would be the case with Ana. Alan scooped her up and handed her over the fence to me. I squeezed her tight as I transported her back to her kennel. The next morning I filled in the hole, doubled boarded it as well with heavy 2x12's and then threw a cube cinderblock on top of that. So far she hasn't attempted this again. I hope none of the dogs uses the cinderblock to get over the fence...!

Cheyenne:

Now Cheyenne has been a good girl but I discovered something about her that I can't believe I hadn't seen before. I noticed that she has a small blue dot at the bottom of her left eye (both of her eyes are dark brown). Something funny must have happened in the womb since Ana has a brown spot on her blue eye! 

Updated pics, weights and descriptions of the pups can be found on the Husky History page. Cree hit 45 pounds!

Kwyta, Lizzy and Eagle's pictures have also been updated on the Meet The Racing Dogs page.

In the early part of the last decade (2001?), a woman in her mid 70's arrived at Misty Mountain Kennels with a beautiful red Siberian Husky. The man was immediately captivated and approached the woman requesting to pet her gorgeous dog to which she obliged. This was a key moment in our lives for the man was Alan at a time when he worked part-time at this carrion terrier kennel. The woman was Lee Hills, there for the dog training class, and the dog was Holly. This was the first time these two had met and the first time Alan layed his hands on Holly. Little did he know then that someday he would own and breed that dog!

Months down the road came another key point. The dog trainer approached Alan one day and informed him that since the passing of Lee's husband a few years back, it had become more difficult for her to maintain her own kennel, a kennel of Siberian Huskey's. I suppose the dog trainer felt Alan looked more like a Siberian man than a carrion terrier man and handed him a phone number and said he should call her. Alan made that call, Lee hired him, and Alan said good-bye to Misty Mountain. Our lives were forever changed at that moment.

Lee was a huge source for us in both the Siberian and sled dog worlds and it wasn't long before we started collecting Siberians ourselves and keeping them there at Snoshu kennels by Lee's initiation and permission. We were there twice a day and found Lee and her ranch to be a hub of activity, communication and information. People would come and go sometimes staying for long periods of time, the phone never stopped ringing and the fax machine was always spurting out one thing or another. Lee was in constant contact with people locally, around the country and even around the world: her daughters, her sisters, close friends, distant friends, aquaintances, and strangers. She would hear from the Siberian Husky clubs, the sled dog clubs, dog shelters, people needing to board dogs which she was still doing, show dog friends and judges, breeders, mushers, and advertisers interested in using her dogs. We met some of these people along the way: a school friend visiting from Michigan where Lee grew up, Wayne Curtis's wife Chris, in town judging a show stayed with Lee of course where we shared a b-b-q dinner and time with the dogs, David a local farmer who rented part of Lee's pasture for his horses, and oh the list goes on. I wish I could have seen and been a part of it all in earlier years when her husband Bob was alive where they made an even greater impact on all that came into contact with them including the amount of mentoring they did along the way. It became obvious the status Lee held in this new world we had joined and I came to think of her and Bob as the Earl and Natalie Norris of Oregon (you'll have to do your research if you are unfamilar with these names).

After Lee injured her knee she could no longer make it out to the kennels. We took over complete care of all the dogs and helped her out as well. We got her chicken coop back up and running as we shared chickens and fresh eggs with her. She allowed us access to any old sled dog equipment we could find so we could start building our own team. We still have some of those harnesses in our shop. She gave us access to plenty of reading materials, articles, books, newsletters and pictures, some of which sits on our bookshelf and every time I go out to see our dogs now, half of them are waiting behind the gates of Bob's old kennels. We sat and listened to Lee's endless stories of her sled dog days. We showed up at a couple of sled dog meetings with her and visited her in the hospital when she had her pacemaker placed.

One of the most influential friends of hers was Nola Randell. An australian musher and Siberian owner who had finished a dog handling job in Alaska and was on her way back home. Along the way she stopped at Lee's and stayed for 6 weeks. We spent every day with her learning as much as we could. Before she left she convinced us and Lee to do an artificial insemination with Holly whom the 3 of us owned together by then, with Indy semen of which Lee still had some doses of. We did the A.I. and 3 pups were born on Lee's porch whom we raised together and where Alan and I spent countless nights.

Lee holding Rosie at just a couple days old, from the litter we had together from Holly's A.I. This would be Lee's last litter. 2005

Lee holding Spirit at just a few weeks old, from the litter we had together from Holly's A.I. 2005

Eventually Lee's kennel dwindled down and she stopped taking on boarders while our group of dogs expanded. We decided we needed to create our own kennel and started looking for a place. At the same time Lee decided she wanted to sell her ranch and move into a retirement center. Both of these events happened simultaneously as we each moved on to our separate ways, although we ended up with Lee's orange cat Midas, who can be found wandering our property. We kept in contact with phone calls and a few visits where we would sneak dogs into her room to give her a dose of Siberian. My last visit with Lee was around November (2011) where she was as I always remember, just a bit slower and her hearing and vision a little more worse for the wear but still very much Lee. She got to meet Holly's great grandson Cree who Lee very much approved of. About 6 weeks ago I drove past Lee's old ranch where much has changed. The sign out front has been replaced by the sign of the new owners. The old barn which once housed our chickens is gone replaced by a new pole barn. Some additional outbuildings has been added to the property. Then came the dog kennels where not much has changed other than the dogs that now look out through the gates. Lee and I last spoke by phone about a month ago. She sounded the same as if time had not passed between us.

We never knew Lee to be ill, always a strong woman. When I received the phone call from one of her daughters just this past Sunday, (4/8/12) it was unexpected to learn that Lee had passed away that morning. She was taken suddenly by a ruptured aorta. I went out to our kennel after receiving the news to inform the dogs that we had shared together and they seemed to already know.

A Second Tribute

The news of Lee came during a time of some already sad news. Just 5 days earlier Alan's dad passed away from a massive stroke. It is incomprehensible why two very influential people should be taken from us so close together. Both the same age, both from Michigan, and full of wisdom. On one of Alan's dad's visits with us he got to meet Lee as well as watch us take the dogs on a training run, when Holly's puppies were in their first season of training. Both led very full lives and they will both be missed.

Lee: we thank you for all that you shared with us, we will never forget.

Dad: this is an official "good-bye" from No Speakums. Couldn't begin to thank you enough for everything. Be sure to look up my parents and say hello.

The Native American pups are 8 months old today and they are full of themselves! I was watching them out in the yard today and they just kept running and running. The girls seems to be especially fast right now showing some amazing athleticism. At times it was like watching The Matrix, canine version.

Puppy Photo Album

Up until now the only way to view their puppy pictures was by scrolling through all the blogs, so I attempted to put together their own photo album. It wasn't long before I realized I took a LOT of pictures and I didn't want to cut out any of the good ones. So I decided I would have to piece together more than one album. The first one is complete with 157 pictures of their first two months. Some pictures I might not have posted before including the day at the vet where 4 out of 5 of them were born.

The album is in the photo gallery but here is a LINK to it. I highly recommend you view it as a slide show. You can maximize the screen and select the speed. I prefer to toggle through it at my own speed by pausing it and usng the arrows on the bottom left. Each pic has their age at the top and a caption wrtten on the upper right.

Videos

I have also posted some new video's. Located on the video page, here's a LINK to the first one taken a month ago of Orbit playing chase with his kids.

Here's a LINK to the second video taken during our recent winter storm.

Here's a LINK to the third video taken last week showing how the pups are maturing and how well they move.

Pictures

Here are some recent pics of the pups:

During the recent winter storm, Apache (L) and Cree (R) with their Uncle Eagle behind.

Nice pic of Cheyenne.

Another nice pic of Ana.

Here's a fun play sequence between Nezi and Cheyenne:

From last week, here's another play sequence from Cree and Apache:

Nezi is very focussed on the nearby cat! Nezi became an escape artist last week. She figured out how to get out of her locked kennel without digging a hole under the fencing. She effortlessly jumped to the top of her nearly 6 foot gate, landing momentarily with all 4 feet on the narrow 2x4 before dropping down on the other side. What's even more amazing is how low the roof comes down above her gate leaving only a small opening for her to slip through. Alan now has the opening boarded up.

The following pics are from this morning:

The wood piles are always a good source of entertainment.

Cheyenne has a stick.

Ana and Apache.

Ana on alert.

Cree and Nezi having some fun.

Cheyenne luring the boys into a game of chase and she knows how fast she is!

7 years ago today, 3 pups were born to three co-owners creating beginnings and endings for all. This would be Lee Hills last litter whom she would eventually sign off her ownership portion to Alan and I, and it was our first sled dog litter.

                                    Tundra, Spirit, and Rosie around 5 weeks old.

What A Way To Start: The Incredible Story Of Our First Litter

It all started with a crazy Austrailian friend of Lee's who was visiting for 6 weeks on her way back from a dog handling job in Alaska. Alan and I spent every day with her learning as much as we could about this sport as it was our first full year running dogs. The last thing she did before she left was to convince Lee to do another litter with Indy's frozen semen. Lee had a few remaining doses of it, given to her as a gift by this very special friend, many, many years earlier. We had never met Indy as he had passed away about 8 years earlier but I could look around at Lee's kennel and see his lines living on in her dogs. Indy was Terry Hinesly's lead dog. An incredible dog from all that we have heard from others, who led Terry across the Iditarod finish line. We only had one female to choose from, Holly, a 4 year old that us 3 co-owned, recently purchasing her from Lee's daughter. Holly had actually lived at the kennel the entire time and was already under our care, the purchase just made it official and allowed us to make decisions about her future. She was not a great running dog but she did have Indy in her bloodline.

The decision was made. So in our first year of this crazy new life, we drove Holly to the vet during an awful ice storm to have the Indy semen surgically implanted, while we stood right there and watched. What a way to start!

63 days later the Northern theme litter was born: Spirit Of The North, Tundra, and Arctic Rose. We were a little surprised at only 3 but it later worked out for the good. The delivery went well but many hours later Holly developed some complications and had to go in for emergency surgery for a ruptured uterous. This left us with 3 newborns to take care of and unfortunately they would not nurse off a bottle yet. After a long discussion and specific instructions with Holly's breeder, I gathered supplies from the medical office I work at and Alan and I had to tube feed the pups every 2 hours for nearly 3 days! Scared each and every time I slid the catheter down a puppies throat and hoped I would be filling their tummy with food and not their lungs. Thank goodness there was only 3 pups and we became very attached to them during this ordeal. What a way to start!

Finally they started to feed from the bottle and Holly came home but since she was still on a pain patch, she couldn't nurse yet so she had to wear a t-shirt and we watched them closely. At least she was able to take care of them. The pups were born and lived on Lee's enclosed porch. Alan and I rotated every other day of sleeping on the floor of the porch while the other spent the night at our home to take care of our pets. This went on until the pups were moved out to the kennel at the age of 9 weeks and I spent the first night on the floor in front of their gate. What a way to start!

These pups did well and Holly recovered fully. With only 3 they received a lot of attention from us. We worked with them every day and couldn't wait to begin fall training with the new pups. When fall training started we were so excited, and we got everyone out for a few short runs. Then, one day, on Alan's way home from work, he was T-boned at a stop sign flipping the truck on it's side and totaling it. It was our first dog truck, we only had it a year, bought brand new. Alan was ok, luckily but I saw all our plans that year come crashing down. I couldn't believe it. What a way to start the season!

We tried to work through all the insurance details as quickly as we could. Within one month we purchased a new truck, upgrading to a F150, and Alan's nephew who is a construction helped us build a new and bigger dog box. We were back in business. All went well after that. I ran Holly and her kids as a 4 dog team and Alan ran the the other 6. Spirit and Rosie became the best leaders we had and this little team was faster than the bigger team. We were very pleased with them.

My 4 dog team: Rosie and Spirit in lead, Tundra and Holly in wheel. Alan is up ahead with his 6-dog team.

Alan I soon bought our own property and created our own kennel, moving 10 dogs with us. After the difficulties of the first litter, I wasn't sure if I would ever want to breed again but eventually the thought  creeps in, "what could the next generation be like?" So we decided to breed Spirit. She had a wonderful litter of 6. Rosie was an awesome aunt and Tundra was a wonderful uncle. Those 3 (once known as the 3 muskateer's) raised those pups together and did a great job! And now Spirit is a grandmother to 5 more pups! It has been an amazing adventure raising these dogs. What a great start!

I also decided to start racing and these 3 have got to be a part of that. Tundra completed the 100 mile Eagle Cap Extreme 2 years in a row, while Spirit completed it once. This is where we finally met Terry Hinesley as he was the race marshal. He was unaware that this litter of Indy pups existed and I think he really enjoyed meeting them and was quite proud as well. What a great surprise!

This is the last picture I took of Tundra, Spirit and Rosie at  the old kennel and it is one of my favorites as it hangs on our living room wall. They are standing on an exercise beam that we built for the yard. I love the way Tundra has his paw on Spirit''s shoulder, makes for a real nice family photo. Happy Birthday Babies!

I can't believe it is Leap Year again! That means that our Leap Year Litter turned 4 years old (yesterday)! I recall how the name theme was chosen (insert memory music here).

Naming an entire litter of puppies isn't easy, especially if you breed many litters, so most breeders rely on theme's to help create a group of names. But then you have to choose a theme. This can either be fun or frustrating. You can always tell when litters named after hit movies were born. This is a common way for breeders to choose names. We came up with probably too many themes and couldn't agree on one. Most of which had an outdoor influence: rivers, trees, birds of prey (can't use this one now, since we have Eagle), mountains, mountaineers, native Eskimo names, and so on. We wanted some really good names so we continued to kick these idea's around without ever really chosing one.

On February 29th, 2008, I checked on a very pregnant Spirit before leaving for work and found that her temperature dropped. I almost panicked for 2 reasons: 1. with a window of about 16 days, this was her first potential due date but not the dates I had gambled on so I didn't take this day off work. I figured she would have the pups alone while we were at work and 2. they were going to be born on Leap Day! Since this date only comes around every 4 years, I really didn't want this to be their birthdate.

This is what was on my mind all the way to work that moring and I got to thinking "What if they are born today?" And suddenly a litter theme based on the day popped into my head. This was not a theme I would have ever considered nor the names that I was coming up with from it. Then I thought too if they weren't born on the day the theme would still work as the Leap Year litter rather than Leap Day. When I later explained the theme and the names I had come up with to Alan, he too fell into the idea that this theme worked.

Going out on our own and hooking up with Karen Yeargain for the breeding was a risk for us. So I felt if the first puppy born was a girl I would name her "Leap Of Fatih" and that is exactly what happened! I never thought I would have a dog named Faith. After they were born I wanted to name the littlest one "Leaping Lizzards" so we could call her Little Lizzy and since there was only one boy it just made sense that he would get the boyish sounding name of Bounder from "Leaps And Bounds".

That left "Look Before You Leap", "Quite A Leap", and a another name I had picked out "One Giant Leap". Kwyta and Bounder were the biggest puppies, so I thought Giant would suit Kwyta. I e-mailed this info to Karen and she highly recommended coming up with a different call name as we could be setting ourselves up for an oversized dog so I just took the entire option off the table and gave Kwyta the "Quite A Leap" name as she was Quite A Big Girl! (eventually, Looker ended up being the largest girl) So we were shy 1 name and I didn't like the other options I had come up with such as Leap Frog and Split Leap, neither of which made for good call names. After returning to work I spoke to Alan at lunch one day he said "How about "Leap For Joy"? Now considering we had so many girls this worked great for giving us a girls name but there was two things about this name: 1. The real saying is "Jump For Joy" although some people do say "Leap" and I have found that about 25% of the time Leap is used instead of Jump. Seeing as how we were desparate for another girls name I felt we could get away with this weaker version. But, 2. back in our outdoor education days, years living and working at camps, the one in Ohio where we spent 3.5 years was Joy Outdoor Education Center or Camp Joy, (Oh Boy!). Could we really do that? Put a name from our past back into our present?

But I felt this name was coming from a different place, and although an odd coincidence, we went with it. Now which pup should receive it? I considered the last two names with the last two pups and one pup seemed a bit more girly than the other with a pretty white scarf wrapped around her neck. She could have the girls name of Joy or even the Looker name if she turned out to be a pretty girl she could be a Real Looker. But the other pup didn't seem like a Joy and she had these large crazy blue eyes with dark rings around them. Her accented eyes were eye-catching, something you couldn't help 'Looking' at. She became Looker, "Look Before You Leap" and Joy did end up with the lighter more femanine body and still has the beautiful scarf around her neck.

So there's the process of naming a litter of pups and how this wonderful litter of 6 got their names. Happy Birthday Kids!!!

Leap Year Litter, age 8 weeks.

Leap Year LItter, age 16 months.

The whole Leap Year litter was part of my first Eagle Cap 100 team, 2010, shown here resting at the Ollokot checkpoint. All 6 finished the race!

As long as we are talking birthday's I will also say Happy Birthday to Drew who turns 6 tomorrow!

One of my favorite pictures of Drew, and that's Nancy Drew, of the Mystery Litter.

It has been a while since I have posted pictures so I will start with those. Shortly after the run that Cree got to come along on, we returned to Frog Lake for another run, this time bringing Apache. I got out of the truck and examined the trail first and wasn't happy with it. Recent rains did it's damage and turned the trail icy. Controlling 12 dogs would have been difficult and I didn't allow time to drive two 6-dog teams. I also felt the risk for injury was high so I decided not to run. We did need to drop the dogs however before returning home. Apache handled the ride much better than Cree did but he wasn't too sure about being hooked up to the drop chain:

Alan tries to keep Apache calm.

At 6.5 months I snapped this cute picture of Nezi.

I like this one of Cheyenne too.

Apache gained some height.

Kwyta is looking good.

During a light snowfall, Orbit plays with his kids.

The pups are now 7 months old! Here some pictures of them and several of the other dogs taken on Saturday:

Apache.

Eagle.

Looker digs a hole while Lizzy supervises.

Nezi plays tug-o-war with her Uncle Eagle.

Cree background, Ana foreground.

Spirit moves in for the supervisor role and puts Lizzy to work with Looker.

Which one is the adult? Eagle (left) having fun with the pups.

Ana.

Black girl convention? Well Rosie (center) isn't as black as she once was. Top Left: Cheyenne, Bottom Left: Kwyta, Bottom Right: Lizzy, Top Right: Nezi.

I asked Cheyenne if she could sit so I could get a picture of her cute face, but she flipped on her back as usual. I decided to take the picture anyhow.

Nezi is growing herself some legs!

Joy.

Faith, looking a little scary.

Orbit.

Change Of Plans

So what's this all about? Well, we have a bit of a health issue here. I'm not talking about the cold that Alan had for over a month and then I was so lucky that he gave it to me and I am still battling it. This is a little bigger but not serious, just seriously changes some things for now. Back in October Alan started experiencing pain in his right foot, more specifically his big toe. After a trip to the doctor's it was felt that most likely it was gout. Now this by itself didn't sit real well. Gout? Really? Alan? Great!

But it didn't behave like gout. The pain didn't come and go. It was constant and strong. Alan could feel heat radiating from it and would ice it every night. When it became rediculous he was sent to a foot doctor who told Alan the bone in his big toe was too long. Now what's interesting is the decades we have spent at our physical pursuits: gymnastics (competitive), rock climbing (shoving our feet in shoes a bit too small), martial arts, miles and miles of hiking and backpacking trails, mountaineering, adventure education programming, and now dog mushing. In all, never a problem or complaint about his toe and no gradual pain that built up to the pain that started in October. This really came out of the blue and the foot doctor informed him the only solution is surgery. SURGERY!!!

After our first scary surgery discussion, I guess it's bound to happen sometime in a marriage, we decided to wait until the end of spring, when training was over and this would give him the time he needs to heal before fall training starts back up. But in February the pain worsened and Alan started missing work or coming home early because he just couldn't stand to be on his feet. It was obvious that the end of spring would be too long of a wait so we got the surgery schedule in a very short amount of time and on last Thursday, March 1st, Alan and I went to the hospital for his first surgical experience. Although the surgery sounded elaborate to me, it was considered a "simple" 1.5 hour procedure and he was scheduled as an out patient. We were at the hospital for a total of 6-7 hours and Alan did just fine.

So for those curious the procedure involved them cutting open the toe and removing a protion of bone to shorten it and drilled holes into the bone. Then they scraped any visible calcifications out. There was a question as to whether they would need to reattach a tendon making for a more extensive surgery but from what I understand, Alan was spared this and the doctor was very pleased.

I have been home with Alan since. This was the weekend I had time set aside in case we did a race I was planning on. When I realized I wasn't racing, I kept the dates anyhow for a mini vacation. When we decided to schedule Alan for surgery we quickly set it for this weekend so I could be home to help his first several days as the recovery has been the hard part. He is only allowed to put weight on his foot with the help of a special boot, for 5 minutes of every hour unitl his follow up this Thursday. For the first 3 days he has had to ice it 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off for evey hour that he is awake! Starting today that will change to 30 minutes every 2 hours. Alan's total recovery time may be as long as 3 months and he has applied for short term disability while he is out of work. Yesterday our junior musher and puppy sitter Rachel came over for some kennel training. She will take over Alan's 3:00 feeding and exercising the dogs starting on Wednesday when I go back to work. Thanks Rachel!

Now Alan has mis-matched feet! Only the tops of his toes are sticking out of the bandages and you can see how much shorter his big toe is compared  to the toe next to it, whereas on his left foot his big toe is longer than his second toe, the way he was born. The pain kicked in for him on Friday night but has since leveled off, and over the weekend bruising has started to spread from one toe to the next with some obvious swelling. OUCH!

So what does all this mean long term, for the Northern Blast dogs? Not sure actually. I had planned to start training the puppies in March but that won't happen now. If Alan is doing better aftrer a month and the conditions are still good maybe we can train them in April. Depending on the weather I have trained dogs in the spring as late as the end of June. We'll have to see. I am also not sure what this means for next year's training and racing. After this quiet puppy year I was set to take on a strong training schedule to see what we can pull off. Alan seems to be confident that this will still happen but I am unsure. Expenses and vacation time are a large part of my doubts. Again, we will have to wait and see.