After yesterday’s peaceful, poetic video post, it’s back to business here at SP Kennel. The temperature has dropped again and we still haven’t had any new snow, so the trails are all very firm. This can be hard on the dogs’ feet, so Aliy has been putting booties on all of them for protection.
Nobody — neither mushers nor dogs — particularly like booties. They are a hassle to put on and they’re not much fun to wear. Nevertheless, they are an essential part of mushing, and Aliy gives you an up-close look at the process of of “bootie time” for the dogs.
Every time I hear 20 below and see Aliy doing chores with bare fingers I cringe. Don't know how the girl can do it in the cold.
Yet another personality trait that Aliy and Allen have to take into consideration – which dogs to bootie late in the process so they don't have time to take them off before running. There's so much they have to keep track of about each dog.
I bet it's pretty funny to see how the pups and yearlings react the very first time Aliy and Allen put booties on them.
I was just joking with my husband last night about booties and our dog.
We've been getting so much rain where we live that my entire back yard is a boggy, muddy mess and our dog isn't as patient with the wiping off process when she comes back into the house as she could be. She fools us every time by sitting nicely for 3 paws then bolting off before the final paw is wiped – leaving a one print muddy trail all over the house.
I told my husband that if we ever adopted a retired sled dog we'd have no trouble going after their paws with a towel since they would already be used to getting bootied.
What smart dogs they are! I bet they don't like it when they finally get them off and then Aliy or Allen puts them right back on again! All that wasted effort…