Around the Kennel

Well folks …. Aliy here.

Macgellan is down for the count, perhaps a flu bug in combination with no sleep during the last month. He is resting up in his little cabin down the road. Don’t worry he has plenty of vitamin C and his new “best friend”, Stella, keeping him company. I wish I had a picture! Just imagine a blond, blue eyed bed hog, with long legs and a nice howl “sharing” a small bed with a sick man.

The kennel is a buzz, as usual. Since returning from the Copper Basin we have had three primary goals.

Number one was to tend to the Copper Basin race dogs. They had a tough last few weeks with cold temperatures, a heck of a 300 mile race and a life confined in a dog truck. So, those 24 dogs have been have pampered daily with fish snacks, massages, loose running and a slow but steady 2 hour “stretch out” training run. Over the next few days we will continue to train them on short runs.

Number two was tend to the Copper Basin mushers. We also had a tough last few weeks. That 50 below seems to knock your socks off, and quite literally, a few toenails as well. So, Allen and I have slowed our pace (just a hair) the last few days. Our days are filled with tending to dogs, trying to stay limber ourselves and for some reason, those frigid temperatures makes a human gastrointestinal furnace burn on high – so our food consumption is ridiculous. I estimate Allen is eating ,just as a snack between meals, 1 1/2 pounds of mixed nuts a day.

Number three was to train all of the other dogs who were left at the kennel while we were racing this past week. These dogs, some simply by “luck of the draw” and some due to slight injury, are now behind in training miles. We have to train them with a rapid, yet steady schedule in order to bring them up to par with the Copper Basin racers.

It is snowing as I write this and the temperatures are actually reasonable at 20 degrees above zero. We will see what happens next.