The next day (March 21) we got up late, and eventually left camp at around 1pm. We were following the trail that had  started at the park headquarters. Since this year was such a big snow year, the bad section of overflow and glare ice (around 1 mile after park headquarters), wasn’t bad at all. Soon the trail petered out and we were following a ski trail. The snow was very deep, so I put on my snow shoes and broke trail, then ran back and mushed with my snow shoes still on. Repeat process.

Unfortunately, the ski trail we were following let us to the park road and the road had just been plowed. It snowed a little bit the night before, so the road had some snow cover on it. We cruised down the road to the Savage River camp site. We stopped to set up camp (around 4:00pm), and it took us a long time to melt snow and take care of dogs– but at least this time we were able to do chores in the daylight. We kept Sam and Bruno, with the rest of the dogs, on tie-outs and let Chester and Storm free. Storm was very needy.

After a night of endless whining from Bruno, we woke up at around 9am and began morning chores. After chores, we scouted a possible route back to headquarters that would have led us through Jenny Creek. There was a lot of open water on the creek, as well as no-snow spots, and we didn’t see a definitive trail, so we decided to head back the same way we came out. We saw HUGE wolf tracks and tons of fresh wolf scat; HUGE bunny tracks; and a big fat bird that was waiting for us to leave camp.

We probably left camp around 2pm and were quite bummed to see that the road had been plowed again– and this time it was plowed to the asphalt. We mushed for around 1/4 mile on the road (Yuk) and eventually got back to sections of the road that had some snow. We found the turn off for the ski trail, and with a little maneuvering got the teams to make the turn. The rest of the mush home was uneventful.

Dogs

We brought 21 pulling dogs and one fun dog (Chester).

Days 1 & 2

Ilana

1. Nikki / Chevy (no one wants to run next to Chevy because he nips at his running mate)
2. Ahab / Decker
3. Rattles / Simba
4. Asa / Higgs
5. Peetie / Red

Greg

1. Frankie / Storm
2. Dutchess / Rocket
3. Sam / Bruno
4. Roo
5. Monkey / Pumpkin
6. Luke /Spike

Day 3

Ilana

1. Nikki/ Chevy
2. Frankie / Dutchess
3. Sam / Bruno
4. Monkey / Pumpkin
5. Asa / Higgs

Greg

1. Decker/ Storm
2. Ahab/ Rocket
3. Rattles / Simba
4. Roo
5. Peetie / Red
6. Luke /Spike

Trip Planning
Since I was traumatized by Spot being killed, Greg was in charge of packing and trip planning. I don’t know the exact amounts of what he brought– but it was a lot of food. For dog food he brought two 40lb bags of kibble, a block of turkey skins, Champagne race meat, energy pack, 42 pieces of big fish, some left over snacks from the Serum run (which Peetie, Sam, Bruno, and Chester stole from my sled) and some fat. We came back with most of the turkey, race meat, energy back, and 30lbs of kibble).

Gear

• Our Mountain Hardware winter tent is great, however our 20+F sleeping bags really aren’t appropriate for -20F.
• Once again we had stove problems. Greg purchased a pump for our MSR stove, but there are two separate pumps for the Whisper Lite and the DragonFly, so the pump he bought didn’t work with the stove we brought. We also had issues with our Colman stove.  Note to self: bring fire starter paste!

We’ve moved Sugar into the house because she got beat up by Nutok. She’s been doing pretty well, although I haven’t moved her from the blog “sled-dog” category to the “pet dog” category because I’m not sure if the move is permanent.

We’ve been bringing Frankie into the house more and more as “dog of the day.”  Frank is a really good lead dog, but he runs like a duck and just doesn’t have the build of a sled dog. He gets very cold in the winter, and my plan is for him to stay inside on cold winter nights. When we adopted him, he was an inside dog– but his owners gave him up because he was high energy and was destructive. He’s been very well behaved inside, although like Chester, we don’t leave him home alone. He’s quite comfy on the couch– but Neptune doesn’t like this since the couch really belongs to him (Nep.).

Since I’m probably going to participate in the 2009 Serum Run, I needed to get some more dogs. Of the 25 dogs that we have, only 4-7ish can run 750 miles (30-60 miles per day). These dogs are:

• Nicky (Can run in lead, but doesn’t know commands).
• Decker (A great lead dog, but doesn’t know how to poop and run so she holds it in and has bloody diarrhea at the end of the day. She’s not a good eater on the trail).
• Storm (Can run in lead, but is petrified of snow machines because she got hit by one.)
• Simba (A good team dog, but has extremely BAD feet. I need to take diligent care of his feet, otherwise they’ll crack and bleed.)
• Higgs (A possible candidate. He tends to overheat and get tired).
• Asa (Higgs’ brother– a possible candidate, but has had some wrist injuries).
• Roo (A possible candidate, but Roo tends to not eat at all on long trips. She also crabs a lot (runs to the side) in Manmat harnesses and does better in a traditional x-back. She can run in lead, but gets tired after 20 miles).

Sooo, we got some new dogs from a neighbor who was getting out of mushing. This puts us back up to 31 dogs (ack!!!) The new guys are:

• Dutchess (A 10 year old female that we’ll use for gee/haw training)
• Luke (A 3 year old male)
• Spike (A 3 year old spayed female)
• Rocket (A 5 year old male)
• Ahab (A 5 year old male)
• Chevy (A 4 year old male)

I’ll post pics and bios soon.

This morning Greg woke up and found Wild laying in pee and she couldn’t stand up. Even with the help of a towel, she couldn’t stand. She was like this once before around a year ago, after she got beat up by the sled dogs, she couldn’t stand for three days. Her temp this morning was 103.

Bosco is bones and fur. He isn’t interested in eating anything. Magic is sick. He has diarrhea and a temp of 103.5. He isn’t eating. Roo isn’t eating. Storm isn’t finishing her food.

On Monday, we came home and there was diarrhea all over the house. Greg thinks it was Buckwheat, but I’m thinking it was Scully, because she didn’t eat dinner and was looking sickly.

Chester and I drove to find her. I wasn’t sure what field he was talking about, so I knocked on the first house across from the church on Kaufman (this was the little cabin that Greg and I considered buying). No one answered. I looked at the field across the road, and saw some guy standing there. I waved and drove over.

He said he found Wild while he was looking for his dog (a black pit bullish type of dog). I told him that I thought she was dead and that she’d been gone for a week, and that she was really old. He said that she’s quite deaf, because she was wandering across CHSR and he called for her to watch out. I guess perhaps cars were honking at her and she was just staggering across the road without hearing anything, and once she got across she lay down in the field.

I thanked him profusely; he and his dog wandered off, and I walked Wild to the car. She let me pick her up without biting me.

She’s totally fine. She’s hungry and lost a lot of weight, and she’s quite dirty. But she’s home and she’s safe, and she’s tired and cranky. I don’t even think she knows she’s been gone. It’s wonderful to have her home!

We got Wild (formerly known as Beaut) from Voyageur Outward Bound (OB) in Ely, Minnesota in around 2001. I remember Wild, before I brought her home, from when I was an OB instructor. She was quite beautiful, but very timid, and she didn’t let strangers, including me, into her circle. I had thought at the time that if I had her as a pet, I’d be able to work with her. A year or two later, we were adopting Dudley, and someone at OB said “Hey, why don’t you take Beaut.” I jumped at the chance.

When we brought Beaut home to North Carolina, we realized what a handful she was. Bosco and Wild had horrific fights; both Greg and I were bitten by both dogs, on different occasions, trying to break up the fights. We learned that we needed to tie Beaut up during dinner time because otherwise she’d eat everyone else’s food and fight with them. She was also quite interested in cats.

We were watching out house sitter’s cat, Squeakers, when the first cat indecent happened. I was at the firehouse, but Greg was home. Apparently, Beaut (and probably Dudley) attacked Squeakers. Greg brought the kitty to the emergency vet, and it turned out that she was going to be okay! I think she was in kitty ICU for a while.

The second cat incident was more traumatic. While we were on vacation, on the day of our anniversary, Freckles was killed by Beaut and probably Dudley. Even though I had Freckles for 7 years, and Beaut for 4 months, I couldn’t get rid of her. That’s what Huskys do– they kill things. After Wild ate Freckles, she gained 9 lives.

I don’t remember if I change Beaut’s name to Wild before or after Freckles died, but I had read that changing a dog’s name may help with behavioral problems. I chose the name Wild, not because I fully understood the extent of Beaut’s evilness, but because I was really into Shackleton at the time and Wild was Shackleton’s navigator. Wild was a dog of many names, besides Wild, we also called her Creature, Evil Creature, Creature from Hell, Wild Creature, and other variations of the evilest dog in the world. A Native American woman once told me that dogs with one blue eye and one brown eye are psycho; I believe this to be true based on my experience with Wild.

Eventually, the fighting between Wild and Bosco calmed down, but Wild still was “Wild.” She mellowed out a little bit in her old age, and she really enjoyed her time in Alaska. The first year we moved here, I took her and Dudley skijouring. Wild really loved the snow and she was great at breaking trails. After around two years in Alaska, Wild wasn’t able to skijour anymore, and enjoyed being mellow (for a Wild thing), and just went on morning and evening walks with us.

Wild went through many of her lives while in Alaska, and cost us a fortune in vet bills. There was the time she ate half a bag of energy pack and her girth increased instantaneously. Eating energy pack and drinking gallons of water is like creating a brick in your stomach. She needed enemas to get all of the stuff out. Note, this actually happened more than once. Wild was very good at breaking into the shed and eating piles of energy pack and dog food. When she did that, her body would always expand– it was pretty funny to look at.

Another life was when she ate a pound of grapes and I gave her IV fluid all night. Grapes are toxic to some dogs, apparently not to the Creature.

Wild had two episodes of Breast Cancer. She lost a lot of weight the first time. Once the lump was removed she gained it back. Her second lump was removed, and she seemed to be okay.

Less than a year ago, Wild was attacked by most of the sled dogs in the yard. She didn’t walk for three days. And in Dec. of 2007 she woke up pretty lame and wasn’t able to use her front paws.

So here are her 9 lives in a list.

1. Fighting with Bosco = 2 lives
2. Eating bags of Energy Pack/Sled Dog food = 2 lives
3. Eating a pound of grapes = 1 life
4. Getting beat up by all of the sled dogs = 1 life
5. Breast cancer (twice) = 2 lives
6. Waking up lame and unable to use front legs = 1 life

I guess since Wild didn’t have anymore lives, she wasn’t able to return home. I’ll surely miss her. In her old age we became good friends. Eventually she let me pet her, even snuggle with her on occasion, and she even slept on the bed at times. Everyone in the house, except for me and possibly Neptune, despised Wild. She’d growl at everyone, steal food from the counter and my lunch bag. I remember just recently I went to the store just to buy apples. I bought 10 organic apples and put them in the sink. I figured they didn’t smell, so I went outside, came back, and all of my apples were gone, except she saved me one. What a thoughtful creature! She really like her fruits and veggies, carrots were one of her favorite foods.

Well Wild creature, I don’t know what happened to you and I don’t understand how you got lost and why you didn’t come home. I miss you and love you.

The girl is around 16 years old and has trouble with her back legs, however, once she is in the woods she pretends she’s a youngin’ and tends to overexert herself.

We’ve look all through the woods, but have not found any signs of her– but have found large amounts of runny bear scat.

It’s been 48 hours since her disappearance; I’m hoping she’ll return home, but am not optimistic.

So, I’m all sad about this event, because not being able to walk is a terrible sign and death is usally the outcome. But Chez, Chez is not sad. Chez decided to sleep on Wild’s bed in the living room, and then again on her bed in the Bedroom. Does he know something is up?

I think she’ll get better, perhaps just a sprain. I wonder what Chez thinks.

Jan 18, 2008– Just an update: Wild is back to her normal self!

• Levi is recovering nicely.
• Chez is a little better, I don’t think he has a brain lesion– even though that’s what the vet suspects. I know I’m not a vet, but it just seems that his breathing/eating problem is an airway thing. Maybe allergies. He has to get some bloodwork done.
• Bandit and Wild both have lumps…we have appointments to bring them into the vet.
• Chester is hopefully tapeworm free– we dewormed the entire yard with Panacur. He needs to get his urine checked to see if he still has a UIT (urinary tract infection). I think he’s better because he no longer has a 105.8 fever!
• Spot the cat is FAT! I wish she had her own floor instead of her own room. If she had her own floor, she’d get more exercise. She has a vet appointment for a check-up, and because she’s loosing hair.
• Dudley is really really clueless– more so than usual. He’s been peeing in the house, on his bed, and didn’t want to go for walkies tonight :(

Now comes the crazy part. I was jogging up CHSR and saw a lady on the side of the road. I asked if she was okay and it turned out she was guarding a momma and her 4 pups. Another concerned citizen was walking up to Anne’s house to see if they were her dogs. He was going to take the dogs to the pound since he couldn’t find the owner. I said, “Oh, don’t take them to the pound. My husband will kill me, but I can hold onto them until we find the owner.”

We loaded up the pups in his truck and drove back .5 miles to my house. We put them in the pen and I went out for a jog. When I got to .4 miles from my house I saw a box on the side of the road. The box contained a blanket, bone, and dish. I knew that the dogs were abandoned.

I ran up Bote St. to see if I could find the woman who was gaurding the dogs on the road– she told me she lived on Bote. I didn’t find the woman, but I found another pup. The pup was crouched up against a garage of a nice woman’s house. I didn’t think the pup was related to my pups because it was brown and seemed bigger. The woman said she was going to ask the neighbors if it was theirs, and if she couldn’t find the owner then bring it to the pound. I left, and continued on my jog.

When I got home I examined the pups and decided that the other pup was definately part of the litter. Today I left a note at the woman’s house. Hopefully she didn’t bring the pup to the pound. I want to bring the pup back because I think it’s too early to be away from it’s mom.

So now I have 5 new dogs. I’m hoping that some people from work will adopt them.

During the same week Wild and Chez were sick, Monkey and Pumpkin attacked Nutok. I brought Nutok & Monkey to the vet. Nutok needed stitches and meds. Although Monkey had a gouged eyelid and hole in her head– she was okay, so no stitches for Monkey. Pumpkin ended up with an injured paw that we noticed several weeks later. I’m hoping this won’t affect her ability to run this year.

A week later Munkin (Monkey and Pumpkin) attacked Storm. Storm didn’t go to the vet, but we gave her lots of antibiotics and cleaned her wound. She’s back to her loving self.

Yesterday we brought Simba to the vet because he wasn’t eating and was vomiting. Turned out that he needed surgery because he swallowed a piece of rope. We don’t know how much his little vet trip costs yet since he’s at the vet tonight– but I’m sure it’s $$$.

Hopefully things will calm down– but the weather is getting cooler out the the StinkyPups are getting a little crazy. I’ve been out a couple of times on the 4-wheeler for very short training runs. The summer has slipped away and I still haven’t taught my leaders to gee/haw and line-out. I’m sure it will be a fun filled winter!

Chez may lose his tail. Yesterday I noticed that Chez’s tail was full of puss and had major hair loss. I brought him to the vet this morning and he has a 40% chance of keeping his tail :(

sigh.