Mushing season is winding down. There’s plenty of snow left, but it’s a little warm for our dogs. We’ve been taking them for short runs. Everyone is still recovering from kennel cough.
Chester is officially an inside/outside/pet/sled dog. He’s a great guy. Whenever he wants to, he slips his collar and jumps the fence. He usually does this when I go out for a mush. I’ve been running him as a loose leader and he does great.
Other updates– the StinkyPups finished the Chatanika 100 in 15 hours and 45 min. They were very tired. I’m already planning for next year. The key is to get out there and train. My dogs are used to running 40 miles with little breaks, but they weren’t used to camping out and running another 41 miles — (the 100 miles race was really 81 miles).
The line up for the race was:
- Decker & Frankie
- Storm & Red (I dropped Red after 40 miles)
- Simba & Rattles
- Asa & Higgs
- Pumpkin & Monkey (Monkey got really sick– she’s okay now)
- Roo & Nicky
Leaders were:
- Red (ha ha ha– only for the first 5 minutes)
- Storm
- Roo
- Nicky
- Decker
- Frankie
Both Red and Monkey got to ride in the sled for a little bit, not at the same time.
Here’s some thoughts for me for next years race:
- Bring more Heat (for cooking)
- Train them for camping trips
- Bring a thermos (my socked water bottle instantly froze– and it wasn’t even cold out)
- Figure out a hydration system for me and the dogs