No sleep in summer!!!!!

Summer in the Yukon is a killer I tell you.  The non-stop light screws with your mind and keeps everyone up wayyyy too late every night.  I find myself always doing stuff, but never really getting anything done.  What's up with that??  Except for the dogs, they're TOTALLY getting stuff done - having a great time, getting out for runs, free-running, playing fetch, playing with each other, chasing squirrels, NOT chasing porcupines, etc, etc. 

Every so often they're out playing and chasing each other at 2:00, 3:00 or 6:00 in the morning... ah, yeah sometimes it wakes me up, but who am I to ruin their fun?!?! I will sleep in winter I suppose.

But the DARK is slowly coming back. I will even have to use lights again sometime soon!

I have to do an update on the bike race (LOTS of great photos and some, um, compromising video...), but first! The dog race that was here this past Sunday. What a blast!  Check out the CHT site for official race results. Here's my take on the day that is in no way affiliated with the CHT or DPSAY organizations... :-)

Here's some random pics in totally random order:

Jon and his "intimidating" ways... oooh... scared yet?!?! 

Ivy gets ready, I was planning on running the "Formula 1" race - dogs and quads. More on that jolly race later.

Loki is raring to go, all the excitement really wound them up!

And so they begin to arrive...

Jon and Asha head out on the Pet Dog race

Here's Jon and Asha at the start, Gene can be heard waving to me at the beginning of the video... explains why I'm laughing. Be sure to listen as Jon leaves and takes the corner... the sound his brake make... kinda scary.

Peeps yippy-yappying it up (Sebastian, Dave, Dave's parental units and dog trucks)

Me, totally trying to psych out Dave... I think he was terrified. (I was warning people about how taking two dogs *might* be a little crazy...)

Musher's meeting

Keno! My most favouritest pet dog ever!!!! Wiggly bums rule. (they won!)

More arrivals - the kayak-truck were visitors from Kansas who just happened to see our poster in town and showed up! How cool. They want to get more of this stuff going in Kansas... hope we didn't scare them!  There were many headers over handlebars (hey, I warned people about the trail!), some snapped lines, broken brakes & pedals, dog rescues and broken down quads... but we all had fun!  I think.

Sebastian was the only brave (or crazy?) enough one to head out on a scooter! He came back alive. And he did have two dogs here, but my camera (or me?) wasn't quite fast enough to catch them.

Darryl, Coho and TIPPAYYYYYYY!

Darryl and team as they scream down the almost-90-degree corner right off the start. I like a fun trail, what can I say.

Love this shot - Valerie & team.

This is for Heather!

Heather and Keno RACE to the finish. Keno misses her mark, but that's ok... a lot of the dogs seemed to prefer going AROUND the logs.

My little team of freakshows...

We entered the quad race and what a DISASTER that was!!! You'd think (as Jon mentioned) that me having "home trail advantage" would count for something. But see, that would require me actually getting out on the TRAILS with the dogs. Other than loose running that is.  I tried superstar Esther in lead, and superstar Esther immediately headed for the scungy pond as we attempted to pass the damned thing.   So why would she be any different in the race you ask? Good question! I'm thinking she should be able to tell the difference between oh, running without a harness and no team, as opposed to being IN LEAD, in harness on a 6-dog team.  But no.  Not today anyways.

So Esther took the whole team into the pond less than halfway into the race. Ripper (co-leader) really tried to go forward but gave up after she layed down in the pond.  He figured we might be there awhile so he joined her.  Then I had a massive tangle to undo.  I finally got going and headed to the turnaround and lo and behold... the dogs headed to the river (straight ahead instead of doing a loop). Cause... yep, we run to the river loose all the time too.  

Dang! I need to plan better.

Oh but don't despair, the fun doesn't end there!!! I get them stopped and attempt to turn them around when my arch nemesis (ha, I love that phrase), Laura rolls up on her quad with her 4-dog team.  Well, her dogs go around part of the loop then attempt to go straight to the river too (the one hazard of running dogs in the summer... water is tempting!).

Then they realized "hey, we're going the wrong way!" so they turned around and now Laura's team was totally behind her facing the other way.  The gangline was being stretched 180 degrees around her, and I just watched and laughed while I had my own mini-disaster going on. Meanwhile I'm trying to untangle yet ANOTHER mess and dogs are tripping over lines and almost slipping out of harnesses (ahem, Loki!). Let me just tell it to you straight - it was pretty much a total gong show.  

Then Laura's quad dies and she informs me that it is near impossible to start. Great. We stood there laughing at the ridiculous situation and how we are already gone longer than the slowest 1, 2 and pet dog teams. And we have twice (or 3x or more!) as many dogs AND motorized freakin' quads.  We're trying to figure out what to do and if we should hook all the dogs together, heck I was thinking of just letting all my yahoos loose, when she got the quad started! Yay! She politely asked if I needed help (yeah right! At least she made the effort I suppose...) and was off. I resigned myself to last place (out of two, not bad...) and started untangling.  The dogs were raring to go and chase her team... when my quad died.  ARGH!  I looked at the gas tank which was clearly on "E" for Empty.  Oops!  That is REALLY crappy timing if I just ran out of gas I was thinking.  Why oh why don't I think of looking into these details BEFORE the race?!!?!?  I tried to kick start the thing about 10x when finally... it fired up, woohoo! Got us all back in one piece. Before the search party came out.

And ahem, yes our time was 12 minutes. That is NOT a typo. And, even better, that stellar time is for a trail of less than 2km. We were pretty much double the average time for the other races. WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!

But we had fun, and I remembered why I love running dogs - it can be completely crazy. And then we drank and ate.

The awards ceremony... lots o' goodies - collars, um... CAT FOOD, Yukon Meat & Sausage gift certificates (woohoo, I got one!), Arctic Char, etc, etc. It just never ends.

And that's all! Thanks to everyone for coming out, I had a blast hosting my first Hot Hounds race and it won't be the last. See you all at the next race! (July 28, Drag n' Fly Kennels!)

Trail update

Head over HERE for the latest trail update for tonight's dog race! It's sunny, but the clouds seem to be moving in, yay! We don't want +20C temps for the race, cloudier is better.

Amil and I tested out the trails in the pouring RAIN yesterday, I attempted to take Harris...

who, when harnessed up alone prefers to sit by his "pack" - he can't go anywhere without them! I eventually did coerce him to come over and we had a fun run. But, what a baby!

Amil and Decaf test out the soggy trails, looking good!

See y'all later!

Creepy

This is what happens when a really muddy dog comes inside and flops down on your lovely(dirty) painted plywood floors and wags her tail!

A chalk drawing couldn't have been more identifiable! That is totally Lucy's outline, although she's kind of like the headless dog, but that's true to Lucy's nature... :)

Next Hot Hounds Race held HERE!

Join us Sunday June 28, 6:00 p.m. for a the second Hot Hounds Race of the season! This race is sponsored by Yukon Meat & Sausage (And I highly recommend hitting The Deli on Thursdays for perogy day, YUM!!!!).

It will be a good, frolicking time racing some canines over anthills, through ponds, and around elk poop! And maybe porcupines. I'll have a variety of pliers on hand, so don't worry.

Click on the picture for a larger, readable version!

I am even doing my best to minimize the potential damage (to the two-legged animals that is, the 4-leggers are fine on these trails), by filling in some holes and the MANY anthills. Here's a preview of the race trail!

Soon-to-be-gone ant hills.

Aren't I caring??? So this is your warning: if you maim yourself, you have no one else to blame but yourself! (waivers will be provided at the race start)

Around the corner...


Through the trees...


One hazard of the trail:

The blinding sun as you enter Meadow #2! Bring your sunglasses.


Meadow #2 -keep left or you hit soggy ground!

One distraction to get by on the left... the ever-so-inviting scungy pond!


There is a small hill after this where there is a loop. Loop around, stay right and head back up the hill.

If you hit the river, you've gone too far! (unless you want to dunk the dogs)

Head back, repeat trail backwards, see you at the finish!

See you at the races! It's a potluck so bring some food and a beverage of your choice. It is also HIGHLY recommended that you bring the hostess many growlers of beer from Yukon Brewing (her favourite is the Birch Bark I hear!!), or ELSE the ant hills just might double in size for you. :)

Happy Father's Day!

SIX totally-random-because-it's-after-1:oo am-reasons why my dad is awesome:

1. His sense of humour - my parents kill me sometimes with their wacky humour. Case in point - this is what happens when I leave my camera unattended at my parents house:

(this is the face of anger I feared when I was a kid!)

(but this is the real guy beneath that 'tough' exterior)

2. He is really easy to please with gifts - just give him some Arctic Char and he's a happy camper! Or a gun. Hey, he's from Alberta...

3. My friends don't get offended when he spanks them with bbq tongs (in fact, they welcome it and even bend over for him!)

3. He can now relax... sometimes.


4. He gives the dogs the lovin' they deserve when he visits!

Harris has figured out dad doesn't have any FOOOOOD here, so he is attempting to make a beeline to the cheese!

5. He's always refrains from saying "I told you so"

most of the time... :)

6. He's always there when needed, and is the most supportive guy in my life! (other than Kuna, who is supportive in the "I-will-clean-up-alllll-your-food-scraps-and-please-give-me-some-bacon" kind of way.  

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!!!!! :)

The Bathing of The Ripper

I've been going on about bathing this dog with the "old man stink" for years now!  Seriously. He's had this weird stench since I got him about 5 yrs ago and it really never went away. It was the kind of smell that reminded me of an old closet with mothballs and dirty old underwear in it.  (not mine, I don't even have closets!!!)

Whenever I'd give Ripper a big hug, it would usually be met with "ewwww Ripper, you smell like an old MAN!" (but spoken with a Texan accent, because.... well, it just sounds funnier that way). 

Poor Ripper.

Does this look like a smelly dog? Ok, yep.

The Tub

It's my tub, but I'm willing to share.

The "Hot Dog" Shampoo (smells quite flowery!)

Little did I know it barely lathers, so I had to use half the freakin' bottle. Luckily I bought it SO long ago I don't recall the ridiculous amount of money I spent on it! Hah, I remember when we used dishsoap to wash our dogs! I can't say that I didn't think of it the other day when I was lacking in the lather department.

The Unsuspecting Ripper...

We going to play ball? (he says hopefully)

Er, no. Sorry. We're going to have a bath!!!!!

How miserable does he look??

Turn away from the camera.... oooh the shame of the bathing being recorded for eternity.


Let me out!

My new improved, better smelling, slightly-miserable Ripper!

I can't stop smelling this dog now!!!!!!! It's just like bouquet of fresh-Ripper flowers. 

And his coat is so fluffy and soft. Hm, who would have thought - bathing makes things smell better.

One down, 12 more to go! :)

Meanwhile, Ivy rips through the pond!

Haha, I didn't have to have a bath, nyah, nyah Ripper!

Loki follows, but doesn't taunt, 'cause he's nice like that.

Ivy: hee hee, did you see that bath Ripper had, he was sooooo mad.

Loki: I would freak out too if she stuffed me in a rubbermaid and lathered me up! Sometimes I seriously wonder if she needs to find a hobby...

Totally random crap

Hey, it's my brother's birthday - happy birthday sibling older than me!  

He's a bit of a cow nut in case you haven't heard.  And this picture just reminded me of him.

I was going to look for something more related to what he does most of the time, living on a ranch with hundreds of cows, but have you ever done an image google search for  "sticking your arm up a cow's butt"?? I'd advise against it!

So in lieu of posting a disgustingly gross picture (hey, I have to draw the line SOMEWHERE), here is a real picture of him(that I stole off their website), strangling a horse. Hey, life on the farm is hard! That horse just bucked him off so something had to be done.

Oh, I kid! He's just working his horse whispering skills on this horse. I think. I don't know how that works, but getting a horse to lie on the ground could be a skill that you just might need one day! Like when you're shooting a western movie and need the horse to play dead I suppose.

Well, back to... ME! It's a lovely Sunday, temps rising to 31C - though I think the thermometer may have been in the sun because the weather networks say it's about 20C. Either way, still feels freakishly hot out there. And the bugs are out in full force. Grrreat!!!!!

However, if you RIDE fast enough, the bugs can't keep up! Here's a pic of Heather riding up the uber-FUN hill past the river. That hill doesn't look like much but it just seems to have that kick-you-in-the-ass quality to it by the time you're halfway up. It sneaks out of nowhere, latches on to your spandex-clad buttocks and holds on tight preventing you from going up at any speed faster than a walking speed. Or, maybe that's just me.

Laura pulls in post-hill and joins our little pow-wow.

Little pond... so peaceful... and buggy. 

And then I come home to crazy hot dogs who love nothing more than to eat frozen fish and go for a run down to the river on  a HOT day.

I love this shot of a kinda crazy looking Esther, running at me down by the river - she's so happy! Yay, a way to cool off in this crazy HEAT!!!


Normal looking Esther

Another way to cool off, Pooh Bear! runs through the big scungy pond!

George gets all in my face. This dog has attitude. She is also on a ground squirrel killing spree. She escapes from the pen every single day and about 5 times now has a nice little gopher carcass laying in front of the cabin for me.  She must spend all day digging them up. Nice of her to share eh??!!

Happy Gracie, always smiling and telling me what to do. As in "we are ready to eat NOW, so feed us" and I oblige because you simply don't mess with the boss.

Jack is sporting a mighty fine mohawk!!!

Pooh Bear! leaps at... something. Maybe. Or nothing probably.

And then falls face first into the pond...hahahaha!!!! That purple splotch on her side is the Blu-Kote spray used to heal wounds. Loki took a wee chunk out of PB when she got way too close to HIS ball. He's never done that to another dog! Then again, no other dog has been annoying as PB!

How could anyone (or anyDOG) find this annoying though??!! (actually, just meet her and you'll see it's REALLY easy!)

Kuna at the river - he just stood in it. Didn't really swim, just kind of stood there, it was pretty funny. Then he slowly walked up the bank and drug himself out as I headed back home.  It's his way of saying "it's freakin' HOT out here y'know!?!?!"

My load of pallets for the new wood shed! Stayed tuned for that exciting update!