Mushing & puppy update...

Susan came over today with Tupik. Tupik needed some mushing experience so we put her in an easy team and went 4 miles. The team was Sami & Polarbear in lead, Hannah & Shasta in swing, Tupik & Bolio in wheel. The leaders were spot on with gee & haw. Jen has done some good work there, for sure! Hannah ran great. Shasta needed a nice easy run like this to get a feel for an easy run. About half way around her light bulb started to come on and she decided that running in a team wasn't so bad after all. Being that this was her 3rd run ever, she did really good. Bolio was the powerhouse of this team and whenever he was asked to pull harder, he would put his head down and pull hard! That was awesome to see and it really kept this team going! Tupik wasn't so sure about all of the commotion at first and wasn't too keen on moving forward down the trail at first, but about 20 yards into the run her light bulb started shining brightly and she ran good most of the way, with the exception of getting tangled a couple of times... but this was only her 3rd run also. All in all, it was a good run for this team.

Tonight, Tom & I ran this team:

Chey & Fred
Kivek & Sioux
Raven & Stubby
Butternut & Pepper

This team started out running hard. After a few miles into the 6 mile run, they started to slow down and seemed to keep slowing down the rest of the way. Tom & I got a workout by helping this team for the better part of the 6 miles!! All in all, this team seems to run well together, they just need some endurance. Just like me, they need to get into shape!

The puppies are doing great. They are growing like weeds!!! :o) Kako is feeling so much better now. She is eating well again and seems to be passing firmer stools now. She is starting to produce too much milk for what the pups can consume! I was feeling her over tonight and the one side of her very full boobies felt very warm and hard. I got her to lay down and let the pups nurse on all but one of them. That one, I "milked" and it felt better after there was some milk taken out of it. I will have to keep track of this new developement to be sure she doesn't have trouble.

The plan is to run two teams again tomorrow to be sure everyone gets run this weekend! Let's hope for these nice temperatures in the 0 to -10 degree range holds so we can continue to run comfortably!