7:30 am. 38 degrees. Got to the kennel at 8:00 am and the sun was coming up for a beautiful day. Picked up poop then it was on to harnessing and hooking up the puppies who won’t be racing in Alaska. For some of them it was the first time running. What that means for me is lots of twisted arms and wrists, trying to get them to the line and get them attached while their jumping and twisting and ready to go.

Once they were hooked up, we were off. Kris was running the team and I was ahead in the four wheeler to guide the dogs where to go and help them turn around at the half way point.

After a few minutes on the trail, you could tell these dogs are born sled dogs. It’s in their blood. Their tails were down which means there were focused on their work and understood it wasn’t play time. When we stopped for them to get a drink of water at the pond, Annie, a yearling pulled out of her collar. Before I was able to get to her, she had somehow managed to pull completely out of her harness while it was still attached to the tugline; not an easy feat. She wandered up to the four handsome male dogs in front of her and I was able to pick her up out of their interested sniffs and get her collar and harness back on.

Down the trail to the turn-around. Getting fourteen dogs to turn around is not easy, but we managed without too many tangles. One harness tangle, but other than that, all was good. The ride back was easy and we got them back to their kennels with lots of well-deserved praises. These are puppies I’ve seen born and grow into some impressive dogs.

We finished the day with a good helping of food and water and a few more pets then off to walk my own dog. We did a little bushwhacking but Alma Rose sniffed out our way back.