7:30 am. 20 degrees.

Today I said good-bye to four more dogs. Tacky, Wolfgang, Madison and Belle. They will be heading over to Tammy Thurston’s kennel to train for guided sled rides this winter. Each dog was born at the Double T Kennel and I know Belle and Madison will enjoy the extra attention. Wolfgang is a tall dog that has a metabolism most humans would kill for. Strong and slender, he will be sorely missed. Tacky, shown above, is a bit of a misfit. He doesn’t like having his nose touched and always barks during feeding, but he’s goofy. He seemed to know changes were coming as he jumped up and gave me lots of kisses today. Normally, he sniffs and loves pets but doesn’t jump up. The kennel will seem smaller without them. Hopefully, they will come back after the season.

The rest of the day was spent doing chores as temperatures climbed quickly and it was too hot to run. Tomorrow or Saturday at the latest we’ll be back on the trail. I’m hoping the weather cools down again. Usually cold weather and snows in October mean fair weather until mid-December. Maybe this year will be different.