Dog Butts

Couldn't resist putting this out for viewing. We call it dog butts as that's all you can see and they poo and pee while pulling as well. Elwood on the right has a funny gait - his right leg kicks out. Romeo on the right, screams when you touch his harness for some reason. When you pet him, he's good and all lovey, but doesn't like his harness pulled. The guide would yell back at us "You're killing him" as a joke whenever we had to untangle him or grab his harness. The 2 dogs in the back are called "wheel dogs", but they're all pretty tough and they reek. No spas for them! Turn up the sound as it's funny!

What a Mess

Left alone for 5 minutes, this look of innocence does not match the path of destruction left behind. . . .

6 months old and King of the World

Sailor turned 6 months old on March 24th. He also weighs 72 lbs! He posed very sweetly for these photos with his birthday hat on (it has dog paws on it).

I think he's already liking the camera and is a big ham. He also looks somewhat alien here - he got muddy at day care. They sent him home without brushing or cleaning him off, so his fur in the front looks a bit rough.

White Coat

It was a lovely day in MN and after meeting our friend Anita for breakfast we talked her into going with us to take Sailor to the Dog Park. Well, with all the melting recently, it was pretty muddy. We were just waiting for some over-enthusiastic dog to come bounding up to Anita and put their paws on her lovely pure white coat.
Sailor chased around an 8 week Sheltie pup named Memphis and they both almost went into a muddy pond. Whew!
So, this picture looks so nice and "clean". Anita's coat remained intact!

Back from Dog Sledding

So What an amazing adventure! It's worth posting a few pics here (after all this blog is about a dog, so why not post some dog sledding photos from Ely, MN (close to Canada).

Pics from left to right, top to bottom:

- Snarf the lead dog

- After a long day
-Todd with our team: Lead dogs Snarf and Juno, then Ricky and Suma, Elwood and Romeo

-Todd with our cool guide Steve

-Todd and Team

-Ren with the team

It was harder than we thought and Todd and I are both sore and have some bruises. It's not all about cruising along on a wide, flat trail. Most of it's in the woods on a very narrow trail with hills up and down (where you either have to push up or hang on for dear life on the way down so the sled doesn't tip or hit a tree and throw you off ) and lots of trees to hit and whip you in the face.

Also, the dogs fight a lot, so if the sled stops for any reason, one of you has to run to the front of the sled and make sure the lead dog doesn't turn around and fight with the team.

We had a nice family (Loren-Mom, Gardner-Dad, Sage-teen daughter and Gardner-teen son) from Charleston, WVA in our cabin and on the trails. They were easy to get along with and nice, fun people.

It was pretty physical, so don't let the smiling, peaceful photos attached fool you. Would I recommend it - absolutely yes!

Next time, back to Sailor. . . thanks for indulging me!