October/ Early Nov. 2007 Training Update

While snow is in the forecast, and the gray clouds hanging low on the horizon seem to be ready to burst at any moment, the temperature is hovering just above the freezing mark and the colors of late fall still dominate the ground here at the kennel.  For the past month, Mother Nature has danced between the seasons of fall and winter.   We awoke one morning to a picture-postcard winter tapestry, with every branch and surface blanketed in white, only to have the following evening being a cold, wet night doing chores in the pouring rain.   Thus far, we have been blessed with relatively moderate temperatures overall.  This is very fortunate, as we can easily have a period of extended cold with no snow cover this time of year, which makes the trail system very hard and abrasive on the dogs' feet.  In those conditions, we would need to spend a great deal of time and energy putting booties on the dogs to protect their feet.  Although we recycle used booties specifically for this purpose, it still becomes very costly, as the ground just eats up the booties and they do not last very long.

As it is, we have been able to take advantage of the myriad of trails directly leading out of the kennel, as well as the sandy shoreline of the Cook Inlet beach.  Living in close proximity to the beach, we are at a distinct advantage should the elements really limit the trails.  Normally the beach remains an option up until we have heavy ice, and the journey getting there is too dangerous, or the beach its self freezes above the tide line. Some years, when the ground is frozen hard without the snow cover to cushion the run, and it becomes far too icy to safely run on the regular trails, Paul has literally spread a layer of sand from our yard to the beach to gain access for the team.  The dogs don't care for the beach a whole lot, as there is not much to see for great distances - kind of like the Yukon River or Bering Sea Coastline is some aspects, so Paul normally doesn't run there a whole lot unless he needs to.

The dogs are right on track with the mileage Paul would like to see them at.  We are very lucky to have Tyler here again this fall, who has been an absolute blessing to us in helping with the training and chores.  This is the first year we have had anyone helping with the training of the team in fall while we are still using the ATV.   The other evening, I was able to see the two teams - of Paul and Tyler - out along the road when I was driving home from work.  Normally I make it home in time to either help with the harnessing when they leave, or else to get the bulk of the chores done and prepare for the team's arrival with bowls of fresh cool water and food prep.  We are feeding meat and fat with the commercial food in a thick, warm broth twice a day now.  The cooler weather and longer miles demand more and we supplement the food to keep a good balance.   Paul is a big proponent of including pure meat in the teams' diet, and has seen the benefits of it with the dogs.  Recently someone inquired if Red Dog was still alive.  I laughed out loud.  Yes, I can assure you - not only is the big guy still alive, he was even training with the team earlier this season. He is doing quite well for an athlete that is roughly 90 in "human years". I would honestly attribute his excellent health at his mature age to the good nutrition he has received from birth. 

In addition to the regular chores of harnessing, running, watering, unharnessing, feeding, and cleaning, we never have any absence of other tasks demanding our attention around the kennel.  One of mine happens to be socialization of puppies.  We had several litters over the summer months that are maturing into fine athletes, and a couple that are still in the funky pup stage.  One of Paul's key Iditarod team members, the adorable little female named "Cat" had two little girls late in the season that we named "Panther" (she is black) and "Jag" (which is short for Jaguar).  They are a couple of little live-wires to say the least, and when the team is off on their runs these two are tearing around with me in the kennel.  Like the other pups I have mentioned in past updates, they have absolutely ferocious appetites.

Some of the other elements of behind the scenes in our Iditarod kennel would be the regular vaccinations. Tonight I worked with Paul and we vaccinated all the adults and the pups that are on schedule to be updated.  We do all of our own vaccinating short of rabies, which requires a licensed veterinarian by law.  Fortunately, we have the fantastic professionals at Kenai Veterinary Hospital to work with in that sense. By and large, Paul is very intuitive in terms of the dog care at our kennel (hmmm.. might be one of the reasons he has won two Iditarod Humanitarian Awards…).  Occasionally, we do take dogs to the clinic, for spaying or neutering if we do not intend to continue the genetic line, or if there is a question on a particular health issue.  Earlier this fall we noticed that one of our more mature females, named Seal, was not on her food like she should be.  We continue to work closely with the veterinarian to monitor her bloodwork and provide her with a special diet suited to her needs. But overall, outside of the extensive pre-Iditarod veterinary care, we have found that good nutrition and proper exercise minimize our need to make visits to the vet. 

We are currently on the downslide in terms of daylight hours here. Outside of the shift attributed to Daylight Savings Time, we are loosing close to a half-hour of daylight each week right now.  This means that much of our work is done under the beacon of a headlight and the outdoor floodlights.  With the absence of snow cover, the late autumn browns and grays of the landscape really absorb what ambient light is available, and it makes the darkness almost seem thick. The dogs don't seem to mind much though.  We do try to keep the training runs during daylight as much as possible, mainly to keep an eye on the performance of each dog as they are working.  With a total of 30 dogs in training, Paul will continually assess the individual dog's strengths and weaknesses to discern which dogs will make the final cut of 16 for his Iditarod team.  In addition to this ongoing assessment on the training runs, he will also use the benefits derived from experience during a couple of pre-Iditarod mid distance races.  He is currently looking at the early January Knik 200 as well as the formidable Kusko 300 later that same month.  Both of these events afford trails that by and large navigate the course of frozen rivers.  Since we do not have that training element available here on the Kenai Peninsula, and there is a portion of the Iditarod trail that is dominated by river and coastal running, the experience for the team to "train" in this environment is worth the journey.  Paul will always plug in dogs that he is questioning when he races the mid-distance circuit, specifically to gauge their performance.  While he has won various mid distance races, he views them more from a training advantage with an eye on Iditarod.

Speaking of Iditarod…. Thanks to our newest sponsor, Mr. William Petrell, Paul's entry fee is paid and Paul is officially registered to run (scratch that … make it WIN) the 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.  There is a host of highly competitive teams, as well as a large number of rookie mushers signed up, and the cut off date has not yet been met.  Someone had mentioned it to me, so I took a look at one of the Iditarod comment boards online.  I was overwhelmed by the number of fans that chose Paul as their favorite to win the race.  Granted, I am biased, but if you look at it from a statistical approach, the fact that Paul's team is just now hitting their prime - and they have the experience of a third, followed by a second-place finish under their belts, the win is logical. Paul has made some recent lifestyle choices that in my opinion, have given him a clear focus and a drive that the dogs seem to be feeding off of.  The team is by far the happiest group of canines I have ever seen.  Every leader wants to be first and even after a boring run on the beach or sloshing through the mud on the backwoods trails, the dogs are still bubbling and enthusiastic when we unharness.  Maybe it’s the new food we are feeding, coupled with this intangible sense of optimism and good energy or the positive influence of Tyler.  Whatever the stimulus, the dogs and Paul are loving life and it shows.

I promise another update before the end of November - life got a little crazy for me and I did get behind with October.  Thanks for your patience.  Also, for those that have been asking, I am not quite done with the 2007 Iditarod story I am working on… so please stay tuned for that!

Until later…. Life is a journey, enjoy the ride - Evy