First Snow

We had our first snow with the pups they were like a puppies hopping around and playing all morning; but it all melted that day. We took them up to the New River Trail Sunday, it was 16F with a 10mph wind, we were cold and Tala & Mukki were ready to run. We did 4 miles, wish I had a sled though, most of the trail was covered in snow and the scooter was sinking and creating a lot of drag. I had to work this time too push the scooter through the snow with the dogs, it was fun and wasn't long before I was feeling a little hot with all the layers I was wearing. We did pretty good averaging about 9mph for the short trip. At the half way point Mukki made a u-turn on command which was awesome. It was too cold for us to take pictures, will try to get some next time :)

We have a web site!

Tala and I are thrilled to announce our new web site! -mukki
Monkey Junction
We named it in honor of our simian caretakers, Cris & Rich.

Best Wishes River

River, who have have been fostering, is a great pup, very loving and full of energy, we've had no problems with him. In the short time we had him, he became a happy and healthy husky and we wish the very best for him and hope a loving family will find and care for him soon.

For a siberian husky contact the one we recommend: Southern Siberian Rescue!

Day 7: "Passing" Training

We went up to the New River trail again. Its a fun trail to run the dogs on. Robin had a crappy day but she still found time to come out and play and help us train Mukki and Tala. We owe a lot to her.

We ran the dogs up to Fries Junction, crossed the old railroad bridge and went through the tunnel. The tunnel was pretty fun, it gets very dark in there. The pups handled it very well except for one small part where they stopped in the darkest part of the tunnel just long enough for me to run over the gangline and get it caught in the tire -which is really fun to untangle in pitch dark.

We had to make one sharp turn each way, Mukki and Tala still need to learn haw and gee. On the way back we practiced passing and moving over with haw over and gee over commands. Its funny how the dogs like to be out front and will run harder to get there but once in front of the other teams they slow down a bit. Overall they did pretty good, but they still need a lot of training.

We passed a couple cows on the path, Mukki did good keeping Tala from going to say hi. The cows then began following us and headed towards the road. While Robin and I packed up, Cris went off to herd some cattle and get them out of the way of traffic and back towards the farm house, I wish I had pictures. She did good.

Day 6: The Quick Run and Dog Party

Today is the Southern Siberian Rescue 5 year anniversary party in Raliegh, NC. In an attempt to to make the pups tired before the party we decided to make a quick run up the walking path in near the house.

The Run:
The walking path runs along the river and is about 4 miles total. We ran half the path; the part where we figured there would be less people. Mukki and Tala got hooked up and we took off down the path, little did we know that River had decided he wanted to go too and made a loud "WEEEeeeeeeee" sound slipped out of his collar and started chasing us leaving Cris behind in the dust. It wasn't till he passed by Mukki and Tala did I realize I had another dog with us. I yelled up to Mukki and I felt the rig jolt as we started moving faster. The chase was on! We rounded a few corners and luckily saw someone walking and I yelled up to "Please grab that dog!" he didn't have to try hard, River ran right up to him and sat down to get some attention. I pulled up along side grabbed Rivers scruff and moved over to grass thanking the man for his help. I waited for Cris to walk about a mile to catch up to us :(

After the excitement Mukki and Tala and I went to the end of the path and turned around to head back to Cris. We decided since River wanted so badly to run we hooked him up with Mukki and took off down the road, Mukki kept him in line, but we were taking it easy. We went about a mile then turned around and headed back. Tala didn't care she wasn't running she sat next to Cris like a princess.

The Party:
Afterwards we went home. River was picked up to go to a dog fair and we packed up for the 2+ hour drive to Raleigh. The pups slept on the back seats. The party was fun. There must have been about 100 Huskies all wanting to meet everybody. There were games, food, and a Silent Auction.

River

We're fostering River, a Siberian Husky who's about 1 year old. He's a sweetheart, very gently and submissive. He gets along great with Tala and Mukki and spends most of his time following Tala and Cris around. Tala and River talk to each other too which is pretty funny :) So far it seems like a pretty good experience for Tala and Mukki. Mukki is establishing himself more as the dog in charge and he gets a little break from Tala now that she has another playmate.

Tala, Mukki and River. River is the pup on the right.

River is a great pup and we don't think we'll be fostering for long :(

Day 5: The Long Day

Day five was one long adventure. Time and distance can become hard to judge when running sometimes. This trip we traveled 1 mile too far. It certainly didn't feel like 5 miles. but once we realised we found a nice patch of grass on the side of the path and hooked up the picketline.

We brought chicken salad and Cris made some delicious wheat rolls. Robin baked wonderful red velvet cupcakes so it was pretty good picnic. We did however forget the dog bowls for water and had to use the container the cupcakes were in. A few people stopped by to meet the dogs and say hi while we relaxed.

As we were cleaning up and attaching the dogs to the ganglines Tala flipped out of her harness and took off running, luckily i was close and dove when she ran by and grabbed her collar.

Mukki was either showing off how good a lead dog he can be or he just wanted to get home; there were squirrels running across the path, bicyclists, and horses and he stayed focused on the path even pulling Tala in and forcing her to avoid the distractions. I'm proud of him.

Overall we did about 10 miles. Tala and Mukki did pretty good although it was the longest they've ran. Looks like I might be picking up a some kind of trip computer for the scooter :)

Next weekend is the Southern Siberian 5 year anniversary in Raleigh. It sounds like there may be 100+ people and just as many pups. It should be fun.