Phoebe's "twin" sister!

As Phoebe now grows more into her adult fur, her colouring becomes more distinct, showing a nice black tone above her white and brownish-red and white hairs... Back in Sweden her sisters are growing nicely - Elektra is a beautiful and happy bitch.....and she is Phoebe's "twin"!!!!

Photo by Sandra Olofsson

Sandra - I hope that Phoebe can meet her sister to see how they differ in personality! See more pictures of Elektra here: http://galleri.huskylyan.com/#17.0
If she is anywhere close to Phoebe (Amber) in personality I am SURE she will be a good sleddog when she grows up - Vooooo voooo voff! :-)

Siberian Husky Club Autumn Meeting

Voooooooo vooooo voff! Last weekend we went up to Skramstadseter in the mountains east of Lillehammer - we were attending our first Norwegian Siberian Husky Club meeting! There were lots and lots of dogs, maybe as many as 100!? Phoebe had a great time "mixing it up with the big boys"...... Of course she was very happy to meet her "boyfriend" Bardus - Johannes GIANT puppy ;-) On Saturday there was a sprint race - since Phoebe is still a bit too young, I borrowed a dog from the Huskyville kennel - Ingvild and Torbjørn were very kind to let me have Romulus. I tested him in front of the bike and he PULLED! We were lined up and off we went on the first stretch of the 2.2 km circuit.... Just as we came up to the first curve, Romulus sat to have a s**t....! When he was done, he wanted to run back to the start area where "daddy" was standing..... hehehe! With some help from Didrik we got going in the right direction at least.... A slow trot later we came to turn into the last homestretch..... Ingvild was standing there as a track guide and OF COURSE Romulus wanted to stop and hang around with "mummy"! After a bit of dragging from a helper as well as pulling from my side we sort of started going.... We got passed by 2 competitors on their bikes and THEN Romulus got the point and started running after them....like he was on fire! Ah well - poor boy - he has never run as single lead and never in front of a bike. This just goes to show that sleddog pulling is a matter of trust - man and dog - and that "practice makes perfect". Obviously some dogs are "born to pull", but this does not mean they will be able to do everything we ask of them....certainly if they have not had previous training!! Of course....next year I will put Phoebe in front of the bike....and improve on our LAST PLACE! Even some people running with a dog were faster than us....hehehe!

The weekend was the first taste of frost, ice and snow....that eventually turned into mud - OH GLORIOUS MUD! The good thing was that Phoebe had her first taste of the white stuff.....vooof voooooof!!! She was also an example for the other dogs - standing quietly on the cabin porch the whole day - wagging her tail at strangers - humans and 4-legged ones :-) See more pictures in Priscila's Multiply (she took most photos): http://prikoh.multiply.com/photos/album/90

Pulling again...

A picture of Priscila and Phoebe on the beach at Bogstad Lake last Sunday... Phoebe digging...for gold!?

After work today I went out with Phoebe to get rid of some of her energy that she normally accumulates during the day at home... I took out the bike and this time we didn't have Priscila as a "lead dog" to keep pace and avoid distractions...! It went, however, surprisingly well, and according to the GPS we had a top-speed of 21 km/hr :-) The run was quick and without any real workload for her, but great fun! See the video here: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/63/After_work_bike_run

Voff - mjau!?

First time PULLING

Hi again!

At last - another blog entry! The past few weeks have been hectic on the work-front.

I missed a chance to train Johanne's dogs together with her handler, Kjetil but I am sure there will be more chances! I had recently orderede a "contraption" to connect a dog to the bike...and today was the first time we tried it! Priscila and I went out on the local lawn (Merradalen) and cycled back and forth. I pedalled most of the time so that Phoebe did not take a large strain. Her muscles, bones, joint and sinews are not ready for it yet....even if her mind seems to be!

See the video here: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/61

We are all looking forward to winter! Woooooooo voff! :-)

Dinner at Johanne's place

Last Sunday, after the Hakadal Sled Racing Club's Seminar, I went to Johanne's place for dinner together with a bunch of dog mushers. Guest of honour was Czech Siberian Husky musher Jana. Last winter she participated in her first Finnmarksløpet race in Northern Norway thanks to organisational help she received from Johanne, Hans Christian (The King) and others. She is going back this winter... Johanne has also signed up for the race thanks to the prompting from her handler, Kjetil. Last winter she dropped out of the race close to the finish because of several coinciding factors including sick dogs! Lets hope this winters trip does not dig so hard into her wallet as the last, when her car had a total break-down on the way up...
Read about the race at their official website: http://www.finnmarkslopet.no/
After the dinner Johanne's 5-month old (young!) puppy Bardus came inside to run around with Phoebe. This is their second encounter and as before, it started with high-energy running around before they finally settled down... They LIKE each other! See a video of them here (a bit dark...) http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/60/Phoebe_and_Bardus_playing
Voff, voff :-)

Animal friendship :-)

Did you see the "Playfight" video of Phoebe and Nexus going at it during their evening play session?! This weekend, Phoebe was so sleepy that in the end she didn't even have energy to participate in the "play bite and box the nose" games! As you can see from this video: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/59/Animal_love

Nexus was climbing on top of Phoebe, licking her and generally expressing his love for "big sister", Phoebe - MjauVoff! :-)

Nexus update :-)

Mjau?
Here is the promised update on Nexus and his experience with the shower...
Remember that Nexus needed a shower after overturning the bucket containing our Klippfisk?! Well.... We gave him his first shower ever, gently washing him with a special cat shampoo... He was TOTALLY CALM during the experience.... It even seemed like he enjoyed the feeling of the warm water :-) Needles to say, cats look hilarious when wet - next time we need to be ready with the camera to document it - instead I have inserted a cool photo of him that Priscila took - he is happily zzzzleeping on the keyboard of her computer, having the warm air of the CPU cooling fan tickle his belly with a soft, hot caress.... Miiiiiiiiijua :-)