Phoebe's debut as a long-distance dog...!

Voff!? This weekend we went to Johanne's cabin to run our new sled..... Johanne was very kind in giving us a "helping hand", lending us dogs to match Phoebe with and give her a real initiation into the art of running....! We did a quick run on Friday when we arrived, giving Phoebe and some of Johanne's dogs a short stretch of the legs... On Saturday, I ran a string of 4 dogs, Racer (from Hans Christian) and Kobuq (Johanne's) up front, with Phoebe and Spock forming the wheel-dig pair. It was a great feeling running the new sled, and observing how Phoebe ran. She was mostly very concentrated and seemed to be enjoying herself very much! Priscila is perhaps the up-and-coming (only one?!) Brasilian dog musher!? She ran another set of 4 dogs with Johanne's sprint sled - expertly controlling the situation even when the sled tipped over!!! Johanne had another 4 dogs and her friend Egil had a string of 7 Alaska huskies.... Boy were we glad he took the job of leading all the teams in the beginning...! There was a LOT of snow, so his team broke trail for all of us :-) Thanks Egil! The total distance run was around 27 kms with a break midway - pretty good going for Phoebe the novice long-distance dog!!! On Staturday evening we joined the local dog musher neighours for a dinner party - what a party! Good food, good drink and good fun for all :-)

Phoebe really enjoyed her initiation to distance running - her tug-line was mostly tight and despite being tired at the end, she kept running...and pulling - gooooood girl!
She also seemed to fit in very well with Johanne's dogs, all of which behaved themselved very well around her! Perhaps she is eyeing them up as potential mates for the future?! Needless to say, her "boyfriend" Bardus was happy to see her :-) Woof, woof!

See a couple of videos from the weekend here:
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/71/Siberian_husky_dogsledding
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/72/Dogs_talking...
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/73/8-dog_Siberian_husky_team_setting_off...

Not to forget "chubby boy" Nexus! He had the treatment befitting a King during the weekend, when my mother looked after him! I believe he has charmed his way into her heart......miiiiiiijau!?

Snow, snow, snow!

Last weekend we went to Trysil to do some alpine skiing for the first time this winter - Priscila, Paula, Rodrigo and Patricia - we all enjoyed playing in the white stuff!
We bought a cheap "akrebrett" (toboggan?) that the kids use to slide down the hills... Phoebe was hooked up in front and.....she pulled!! See the video from this week that I took at home - by the shaking of the camera, you should realise that I was running to keep up!
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/69

Priscila really enjoyed it - it has given us a preview taste the dogsledding.... We are going to Johanne's cabin this weekend, bringing the new sled and borrowing a set of dogs :-)

Holiday, party and growing up!

Priscila and I went to Brasil over the Xmas and New Year holidays - the first time since she moved 1.5 yrs ago! It was very good to see family again, but since most people were travelling, we didn't see as many friends as we wanted.... My parents came over, and we - Priscila, her mum Zo, my mum and dad and me, all went to a beautiful island "Ilha Grande"...

The word on the beach is that a new World Champion surfer was born......NOT! Great fun at least!

The main event of our trip was the delayed celebration of our wedding - a great party was had by all - a modest (by Brazilian standards) 150 guests! See the pictures on Priscila's website here: http://prikoh.multiply.com/photos/album/95
http://prikoh.multiply.com/photos/album/96

As for the animals.... They had a nice stay in a "dog and cat hotel" - Nexus emerging as a larger cat after 3 weeks of what must have been a food orgy! :-) And little Phoebe......is not so "little" anymore! She had her first menstrual cycle - as I write this, she is in the last week of the cycle... At least it seems most of her "PMS" attidue has relaxed a bit....nothing destroyed here in the apartment of note the last few days....heheh! She is now 8 months old - weighs 16 kg.

We are looking forward to the return of winter, and will hopefully have a debut with the new sled in the weekend in little more than one week..... We shall see......!

MjauVoff!

"Running with the pack"...

On Thursday this week, I took Phoebe with me to visit Johanne. We had agreed to take out a small 6-dog team on a training run that evening. Zorro and Racer (from Hans-Christian) in the lead. Phoebe was attached to the sled with her elastic leash and left to run alongside (not pulling). It was obvious that she wanted to be in the team and she strained to go ahead - the elastic pulled her back and in a second we had run over her!!! She wasn't hit by the runners, just pushed down in the snow by the toboggan-plate. She emerged happily on the other side, no worse for wear!!! With a bit of rearranging, we kept going - she still ran happily along until her harness started to completely disintigrate! We left her to run loose and she could now approach all the dogs - frequently running in the middle of the team alongside the main towline.... A total of 15km run, fairly moderate pace run without any hickups - we stopped if we spotted anyone - I went forward to pull the dogs aside and hold them. Even at 20:30 - 22:00 in the dark evening we met 3 skiers! In January when we come back from our trip to Brasil, our "new" sled will be waiting for us!!!! I have bought a secondhand mid-distance alu-sled that weighs 14kg - with Phoebe and 3 borrowed dogs it will give us a chance to experience the pleasures of dogsledding :-) Can't wait!!

Work, rest and play....fight!?

In the week since we came back from the mountains, time has gone by so very, very fast! Come to think about it, time has gone by since Phoebe arrived in our home in July.... Here a picture of her when she was 2 months old.As you can see, we love her to bits! These last few weeks, she has been quite naughty, chewing on various items of the household - a basket full of pieces of soap; the zipper of Priscila's winter coat (ruining it!); a load of my socks; etc.... She now spends alot of time sniffing at the pee of other dogs and is very careful marking her own passage..... All her sisters in Sweden are reported to have their first period, so we are expecting it any day, now!

On the other hand, our little boy Nexus has started to "boss around" the house - the little boy is getting balls! He will be "neutered", but will be allowed to mature properly first.... Given his newfound "ballsiness", he has started to confront Phoebe! He walks straight up to her and gives her a punch on the nose!!!! Yesterday, he really bit into her and chased her around - this ended up with Phoebe trying to defend herself as best she could, giving off a panicky, wailing, "oooowww, ooowww"!!!! She was truly afraid! After I separated them, Nexus came back to confront her - Phoebe was so afraid that she turned her head away and snuck off into the corner!! POOR LITTLE GIRL!!! For those who know her, Phoebe is a happy, easy-going girl who shows little dominance. On the other hand, she likes to give a little verbal argument before giving in :-) HEHEHE - as I was writing this, there was a huuuge noisy racket going on - Nexus had been investigating a plastic bag.... Somehow the hole of the handle got trapped on him and he took off like a rocket trying to "escape it"!!! After running the length of the apartment it broke away - Nexus is now hiding under the bed...afraid that the plastic bag will try to attack him again!!! HEHEHEHE - here is a photo after the event.. Nexus wearing his "plastic bag skirt"...

Siberian Husky Club Autumn Meeting on Snow!

What a weekend! The Norwegian Siberian Husky Club had their Autumn meeting on snow last weekend.... Priscila, Phoebe and I drove up there on Friday and installed ourselves in the big cabin up on the mountain plateau (Syningen, between Gol and Hemsedal). Maybe 30 people and 200(?!) dogs were gathered to celebrate the return of winter!!! Phoebe had a new experience, sleeping on a straw bedding in her cage in the car..... During the daytime when not otherwise occupied, she was chained to the tow-hook of the car and just hanging around. In other words, she was adjusting to the typical life of the sled dog on tour! Saturday we borrowed Bardus from Johanne and teamed up the two - connected to me on X-country skis, towing Priscila behind me!! The GPS recorded a top-speed 24 km/hr - achieved running the first downhill from the cabin!!! When the two playful puppies were not otherwise occupied (read: playing in the snow like crazy), we averaged around 10-12 km/hr - NOT BAD FOR A 7 and 9 months' old Siberian dog team!
See a video of them both looking expectantly towards the "big boys" passing by in a sled-team!


Later that day, Phoebe was set in a 4-dog team pulling a wooden sled. In the beginning she didn't quite understand what was going on, but soon caught on a started seriously pulling! GOOOOOOD GIRL! The trip was far too short, but all in all we did 8.9km that day (skis+sled).
Sunday was absolutely stunning - blue skies, no wind, nice temperature (-8 deg C?). Because I had a bad back that day, we declined to borrow another dog and just went out with Phoebe... A very nice cross-country trip where we all got some more exercise - total length of 5km.
We all agreed that it had been a perfect weekend - good weather, wonderful dogs, nice people, food and wine... We have already booked space for the Winter Meeting in February :-)

The days go by....

Since last I wrote my blog, Priscila and I have spent 1 week in Paris and München - the kids were placed in a kennel and suffered not at all! Both were very glad to see us again, but I am sure they had a lot of attention - the girl at the desk said...."oh, they both have such great personalities....!" Phoebe and Nexus are going back there over the Christmas and New Year period when we go to Brasil to celebrate our (late) wedding party!

"This bed ain't big enough for the both of us......!"
Lately we have found Phoebe more and more often on our bed and on top of the sofa - sometimes jumping up straight in front of us and 11 times in a row just the other day!
As a revenge, Priscila jumped into Phoebe's bed with her.....!
This morning, her leash slipped out of my hand and she took off into the small forest like a rocket! I spent 10 minutes following her, trying not to go to fast because that just makes her go into "YouCan'tCatchMe" playmode...ah well!

We might simply have a preview of her "teenage antics"....!? She is now 6 1/2 months old and she could have her first menstrual cycle anytime soon....!

On the training front, I try to get out a couple of times per week with the bike (yes....the snow is almost gone, just a thin sugarcoating to make us dream). We do up to 3-5 km with her pulling ahead - average speed maybe of 10km/hr! - that is including all the full stops to sniff....! We do about 15-20km/hr when she is in the mood :-) In a couple of weeks we are going to the Siberian Husky Club Autumn Meeting on Snow - should be a chance for Phoebe to try out gently in a sled-team. We also plan to borrow a second dog to go skikjøring.....

On the cat-front, Nexus is as cool as ever...... The single week at the kennel seemed to make him grow even more "round bellied"...! He is known affectionately as "Chubby Boy".. Take a look at Nexus lazily fighting the camera: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/66/Nexus_fighting_the_camera