April Fools

 Hey Tribe,

Just wanted to share my two April Fools with you.

I don't know what they're doing... catching snowflakes, perhaps?

Step Aside, Rudolph

Hey Tribe,

It's Christmas Eve!

Just a quick note to let you know who will be guiding Santa's sleigh this evening.

Ever since Rex received the news he'd made the team, he's been practicing his dashing through the snow skills.

So, tonight, if you hear the pitter patter of paws, it's just the B (as in Bear) team coming to eat your cookies.

April Snow Stroll

 Hey Tribe,

April (snow) showers bring May June flowers...

It just keeps snowing and snowing and snowing here and a lot of people aren't pleased, but we're too busy playing and admiring the beautifully white landscape to care if it's "supposed" to be spring or not.  We have sunshine, but it isn't warm and won't be warm for quite some time.  Typically, Southcentral Alaska doesn't see flowers until June anyway, so I'm ok to keep the white stuff a bit longer.

During one of these many snow shower days, TheMother and I braved the flakes and the roads to take the dogs on a much needed stroll.

Well, the humans strolled while the KBDs ran through the snow like fools.

Not surprisingly, Fly got too close to the riverbank's edge and she plunged completely into the water and had to swim a bit before she found a secure enough footing to haul her sopping wet body from the icy water.  She shook and rolled in the snow for a few seconds and hopped back up just as relatively dry as before she took the dunk.  I tried to have her hold still long enough for me to scan for injury, but she was too impatient and raced away to catch back up with Rex.

Rex, meanwhile, behaved more cautiously around the water and opted to only wade in as far as his ankles.

Typically, there is a view from the bridge that is quite picturesque and it is nearly obligatory for locals to take a photo whenever they visit the place.  So, naturally, I wanted to set my dogs up for said necessary photo - however, Fly had other plans for our pause in the middle of the bridge.

This is the photo I had in mind

Being a highly observant creature that craves high locations from which to better view the world, Fly decided the bridge's handrail would make for a better vantage point.  So, she made the leap.

She absolutely could have stuck the landing and been just fine parading back and forth along top of the handrail, but I wasn't willing to risk it - actually, I didn't really pause to consider the possibility, I just reached to catch my baby from possibly plummeting, again, into the river.

She's probably still thinking about trying it again.

Strolling through the woods felt safer to me for my daring duo and they had a riot hunting and sniffing in and out of the tall trees and then making mad dashes back to me when I re-called them for pork fat snacks.

However, the woods held another agility challenge that Fly found almost immediately and mastered easily.

Rexy very much wanted to be up there with her, but he couldn't figure out how she'd done it until I showed him; then he gleefully joined her up on the log and both dogs looked about them with superior satisfaction.

We found a wide snowy meadow of sorts - it's probably a swamp in any other season - and it was nice to be able to watch the dogs romp in the snow and explore the area.  It was also exceedingly pleasant to have the entire place to ourselves and I felt very lucky to be there right then with TheMother and the KBDs.

The not-currently-a-swamp's snow was several feet deep, but that didn't deter either dog: both merrily swam through and appeared to have a glorious time out there.  They must feel the same way I do whenever I step somewhere I've never been before.

While there, I wanted to see what kind of action shots I could get of the dogs with Little Buddy (our gopro), so I had the dogs sit and wait while I got myself set up with what I hoped was a good camera setting.  Then, on my signal, TheMother called the dogs and they streaked across the expanse of unmarked snow toward her, like very good dogs indeed.

I need to improve my skills.  It will be fun to return here next winter and see if I am able to produce clearer images.  

One more race across the bridge and our journey was nearly at an end, which was good, because I think we'd had enough adventure for one day.

Before we were completely finished, we did take some time to practice a long down stay; the tired but happy Karelians were content to lounge in the deep snow and collect snowflakes on their black backs as I took one more photo for the memory blog.

Rex Turns Two

 Hey Tribe,

My baby boy is 2 years old today!

Rex had quite the year last year:

He worked on his impulse control in all settings to become Farm Dog Certified titled and earned his Canine Good Citizen title.

Rex learned new tricks during our time in quarantine and collected a Trick Dog Novice title.

I got a bit of road rash and a black eye and Rex learned to not suddenly run full speed when on a leash.

He became a brand ambassador and model.

Rex made friends who tolerate his pervasive puppy craziness, including SAR teammate, K9 Sally (his Sal Pal), and our new Icelandic fillies, Frelsi and Soley, who romp and stomp with our joyful boy.

He was plagued with panosteitis, poor guy, and was super sad to not be able to do a lot of fun activities in early summer. 

But we made up for it with adventures when he was feeling better.

Despite a lot of time off because of the pano, Rex made nice SAR progress and developed a solid final response for when he finds the scent source he is searching for; he officially became part of the team last month.

Rex showed us that he loves to run and chase and is going to excel in lure coursing sports.  We discovered this in late summer, so he only got to compete once before the season ended, but he's off to a good start!  He is an amazing athlete and we had such fun touring around Alaska with the kickbike.

He also loves that sled dog life!

I can tell his body is maturing, though his brain and personality sure aren't: he is widening and broadening in the chest and head and that thick fur hides some serious muscle.  He is keeping his tail curled more often than not now too!

Lastly, Rex has thoroughly loved all things snow - snow is his greatest delight!

We had a great year together.

For his birthday this year, Rex got a new Lamby: he LOVES his Lamby and will squeak it endlessly until the squeakers die and then he rips a hole in it and enjoys pulling out all the stuffing.  He brings me his Lamby to toss into the air for him to catch and we play tug with it and when he is done playing, he puts it in my lap for safe keeping.

Happy 2nd birthday, Armando Salazar Da Villa Saloia, the Pirate King, my sweet baby boy, Rexy.  We love you!

Hoar Frost

Hey Tribe,

Clear skies in the winter means cold weather here in Alaska and with that comes hoar frost - or "horror" frost as I thought it was called when I was a child, named for how horribly cold it is when this type of large frost forms.  Sunshine is a precious commodity coming out of winter's deep darkness and these cold, clear days cause Alaskans to bundle up and bask in the light - even if it isn't warm.  Hoar frost is a magical consolation prize for venturing outside into negative temps and the KBDs and I were richly rewarded this past week.

Several inches of fresh snow caused the kicksled to bog down a bit on the trail we used to access the Knik arm, but we worked up a sweat and journeyed through the snow-laden woods out to open flatland to look at the ice floes.

Have you ever gasped aloud when seeing an unexpectedly beautiful sight? I did when I gazed across the expanse at the majestic Chugach mountains with a cloudy scarf swaddling their treeline and saw the fog rolling up from the open water channels.

It was stunning.

The KBDs had a good frolic while I stood there gaping at the scenery trying to keep my fingers and my cell phone warm as I took dozens of photos.

At the beep of their collars, the dogs ran back to me and posed for some glamor shots before dashing into the frost laden grass and reeds to hunt for mice.  Little mouse prints covered one particular section and I agree that it seems a nice place to have a home if I were a mouse.  

The Karelian hunters were unsuccessful, as far as I know, so I gave both dogs treats for again coming to me when I called them and we clipped back into the kicksled for our return journey.

One day soon we will return to this place of frosty beauty to spend the entire day luxuriating in the sunshine and savoring the frost before wind and warm temperatures whisk it into Spring.