June has been a busy month and we have had some cracking cool runs running as the sun rises! This does involve obsessively checking the forecast for windows of opportunity but the windows are there if you are prepared to look for them and we have had some nice 3 degree temps down South and aided with the kestrel weather meter making sure the humidity, temp and heat stress level is tickety boo for the dogs and we have had some very jolly runs. Flups are running regularly in a big team and super pleased with their no fuss progress. Magpie flup likes wildlife but the other dogs are very experienced in ignoring them, so all makes for some valuable 'on by' training for her and little lark is very focused and a natural leader which we will develop more after the summer. Dogs have also enjoyed regular free run blasts in the local secure fields, very lucky to have two 'sibe secure' 5 acre fields 10 minutes drive from us. With the easing of lockdown restrictions we have at last been able to make lots of use of our lovely self build camper van so we have had lots of relaxing wild camps with the dogs and it is so great to just get away from the noise and distraction of every day life. Our other adventures have included a trip to Wales, sadly the temps were too warm to run at Pembrey forest so the rig stayed in the van but we started our lovely break with the beautiful Pembrey beach all to ourselves, we then travelled to Mid Wales and stayed at the dog friendly glamping spot amongst the welsh hills for our second visit to Pencastell Views with all the dogs having a lovely time in the free run field with daytrips out and about with the dogs having lots of beach walks and new sniffing opportunities! AdventuresMay has been an extraordinarily wet and humid month, however we have had some brilliant runs with the dogs and the pups have enjoyed their first runs on the passenger rig in a bigger team for the next training stage of their life as a sleddog. This team consists of a 12 years old, 2x 10 year olds, 2x 7 year olds and 4 year old and of course the pups. Mars is the only male on the team. The passenger rig allows lots of control on the speed and is a brilliant tool for building conditioning and stamina. We have two retired male sled dogs, Snik who is almost 14, he's a bit wobbly on his back legs but really happy and healthy and loves his free runs and still pulls on his onlead walks he is not happy about being retired! Tonrar retired himself at 10 and is now 12, he enjoys his dinners and walks but mostly his dinners. Solid performances from the pups and really pleased with their progress. We have some excellent mentors in the 'big' dogs. Pups have lots of focus and drive and we look forward to watching their journey on the trail. We celebrated the pups first birthday this month and Pickle's seventh birthday and the dogs have been having lots of adventures wild camping, free runs amongst the buttercups and visiting lots of places. We like to give our dogs as 'big' a life as possible so they are happy and contented and of course well exercised making for a full life. Can't talk about May without mentioning the loosening of lockdown restrictions, and we were delighted to welcome our first visitor in a long time! Accompanied by our pals dogs we all had a blast and we had three handsome boys join the team! Little slo mo of their passenger rig run below. Zinny, Leo in lead, Mars, Kara in swing, Pickle, Laika, Cass in team and Merlin and Summit in wheel.Lockdown has now lifted to allow self contained overnight stays and this is where all the hard work of making our van a moving home for dogs and humans comes to play! We can do our favourite thing of camping and training which is bliss after a dreary winter. We are still running as normal, big passenger rig runs along Salisbury Plain and splitting teams up to team puppy training and team veteran on forest trails. Pups are 11 months and doing really well. Below is a short clip of our four teams, happy, healthy and living their best lives! As well as lots of lovely runs, we have built new platforms in the dogs playground at home and had lots of beach walks and free runs in secure fields.
Months seem to be blurring into one during this last lock down, life hasn't really changed work, run dogs, rest, repeat. But Spring is now here to brighten the days up and there is end of the 'lockdown' tunnel in sight so hopefully we can plan some camping and training adventures soon! The pups are over 10 months and doing well so it's the next stage for them now and it has been time to add them to a four dog team on a 3 wheeler with excellent mentors, Mars, Zinny and kara. We aren't worried about distance right now with them so a casual, controlled 1.5 miles, although it's not an 'easy' 1.5 miles on hilly terrain but the aim is to give the puppies positive, fun hook up experiences and set them up for success. Distance and speed will come as they mature and plenty of time. Here they are in the video below, in wheel with Zinny and Mars in lead. The big dogs have also been enjoying longer runs on the open trails of Salisbury Plain on the passenger rig as well as splitting the teams with 4 'younger guns' and a 'senior' siberians on the three wheeler on forest trails and the dogs are all content and happy. They also enjoy their secure free run every Friday, in one of the 5 acre fields up the road, which is lovely for them all especially our oldies who have retired from harness work and you can see our lovelies having fun in this video. Temperatures have been pretty good for us in the UK and we are getting out for lots of runs on the passenger rig, (following government guidance of course) temperatures have been pretty good down South and we have had some minus zero runs, we even had snow! It only lasted 24 hours and was the wet slushy kind we get in the UK so sled stayed at home but it made a nice difference to the mud and was very pretty for photographs! We have also made use of our local 5 acre free run field and it's great to see the dogs power around. Going through the pandemic has been pretty stressful for everyone and we are extra grateful to have the dogs and this life. Taking the time to stop and stare and appreciate mother nature and seeing the seasons change by dog team is incredibly special. These pictures were taken on the same spot on the trail in January, May, August and November! Nothing is more beautiful than nature and I hope that moving forward we will look after the world a little bit better.
|