Running well

Both teams were run today, with the B team going out first. Munchkin and Riley were in lead for this run. We like to keep them slower, as we are running the oldsters, youngsters and the rest of the race dogs from the A team. With about 20 solid race dogs, it's just easier to split them up between the two teams. The B team went a bit further today, taking the loop, over a 5 mile run. Balian ran in this team and did really well. We'll keep him in training with the other 3 yearlings, Odin, Peiper & Zeus. Dutchess also ran with the team, even at 9 years old, that girl still has it! She's slowed down some, but still running strong.

The A team went longer today, going up Oh-My-God Hill to run on the logging road toward the Fire Break trail. It was a long, hard pull, but they did it just fine. Just and Dusk started out in lead, with Zen & Feather in swing behind these 2 boys. However, Zen kept trying to pull out and around the boys. Manny didn't want to run her in lead, as she's still in heat..but she was adamant about it. So, he stopped the team, took Just out of lead and put Zen up front. No problems at all! Dusk didn't even blink and Zen was hard into the tug. Definitely good news, as I can count on them to keep their heads into the runs, even when hormones are raging. Right on!! It never seems to fail that at least one of my girls goes into heat on the Quest 300. I definitely don't want any problems like I had on the 06 YQ300, with boys snarling and grumbling most of the way. Though, Feather went into heat on the 07 YQ300, and I didn't have a single issue.

The dogs are looking good and fit. Its very heartening to see them. We are really working on solid conditioning and I feel that we're getting a solid base. Its amazing what these dogs can do.

New addition

It's been a busy week for us, as we made our way through Halloween, got our new atv with a plow and winch (yay...no more shoveling!), Parent/Teacher Conferences for me, then I was a line judge for the Regional Volleyball tournament on Friday evening. That was truly interesting, as I hadn't done that before. I felt all official and stuff. ;o)

We swapped a dog with Jodi. Balian, who came from Lance Mackey, is just a yearling pup that Jodi had taken on. He is a good running dog, but he just didn't have the long leaping stride of her hound yearlings (she's training for sprinting/stage racing). On the other hand, we had Skuuga, a hard-driving sprint dog who we just have not been able to get trotting (she'd run herself into the ground had we taken her on a long run). So, we swapped. Jodi took Skuuga, who is already running well for her and we took Balian. Balian is a beautiful boy that we'd considered getting from Lance...but, Jodi decided she wanted him instead. Guess things work out as they should.

Balian

The A team ran really well today. They had a tough workout, as I rode along with Manny on the run...phew, those poor doggies didn't know what hit them! Ha ha ha! Still, they ran very strong and quickly, came in wagging their tails and pulling us back to their posts. Definitely time to up the mileage. They've been doing 7-8 milers for a couple of weeks, so they are truly solid. In the past, we've jumped up in mileage fairly quickly. However, this year we've decided to really get the dogs able to pull hard and lope coming in, before we up their miles. True, we aren't going as far as some others are at this point...but we feel that the dogs are getting very solid conditioning. They are so strong, that it's scary on that atv going around some of the turns! Wow! On the B team, we've decided that there are a couple of dogs who just aren't up for running the Quest with us, so we're looking for good homes for them. Check out our Kennel listing for more info if interested by clicking here: Rogue Summit Kennel.

I'm off. Work comes early tomorrow. Have a great one, folks!
-Tammi