Why I ever thought I would have time for a blog is beyond me.  As you can see I haven't made much progress here but I will try to do better in the future. 

Fall training has not yet started for us here at Trailsend Kennel but it won't be long and we'll be breaking out the rigs, harnesses, and dogs.  We still have a few hurdles to jump and with the boarding kennel still realitively busy, it'll have to wait a couple more weeks. 
This past weekend, we did a thorough cleaning of all the dog houses.  This is done 3 to 4 times a year and every last morsel of sand, dirt, straw, and cedar is removed to make room for clean fresh bedding.  If you've never had the opportunity to see it, you'd be impressed with how excited the dogs get over something as simple as straw.  Dogs are such amazingly grateful creatures.
 

To add to our already busy lives, we recently learned that one of our beloved dogs, Jinx, has cancer. Lymphoma.  They say it's one of the most common forms of canine cancer and that it's treatable but like with any cancer, there is no "cure".  As my woodswoman friend Sherry put it, he's facing one of the biggest races of his life to date and we are going to do all we can to help him win.  Say a prayer for this boy and check back to hear about the journey we've been on since Sept 3.  and where we are at today. 

Well fall training officially started for us on the 26th of October so things are underway.  Our first hook up nearly ended in disaster but thank god it worked out.  We decided to hook up 11 dogs to the quad and just get them moving.  The dogs were jazzed and Jinx was just too worried about Mom and all those cute girls hooked up behind him.  We stopped the team to switch some dogs around and poor Dora just couldn't contain her excitement and started chewing on the main-line.  By the time I realized this was happening and got back to her, the line was left with just a thread holding the front six dogs from freedom.  We had our summer helper (Cherokee) with us so Dan and I held the front half of the team so that last thread of poly didn't break, while cherokee retreived some extra necklines and tugs from the quad.  We were able to rig things together enough so that if the mainline did give away then we hopefully would still have all team members attached.  Whew, that was a close call.  Consequently, I've decided to keep the teams small now and use the rig.  I can only run up to 4 dogs on the rig (if I go alone) and 2 or 3 if I'm hooking up hounds.  Those dogs are just so dang powerful.  We need to work on the hounds anyway so keeping the teams smaller does make things more manageable.
Of course, now that training has started the temps have crept back up.  The last couple of days felt like September weather with temps in the mid 50's.  Who'd a thunk.....I guess I might as well get some more of the leaves cleaned up around the yard and let the dogs bask in the sun.
With this time of year we also get the pleasure of hearing gunfire from sun-up til sun-down.   All area police use Mackinaw's designated firing range for practice and it just so happens to be within a 1/4 mile of our home.  Most of our dogs are pretty accustomed to it but it does seem to bother some of the boarders that we take care of. 
Well that's about all that's happening at Trailsend Kennel for now. Check back for more stories of our adventures in training. 

Sherry Sutherby and I enjoyed a wonderful trip to Newberry this past Saturday.  There was a training weekend and vet clinic for mushers at Bob and Jan Shaw's home.  Although we didn't take dogs with us, we did enjoy some great company and food.  And who can resist petting the dogs that were there. 
Now that things are slowing down at the boarding kennel, I hope to get my own fall training underway.  May the skies stay clear and the temperatures cool.