Sunday, April 26, 2009

Abner's Meal

We have a new dog in the kennel. Abner is not quite a year old and already a very nice size with excellent conformation. His "puppy runs" have been excellent and he has all the makings of a great old-school sled dog.

One of the common Alaskan husky traits he has apparently inherited is a huge appetite coupled with a cast iron stomach. With a bit of help from his pen-mate Amazing Grace - Abner was able to slip his collar, which he apparently consumed.

I discovered this when I went into his pen to feed them. I didn't notice the absence of collar straightaway, but while Abner and Grace were making short work of a tall pan of chow I found a 1" section of padded nylon - with a "Stardancer" I.D. tag riveted to it. Closer inspection revealed another small section of nylong, with an adjusting buckle. That was it - small sections of collar containing hardware. The rest was apparently inside the dog.

It doesn't seem to have caused Abner any discomfort thus far, and I'm finding bits of blue harness in his poo, so with a bit of luck "this too shall pass."

The Ladies Have Returned to Kentucky

Janece and Lynn Witter have returned to their home in Kentucky after a week here at my place. We ran some dogs, enjoyed some long soaks at Chena Hot Springs, and my guests were wonderful about helping with various tasks around the kennel. Janece and Lynn were especially great about helping train the puppies to show some manners when humans enter their circles. Of course they are still rather unruly, but they are getting better and will continue to improve so long as I keep up the work.

Lynn W is quite a handy lady. She reinforced a damaged running board on my truck, the two worked together to install some new coat hooks in the hallway of the house, and myriad other small tasks as well.

I hope they enjoyed their visit as much as I enjoyed their company. It was a very fun week.

Break Up Continues
Without question, we are in the midst of "break up", that magical time of year when the snow melts away and the ground turns to muck, especially the ground in the dog yard. Of course the dogs delight in churning the mud up into a soupy mess that coats and covers just about everthing in site, including their fur (sigh).

I suspect that by the time I return from my next tour of duty (which begins Tuesday), there won't be any snow at all, and I may even need to consider mowing my yard.





2 comments:

  1. G'day, Swanny - Just thought I'd mention I had a dog like Abner once - the vet said the puppy doesn't wonder whether it's good to eat or not - he just eats it and lets the stomach decide.

    Glad your visitors were such "accommodating" visitors.

    Post a photo or two when you get back, if you get any - your place will look like a different place :-)

    Regards, AussieAlaskan

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  2. Ma always said what don't kill you will make you stronger. I wonder if that would pertain to dog collars as well? Having my own two pets has given me much respect for your sled team, that's for sure. for small dogs, they can almost pull me off my feet when I have them on two, 10 foot leads out in the grass and they both decide to run in the same direction at the time. They are fun to warch playing. I try to tye the leads ends together to help control how far they can get from each other by afternoon, when their engery is up and mine is getting low.

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