'Tween Season

It's that time of year between winter and break-up that can be SO frustrating.  There isn't enough snow on the trails to allow us to safely run, but there is still too much to be doing a lot out in the yard and kennel.  The temperatures are warm enough to thaw during the day, but cold enough at night to refreeze.  The result is a surface that is dangerously slick, especially in the tether yard, where the dogs 'circles' are hard packed. 

Yesterday was cool, but with clear skies the sun was bright and the dogs spent much of the time just lying on top of their houses or sprawled out in their favorite spots to soak in the rays.

Darling Daisy has been acting her age.  She has good mobility but is obviously slower and more deliberate in her movements than I've observed before.  She still dances and yips like a puppy for her meals, and maintains her regal "Queen of the Dog Yard" bearing, but I haven't seen her up on her house and she had trouble climbing the ramp to load into the truck the other day.  She's nearly 15 years old and it is becoming more and more apparent.  

I've mostly just been doing "this and that" around the house to catch up on indoor activities.  A bit of house cleaning here, some work on the computer there, and so forth.  I enjoyed a nice supper at the Two Rivers Lodge with Stephanie Little Wolf on Thursday evening, where I caught up on the news of her litter and team.  Then we went over to play with her puppies for a bit.  They are a very nice litter of pups, all very active at that nearly weaned, roly-poly stage where they spend a lot of time exploring the big, wide world.  They are housed in a huge whelping pen that is just perfect, with plenty of places for Mama Tamara to escape their sharp teeth and constant demands while still supervising her young charges. 

Some of us in the Hedlund Husky Preservation Project are working together to write up an AKC-style description of the Hedlund Husky line to define the qualities that make them unique in the sled dog world.  It's a bigger project than I would have expected, but I think we are making very good progress. 

Mostly, I'm just enjoying my limited time here at home, being very "domestic", or at least as domestic as a semi-feral primate such as I can be.