The Dog Watcher

In between servicing both my car and my dog truck the past couple of days, I've also built myself a handy little perch on the deck overlooking the kennel, where I can sit on a tall stool and easily see most of the action down in the yard.  After feeding and scooping tonight I cooked my supper and brought it out to my new perch to watch dogs as I ate.  Of course I've also been playing around with my computer, and used the on-board camera to shoot this image:

The Dog Watcher

Currently there are some light showers of rain falling.  Some of the dogs are just lying around on the ground letting it fall around them.  Denali has been slowly pacing his circle, though Capella has challenged to him to several vigorous play sessions over the last half-hour.  Selene and Nels are housed in the same pen tonight, and are lying across from each other, just sort of checking each other out.  In the adjacent pen, Grace and Seamus are in their houses, staying dry.  Beau and Rose, also sharing a pen, are also in their houses.  I can't quite see the garage pen from my perch, so I'm not sure what Cassie and Beau are doing.

Earlier today I let the dogs free-run while I washed my car out in the dog yard.  That's probably what prompted the rain showers ().  When they were finished romping I rotated them into different housing areas than before, and was able to put Capella, Midnight's Son and Orion all in a row of posts.  Then I tried to shoot some photos so you can compare Midnight to his siblings.  

Midnight's Son is a good sized dog, a bit larger than his brother, Orion.  He share's his sister's "fox face", though his features are clearly more masculine.  Here are some photos for you to see for yourself how they shape up.

Midnight's Son in the foreground, Capella behind.  In the far background we have Nels and Selene in the pen on your left, and Seamus and Rose in the pen on the right.

Capella (left) standing slightly away from Midnight's Son (right).  You can compare their facial features and relative size.

Orion (left) and Midnight's Son (right).  Even standing on slighter higher ground, you can see that Midnight is a somewhat larger dog.

Orion (left) trying to engage Midnight's Son (right) in a play session.  Midnight's body language shows he's a bit uncertain.

So, since I last wrote I have serviced both vehicles.  I switched out the dog truck's winter tires for those with unstudded summer tread, and fetched home a 600 lb load of dog food.  That's enough to get by for several weeks.  While picking up the kibble from Brent Sass I was able to visit with his magnificent famous leader Silver.  You may recall that Silver, running in a single leader position, led BOTH Brent's and Hans Gatt's teams over American Summit in brutally foul weather during this year's Yukon Quest.  He's a bona-fide hero and a magnificent animal to meet and interact with.

A friend of mine is planning to breed a bitch to Silver, and if there are surplus females in the litter he has offered me a puppy.  Silver has earned a reputation for fathering pups that are true in 'head' and conformation, so if I get the opportunity I will be honored to bring in a bitch from that breeding.  My friend wouldn't even think of breeding a second rate dog, so any offspring from that union are likely to be truly awesome sled dogs.

I've put my comfortable perch overlooking the kennel together, serviced my little motorized roller skate car, and did a fair amount of necessary shopping today.  I really needed to buy some clothing that actually fits without falling off of my body.  I found a couple of decent looking shirts, a pair of jeans and some sweat pants that I'm wearing now.

I've renewed my auto insurance policy, fetched the mail and visited with Aily Zirkle and her sister, Kaz at the post officer.  I've ordered the materials I need to construct two new pens in the yard, and ordered a truck load of fill dirt to use filling in some of the holes the dogs insist on digging.  The pens should be ready for me to pick up when I return home from work for my next R&R, and the fill dirst should be delivered and waiting for me when I get home.

Oh, I even managed to fit in a drive out to the hot springs for a good, long soak in between all that other stuff.  Work crews are refurbishing the big chlorinated swimming pool, but the wonderful little rock pool is still open for use.

A pair of ducks heading north to their breeding ground just flew a complete circle around the kennel before heading onward.  That seems rather unusual, and was a fun thing to observe.  There are a variety of song birds vocalizing at the moment, perhaps because the rain has stopped and they feel good about it, but more likely because they are horny, and it's time to mate.

All in all, I have to proclaim that life is good at Stardancer headquarters tonight.  The dogs are fed and happy, I'm fed and happy, and all seems right in our little part of the world.