First Time Skijoring

I was so nervous to try this out! If Denali wasn't doing well it would have been no problem to let her off leash, but Kaytu can't be off yet. Her recall has come a long way in the the 2 and 1/2 months we've had her but it's nowhere near good enough to stand up against the great outdoors.

 

A lot of things were concerning me. Kaytu took to biking really well but has only done that once and was pretty distracted. She only met her friend snow last night but that was like a fish to water so I wasn't too concerned about that being a factor. I haven't been cross country skiing since I was 12. I wasn't expecting disaster, but it wouldn't have surprised me if it was a struggle.

I left her head collar on just in case things weren't going well so I could swap from harness to that if needed. However, she was perfect! Even Denali was really pulling. If we lived in Colorado I'd certainly get a skijoring belt but visiting family for the holidays once a year isn't enough for me to justify buying one. Hub was fine with Nali, but Kay pulled hard the entire time and despite swapping hands now and then I was certainly feeling it by the end. We all had a blast!

Denali is wearing the Urban Trail adjustable harness from Apline Outfitters and Kaytu has an X-Back Sledding Harness from Black Ice Dog Sledding Equipment. Both harnesses work great. The X-back fits properly when the dog is pulling, and as Nali doesn't consistently pull the Urban Trail style harness works better for her.

I'm having trouble getting the videos to upload here, so I'll link to Youtube. First is Kaytu running with me, then Denali with hub, next is Denali being impatient and excited, and last is both dogs pulling me.

Kaytu

Denali

Denali is excited!

Kaytu & Denali together

Two is Better Than One

In August of 2008 my husband and I had been married for 2 months and were living in Texas. My work schedule was slow and I really wanted a pet. Knowing it wasn't a good time for a dog, we decided on a cat. I found a great cage-free shelter, The Cattery, and we set up a time to go in and meet some kitties. There were a couple adult cats that we met and really liked but we were more interested in the kittens. We entered the kitten room and it was instant cuteness overload for me. I don't think I said anything other than "awww!" and other girly noises for 20 minutes.

I saw one of the kittens that had caught my eye on the website, Stuey. A brown tabby with white markings. His profile said he "loved to purr and make biscuits."  He meowed at me and I picked him up. He immediately started purring as I held him against my chest. He stole my heart in that moment.

Not one to choose a pet based solely on cuteness I started handling Stuey. I wanted a cat that was tolerant, friendly, sweet, and easy going. He didn't protest at all as I held him on his back, gently tugged on his ears, opened his mouth a little, pressed his paws to have his claws extend, this kitty was letting me do anything! Not only that, he was purring the entire time. I put him down so I could watch him play and see how he interacted and behaved on his own. He was definitely a talker, constantly vocalizing. I love talkative cats so he was getting bonus points.

Meanwhile, hub was playing with a little black kitten named Moe. Moe was bouncing around, batting at toys, and rubbing all over hub. Now we were in trouble. I loved Stuey. He was seemingly the perfect cat for what I wanted. Talkative, social, and tolerant. Moe had won over hub. Both kittens were 12-14 weeks old. We started discussing the predicament and the staff member with us chimed in. They were having a two-for-one sale, and having two cats is in many ways better than one. They play together, keep each other company, and snuggle. Snuggling kittens is one of the cutest things that has ever existed. We decided that we wanted both. Hub and I felt it was important to sleep on it though so the shelter was going to hold both kitties for us over the weekend. If we didn't show up right when they opened, the kitties would no longer be on hold for us.

The morning after the weekend came and we went to pick the kitties up. We showed up before they opened to make sure we got them. Stuey was ready to go but Moe had a common fungal infection, ringworm. After a quick conversation we determined to was easy to handle. We filled out the paper work, renamed the cats from Stuey to Zebulon and from Moe to Everest, and brought them home. Again I reverted to making nothing but girly noises and "awww!" sounds. Kitties adopted!

Intro

Hello there! This blog will be a place for me to share my experiences and my knowledge about dogs. This will include anecdotes of daily living, topics of training, health, nutrition and feeding, along with some how-to guides and tutorials. There may be product reviews mixed in too along with anything else I feel is relevant or important. There will be a side of cat loving as well.

Our current animal occupants include two dogs and two cats. The dogs, Denali and Kaytu, are both female Siberian huskies born in February of 2010. The cats are of unknown breeds though it is suspected Everest is part Siamese and Zebulon is mostly dog. They were born April of 2008. At some point I will talk about their pasts and how I came to own them.

Denali

Kaytu, her previous name was Hazel

Everest

Zebulon