Skijoring afternoon

Yesterday I got out skijoring with:

Gracie/Lucy - crazy fast! When they figured out they could FLY down the icy side roads with me semi-outta control, I swear they went even faster. They even got to flirt with "Max" (neighbor across road's dog) at the beginning of the short run. They're little tarts. I had to drag them away, then as we attempted to go, back he was with his nose up their butts. Finally we were able to stifle his advances and continue down the trail. These 2 did really well together and both worked hard. They sort of complimented each other and pulled together. Good teamwork!

Octane/Ripper - super combo. We went out to the lake to check the trail. Looked good! Until all this snow... heh heh... We flew and I didn't have to work too hard on the way back. These guys did really well actually following the trail out on the lake. It wasn't real easy to see, but they got us to the trail markers further out with no problems. Coming back though, Ripper was interested in exploring new trails... but he got back on track once I figured out what he was up to. This is great leader training. The dogs really benefit from the one-on-one thing and the lack of stress while skijoring.

Kate/Rupert - Rupert can be annoying as hell when you are on skis and getting ready behind him. He does not know how to wait or be quiet!! He has this incessant piercing whine that has driven others mad (I'm sure that's why his last owner was eager to part with him!). So he yanked me along while I attempted to put my skis on, while we crossed the road (where I try to slow a bit because of the GRAVEL!!!), and out on the lake when I tried to turn him around. But he pulled like a demon!! Kate is mellower and could care less how much noise he's making. I did wipe out coming back on that gravel crossing as there is a bit of a lip to bounce over and we went at it a bit too fast. The powdery snow seemed like a good place to take a break anyways.

My skis and poles: