And now, for something completely different

My newest *recruits* from the Second Chance League - 6 month old brother/sister combo:

Ivy:

This little female is a total sweetheart! She is an excitable pup, but immediately relaxes and drops her head into you when getting a pet. She does these deep, long sighs while being cuddled. She's pretty smart and seems to analyse new situations and people. She's a little cautious with new things, and is a bit (no, a lot!) more reserved than her brother. They are definitely furrier, fuzzier guys than some of mine, and they really stand out in the yard. The *Panda Bears* as some friends have been calling them...

Sage:

This guy is VERY excitable and goes non-stop!! I'm hoping someday he'll slow down a bit and start to think a bit, but he's young and very energetic! Actually, just recently he has shown me a sweet, calm side - even though it's for only a few seconds at a time.

These two are constantly playing when loose and really love each other's company. They whine if they get too far away from each other. Sage will zoom around the pen, and often runs into other dogs, and me a couple times so far, since he's just going all the time!! As a result, he's gotten a few *reprimands* from the other dogs - nothing serious, a few obvious growls and he gets the point. The best teachers are other dogs.

Their first run with me:

These guys had been out only a few times before I got them. The SCL folks gave them a try and said they were a blast to run and noted that they learned fast. I have been waiting for all this ice to melt to take them out, as running pups on ice can be a disaster. If they have one bad experience early on, it *can* affect them in the future. I remember training some of Franks' young guys and we went out onto the river with a pup who slipped or something. Well, he was TERRIFIED of ice for the rest of that season. Here I was thinking, "oh great, I ruined the dog" - Fast forward 4 years, and that dog is his main Quest leader, especially on GLARE ICE!! They can be pretty resilient, but not always. It's not worth risking it.

Anyways, these new guys are so mellow about everything and nothing seems to faze them so I thought I'd take them out on the side roads and see how they do. Then I'd decide if we hit the icier ditches.

It was a bit of a disaster even before we started the run though! Nothing to do with the pups, more due to Ripper and his stubborn streak. He stole a gigantic piece of fish and started running around the cabin trying to gobble it up before I caught him. I started chasing and calling after him, and the more I yelled and chased, the faster he ran! After we did about 6 laps around the cabin (I wasn't going to give up!), with me slipping on ice, slush and fish chunks - that stubborn &*&#!^ finally relented and dropped the fish. Or more likely - he probably accidentally dropped it and I was hot on his tail so he didn't come back for it. He finally came to me after realizing I wasn't going to kill him, and we got ready to run - although we were both pretty tired from our game of chase...

Sage & Kate ready to go.

Ivy & Harris in behind. What a calm pup she is!


Off we go, down the driveway. They look pretty good.


Breaktime. They look pretty happy. Speaking of happy, Jack & Harris in behind look freakishly happy... or insane.


Ivy's favourite trick seemed to be jumping on her brother's back! She's pretty good at untangling herself though. Oh, the joy of running pups! It's been a few years for me, so it's pretty exciting having these little silly bundles of energy around. It can be quite trying on your patience since pups can get tangled every few seconds! Heck, sometimes they rarely face the right way. Sage was turning around backwards at the beginning, but man - once we got going, he instinctively knew to face forward and pull! The pulling instinct in huskies is quite amazing. And the key is to make sure they are having fun no matter what. It's safe to say they definitely had fun on this run!



Some of that icy section. It actually was quite soft and not too slippery, which was good. I was able to take it nice and slow and no one lost their footing. The pups didn't balk at anything on this run.

They did great on this run. We did about a 3-mile loop, and these guys went through mud holes, slush, icy sections, running beside the hwy, and without any hesitation at all. They are very adaptable little guys. A joy to run and be with! Ivy started barking and yipping, and getting impatient whenever we would stop. They'll definitely add some *spunk* to our future team.