Although the official first day of Spring was March 20th, Winter type conditions here continue!
Yes. we had a few nice warmer days earlier in the week. However, Friday snow, sleet and freezing rain along with strong winds continued through the day into the evening. Saturday, nice and sunny with strong winds and cold temperatures.
The forecast is for cold temperatures through mid week and then warming up.
The accumulated snow from the Winter is slowly melting.
The dogs are enjoying their time off and basking in the Sun.
The daily schedule of feeding, cleaning and spending quality time with each dog is a welcomed pleasure.
For both the dogs and me!
This week, I took some time to look back at videos taken at the beginning of the season (each run here is videoed) and it is always interesting to see the progress of the dogs throughout the season.
Above is a video of the first run in October and below of one of the final runs of the season.
Great memories!
​Until next week.......
 

Although, I enjoy Winter & the snow, it is time for Spring to make its appearance! 
It has been a Winter of record amounts of snow, frigid temperatures and beautiful trails.
A great Winter for running the dogs, training new Leaders and fine tuning both the "A" & "B" Teams.
The video above is of the "B" Team on its latest run.
It, is also time for some R&R for both the dogs and me.
The dogs had a total to date, of over 350 miles on them (over 700 on me).
So, the dogs have gotten a break and I have enjoyed following the Iditarod Race across Alaska.
Last Tuesday Yoda left here with her new family from UpState Maine to enjoy new adventures.
Yoda is a very good young Leader, but will be better suited to be in a family situation and running with smaller teams.
This week, we had some nice Spring temperatures that significantly reduced the amount of accumulated snow.
However, today Winter returned with more snow and white out conditions caused by the high winds.
The weather here today seems to change every hour.
Below are some photos taken this morning.
​Until next week......... 

This week started off with another dump of snow (25-30 cm) and then nights with temperatures in -30's celsius. But, during the days the temperature is warming up to just a little below 0 and in the + range in the sun.
We got out this week for two days running both the"A" Team & the "B" Team.
I am so pleased with the performance and continued enthusiasm of all the dogs.
Even with the extreem temperatures and the running, we have been able to keep them with a good running weight.
This week Lance got to run again at Lead and you can see (in the above video) he is getting more comfortable at that position. He and Kira make a good pair at Lead and will only improve next season.
On Saturday, Manon had a her first ever run by herself with the dogs in a 4 dog team.
 She did very good and had a nice fast run on a beautiful trail.
This week, all the handlers left here to continue their adventures in Canada.
They did a great job here with the dogs and dealing with the abundance of snow this winter.
​Their help was gratefully appreciated!
Until next week......

It was a great week here at Miortuk getting in four days of running the dogs.
This week, we continued trying dogs at different positions.
Lance got his second run at Lead and did a very good job. He was a little distracted at times but kept on running and kept his pace at lead. From what I observed he will, with more experience, make a very good Leader. Running him with Kira, they make a very good pairing.
We also started running Louis & Lloyd at Wheel and they were very impressive driving hard on each run. This was the first time they ran at the wheel position.
By doing this, we gave Blue and Levi a break. Blue always runs great giving a 100%. The change of positions was very good for Levi and he was driving hard the whole time. Levi needed a change from wheel as it a pressure position. He was far more relaxed running in the Team position.
Sam is continuing to do great at Point and driving hard with renewed enthusiasm. We tried her again at Lead and she showed that she wasn't comfortable up there.
This week both Chloe and Leo ran a 4 Dog Team and did a good job.
The trail conditions here this week were ideal with a solid fast trail.
The forecast is for a heavy dump of snow today with a prediction of 20 cm plus.
Manon did a great job handling here with both Chloe & Leo getting a five day break while in Montreal.
​Until next week.......

After a long shut down, this week in two days of snow we received over 50 cm of new snow.
Mother Nature is always full of surprises!
With the new snow, we were able to get in three days of running the dogs.
They enjoyed getting back on the trails. However, due to the long layoff and the soft/deep snow, we kept the distance down to 4.5 miles on each run.
We also placed Lance at Lead with Kira for his first real run at lead leaving the kennel.
He did great!
We also tried Sam up at Point and she also performed very good.
​This is a nice time of the year to try dogs in different positions.
Thinking of next season already.
Until next week......

Through this season we have been very fortunate with the weather getting in our training runs.
However, Mother Nature caught up with us this week!
We were able to get only one day of training with both the "A" Team and "B" Team on Monday. The temperature turned warm enabling us to get in a 10.5 mile training with the "A" Team earlier in the morning. But, as the temperature increased, we were only able to get in a 7.5 mile run with the "B" Team.
Late Monday & into Tuesday, we got rain and on Tuesday night the temperatures dropped to -20 Celcius.
The result was icy trails and with no significant snowfall the balance of the week, for the safety of the dogs, training had to be suspended until we get enough snow.
Yesterday, the puppies & Flaire went back to their owner!
It was very quiet here here this morning without them.
They developed into beautiful puppies and were a lot of fun to get outside with them and see them play through the maturing stage.
Chloe did a great job with the house training of them and teaching them to do their business outside.
Both Chloe & Manon did a great job taking them out in the severe weather during the day and evening.
Until next week......

January went out like it came in with frigid temperatures and lots of snow.
However, the tough conditions didn't stop us from running dogs as we have over 300 miles of training on both the "A" Team & "B" Team.
The dogs are doing great and their spirits are high enjoying the great running conditions here.
This week, we got in another three day of speed training the big teams running two days at 7.5 miles and one day at 4.5 miles.
They enjoyed the shorter runs.
On Saturday, we got both Handlers out for their first run with a Three Dog Team on the 4.5 mile trail as seen in the videos above. 
​The conditions were perfect for a nice fast runs.
Both Chloe & Leo did a great job running the teams.
On Friday, Manon Aufauvre joined the Miortuk Team as a Handler/Trainee for the balance of the season.
Manon is from France and is here visiting Canada.
Welcome aboard Manon.
Until next week........

Weather wise, it was another crazy week with frigid temperatures and a high of plus one. We got two days of fresh new snow. We were very lucky here with the last snow storm as the areas south of us got freezing rain  and then rain. That coupled with a quick drop in temperatures turned everything into an icy mess.
Here again due to the temperatures, we only got in three days of running.
However, they were quality runs on great trails.
The "A" Team is continuing to perform fantastic and the "B" Team is finally coming together as a well performing unit. Over the last few weeks, we made some adjustments with pairing and running positions. Bergen and Olive are now making a nice pairing at Lead with Bergen being more the pace setter and Olive very comfortable with the speed she sets. ("B" Team is in the above video)
The puppies are growing quickly and are now completely weaned from Flaire and eating solid food. None too soon for Flaire as she tired of nursing the pups, especially with their sharp teeth.
My Handlers, Chloe & Leo, had some friends of theirs from Virginia, USA come here to visit for a few days and experience life here in a remote setting at Dog Mushing Kennel.
Here are also some photos of the dogs running here on Friday.
​Until next week........

It was another week of only getting in three days of running due to the frigid temperatures. Minus 30 c at nights and daily highs in the minus 20's could be  harmful on the dogs lungs.
With that being said, we had three days of running two teams. One run of 13.5 miles. one run of 7.5 and finishing on Friday with a 10.5 mile run.
Very pleased with the dogs ability and enthusiasm.
Ran Olive at Lead on the "A" Team with Kira and she proved she has the speed when running with a hard driving Leader. 
Lilly is continuing to impress running at Lead with the "A" Team.
She is shown here in the above video on the right running with Venus.
The puppies are growing and are now eating solid food and will be soon weaned from their mother Flaire. None too soon as far Flair is concerned!
The puppies had their first experience walking on snow and exploring the big world outside the chalet.
The trails here are great with a nice hard packed base and are groomed before every run.
Until next week......

This past week was what is now the new norm here with extreem temperature fluctuations and snow.
However, it was a good week running dogs getting in three days of running two teams per day. Two 10.5 mile runs and one of 7.5 miles. The Monday run was very fast with ideal trail and temperature conditions.
The video above is of the last few miles of the "A" Teams run on Monday.
Little Lilly is  continuing to impress at Lead showing strong desire, speed and enthusiasm. She has even learned the commands of Gee/Haw.
Both Chloe & Leo got to run a Two Dog Team this week and are learning quickly. The trail this week was much faster and the temperature very cold making for a fun but frigid run.
The puppies are growing fast, starting to eat solid food and very active.
We had to raise the walls on the puppy pen as they were escaping climbing over the wall. We will see how long this contains them.
​Until next week........