Finally with the arrival of snow, we were able to get in four days of training two teams per day this week.
It was a fun week for the dogs running on the snow and able to open up with some great speed runs.
We also increased the mileage per run on Friday as the dogs are now well conditioned!
The ATV is now put away until next Spring and the Skidoo's are now in operation.
The trails here are now well groomed with a nice snow base.
The lake is now frozen across and with the cold weather will start to increase its thickness.
It is now a Winter Wonderland here at Miortuk.
​Until next week.........

What a difference a few days can make!
From warm, rainy weather to freezing temperatures and now snow.
It started snowing here on Thursday and basically hasn't stopped as of today.
This is the earliest that the Skido has been used!!
The lake has even started to freeze.
The dogs are enjoying the snowy trails and relaxing in their new straw beds in their houses.
We got in three days of running this week and the dogs are in great condition and are increasing their speed.
Soon, we will be increasing the mileage on their runs.
Yesterday, we put Lance up at lead on the homeward bound part of the run.
He had a little experience with lead at the end of last season.
This was the first time this season and he did a very good job running with Pearl.
He will be getting regular runs at lead to further develop his leadership skills.
​Until next week......

This was a week of climatic challenges here at Miortuk!
Wednesday, we had to out to Rawdon & Joliette for some scheduled appointments and supplies. We left here at 9.30 am and returned home at 9 pm.
A very long day partially extended by a one hour trip back travelling 28 km on the Manuwan Road (dirt road). It was a hellish trip with slippery, loose sand, potholes and large rock obstacles! The terrible condition of this road has caused serious damage to the truck over the last several years.
Every year the government promises to fix the road and still nothing has happened.
The trip home was also aggravated by heavy rain the ended up lasting for two days. Along with the rain, we had some gail force winds (in parts of Quebec hitting wind speed of 100+km/hr) and then snow.
The weather caused electrical power outages through Quebec leaving 900,000 homes in the dark!
Luckily for us, the power was only out for 7 hours.
Many places in Montreal and surrounding areas were without power for over 24 hours. Some areas with be without Hydro until Monday!
With heavy rains the lake here is at Spring levels and some areas in Quebec are experiencing flooding.
Here, like many places in the province, trees were blown down.
Yesterday, we spent part of the day cutting trees to remove them from out training trail.
We were lucky here with no damage to the kennel, all the dogs are okay and no damage to the chalet or garage.
Due to all that is described above, we were only able to get in one day of running the dogs.
It was another great run by both teams.
It is not the challenges in life that creates the stress, it is how you manage them!
Until next week........

It was a very busy week here!
Put a new metal roof on the chalet, ran the dogs, Hydro outage and lots of rain.
The chalet needed a new roof, so we went to a new metal roof that will also help with the snow for this Winter and Winters to come. With the new roof, we will not need to shovel off the snow!
We got the dogs out three days this week and they are progressing with their Conditioning/Training Program increasing their speed and stamina.
They are looking great and Pearl is turning into a super Leader.
We are always training new leaders here at Miortuk.
The weather this past week was good for training until Saturday when we received an all day rain. We received so much rain that the lake rose to Spring levels.
Friday night the Hydroelectric Power went off 9pm for a scheduled maintenance update for 8 hours that ended up in a total of 19 hours without electricity. 
A we are on Satellite for both TV and Internet, we were off the grid until Monday morning.
Life's challenges here in the forest!
​Zoe has the last word to sign off!
​Until next week.......

Yes, this is a great time of the year to run dogs.
Cold nights and warm sunny days.
The dogs are all doing great with their conditioning/ training program.
This week, we slowly increased the speed on the runs.
Also at the end of this week, we ran two days consecutively for the first time this season. 
Up to then, we were running on a schedule of one day run and then one day rest.
The dogs handled the two days running without any problem or fatigue.
One of the dogs in the second team (Pippin) was not pulling well as compared to last Winter.
After some analysis, it was decided the the Fall Training Harness was too tight and restricting his breathing. So, we went to the Winter Harness that fits differently allowing no restriction to the rib cage.
​Problem fixed and he is running much better now.
Last week Suvi Pirinen, from Finland, arrived on the 20th of October to spend the season here learning about Sled Dogs and our way of training/conditioning here at Miortuk. 
Welcome to the Miortuk Team Suvi!
​Until next week.......

It was a busy week here at Miortuk with the arrival of Zoe Knight from France, major shopping trip for human supplies and 30 x 40 lb blocs of meat for the dogs.
We had some great training/conditioning runs with the dogs.
As seen above, they are eager and ready to go!
This was Lila Pratt's last week here visiting from France.
It is going to be difficult seeing Lila leave for home.
However, besides running dogs, her and Zoe were able to get out hiking, running, canoeing and kayaking as well as seeing some of the critters living here in the forest (Red Fox, Partridge, Grey Jays, Blue Jays and Loon).
The temperatures have been great with sub zero nights and nice warm afternoons.
​Until next week.......

September 30th,2019: the start of a new season of running here at Miortuk.
The FUN now begins!
The dogs are now happy and enthusiastic to finally get running. 
Lila Pratt arrived Sunday from France to visit here for two weeks.
It is great to see Lila again and catch up on everything going on with her and her dogs.
Five years ago Lila came here to get a dog (Katie) from Miortuk to start her own kennel.
Lila bred Katie and she produced 9 puppies of which Lila kept 4.
Lila was very successful last year racing in France finishing in the top five in the 4 dog class.
Lila is also a great Artist, one of her works can be sen above.
​Merci, Lila for the beautiful gift!
On the last day of September we ran two teams,one of 10 dogs and one of 8 dogs.
Until next week.......

Life is what you make of it!
Here at Miortuk, I have had the privilege to help others fulfill their dreams of the simple life of living in the forest with Sled Dogs and enjoying their adventures.
At the bottom of this weeks Blog is an example of one persons dream coming to realisation!
Please take a moment to watch.
The seasons here are changing and all the signs of Fall are taking place.
The Humming Birds have departed, the Canada Geese are migrating south, the Grey Jays have returned,the trees seeds for next year are being distributed by the wind, the trees are changing colors, the nights are getting cooler and the dogs are getting excited anticipating another season of running.
The Fireweed are turning to silk forecasting the first snow fall within six weeks.
It is a beautiful time here in the Northern Forest!
Here is Julia's dream!
https://youtu.be/CTpJJi8A0TA
Until next week.......

Although Max passed away a few years ago, I wanted to pay tribute to him here this week.
Max ( brown dog with steal blue eyes) came to here  when was 5 years old from Rosaire Perron, an Eddy Streeper Breeding.
Max was a high spirited, durable and steady Leader. He was always excited to run and always gave 100% effort.
Max was the first real sprint lead dog that I had and it was due to him that I got the confidence to run in Open Class Sprint Races.
With the help of Max, I was able to train more younger leaders here at Miortuk.
Max  may be gone, but he is not forgotten!
​We will run again.
​Until next week........