From a Winter Wonderland to an icy mess, that is what happened at the first of the week. We received a full day of rain that virtually eliminated the nice snow covered trails. Monday night, the temperatures fell below freezing causing the trails to be icy and very hard packed. This week, we got little snow and the temperatures remained below freezing.
In order to prevent injuries to the dogs, especially shoulder, we made the decision to not run the dogs until the conditions improved. 
On Wednesday, we received our seasons supply of dog booties from Mountain Ridge Sled Dog Supplies. Now, we can protect the dogs feet from the abrasions of the rough/icy trails. 
Tonight, the forecast is for warmer temperatures, snow flurries and then rain on Sunday. With the snow and warmer temperatures, the trails should soften up so we can take the dogs out for a run.  The conditions will not be perfect, but it will be safe enough to run as long as we keep the speed down. 
Every year, we have these conditions and we have to temper our desire to run in order to prevent possible season ending injuries to the dogs.
When it comes to the welfare of my team mates, I take a very conservative approach. 
The good snow conditions will return!
THINK SNOW!!!
Until next week......

It was a wild week here with fresh snow and running dogs.
We had snow almost snow every day this week adding up to an accumulation of 12". Making Lac Charland a Winter Wonderland.
It was great fun for the dogs to be running on snow and for us to get out the snow machines and put away the ATV's for the Winter.
As seen in the video above, the trails were very scenic!
We got in another week of four days of training three teams/day. 
The Open Team ran the 8 mile trail twice and the 4.5 mile twice as well. They ran the 8 mile trail two days in a row.
 The 8 dog team ran the 8 mile trail once this week for their first time this year. We also ran Yoda and Yaluk at lead this week for their first time. Yaluk doing the 8 mile run.
 Both dogs show super potential to be future Leaders.
So far this season, we have introduced Tepeu, Merry, Sam, Yoda and Yaluk to the lead position.
Cecile and Taisa went Skijoring with Cosmos, Sophie, Tanya and Sam this week and the dogs really enjoyed their outings. Sophie, Tanya and Sam are all new to skijoring. Cosmos was trained last year to Skijore  by Cecile.
With the temperatures falling to -19 Celsius Friday Night, the dogs all received fresh new straw for a nice comfortable warm bed. The dogs go absolutely crazy when we bring out the new straw.
On Sunday, we are going to pick up 60 blocs of meat of 60 Lbs each for the dogs. That should last for about two months feedings.
The dogs will also consume 8/20 kg bags of dry food for the same period.
Until next week........

Yes, the start of the week was perfect with some nice snowy trails for training. 
The dogs, Handlers and Musher enjoyed getting back on snow covered trails.
We got in two beautiful days of running (3 teams/day) and then Wednesday the rain came along with below freezing temperatures that same night. The result, icy, rough trails and a halt to the training until we get new snow. 
We are expected to have some snow overnight and then snow every day through to Wednesday. Hopefully the forecast is correct and we can return  to training on Sunday. 
The time off was actually beneficial for the dogs giving them time to rest and relax. The dogs performed great earlier in the week and we have now started to do some 8 mile runs. The dogs are in great shape and showed no fatigue after the longer runs.
Here are is another photo from the past!
Until next week.......

It was another great week for training the dogs, getting in four days of training with three teams per day.
The temperatures were a little cooler and we even received a few inches of snow here overnight. 
The dogs are performing well and the challenges we had with a few dogs has all been worked and they are now running well.
We also experimented again this week with young, new leaders and both Tepeu and Hurit did a good job. Sophie is continuing to make progress at lead and is more comfortable in the Lead position.
Work around the kennel and the chalet is continuing and is just about complete We even made a new dog house for Tepeu ( which she has decided not to go in). 
While we were cleaning, we found some old photos from the early days of my mushing adventures. I will include them over the next few weeks.
Until next week......  

Another busy week here at Miortuk with training, cleaning and preparing for Winter.
We were able to get in another four days training with three teams per day. The Open Team is looking good along with a revised 8 Dog Team. We went back to a 4 Dog Team to give more work to some young dogs.
Yoda and Tepeu have been moved up to the Point position on Cecile's Team to give them more experience at the front of the team to prepare them for running at Lead in the future.
Both Taisa and Cecile has been working with some of the dogs with running and bikejoring.
Last weekend, we burned all the old dog houses and old scrap wood along with some old chairs. While we were burning the wood my friend and neighbor came and joined us enjoying a few brews as we sat by the fire on a wet rainy afternoon. Even in the rain, life is pretty good here in the Northern Forest as we make the best of what nature has to offer.
Cecile made and completed her Team Training Line Up Board for listing the teams to be run for the day. Taisa did the lettering of the dogs names. 
Thank you Cecile and Taisa for your great work. 
Cecile has also been busy painting the basement floor and storage shelves she has made. 
Taisa has been continuing to work on cleaning and making Pumpkin Cookies. 
They have also had plenty of free time to spend with the dogs in the kennel.
This week, we went and got twenty four bales of straw for dog bedding for the colder weather.
Until next week.......