Gratitude - leaders!!!!

I have to express my utter gratitude for the gifts from the universe in the shape of wonderful LEAD DOGS.  From the beginning there was Nikka, who as a puppy was aided by some older lead dogs we adopted.  She had the right stuff from the get go. We adopted Ebony, a 9 year old alaskan sweetheart.  She was professional and hard working and cute as a button.  We adopted Boomer, another older dog with tons of experience.   He brought heart and soul and a debonair attitude.  Nikka learned from these guys and then helped train Rainy.  Rainy, a true leader and all you could ever want, quickly learned from Nikka but then needed a faster dog to pair with her.  The universe was looking out for me...  Blanche fell into our laps.  Another 9 year old dog.  Blanche and Rainy were a pretty pair, fast and perfect.  Nikka trained several dogs to run with her, starting with her handsome brother Siepa.  Then later her good friend Kubota.  Nikka and Kubota are the lead pair I can count on for tricky situations, new trails, and constant great behavior.  I'd hate to be without them, but Nikka is getting on in age and starting to show she will need to retire sometime soon.
Blanche retired and was replaced by little Twinkle.  Twinkle and Rainy were a great pair, Twinkle brought a hard driving attitude and these two were utterly dependable and fast.  Rainy has retired back into team and several dogs have been tried up front with Twinkle.  Finally, a puppy has stepped up: Bodhi.  He is Rainy's son.  He has the trail ethic we needed, and his attitude to get down the trail is phenomenal.  He is smart and Twinkle is teaching him the ropes.  They have great chemistry together, and they look handsome too!

Thank you to the universe, the Great Mother, all the dogs in these guys pedigrees, and all the breeders who helped shape these leaders!

17 miles with 10 dogs....flying!

I have been training 10 dog teams for sled dog rides/tours all season and have had few snow runs without passengers.  Today I had the Twinkle/Bodhi team and we went all the way to the Franklin Falls Dam from Profile Falls in Bristol.  The dogs loped for about 10 miles continuously, and then finally settled into a trot for the rest of the run.  I saved side trails for the way back as a treat for the dogs, but some were not broken out right (drunk or crazy snow machiners).   In one set we ended up doubling back on ourselves and coming out the way we went in, which involved breaking trail in pretty deep snow.  Quiet a change from the hard packed and fast main trail.
The run was so perfect: exciting, relaxing, fun and even funny at times.  I love watching Bodhi learn.  And watching Twinkle get her mojo back!  She really likes running lead with Bodhi.
The whole team was:
Twinkle & Bodhi
Pema &  Bridget (eventually put Pema in wheel bcs she was ruining our perfect GEE over)
Java & Turbo
Tula & Hakka
Rainy & Smudge (Rainy went up and took Pema's place)

Tomorrow I am taking the Kubota/Nikka team out.  Not sure where I will go.  Maybe explore the Bridgewater trail conditions?

14 sled dog tours in 4 days....tails wagging and all dogs cuddled up

Starting with breaking trail on Friday with Katie, a family of four on Saturday and then busy days up at the hotel with Tom my teams did 14 tours these last 4 days.  So much fun!
Today the dogs all got massages.  Lots of lazy happy tail wags and dogs paired up cuddling in dog houses.

Website Launched

We have a website!  It's a plain website, soon to be a very exciting website.  Created by BBM Designs.
www.barking-brook.com
Full launch of the website should be mid-January!

We are in the Paper!

We are in the state section of the New Hampshire Union Leader, 1/3/11!!!
Article entitled: Kennels offering Sled Dog adventures, Call of the wild  By Roger Amsden
The article has a great photo of my new sled, me, Linda Isabelle (who was helping me out that day) and two of our first customers!  Too bad I was wearing my silly hat that day.
It was a great tour day, 8 people from the Biller family came out and rode in pairs.