| Posted on September 21, 2010 at 9:29 PM |  comments (0) |
Greetings to all and hope this day finds you well. With fall only being officially a few weeks off, Shelby and my fosters, Lexie and Jasmine traveled with me on our yearly trip to Michigan for some training. This year we tackled pull training with much success. The girls had a blast pulling me on the bike and even wore out a set of bike brakes so eager were they.
Shelby ran lead dog almost the entire week and has been walking around like she is top dog of all since our return. She did quite well at her job and even managed to show the new kid on the block, Lexie, which direction to pull and what to do. Quite a surprising development from the girl who used to only work when it was convenient for her. The trip seems to have put a positive spin on her outlook towards her new job. When on picket she could be found napping, but she spent more time riding along in her crate to the lake and to the grocery store. Each morning we went for a run and then took a break before tackling the hiking trail. Shelby was in husky heaven with the cooler temps and the higher level of activity.
Of them all, Jasmine had the best time since she's the natural of the group and pulling and running are in her top favorite things to do. When not running, she was picking fights with Lexie (sigh...those two are worse than sisters the way they go at it) or taking long naps on the picket line and relaxing. Jasmine spent her morning and evening times pulling like a champ and often out pulled the other members of her pack. She truly is amazing in harness and I was happy to have loan of her while she waits for her forever home.
Lexie seems to have gained more confidence traveling and sleeping with the pack and learning to work as a team...her disposition and willingness to be close to the dogs has changed for the better. This week I found her even trying to play with Sarge, so perhaps with a little work her dog aggression can be turned into a more positive outlet like sledding and running with the team.
Clea being queenly and all spent most of her time on picket surveying her kingdom and enjoyed daily morning hikes and evening visits to the lake for a round of sniffing. The afternoons found her lounging on her drop line, passed out to the world. Traveling did seem to stress her somewhat, so this may be her last year accompanying us. Outward appearances gave the impression she was doing well with it all until it came potty time and that showed another story indeed. Traveling does not agree with internally any more, but she was at least given one last trip to her favorite spots in Michigan.
Sarge spent the week between being jealous of the girls being given a job or lounging on the picket line in the shade. Mornings after a run with the girls were filled with a game of fetch and a mile or more hike on flexi-leash. The evenings before the run he was allowed off lead (he has one of the best recalls and never travels far from camp) to sniff and enjoy some one on one time with the humans and even practiced some obedience training and targeting.
As for the humans in the group, we enjoyed much time at the lake walking along the shores and spent time learning more about the area. Morning and evening hikes were just the thing to start and end the day and the views were spectacular. Speaking for myself, a year seems a long way off before we can go again. I truly enjoy our yearly vacation/travel trip to Michigan and look forward to its approach. 
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