Free running: an integral part of training

Dogs are social animals and, like any other social animal, they need time to play and blow off steam.  As the warm hues of a mild April evening close over the kennel, I throw on my boots and head outside for our daily free running session.

"I'm heading out the run the beasts!" I yell to my family as I hit the back deck.

When the dogs see me coming, they erupt into a chorus of excited yips, barks and howls. Next to dinner time, this is their favorite time of day: free run time.

I unhook the boys in front first, Miles, Perry, Tosh and Kerouac. Between the ages of 9 months and 2 years, they are the most pent up of the group and are eager to be free to run, full throttle around our "puppy paths" - the paths carved out along the perimeter of our seven acres where we run the dogs nightly. As the four wheeler roars to life, the boys are already zooming off around the puppy paths, and I have shifted into second gear by the time I catch them.

Perry is turning into quite a great sled dog already

Free running plays such an important role in my training program, and I free run the dogs every day - even in the hot days of summer. It gives the dogs a chance to play, but more than that, it gives them a chance to interact with each other in a more relaxed atmosphere, without the intensity of being hooked up on the gangline. This way they might have an opportunity to figure out where they are within the pack dynamic.

Free running also keeps the dogs in shape during the off season.  Sitting around in a kennel all summer is akin to creating doggy couch potatoes.

Finally, free running strengthens other muscles not used during pulling and running. For example, the dogs often chase each other at top speed, only to turn on a dime and dart off in the other direction. This helps keep them agile and to use all of those muscles and ligaments.

The dogs are enjoying these mild days of spring - cool enough for them to be comfortable yet warm enough for them to begin throwing their straw out of their houses.

Yeti lounges in the sunshine of a cool April day

Perry's dad, Yeti, is perfectly content lounging in the sunshine.

Freya never stops moving, even in the off season

Happy Easter from the Ranch, and as always...

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn." Hal Borland

Sometimes at night, something wells up inside of me - this spring of words: an impetus brought on, perhaps, by spring peepers peeping in surround sound phonics all around the Ranch, or perhaps from the sound of the trains rumble ching-ching-ching, ching-ching-ching, ching-ching-ching in a distance that is not so distant. Perhaps it is this warm night air in mid-March that has me up late, beer in hand, singing the blues.

For whatever reason, tonight is one of those nights.

And on this night, random thoughts flitter-flutter through my head. Like where would I be without music? Like where would I be without my beautiful daughters? But, mainly: why is it so warm? 

The mercury reached a whopping 83 degrees here in northeast Ohio. Signs of spring are everywhere.

Toads caught in the act...notice the string of (no doubt fertilized) eggs

I haven't been able to harness break anymore puppies since my last post. It's been so warm.

Don't get me wrong: I try to embrace the seasons as they come. But where did spring go?

I'm sorry, but I think spring did, in fact, skip its turn.

Is it too much to ask, Dear Spring, for you to return just for a little while? Just so I can have a few short fun runs with the dogs?

Panting from northeast Ohio, and, as always, with

"In Just spring when the world is mud-luscious ...it's spring, when the world is puddle-wonderful...."

Rain, rain, rain. 

It seems to constantly rain here on the Ranch lately. April showers and all that. But, geesh! this is getting ridiculous! The grounds surrounding the Ranch are sopping and wet. The dogs' kennels are full of water; they balance on the pallets under their houses like tight-rope-walkers, tip-toeing so as not to step a toe into the muddy abyss below.

And yet, each day, no matter what the weather, I don my Gortex bibs and parka and head out on the four wheeler to greet my pack. They are my little family. We free-run the seven acres of the Ranch together - me on the four wheeler leading the way, and sometimes eight to 10 dogs at a time.  

Afterward, we are all more Zen.

The "puppies" - now five months old - sunning themselves on the back deck. From clockwise from bottom, Thelonious, Miles, and Brubeck from the "Jazz" litter.

The dogs are good dogs, and I am proud of them. They all fit together like a well-oiled machine, and each has their role to play. Yeti, my main leader, is the clown who enjoys being harassed by the girls and being a mentor to the puppies. Ruffian and Big Brown, the sisters, are silly. Freya is a horse who gives the best hugs ever! Aspen is a wily yearling. Jack is reserved and loves to roam. Kerouac is the big brother for the puppies. Tak is shy and demure. Gwennie loves the boys. Lucy is the eternal puppy. Foxy is the matriarch.

The list goes on and on.

Where would I be without my pack?

When the day has been long and difficult, they ground me. They are real and don't hide how they feel - about each other, or me. "Pretend" is not in their vocabulary. 

So, while we all try to stay dry, we enjoy each other. And we enjoy the dawn of another spring.

Enjoy your spring - and stay dry!

 

Shooting to stay alive

Sometimes, like a compulsion, my trigger finger itches.

Head cocked, left eye squinting, I cradle my lens with my left hand and the body of the Canon with my right. Then, I take aim and shoot.

Unlike other triggers, the trigger of this gun – my Canon – gives life, not only to my subjects, but to me as well, for sometimes it feels as though I must shoot to stay alive.

Sophie and I discovered an old, abandoned Chevy van near the Ranch recently. This eye-shaped window became a nice frame for a photo

There should be more time now that dog season is over. One would think, anyway. But spring is the time we put on our cowhide gloves and get to work cleaning up what winter left behind. Days slip away in the busy hum that is spring. Spring clean up astounds me every year. Snow that's disappeared quickly reveals all the things that were hiding for the last few months. I putt around on our seven acres on the four wheeler dragging the wagon behind picking up fallen branches, blown trash and other debris.


But spring is also time for birth and life. 

Jezebel, the Golden Campine chick

Spring babies and new friends at the Ranch

Spring is the time to ride herd.

Spring is the time to pull out the stops on all the new projects.

Spring also seemed like a perfect time to start investing in next dog season! What better way than with a new truck!

My new truck: a 2008 Nissan Titan 5.6L V8 4x4. This baby should get me through the snow in comfort next season!

Enjoy the seasons as they evolve. Maybe I shoot photos to remember how fortunate I am, and what awesome beauty there is in this world.

Quiet

"...just learn to be quiet, still and solitary./And the world will freely offer itself to you unmasked./It has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."

Every spring, when the world is coming alive after a long winter, somehow I grow quiet. I become restless for movement, not speech. I long to retreat into each new blade of grass, fold over into each rolling wave on the lake. I am intolerant of too much social interaction at this time more than any other.

Hence, my absence from this blog - and practically all things that involve sitting at a computer. I have been busy breathing in life: I've planted three trays of seedlings so far, and they are sprouting in all their new green glory: tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, peppers, herbs - all a future bounty. Planting seeds is like planting hope. And the dogs are lapping up sunshine as well as water.

Instead of the world, I'll take a puppy rolling in ecstasy at my feet!


Crouching tiger, hidden Lucy

I've been spending lots of time on puppy runs with the dogs.


“There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.” J.R.R. Tolkien

The puppies are learning so much. I love watching them blossom.


Lucy and her brother, Kerouac in all their orneriness

Lucy is turning into a fearless little husky. She bounds around every corner, excited for every adventure.



Then as puppies are wont to do, they flop down, aching for sleep.


Kerouac decided the laundry basket was a good place to nap!

Here's a video I made of the puppies, along with a puppy reunion we had with Bolt, who is now called Tempest.

Enjoy spring!

"In Just spring when the world is mud-luscious and puddle wonderful" e.e. cummings

Transition is difficult for me, I admit it.

Transition from sleeping to waking and visa versa. My body resists the transitions from consciousness to semi-consciousness.

I am probably the only person alive who finds spring unsettling. Transition from winter to spring has always been a challenge.

So, today was particularly confusing. Spring was positively seeping around every corner, and yet, it was the start of the Iditarod today.

I try to embrace every season. Really, I do. Except spring. I bristle.

Spring is the messiest of seasons. It's a sloppy toddler with enormous feet who spreads mud everywhere. Spring is wet. And dank. It smells bad - all that wet and dankness.

Today I ventured for a three mile hike with Gwennie in the puddle-wonderful thicket of spring. This was her first solo outing with just me since the puppies were born. It was gorgeous and obnoxious: a blinding sun filled the sky. There was still a good snow base in the woods, but evidence of spring thaw was every where in the bubbles below the frozen pond.

Spring gurgles to the surface, gasping for air like it nearly drowned. Calling attention to itself. Such drama. Spring. Even the name itself - "Spring" - is an obnoxiously dramatic onomatopoeia.

But I suppose spring will spring whether I like it or not, so I try to embrace it.

What better way to embrace it than by having a puppy reunion in the snow!


Lucy frolics in the snow with her siblings


Bolt, 9 weeks


Amanda and Bolt, 9 weeks

Kerouac and Lucy got to frolic with their sibling, Bolt, who is near us. Her other siblings are now far away in Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa. But we are so happy Bolt is still nearby at our friend Amanda's small "farm." The puppies went exploring in a major way this weekend, and discovered the fun of playing in a wood pile...


Lucy and Kerouac exploring the wood pile

And the strange delight of chickens!


Lucy boldly ventured right into the chicken coop. Bolt has been afraid of Amanda's chickens, but she figured if the runt was undaunted, she could be brave and enter too!

They played with each other, and with each other's toys...


Kerouac inside Bolt's crate with her Kong toy! Trying to look inconspicuous

And they grew tired of playing with each other and got crabby as only siblings can do.


Lucy may be small, but she's learned how to dish it out when she's had enough of being picked on!

At the end of the day, all puppies were super tired from several hours of romping together.


Lucy sleeping

Except for Bolt, who is like an Energizer bunny!


Bolt trying to sneak up on a sleeping Lucy. Go to sleep, Bolt!

Puppies weren't the only ones who became sleepy after the play date.


Byron, Amanda's husband, stuck to napping with Lilly the kitty during puppy play time

May your transitions into slumber be peaceful, puppies (and Byron)!

Spring in images

Hopefully these pictures are worth much more than a thousand words.









Brought to you by

"Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night."

Yes, it's true. Rainer Maria Rilke said it best: the green of spring is a scream.

Everything is announcing itself. Daffodils stand proudly, "look at me!" Buds seem to spring from every living plant. And dogs...well, they announce themselves too. Nature has made Big Brown announce her presence to our boys, who are starstruck and in love. So poor Big Brown has to spend time in the "heat pen."



She's been a good girl, though, so tolerant of the isolation her "time" brings. After all, we don't want puppies...yet.

We have other announcements too. The Lazy Husky Ranch is honored to announce it will be blogging for the Akron Beacon Journal, under their pet-dedicated site, Pets.ohio.com! I have developed a small group of people who follow this site and send notes to me from time to time from all over the world, which I appreciate very much. I hope by blogging about our dogs, dog sledding, and any other dog-related topic on the Beacon's page I can spread awareness about this awesome sport and share some tidbits about dog health and kennel management as well.

Thank you to Jim Arnold, Ohio.com site manager and writer for the Akron Beacon for the opportunity! Follow us at http://www.pets.ohio.com!

Duck, duck, goose....goose!

A pair of Canada geese nesting with a pair of mallards behind

Everything is paired up for spring. Canada geese squawk if I come too near them; they're not thrilled about this photo opp. You see, they're expecting. And the mallards behind them (yes, back there. They blend well, don't they?) - they're expecting too, and they take cover under the protective hyper-vigilance of the geese.

There's a lot of action on land.


Karma the cattle dog runs super fast, trying to dry off and warm up after a cold dip in the lake

People seemed to be out every where today. Motorcycles roared, bicycles buzzed on the Towpath trail in the Cuyahoga Valley. But out on the water, solitude was still attainable.


Karma and Gracie cool off in Indigo lake



As my paddle tip touched the water for the first time this year, my hips fell into a familiar, easy sway with the rhythmic splash, splash paddling, and I remembered quickly why I feel at home and at ease here. The day was not bright; it wasn't even warm. But as the hull of my kayak hit the water, I officially embraced spring's return.

The days in between

Sigh.

This happens every year at this time. Days start getting warmer. People rejoice at daylight savings time and vernal equinox. But the dogs and I mope at the rise in temperature, panting in the muddy spring thaw, dirty and bored. It gets warmer - half of this week it was in the low 70's here. Everything we've looked forward to for six months is done.

Sigh.

These are what I call the days in between: too hot to run dogs, but still too cool to drag the kayak into the water.

During this time, I resume training at the gym, making the daily, regimented trek to the track, where I run in circles for over an hour around a neatly-lined lane. I chalk up over five miles. It keeps me sane. But even this is boring.

During this time, I also spend a lot of time reconvening with nature in a more relaxed way. The pace slows down.





I reconnect with my family. And I am grateful for them - realize how much I have missed them during the hectic winter season.

One look in my closet reveals how much I've missed my "professional" clothes too. My sweatshirts now have frequent flier miles, my mud boots, an "easy pass."

This week, I literally dusted off a few blazers and pairs of pumps to attend a couple important events - one in particular for the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, one of my clients. Rubbing elbows with this town's elite isn't something I typically do. Drinking chardonnay at a VIP reception, I felt out of place, but simultaneously fascinated.

At the end of the day, I'm still that sweatshirt-and-jeans kinda girl.

Tomorrow, I'll be attending my kind of soirée: running dogs in the early, crisp morning...in the mud, with my mud boots on at Jim and Lori Wellert's.

Stay tuned...and keep your tail up.