Where to start....
I've mastered washing dishes with half a gallon of cold to room temp water... definitely buying paper plates next time I'm at the store though. It take so long and after a full long day of work I am not in the mood to do dishes to eat.
Dogs have finally adjusted to the time change thankfully. I however am still adjusting to the time change/ sunlight vs darkness thing. Totally throws me off working at 7:30am and not seeing it get bright till 9am... so weird.
Days are long lots of work to be done for all these athletes. I was introduced to one of the dogs by Deedee and she simple said, "This is Jarvi he has finished 3 Iditarod's for me" Basically I had to remind myself I can't ask a dog for an autograph because that is amazing start to finish 3 years never being dropped. Tough dog that's for sure! But basically all of these dogs are top athletes and it is so awesome to work with them and getting to know their attitudes. I think I finally have all of the names down for all the dogs here minus the puppies those 9 will be getting their names tomorrow probably. Sorry I haven't had a chance to take a lot of photos this past week. I have been learning so much I feel like a part time butcher too. These dogs eat like kings: beef, fish, moose, turkey, and dry dog food. So we have to cut it up for snacks for mixing with water and for mixing for food. I've learned how to properly boot a dog though I need lots of practice to get better and faster at it, and how to harness and get them hooked to the sled.
So Top Left: Bad parts of fish thrown out because these dogs do not get scraps. Top Right: after cutting lamb, beef, and fish this is the "meat dust" from the saw so we freeze it then cut it up for snack for them later on. Bottom left is all the cut salmon for now. there are 3 4x4x4 foot boxed packed full of fish plus a 6 foot freezer... Bottom right: stacks of cut lamb, beef, turkey...
Lucy and Chase love it here, Lucy occasionally will follow me around
while I do chores the other day she followed me right through all the
race dogs who kept picking on her. She was definitely brave to get
through there. She also hangs out with Python he is 15 and roams free around the kennel. Chase comes up to an enclosure where I work or gets hooked up by the race dogs. I think I will hook him up to a sled soon.
They just pass out every night and it is so good to have them both by my side everyday. I <3 happy dogs :)
Lets see other awesome things so far....
Friday night is movie night, so Deedee, Mike, My friend and I all piled into their truck right after an all day ice storm and headed off the their friend Martin's house. Now she kept talking about Martin and his dogs and the whole time I'm sitting there thinking to myself, "is this the Martin that set the record for the Iditarod for 8 days?" Well you guessed it... it was that Martin.
We just hung out at his house watched a movie with a few other people, his dog handlers which one is also from Wisco! and a few other friends. I'm in awe of his kennel and the fact we are all just causally hanging out.
So as most of you know I wanted to go to vet school and focus on sled dogs. So through out college I did a lot of research and followed the top 2 vets that researched sled dogs. Well guess what names Deedee mentioned... she said oh you'll have to meet our friend Mike Davis. He is the reason I applied to Oklahoma state for vet school. Deedee showed me where Dr. Davis does his research at Martin's kennel and told me she'll bring me over to help when he gets up here this season. WOW... that is just one example.... I love dogs, but I love science also and I love to learn more about the physiology of sled dogs.
Then we got into wildlife around here. I guess this area is one of few where grizzly bears and black bears share habitats. Awesome, not so much but at least they are hibernating now, I hope. This is also the area where moose migrate to for the winter from the mountains. Again, awesome, if you do not know moose are HUGE and very dangerous.... I guess last year they had to kill a few because they walked right through all the dogs and started kicking them... I'm not quite sure what I will do when I walk up on a moose one day probably late at night just making the hike to the bathroom....
There are also wolves that start to hang out by the edge of some trails. Once people start feeding dog teams on the trail I guess that draws in the Wolves.
Last but not least, Sunday woke up early just to get morning chores done before my friend and I hit up the bar for the Packer game!!! Felt weird going to a bar at 9am, but then again just felt like being back in Wisco ;) I finally meet some townies, or Willowbillies as some of them are called. I've also seen quite a few moron houses now. Moron house= start with very simple shack (kinda what I'm living in) then each summer people add more on and more on and more on.... get it... haha yeah the houses look pretty goofy to in some cases.
So after the Packer game, at least they didn't loose... I got to help give the puppies their vaccines, and took out Dartini's stitches from his surgery. Felt so good to have Deedee's confidence in me to do it on my own!
So far I love it here, hard work every day, but absolutely love taking care of these spoiled rotten dogs :)
Again thank you everyone for your support makes it so much easier to be so far away knowing all the love and support I have behind me.
Packer game in Alaska... felt like home :)
 |
| Meet Dratini, yes like Pokemon, I took his stitches out. He is retired and will be a house dog now. |
 |
| I don't know what to call this, but before a sunrise and when the moon is still fading away. |
 |
| Alaska Sunrise.... |
|
|
This is one wheel of dogs, this is the game liter.
Left to right: Clue, (Mom) Taku, Checkers, Solitare
not seen: Twister, Scrabble, Domino, and Dory (she is from the Finding Nemo liter)
