Today we went farther than we've gone ATV training before. We ran down to Swanson's Orchard. Somewhere between 5.5-6 miles total. I know what you're thinking...geez, that's not far. The drivers around here are a bit crazy and fast. There aren't many options around here that don't require at least a few road miles first. This season I'm more comfortable running on the roads. I have trained the team to reliably run on the right side of the road though I'm still not excited about roads. The place I'd really like to run is only 2 miles from our house BUT includes the worst section of road around. A couple of blind hills driven too fast and reckless by at least half the motorists around here. I need to be sure my team is 100% dialed to run that (including no deer chasing or dog distractions).
Here we are on the return from the new dog leg we threw in today.
Tank and Paluk in lead.
Nice tight lines! Good dogs!
Tank is a rather tall boy. I got him a new harness from Howling Dog Alaska. It was great! The last season I watched as his back legs were forced downward when he ran in the X-back harness. He was unable to fully utilize his stride. I was researching what harness to get him (Seavey, Weight pull, etc) when another musher friend at Sixth Day Sled Dogs suggested Howling Dog Alaska's Ultra Wheel Dog Harness. She got the same for Tank's brother Thor and he'd been doing great in it. Today was our first run with the new harness and it was GREAT to watch his back legs being able to run freely and his backend not forced downward by the pull of the tug line. Thanks Annalisa for the suggestion!
And no post is sufficient these days without the following pictures
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