Fall Training

How can they still be so fresh? After 90 minutes of dragging the ATV and me through mud, grass, stumps, rocks and puddles so deep I have to lift my feet up to stay dry, I can’t get them to rest for more than a moment. With bungee cords, I can lock both the front and back brakes while I jump off to clear logs off the trail. But when they decide to go again, all eighteen of them, the locked wheels barely slow them down. At least they leave good skid tracks in the leaves! That makes for a good laugh when we train the other team. This time, the ATV hit a small tree and stopped long enough for me to catch up before pushing the tree over. This is our seventeenth run of the year.

Ruby at the ready

The frost was thick this morning as we ran down the trail. The ice on the puddles was about a half inch thick and they were breaking through as they went. The dogs that don’t like water are able to jump around the puddles and look pretty silly when the right hand dog goes right and the left had dog of the pair goes left and they both end up with wet paws. After a couple puddles, they go right through them and forget all about not liking water. The puddles are great for giving them some water to drink.

Howling, barking and carrying on is at its height during fall training. By mid-winter, they are more focused and save their energy for the trail. But now, they are just nuts! It is infectious and fun for us, too. If they didn’t want to go so bad, I might sleep in.

muddy-faced Sassy