Busy Bikejoring

We have been very busy bikejoring with the dogs this season. I have been working with Eli on lining out, he gets so excited about running and just doesn't understand what he needs to be doing yet. I think as the season goes on he will calm a little and I will be able to work with him more. Carmine is getting over the fear of the bike. We had the camera but it malfunctioned so we didn't get the video of him running and passing beautifully on a training run with Stacy. I am going to continue working with him with other bikers as that is really working for him. The girls and Dubs are acting like old pros at it and I think are ready to do longer runs. I would like to try to teach Dubs to lead since he does so well biking. Previous attempts have failed, I guess you can't teach old dogs ( Dubs just turned 9) all the new tricks!

The pups, Henry and Suzie are growing, a lot! Henry is eating more than Eli right now, Suzie is a little bit fussy which we are working on correcting. It is tough to see a puppy turn away a meal and then when you put it out for someone else to eat she gets all upset. Henry is super outgoing and has been great in all the situations we put him in. I am also starting to teach them some commands when we go for our daily walks.

We are super excited for the Northern New England Sled Dog Trade Fair this Saturday in NH. I am carpooling with Stacy and we are bringing the pups. I am also going to remember a chair this year! Hugh Neff and Blake Freking are speakers this year. I am also hoping to get a chance to to see the Cool Runner that Mitch Ingerson built, it is a tread mill that holds a whole team of sled dogs! One year I would like to stay the whole weekend and compete in the dryland race. Lee and I are running in the Leaf Peepers Road Race that day though with no doggies ( weird I know!)

I need to order some parts for the ATV and soon we will be doing long runs in the cool fall mornings! We are signed up for a 30 mile race in January and we need to start getting super serious about packing on the miles with these critters! Hopefully the snow will start sticking early this year and I won't be stuck ATVing for too long. Once we are on the ATV I will get some new video and try some new ( non dog butt ) angles. Lee Registered the ATV with a club in NEK so we are going to plan a camping trip up there with the dogs. He is also planning on registering the snowmobile so we can do the same this winter. Sounds like we will be putting just as many miles on the truck as the dogs this year.

Fall Training 2010

It has begun! We have gotten some nice mornings and evenings for bikejoring and all the dogs have gotten out at least once. We like to start off with the bike to ease back into training with the dogs. It gives them some one on one attention and we can figure out what they remembered from last year. We also purchased a helmet cam this summer and Lee got some cool video with his favorite bikejor buddy "Dubs!" Dubs was our very first sled dog and is a pointer mix. He will be turning 9 in just a few weeks and LOVES bikejoring. In the video you can see how excited he gets when they get to the end of the road. He does a little boot scoot and almost seems to be saying " Are we REALLY doing this? YES!!!"

See Dubs Run on YouTube.com

I also got some video of Carmine running in the evening that I will post on YouTube as well. He is going to need some more work with the bike. He is pretty new at it and a little afraid of the bike. Eli was bad for Lee but I got him to go after a while. He was just overly excited! The girls all ran like Dubs, pros! Munchkin was my hardest worker so far but just won't go out in front of the other dogs when we run with our friends. Hopefully I will get her to be a front runner in years to come, she is maturing into a great dog!