Been spending a lot of time doing free play this winter. The snow is all icy and wind blown, makes dog sledding next to impossible. But our night time free runs are starting to be expanded to mornings now too. We are all very restless. This morning, despite the hard crusty snow was beautiful. The dogs could feel the calm too. Suzie was feeling especially playful.

Blue Mountain Sled Dog Race!

Its Official. I have gone off the deep end.

So last year I started thinking while running dogs.... sometimes its a wonderful thing. Since my role in the dog sledding community has changed over the years to just recreational instead of competitive racer, I wanted to give back to my racing friends. I started attending the local snowmobile club monthly meetings. It was way more interesting then I thought it would. So of course by the end of the season I was elected as a board member. So I am now the secretary of Blue Mountatin Snowdusters! It was a shaky first few months since there have been a lot of board member changes but I did work up the courage to proposed a sled dog race on the club trails. Well. They liked the idea, a lot. SO we are in the planning stages of the Blue Mountain Sled Dog Race! It will be held February 18, 2018 at the Grantham Recreational Fields. We have to formalize a few things but it town approved and we have permission from the neighboring club, Blow Me Down Snowriders, and of course the landowners Bardo Farm. It will be a mid distance race and within the next few weeks I will putting together an entry form so Stay Tuned! 

Friends are wonderful!

A little gift from my friend!

Yesterday I went on a playdate and my friend gifted us with BAGS of treats! She bought a house from a past dog food distributor and they keep getting awesome things delivered to the house! So YEA for us! Ill attempt to review some of them.


So far I have added Pro Plan Focus Daily Health to the sled dog's food and they Like it! The first ingredient is duck and it clearly taste food. Im always looking to get add yummy things to their kibble and this was well received! It is advertised as a treat and not a supplement so a small handful put in the food bucket was just the right amount to spice things up.

The other product we tried is Zuke's Hip Action. Since both my house dogs are now officially Seniors... Ellie turned 10 on Sunday! YIKES! I think this will be our morning treat for a while. Deklyn pretty much will eat anything so the true test is Ellie. These are super moist treats and very smelly ( in a good way) so very palatable for my girl. There is no corn, wheat or soy  so it is made with rice, oats and barley. I was a little said to see Maple Flavored Syrup since these guys are from New England they are used to the real thing. Looking forward to see if there is any change in the house dogs!


Thank you again Heather for your support! These dogs are SO spoiled. I also want to mention that The BARDO Project from Croydon donated a FREEZER load of bones and organ meat this summer too! The dog's teeth have never looked so clean and their coats are wicked nice right now. I only had to bath them once this summer. They blew their coats with no issues this year meaning the guard hairs were not damaged and allowed the fluff just to release, a huge benefit when you have 5 dogs to groom.

March Storm Stella brought us just over 2 feet of snow so we got out and have been enjoying it everyday since Wednesday! Today William wanted to get some time on the runners. We started by riding out to the main trail, then he rode tandem for a few miles. We attached Ellie for a while and then did tandem up some BIG hills and then Down some Big Hills Will was super brave and did a great job learning when to use the brake! On the last mile we hooked up Ellie and he ran her the rest of the way home including the super tight and narrow trail back to our house! Super Proud mom right here. The little one hasn't been feeling so great and just enjoyed the nice weather and a little nap in the sled. 

Mom Life!

I know I am a terrible blogger. Its been so long since I updated. Last winter was a bust. We only got out twice on sleds due to terrible snow conditions and nothing on our trails at home. This summer my husband worked on creating a trail out of our yard to the snowmobile trail!! Its amazing. My oldest son and I have been working all fall on building his skills to become a musher. W is about to turn 4 in February and over the holidays I got him on his own sled with his dog twice. the first day was a 2 miles and then the second time out was almost 3 miles. He did great going though some really tough terrain. He did get a ride home on the snowmobile and I put his dog back in my team, I mean he is still 3 and did some work driving his little sled ( which was graciously given to him by Christine Richardson of Seal Cove , a truly inspiring woman and amazing dog musher).  We also have started helping out with our local club the Blue Mountain Snow Dusters. Lee has been out a few times building/ maintaining trails and I have done some work with their facebook page.

Below are a few clips from our adventures!





We also have been doing a lot of kennel updating including a run in for two of the dogs! We removed a TON of trees too. Always a work in progress but they are super happy about the changes!

Here is a clip from us leaving from our yard!

I also started jogging with the dogs 2 to 3 miles 3 days a week over the non snow months to keep them in shape

William running with Ellie. I am not sure who has more energy a 3 year old or a husky!

The Team fall training. We put up signs this year on the BMSD Trails!!

Life in NH

We are staying to settle into our new home here in Grantham NH. The best part is that the digs have a cozy barn that they go in at night, bad weather or when they need a break. We have set up half of it with crates, straw and our equipment and plan on doing lots of improvements this summer. The previous owners had a bunny, and the hutch is big enough that we took the door off and the digs like hanging out in the elevated space. When wet first got here we had a digg house up against it but had to move it when we discovered Suzie was jumping on the roof of the hutch and then getting on the roof of the barn!
   The ground was frozen when we moved in so we used fence panels that we brought from the old kennel in Vermont to make a temporary yard for the winter. The dogs are enjoying their new space. The big evergreens shade them from heavy snow and wind.

   Right now we are only running on the weekends since we are not familiar with the talks yet and part of the trails go by a fenced game reserve. I have been told that sometimes the wild boars get out and can be dangerous! I am going to be constructing a holster to hold my shot gun for next winter so I can run at night.  I will post some video once I can figure out how to do that from my phone.

See you on the trail!

We are Back!!

We are back! After a long time off we are starting to get back into the swing of things. We had a baby, have moved to NH and are exploring our new back yard. There are trails everywhere here and the little 4 dog team and I are having a blast discovering where we can go.

 The dogs are also enjoying their very own barn and new dog yard.

Ellie is officially a house dog and enjoying her time on dog beds and watching over our son

The other three, Henry, Suzie and Carmine came back to us after time with Christine Richardson at Seal Cove Journeys. We missed them while we were moving but it was a great experience for them. Thank you Christine and Kip! Our new focus for the team is going to be just having fun and growing as a team. We are planning on participating in the Wonalancet fun Run this season and maybe more if we get some good training runs.

 See you on the trail!

Spring has arrived. Maybe winter won't tease us anymore.

Its been a weird spring so far. We have had hot, like HOT,days and the dogs are in the kiddy pools and then the next morning you wake up and the pools are a solid brick of ice. We haven't been doing any atv runs this spring. BUT our neighbor cleaned up a few trees that were blocking the trail and the cattle have not arrived  yet so we have been doing a ton of off leash walking. We start from our yard and can hike it or cruise on the ATV and the dogs chase me, which they love opening up and racing each other.  Eli and Munchkin have gone to their new homes and their new owners report back that they are doing great! Carmine is looking for a home still and will make a great pet for someone or an addition to any type of team Sprint to Mid Distance, Competitive or Recreation. So far all you readers out there keep your eye out for a nice new home for the big guy.  He has been to doggy day care a few times and LOVES it. He is coming out his shell a lot now that there are fewer dogs. As for our plans I am still planning on skijoring next winter and if I am lucky and with practice I will get better at cross country skate skiing and we can enter a race or two. Even though I really miss having all of the dogs here, its also been a lot more manageable with so few. It will be nice to be down to  a number where all the dogs can fit in the canoe for weekend camping trips and all of them fitting in the back of my hatch back ( although after fitting 6 dogs in my 2 door ford many years ago I think 4 will certainly fit in my car now! Enjoy our little video!

Changes

Well after a tragic fall and winter of animal losses and some life changes we have decided to re-home most of the team. I spent the last part of the winter Skijoring and think that will be a more manageable direction. I mulled over this over many weeks and we have started the process. Munchkin went to her new home a few weeks ago to a very cool young couple in Barre Vermont to live her life out as an active pet.

The big boys Eli ( 5) and Carmine ( 4) are still available. Both would be best in a sled dog home since they still have hard work ethics and desire. But would also be great as active pets! The do not need to go together. They are crate trained, house trained, are being taught how to walk nicely on a leash and can be walked off leash. They can be tethered or penned outside. They have bikejored, skijored, hiked with back packs and have done overnight camping.

Eli has been a fantastic lead dog for me for the last 3 years, taking us past and through some tricky situations. Like past a flock of 20 wild turkeys or through the tight tunnel at the Stratford race with out a skip in his step. He would be a great addition to any team. He is so enthusiastic about running that he has to be tethered with a heavy cable and shackle directly to the truck. He is great in the house, with kids and small animals, loves on everyone he can get to pet him. He can be walked on a leash with the use of a prong collar, rides well in the car and is very people oriented.

Carmine is the hardest worker who I never have to fuss about. He can run in lead although sometimes his mind wanders with his nose. He does have epilepsy which has been almost completely controlled with an all raw diet. He was having them in his sleep ( usually at 1 or 2 in the morning) and every 6 weeks when they first developed about 2 years ago. But hasn't had one in nearly 9 months! The seizures have never effected his running and I have never feared an episode while he is working. He is great in the kennel can be penned or tethered. He is not a barker, he plays well with the other dogs, and loves to cuddle once he knows you. He is a super happy dog, his favorite game is to chase the laser pointer. He will go to my work bench and point to the pointer until I play with him! He is shy so doesn't do well with human crowds but really enjoys car rides.

If you are interested please email me at elizstrobridge@gmail.com

January 2012

We were really doing well when the beginning of January came around. The snow started to fall and we hit the trail! I got a LOT of video using our new GoPro Camera and tried out a bunch of mounting options. The dogs were doing great for about 3 weeks. We met up with our friends a few times a week and got some great training. The last time we ran i did notice something was up, Eli was being super cranky and was going after other teams which is totally unlike him. I pulled him out of lead and stuck him in wheel he was working great but when we got home it started. Eli, Munchkin, Suzie and Henry all started to cough. So for the last 10 days they have been inside, crated and medicated. It did give me time to work on a longer video. Hopefully not too long..... But here is what I have so far!

Living with my dogs

Now that we have only 6 sled dogs and Deklyn the routines and daily life has gotten a little simpler. The dogs are routinely coming upstairs for quiet time before bed and they are spending a lot less time in crates since everyone gets along. Even with Suzie in heat the boys and girls are all behaving themselves. Henry is learning manners quickly, Carmine is starting to settle down ( only slightly), Eli loves sitting for love. The girls are very well behaved, suzie does jump on the couch a lot though... So its going well. Which is good because there hasn't been a lot of snow to train this season, infact there is none at my house! A few of the dogs started coughing again so Soon after this post we will be headed to the VET! They love us!

Cute Video I found from Fall Training

Deklyn sometimes gets very upset that he is not included in the sled dog activities. Being a sensitive Border Collie Mix he sits and sulks on the couch in the basement. He thinks he is "hiding" his shame of being different.

Hit our Funk.

Today we had a whole lata funk and attitude out on the trail. So we won't talk to much about the fact that all the boys were on edge. It may be due to the fact that Suzie, sweet little Suzie has become a lady today and hormones are raging..... Lee and I did get the chance to video the dogs this weekend and I experimented with a few camera angles today that will be posted to Youtube.com later. One view I will warn you may cause seizures as the camera was attached to Munchkin's back. I will have to figure out a different mounting for the desired view I was going for!

I have been filming almost every run since we hit snow so below is a preview of the longer video I am working on for the end of the season. The video was taken yesterday prior to the funk and Attitude!

SNOW!

So last weekend we finally got on the sled! The dogs and I met up with friends at Eden Mountain Lodge both Saturday and Sunday. The dogs did fantastic! The conditions were still a little sketchy but I rotated the dogs and we went out in groups of 4 dogs. Then on Wednesday Lee and I went back to Eden and took all 6 out with both of us in/on the sled. It was a blast and I got some great video and photos of the dogs. One is featured on the home page of sleddogcentral.com for a limited time!

Being on the sled is so refreshing. Its like putting on you sandals when summer arrives for the first time or when you get the Christmas tree up in December. You forget how much you love the feel of the runners under your feet, the sound of the dogs panting away with the jingle of their tags. Being on sleds for the first time for the season reminds you why you pick up dog crap and deal with tumble weeds of dog hair all year round. I think I heard the words " NOW I REMEMBER WHY I DO THIS" about 50 times this past weekend from all the mushers who flocked to snowy Eden. We got a healthy amount of snow last night up here in Vermont and I hope to hit my local spots this coming week. Lee is out today scouting the Lincoln trails. Lets cross our fingers that he returns from snowmobiling with good news!

Free Running

Well, at least we got some exercise. We are so far behind in training its getting kinda ridiculous.... we got up to Jay, Vermont Friday night with dogs and equipment in tow. I bedded down with the dogs to experience some outdoor sleeping with the dogs. It took the dogs a long time to settle dog and then around 1am i was woken up by Henry sniffing me and a few of the dogs whining. Henry had twisted his drop chain off and was wondering around. I poked my head out of the sleeping bag to find it was raining.... yea. As comfortable as I was in my warm sleeping bag I knew that the dogs were miserable house pets getting wet. So I put them in the box, grabbed all my stuff and went inside to find the fire roaring and my husband and friend out cold on the couches and settled down on the floor with the house dog, Deklyn. When we got up in the morning the "snow" was almost gone. Needless to say we ended up free running the dogs every day and did not go snowboarding. The dogs seemed to really enjoy the change of scenery and had the opportunity to socialize with some other dogs.

Eli, Henry, Munchkin, Deklyn, Ellie, and Suzie

Power lines, very bare trail!

Munchkin chilling off in a puddle!

RIP DUBS

Last weekend Lee and I made the tough decision to put our beloved dog, Dubs, down. Dubs had a tumor for 4 years that did not interfere with daily life and caused very little discomfort until a few months ago. He was a fantastic character and beloved member of our family. Dubs was the start of our adventure. Lee and I got him after I came home from my last summer in Alaska. I was determined to start my own team of alaskans. The only problem was that I only new Siberian Husky owners.

So one day when reading the Burlington Free Press I saw a Free AD for GSP/Husky Mixes from a sled dog home. I called the number but the pair had already been picked up. A few weeks later I saw an ad of the same dogs on Sled Dog Central. A super nice guy had gotten the two but once home saw that it was not going to work out. Dub's brother was not so friendly and attacked Dubs nearly killing him. His brother was put down and Dubs was not fitting in with the heavy coated dog in his small group. We picked Dubs who at the time was being called Gabe. His original name was Ghost. We brought him to our little home ( which was really a shack in the middle of no where) to meet our dog Deklyn. So we were now a group of 4. Two people, two dogs living in a one room shack 1/4 of a mile off the grid.

Dubs was not used to people or anything related to how they lived. He knew how to pull and be tethered, and could not be off leash.

The first time we let him in the house is something neither of us will ever forget. We let him off his tether and walked him up the porch he followed Deklyn in at full speed and hit the center in the room and froze. He stood legs all out at angles, still as come be and then slower than a sloath he turned looking around all wide eyed. He had clearly had never been inside a human dwelling with a stove and furniture. It took a few minutes of him slowly slowly walking around to start to relax and then he layed down in the middle of floor in front of the stove like a sphinx un-moving. It did not take long for him to settle in to Human living.

He was a big fan of recliners and dog beds. The last few years he has been a constant companion on hikes and in the kitchen. Dubs was a great pet as well as a fantastic sled dog. He never lacked enthusiasm on the team and in a pinch could lead us through some tough spots. His last race was the Stratford Nighthawk race last year where we came in second!

I could go one with a novel about our Dubsy Bear but will leave you with the biggest lesson he taught us. No Matter what wrongs you there is always a Brighter side around the corner. Even though he was in extreme discomfort at the end, he was always happy to see us, to eat, to cuddle and interact with the other dogs. We will be forever touched by our time spent with Dubs.

R.I.P Dubs

9-22-01 - 12-10-11

Bikejor Clinic was a great success!

Lots of people came and we had lots of happy tired dogs! Thank you For everyone who came out, helped out and had fun!

Two tired pups!

Yes that is a Boxer mix in Lead and a Chocolate Lab in Point!

Scooter FUN!

Bikejor Clinic Tomorrow!

Come join us tomorrow in Stowe at Cottonbrook for a Bikejor clinic. No matter what level or interest. There will be several mushers there with dogs, bikes, scooters and equipment to help those who want to get started or just experience the joy of teaching dogs a job! The clinic starts at 9:30am.

Directions From Waterbury - Take Rt 100 North to Stowe. Turn left onto Moscow Road. Go to end and then straight onto dirt road after bridge.

From Morrisville Take Rt 100 South through majority of Stowe. Turn Right onto Moscow Road. Go to end and then straight onto dirt road after bridge.

Fall Again!

First I would like to apologize for not posting over the summer. Lee and I were very busy. We got married in the end of May and went on a nice Honeymoon in California in June. Yay US! I am now Mrs. Strobridge! The dogs relaxed and we cleaned out some of the old dog houses from the yard to give them some more room. Jersey has gone to live with my best friend Emily Blum in Michigan . She is super happy being there with her boyfriend, Diesel. She is learning to be a good house dog and has only ruined 2 or 3 pairs of shoes...

Henry and Suzie have grown up and are now a year old. We started training about a month ago with some small runs with the bike. Then one day I was nearly killed and had the life scared out of me when I hooked up Suzie and Dubs ( who just turned 10!). They were WAY to powerful and leaving the driveway we left a substantial skid mark down the length of the driveway. We started running the ATV after that adventure. We are up to 5.5 mile runs with only one real water break. The dogs are getting really strong and this week the weather was cool enough for us to have early afternoon runs. One of our many totally awesome wedding presents was a new GoPro Helmet Camera which is far superior to our older Tachyon XC. I am still working out some of the features. Here is a great shot I got today on our water break.

The dogs performance this year has been great right from the get go. We have been switching the dogs around a lot in the team and they are all doing great. Munchkin has been a little slow getting used to the build up to 5.5 miles but she usually hates fall training! I have also not been pushing Dubs much up the long hill since he has had some medical issues this summer. AND he is an old fart. The puppies Henry and Suzie are both going to be Super Stars! Henry is a lot calmer than Suzie but they both have great drive and are very well behaved on the line. Suzie needs a little bit of work on her Loose dog on-bys but that is a tough one to train. Carmine has had only one seizure since February and is continuing to alternate as a leader. It has been really nice having a solid bonded team so far. Personally my goal this season is to have as much fun as possible, not get stressed out and let the dogs do what they naturally love. If they are having a bad day I am going to be a little more sensitive. As displayed below.

Happy FALL! P.S. Vermont is Open after Tropical Storm Irene! Come up and enjoy the Foliage!

Fun Runs and Pictures

At the end of the season I always try to sneak in some fun runs. The dogs and I went to a lot of different places and they seemed to really enjoy themselves on the Lincoln/Breadloaf Trail. Here are a few pictures from our last two runs there. Also after the Can-Am a local butcher gave us a WHOLE cow carcass that the dogs are still enjoying chewing on almost 2 months later....

Henry running away with a piece of a leg!

Munchkin and Carmine sharing a portion of ribs, so cute like Lady and the Tramp.

Random Blizzard on our second to last day of running!

Eventually all the dogs made a snowangel.

Same trail as above but on a clear day before sunset. The shadows were very long.

Look a picture with all of us together!

The wooded portion of this trail is hard to get photos of, its very windy but I managed to get the camera out on the straight section

Henry at about 9 months on the left, and 3 year old Elli on the right. I am hoping Henry's growth slows a little bit, he is already a MONSTER!