Glacier
01-26-2007, 10:37 PM
Earle hasn't been out with the team at all this winter. He's been so sick and so out of shape that my vet advised he not pull until a couple weeks ago. He's been skijoring a few times since the vet said it was ok. Today was the first time he has wanted to come with the team. He was quite insistent that he was running today. In his healthier days, Earle was one of my strongest pullers, not super fast, but steady and worked his butt off.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Glacier1998/Sled%20dogs/06/earlerun.jpg
So I let him come today. He's in wheel beside Franklin. You can see his tug line isn't as tight as Franklin's. Basically, Earle wasn't really working, he was just keeping up. In retrospect I should have taken him with a slower team. The other five in this group were a little fast for Earle. I thought I'd have to drop him at some point, but he held his own. His tug was slack sometimes, but he was having a good time and sometimes that's all that matters. He worked really hard going uphill. He still has plenty of power!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Glacier1998/Sled%20dogs/06/earlehome.jpg
He made it the full 15km. Took 75 minutes today which is about 10 minutes longer than that loop usually takes a six dog team. We took several short breaks just to make sure Earle was doing ok.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Glacier1998/Sled%20dogs/06/earlepost.jpg
He looks pretty pleased with himself! You can still see where the IV was on his front leg.
It was nice to have one of my first pulling buddies back on the trail with me today!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Glacier1998/Sled%20dogs/06/earlerun.jpg
So I let him come today. He's in wheel beside Franklin. You can see his tug line isn't as tight as Franklin's. Basically, Earle wasn't really working, he was just keeping up. In retrospect I should have taken him with a slower team. The other five in this group were a little fast for Earle. I thought I'd have to drop him at some point, but he held his own. His tug was slack sometimes, but he was having a good time and sometimes that's all that matters. He worked really hard going uphill. He still has plenty of power!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Glacier1998/Sled%20dogs/06/earlehome.jpg
He made it the full 15km. Took 75 minutes today which is about 10 minutes longer than that loop usually takes a six dog team. We took several short breaks just to make sure Earle was doing ok.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Glacier1998/Sled%20dogs/06/earlepost.jpg
He looks pretty pleased with himself! You can still see where the IV was on his front leg.
It was nice to have one of my first pulling buddies back on the trail with me today!