Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Day 2 Part. 2

And so the tale continues. The day started the same as yesterday, up at 7, put on multiple layers of warm wear and head to the dog kennel area to feed, water and clean up after the dogs. The kennel is about 2 blocks from the lodge and as you get close, the dogs hear you coming and greet you with continuous howling and barking. There is about 40 or more dogs so the noise is impressive. Once you get to the kennels, which is an outside area and each dog has a wood shelter to sleep in or stand on, they just get wild. All are large dogs, some huge and a bit intimidating, but once you get near them they become very friendly and love physical attention. They may snarl at their neighbor but always seem to cozy up for a rub. Back to the lodge for our breakfast and some casual lounging and then down to the kennels again to harness the dogs and chain them to the harness line. There are 5 sleds in our group with 5 dogs per sled staggered 2, 1 and 2 mostly. Mawson and Ramona were our 2 lead dogs again. They both pull and lead great but want to eat each other alive if they spend to much time next to each other without pulling. This means every time the sled stops, one of us has to step on the rear drag brake while the other runs up to the front and controls the lead dogs so they stay up front and don't get in a fight. Vera was the brake man and I was the one to control the dogs. I really like Mawson, he will be snarling at Ramona and then relaxed and friendly with me immediately after.
Ok, so the story will have to continue tomorrow, time to call it a day.

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