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Mark & Karen
Ramstead
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North Wapiti Siberian Husky Kennels
Iditarod 2001 - Tales from the Trail

October 17, 2000

I’m trying to get back into the swing of more regular updates to the diary. The year everything seems to be quite behind last year, everything but the training on the dogs – which is right on schedule! And that is the most important thing!

Our limited edition prints ‘In the Middle of Somewhere’ are in and will be in the mail to Sponsors and purchasers very quickly. T-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts are in the works and should be available pretty soon! We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a REALLY neat fundraising item, generously donated by Bonnie Lundberg of Romantix. It is an adorable little stuffed black and white Siberian with a maple leaf embroidered on his foot! He has been customized with a little flag with our kennel logo around his neck and some nifty packaging. Seventy-five of these guys will be available soon!

Things in the kennel are going well. We had a great run on Sunday. It is nice to get back on some of the trails that we haven’t seen since last fall. Sunday saw us back on our ‘Muskeg Trail’. Three miles of this 20-mile loop go through a big batch of muskeg. For those of you that don’t know what this is, imagine run on miles and miles of peat moss with water and mud underneath. Some muskeg is quite dangerous for animals and vehicles as they can sink into these bogs and struggling to get out only gets you in deeper. This particular batch is not bad, in fact this is the first year I have seen any water under the surface. The trees in the area are all stunted ‘swamp spruce’, under the trees are paths made by all kinds of small rodents and their predators. It looks just like a world of miniatures. The teams seemed to enjoy being back on this trail and literately roared through the rough and bumpy terrain.

There are a few more of last year’s trails that I hope to get back on sometimes this week.

This is going to get labeled ‘Bath Week’ too (not for Mark and I, we bath more regularly then that – although, some days after wallowing around in the dirt with the dogs you wouldn’t know it!). The housedogs, Libby and Skeeter got bathed on Sunday – much to their dismay! Skeeter is 16 and deeply resents anything that takes him away from sleeping. Like a grouchy, old man he snarls and mumbles through the whole thing.

Also in the tub, probably for the first time in her life, was Jumper. Her coat has been ratty looking for awhile and she is just starting to shed, so a bath seemed like a good idea. Her eyes got HUGE when I turn the big cool air dryer on her (to blow out loose hair and dirt), but after a moment of panic, she settled right down. The tub got about the same reaction. But once she was done she was so pleased with herself – I don’t think she realized what a foxy little lady she was under all that dirt and old coat!

This weekend is another dog show, again in Edmonton, so Rosie and Smiley will be in for their baths this week too! I’m gonna have dishpan hands by the time this week is over!

Karen's 2001 Diary


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