On Strike

It was the beginning of the first ride of the season and already I could tell that things were not going to go well. We huskies know these things. The snow was way too deep and fluffy and Mommy felt way heavier than usual. I did not like this. I did not like this all the way uphill. I made her walk behind the sled, kick to help me make the sled go forwards... We make a good team, mommy and I. This is why I did not want to stop.



Turn around? What do you mean turn around? I was perfectly fine going in this direction. Perfectly fine! No, that slowing down meant 'get off the sled', not 'let's go home'. I totally don't understand why we should go home.


Ah. I see the problem now. Sinking sled syndrome. Maybe mommy hasn't really gained weight since last year. I still don't want to go home, yet, it's so nice out...

We finally were headed downhill. On the hairpin turn that goes down pretty steep, I was finally able to pull mommy well. I always like downhill better. And I really do like pulling, when I'm able to. Every husky has his limits, though. Mommy was muttering something about borrowing friends for me, at some point.

I would like to be able to say that after the hairpin turn everything went downhill. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The trail was flat again, mommy was heavy again and we just kept getting more and more fun, fluffy schnee to slow the kicksled down. Mommy was still trying to convince me to pull. So I decided to show her and go on strike. The trail ended a few meters ahead anyway. She could walk, right?
So anyway, we have learned several things about this last venture: #1, if the snow is no good, the husky will strike. #2, if it is the first run of the season and the husky is not yet in top shape, going out in difficult snow is stupid. #3, Mommy is out of shape. #4, in such snowy conditions, we walk to the trail, we do not under any circumstances take the car. In fact, the husky would prefer that no cars be used in his transportation ever. #5 Despite setbacks, mushing is still fun. And having people fawn over me as I go past is REALLY fun.

If you're looking for me, I'll be here, nice and comfortable, waiting for the perfect mushing conditions. Which will hopefully be soon.

Many lazy woos,
Louka (who yes, owns half the loveseat, but only when granny's not around to see)

No more schnee

Well, my beloved snow is vanishing quickly, which makes me sad. It does mean, however, that there's lots of interesting smells coming up at the dogrun and lots of things to roll in. Unfortunately, this means more baths for me, which I really hate. Really. But I get cheese and I'm allowed to sleep on a towel on the bed as a treat after, so I don't complain too, too much. The lack of snow also means that we can now see the fence all around the dogrun and it needs major repairs. The chain link part came down on one side, where the snow cleared from the road was piled on it. But we have a good dogrun and all will be fixed in short order, or so I'm told.

There were lots of friends to play with at the dogrun today, which made me happy. I got to run and run and run and wrestle and roll! My favourite thing. Mommy says that she can't wait for the day we have our own place and I can have a sister. But she wants to work on my toy possession around other dogs first. Any suggestions, anyone? I don't want to share, but Mommy says that I have to learn or she may sic Granny on me! Help!
Woos,
Louka

Bye bye fence

Sigh, it's getting warmer here and it's almost time to say goodbye to the snow for good. Of course, since we still have 20-foot snowbanks in some places, it'll be a while since it leaves completely. One of Mommy's major concerns, this winter, has been the fence at the dogrun. Since we were mushing a lot, she hadn't been too worried, but now she says it's the only reason she wants the snow to melt. the fence is, all around, way too short to keep dogs in, with all this snow. It's only an inch or two high, in some places. We've been doing a lot of walking on leash, but we have been going to the dogrun when I have friends to play with. I'm a bit of a mommy's boy (shhh, don't tell) and unlike most huskies, I generally stay close, especially when there are other dogs to play with. As soon as my attention goes near the fence, I'm captured and either redirected or taken home, but mommy can't wait to not have to watch me as closely anymore!

I still want the snow to stay forever

Woos,
Louka

Too much snow? It's abuse!

So, apparently I'm abused. Mommy found this out the other day when I was pulling the sled to the mountain to mush. There were lots of snowbanks and the sled kept getting stuck on ice blocks so mommy wasn't happy and may have been whining a bit at me. I don't really remember, I tend to ignore her when she gets like that. She hears this woman yelling at the other side of the street and suddenly realizes that the lady's yelling at her. She's in a hurry and she can't really hear her, but finally she catches what the woman is saying. The lady was accusing her of abusing me! Of course later, as I was lounging on the big bed mommy thinks is hers with Harem member #1 petting me and cooing over me and Mommy giving me a pedicure, clipping my nails and rubbing salve into my road-salt abused paw pads, she was laughing about it. She hasn't stopped laughing since. Especially since when we went mushing with harem member #1 and I refused to pull for her, only for mommy. Who does she think I am! I'm not going to take the chance that mommy never catches up with us! I thought I was pulling mommy, but it was all lies and deceit! So I stopped as soon as she yelled a command and I saw that mommy was nowhere in sight and waited for mommy to find us. So I still think I could be treated better. Mommy could stay home more.

Because that's not what she did the next day: she left. And she took Harem member #1 with her. She left me with Auntique and she went up to Rawdon in the country where there was LOTS of nice snow and skidoo trails to mush on! She left for the whole weekend and then we had a HUGE snowstorm that even I didn't want to be out in (snow is great, howling winds, not so much) and got stuck there so she couldn't come home! I stayed in our room and sulked until she came home. Now she's home, there's snowbanks taller than I am everywhere (but Auntique left for New York with the camera, so I can't show you) and I'm finally happy. She's even taking me mushing tomorrow and getting me more pig spines to eat. Maybe I won't call the SPCA on her after all...

Speaking of snow, we're 31 centimeters away from our all-time record snowfall. We're supposed to get a few more centimeters tomorrow and I'm hoping for another storm or two to beat the record! Sibes, help me fix the weather!

Woos,
Louka

More pictures!

Mommy's finally on the computer that has the pictures on it, so prepare to be bombarded!

First, pictures of the snow we got on Sunday. It's still falling a bit, but not as much as I'd like.
This is our street. Actually, the house directly behind the stop sign is ours. Of course these snowdrifts are from what was cleared from the street, but even on our front lawn I'm wading at least chest deep in snow and I have nice long legs!
Gotta love the snow. I'm still not sure about this whole mushing thing, though. Mommy's waiting to get my real harness to try again. So far, I'm not all that happy about it. I want to lie in bed with my harem and be petted all day. Mommy's slightly depressed about this.

In other news, I have been hard at work guarding mommy's room from possible intruders.
Actually, I was sleeping. Why Mommy had to get up at that godawful hour to take pictures of me is beyond me. Hmph.

The Army of Four were saying the other day that they don't do outfits. Well, when I wake mommy up at 5AM because I got stuck trying to look at the pretty snow and she has to rescue me from behind the ficcus plant, apparently I have to get dressed up.
As if the santa hat wasn't enough, she had to mail this out as a christmas card to her La Patte Douce card exchange. Then she said that since I'm supposedly a sled dog, I should infiltrate Santa's reindeer. I don't think so. Now that's her la Patte Douce forum avatar. I have been publicly humiliated. I demand treats.

Here's a bad picture of the old cellphone case. The white triangle-thing is supposed to be my face and that's the part that is made out of my fur, felted onto the brown wool. Mommy has a hard time taking good pictures of things, so there'll be a better picture of the gorgeous new case. Granny's been getting a lot better at making pretty things with that machine. Now if only I could find a way to get at those colourful rovings that look so fun to play with...

Until next time,
Louka