Auntique

Some of you have figured out that I do not live alone at home with my mommy. There's Granny, Granddaddy, who didn't like me at first because he thought I looked scary but who now baby-talks me and scratches my chin on demand, and, finally, Auntique, my mommy's twin sister who sometimes takes care of me if mommy abandons me.

Well yesterday, Auntique asked Mommy a very important, fun question: "Can I go mushing with you?" The answer:

Mommy and Auntique are colour coded, so you can tell who's who. Auntique is blue and/or green, Mommy is red/orange/all those colours that look the same.


And one last one, mushing into the night. Not exactly the sunset, but it'll do.

This is proof that I am very strong and a champion mush dog who totally does not deserve this abuse:



I get that she wants to get rid of that backpack, but I do NOT have to model it for any reason! I was so good at Storm of the Ao4's cooperating for photos class. It took mommy a long time to get a good shot, despite the fact that I'm normally photogenic.

I am so abused.
Louka

My motivation is back

Since the begining of the season, I was enjoying mushing, but I was a little bored with it, I had a hard time seeing the point. Then friday, I met Felony, who finally isn't a German shepard but an ADORABLE little mutt and we mushed and ran and played together and it was AMAZING! I was so happy I pushed myself harder than I should of and was out of it for two days. But that's ok, I can't wait to get out again! We went out Monday and some evil person had graveled our trail, but I was still so psyched about Friday that I decided that we were doing the whole trail, something we haven't done this season yet.

Next Sunday I'm going to see Felony again, and a golden retriever named Sierra. We're starting a mushers of the moutain coalition! I'm so happy!
Tail wags
Champion mush-dog Louka

Weather

Well, of course the humans are all going ballistic, but I'm happy as a husky in snow. Lots of snow. And cold. The main news story on the magic picture box and on the radio is the weather. In Montreal it's stayed under -20 Celsius (So about -11 Fahrenheit, I think). It's nice and perfect, but Mommy takes an eternity to put all her thousands of layers of fur on and doesn't want to stay out long, except today, when we went mushing. Some places where Mommy has buddies reached -43 (Celsius, but -40 is the same for both scales, so you get the picture) and she's sighing about wanting to bring me to live over there. As long as I get the three Ms: mushing, meat, but not the icky chicken stuff that gives me a rash and certainly never kibble, and the mattress. Because it's mine. I swear. No matter what mommy says and how many times she puts it away. Oh yeah, and I want mommy too. I hate it when she goes to the evil University place without me.

This is one of my Ms, Meat! Of course I have my own dining room outside so that I don't get girly salmons or e-collars all over Granny's floor. Whatever those are. I don't get enough salmon, really I don't.

Speaking of Mushing, I may start getting help pulling mommy around! You may remember my friend Charpentier the lab mix who got stuck in my collar, last year and that really scared me. Well, we're still buddies, although we sometimes get a little worried about playing rough with each other and now Charpentier is going to take up mushing! He has his own harness and everything and this weekend, if it's not too cold for our wimpy humans, or next week, mommy's going to try out a twwo-dog hitch with me and him! And there's another potential friend, Felony, a German Shepherd, who may want to come help me too, some time! This is all very exciting for me, I love pulling with friends around me, it's so much more fun than plodding around all by myself.

So woos from the frigid north,
Louka

No longer on strike

The Husquebec union has decided to come out of strike due to AMAZING trails. We went mushing again today and went all the way up to Lac Castor, a nice 7 kilometer run, half of which is uphill, the other half down (since we just turn around and double back). The trail was gorgeous and icy, but no match for my fur wheel drive. It did make the sled glide like a charm, though, so mommy felt nice and light again. Going downhill... Well that was a dream come true. I got to flat out RUN the whole way, so fast that Mommy was a little nervous that she was going to take a spill. But she didn't, even in the hairpin turn. I even proved today that I know "Whoa" and "easy" even without her putting on the breaks, which surprised her. Hehehehehehe. I like to keep her guessing. She never knows when the command is actually assimilated and I'm ignoring her or when I just haven't learned yet. It's generally the first of those two statements and she finds out after the fact, but she keeps falling for it.

Mommy ordered my new harness today, too. She found that mine was a little too small. This is because when she got it, she got the size that corresponded to my weight... but she was using my weight from when I came out of the shelter, not figuring that I had gained a whole lot of weight since then. I was 60 lbs January 2007, but 75 lbs January 2008 (mommy knew I had gained weight, but she thought maybe 5 lbs, not 15) and then 77 lbs May 2008! So the harness bought in December 2007 which is meant to fit a 60-70lbs dog... Well, it's a little on the tight side, now. So I'm getting a brand new harness a size bigger, which will make mushing even more comfortable! You see what Husquebec can obtain when we strike for better working conditions? You knoooow you want to join our union...

I'm very tired now, so I'm going to keep this post short. I'm going back to snoozing and dreaming of nice, long trails.

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)

SCHNEE

It's snowing. Let's hope we get enough and that it sticks long enough to go sledding on Friday. Now Mommy's really wishing she wasn't working on Wednesday, hehehehe.
Many woos,
Louka

Betrayal for a cause

today mommy left me for hours to go play with other dogs. But for once, I'm not all that upset. I will leave the blog to her to explain.

Three or four weeks ago, there were two raids on puppymills around here. The SPCA had over 300 dogs to take care of. Some got taken in by other organisations and now they "only" have about 30 or so. Court cases are still pending about their ownership and they need dedicated volunteers to go and clean cages, give baths and walk dogs. I mostly did the fun stuff, walking and playing with these doggies. Some, despite three weeks of TLC are still so skinny that you can not only count their ribs, you can almost see the rib, all the way around. If I was living somewhere of my own instead of with my parents, I'd have asked to foster one of the girlies. But I'm limited to one dog and I respect my mother's wishes.

All of the doggies are amazing and sweet, even though I like some more than others. Two of the german shepherds have gimpy mutatoe-paws like Meeshka's mutatoe brother Loki. I had never really got what his paw could look like until I saw the oversized, flat paw on the front right of each of the two girls, so I thought about him a lot as I played with them, especially with the older female who had other problems and was a real gimpy. The younger gimpy-pawed one is one of the skinniest dogs I've ever seen and she's very pregnant. We're all praying for her and her puppies, praying they have the strength to pull through. She's so affectionate despite her condition, she'll make a good family dog eventually, I think. One of the big black mixed-breed (I think?) dogs just laid down in my lap and begged to be loved. I've rarely seen a dog that affectionate. There was a husky named Frank who totally won me over. He looked a lot like Thrawn as he chilled in his cage, totally ignoring the barking dogs around him and his food. He was above all this, a total zen master. I seem to remember a picture of young Thrawn curled in the back of his cage, looking up at the camera with a very long-suffering expression. This is how Frank looked, as if he would be just totally fine if the rest of the world stopped being idiots for a minute. A typical, beautiful husky. My last mention is of Freya, a beautiful pretty girl german shepherd who was the only one with no name. She was in a different room along with the two giant breed dogs, so she tends to be a little forgotten, but once you get her going, there isn't a dog to match her in playfulness and affection. I had a vague recollection of Freya being the norse goddess of love and beauty, or something like that, so I thought it suited her. She's now no longer nameless and she's going to make someone very happy, one day when she's let into their homes.

I return tomorrow and then again this weekend. I love those puppies, It's a joy spending time with them, even if I will be cleaning cages soon.

The blog will return to Louka next post,
Take care,
The Mommy.