Birthdays And Bucket Lists

One of the unanticipated joys of working with Peace Pups has been sharing in special moments and occasions in people’s lives. When I started Peace Pups Dogsledding I knew that I wanted to spend more time with my dogs, spend more time outside and that I wanted the business to be socially responsible and sustainable. I never imagined that I would be given the gift of sharing in so many special moments with others.


Many visitors plan their dogsledding visit in order to celebrate a special time in their life. We have had numerous “big” birthday tours; the “big” 50, “big” 60 or even the momentous “big” 80. Christmas presents, anniversaries and family reunions are a few other celebrations that have taken place with the teams.

I have even been honored to have had guests who knew their time on earth was growing short and that dogsledding was something they truly wanted to experience before moving on. I’ve had guests who wanted to propose to the special person in their life while being out with our dogs in the Vermont hillsides. There has even been discussion of having an actual wedding take place out on the trail with the dog teams.

Having moved on from my previous career as a custom furniture builder and having left a good paying job in order to find something more rewarding to do with my life all of this has been a truly unexpected bonus for me. It’s not that woodworking wasn’t enjoyable for many years; I think I had just done it for too many years. I had gotten to the point where the paycheck I was receiving for my work was not enough motivation for me to continue what I was doing. I was not finding any personal satisfaction in my daily work life. With Peace Pups every single day I get to watch the joy on people’s faces as they interact with our Siberian Huskies. I can take no credit for the dogs loving nature but I do feel privileged to be able to bring them together with people from near and far.

With an admittedly short attention span and very low tolerance for tedium I wasn’t sure if the dogsled tour business would keep me satisfied over the long haul. As with anything in life there is repetition in dogsledding but these unanticipated rewards make me quite sure that I have found something that I can spend the rest of my active life participating in. It’s certainly not a business I would recommend for making a lot of money but the lifestyle and joy it has brought into my life and others makes it well worth the effort. I would like to extend my thanks to past guests, future guests and most of all the dogs for bringing this joy into my life.

Ready For Winter

Happy Thanksgiving Day to those who celebrate this holiday. It is my favorite holiday due to the lack of presents and shopping involved. Good food, friends and family; the important things in life.

As we near the end of November I am in that waiting for winter mode and once again done with my fall to do list. Now that is something to be thankful for!

This winters dog food is in.



The freezer is full of meat for the dogs.




The dog sleds are refinished and ready to run.




And the snow blower and snow plow are on the tractor and ready roll.




And that's just the list from the past two weeks! It seems like I've been preparing for winter for the past three months when we began fall training with the dogs. It amazes me how much time and energy this takes every year. For now it's done and we can sit back and enjoy our nice warm home and with a little bit of luck a nice snowy winter.

As we enter yet another holiday season I try to pause to be thankful for the good fortune I have had in my life. I may not have a lot of money but on this day I have my health, a roof over my head, food on my table and loving family and friends. If only there was a way for everyone to have the good fortune that I have had the world would surely be a better place.

Retirement Isn't So Bad

Here is a photo I shot this morning of Aiko our 13+ Siberian. Aiko just retired from running tours this season and seems to be adjusting quite well to the retired life. Here he is hanging out by the wood stove with his buddy Charles the cat. It's a rough life!



Actually Aiko isn't completely retired just yet. He and I are a certified pet therapy team and we do bi monthly visits to a adult day center in Morrisville just down the road. I call it his retirement job. He really seems to look forward to the trip to town and all of the attention he receives from the people there. Sometimes he even scores a few biscuits.

Aiko is still in great health but we did some extended walks with him this past fall and found that he was getting tired much more quickly than the fall before. On one long hike we did he was became shaky and a little unsteady on his feet (I'll probably be a bit unsteady at 90+ myself). That was when I decided he probably wasn't going to be up for our tours this winter. Hopefully he will have many more years of relaxing next to the wood stove.

We are all enjoying a little down time this week after being crazy busy last week. This past weekend was the last weekend of President's Vacation week which is the busiest week of the winter for us here. The dogs did a amazing job of getting everyone out for rides. Well done; extra chicken for one and all!

We Survived The Holidays!

This week has been one of rest and refueling for all of us. As usual the two weeks around Christmas and New Years are extremely busy for me and the pups. We "only" run three tours a day but six days in a row of that takes it's toll. Sometimes I suspect it is harder on me than the dogs. I figure I do about a four to one ratio of work compared to the dogs; meaning for every hour they run I do four hours of work to keep things flowing. All of the dogs have been more amazing than ever this season. I believe it is a combination of the new food we are feeding and the fact that we have two teams of honest working dogs this year.



The snow conditions this winter have been fantastic here in Lake Elmore. Apparently you don't have to drop too far into the valleys to find very thin snow cover but our trails have been well covered since early December. In fact for the past two weeks they have been as good as I have ever seen them with a nice solid base covered by a inch or two of packed powder. The nice consistent cold has kept things from becoming icy even when we have gone for five or six days without fresh snow. This week I have once again been busy shoveling, snow blowing and packing trails as we received another six to eight inches of fresh snow.

I have been enjoying cross country skiing this year with my partner Lise. I don't think we got out together more than twice all of last winter. I tend to become so wrapped up in the business of working with the dogs that in the blink of an eye the winter is gone. This year we purchased a season pass for the Craftsbury Outdoor Center and our goal is to ski every Monday. It is my one day off each week and often times last year I just felt too tired to go out again and preferred to hang out at home and rest. So far this season we have gone skiing the past two Mondays and I have really been enjoying it. I had forgotten how much fun it is to glide through the woods on beautifully groomed trails. I have also found that it does my head a world of good to get away even if it is only for a few hours. Even if things are amazing where you are it never hurts to have a little change of perspective now and again!

I wish you all a Happy New Year. There seems to be a sense of renewal and hope in the air for 2009. Let's hope things do move in a positive direction and do our part to see that they do.