Empty Space in the Dog Yard, Empty Space in My Heart.

Tuesday, March 3rd 2009 will be a day I will never forget. My dear friend Dubois or Doobie Dog as he was more commonly known had to be put to sleep on that day. After two weeks of loose stools which we tried everything to curb that he was off to our veterinarian for going over. We could feel something solid in his stomach so x-rays were taken. There was definitely some sort of mass in his intestines. I brought him in for surgery Tuesday morning with the hope of removing a glove or other foreign object and a week long recovery. We had no such luck. Doobie had a massive cancer growth which had spread through out his intestines.



My dog yard will never be the same again. Doobie was a very special dog. He is one of four pups from the only litter we have ever whelped here. The mother did not care for the puppies so we bottle fed four of them with a 100% survival rate. Not an easy thing to accomplish. Doobie had pneumonia from the bottle feeding when he was two weeks old. He was on antibiotics for a week and after four days of feeding him drops of milk with a spoon his lungs cleared and he began to drink from the bottle again.
Dubois means out of the woods in French so we thought this was a very appropriate name for the little guy.

Doobie wasn’t the prettiest dog in the yard nor did he have the best gait or build. He was rather plan in his markings but he had a certain way about him that made him stand out. He was the most driven running dog I have ever had in our kennel. Whenever we were on a run if we stopped for more than a minute or two he was always the first one to start snapping his jaws and yipping to go. He was my main lead dog for the past year. His desire to run kept the rest of the team in motion. He was energetic and enthusiastic right to the very end. He did his last run this past Sunday and you would have hardly known he was sick. When I sat in the dog yard you could always find Doobie right at my side. He seemed more content to spend time sitting next to me than running around with the other dogs.

I suppose I will get over this with time but it is hard to believe right now as tears roll down my face every time I picture his big brown eyes gazing into mine. I know no other dog will ever replace him and at the moment my desire to run dogs at all just doesn’t exist. Our team just doesn’t seem right with out Doobie out in lead. Doobie would have been five years old on Saint Patrick’s Day next week. I love you Doobie and you will always remain in my heart.

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!

Moonlight in Vermont

The dogs, I and a few lucky guests had a perfect evening for dogsledding last night. We had two tours scheduled at Stowe Mountain Resort. With temperatures hovering around 3 below zero and crystal clear skies the ¾ moon lit things up very nicely. It is hard to describe the peacefulness of the experience. Running through the woods the only sound is that of the dog’s feet hitting the snow; their breathing and the runners of the sled sliding through the snow. The moonlight has a very different quality than sunlight; more subtle and soft but with the snow reflecting its glow you can see almost as well as in the daylight. The dogs stride smoothly in and out of the long shadows of the moon. Running in this setting you can’t help but feel privileged to be able to share the experience with the dog team.

There are not many evenings that the timing of the moon rise coincides with our running schedule and even fewer that it happens to be clear and cold as well. Being able to share the moment with others only makes it that much more enjoyable for me.

It’s hard to believe we are almost to the end of the first week of February already. Where does the winter go? It flies by way to quickly and soon I’ll be counting the days to fall training again. Time is a fleeting and seems to slip by more quickly with each passing day. I must remind myself each day to appreciate each and every moment. Running through the woods of Vermont with a team of enthusiastic dogs doing what they love to do is one of the best ways I have found to do this.