Husky myth

Ha ha, I just rediscovered this quote from a list of 'Why Canada Is Awesome' that I once sent a Canadian friend:

"... The average dog sled team can kill 

and devour a full grown human in under 3 minutes"

Not sure Castello would do a good, clean job (pictured, with stolen food bowls, as is her habit). She leads the team often, and on encountering this full grown human she would need to harden up a bit to fit the bill and start the devouring job properly to get it done in 3 minutes. Grrrrrrrrr, Castello, grrrrrrr!

Fairly frosty/Nicely icey

It's getting colder now. Most mornings are below zero, (we've had a couple at -5C already so far) with snow on the mountain tops all around.  Makes for a fresh start to the day as you step out of an unheated cabin. But when the sun emerges between the nearby peaks as you drive along the icey riverside tracks... well it ain't too bad!  It's ideal for the dogs as the colder the better as far as they're concerned.  We are driving the teams about 17km daily now; this is nothing much - these huskies are born running machines and capable of up to 30km daily, no problem, if trained for it.  

When the snow comes proper I'll be moving to pastures new - not sure in which direction yet, but I'll keep you posted :)

I'll try and post an icey pic to accompany this - seems the best shot is still on my camera and since I left my jazzy USB pic loader in the cabin in the woods when I headed to the city this weekend....blah, blah, sorry no pic... watch this space! ....(there you go: frosty pic duly added ;))

Cream

Yes, I have a favourite: Cream. Here he is!

Babysitting dogs

I am learning the varied vocabulary of dogs - they not only howl, but squeak, whistle, moan (normally preceeds a howl) and bark, whine.... It's interesting to hear all 80 of them interact (or so I think!) but the neighbours across the valley disagree.  So, much of our day (and night!) is spent on the canine equivalent of 'babysitting' - i.e. keeping a close eye and ear on things. Makes sense, as noise levels get hysterical if they continue to intice one another to howl endlessly, and if one husky slips its collar in the madness and gets loose then concludes being caught ain't fun then... Havoc In The Woods surely results (and more problems with neighbours). The long and short is, that huskies would long-since have a UK ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) slapped on them by the local coppers.  (ASBO is a British thing, normally reserved for fining/threatening mad noisy people when the neighbours complain!). I like the howling of a pack of dogs to be honest, but neighbours are neighbours, I guess: frequently two colliding worlds in terms of taste.

So, we are busy with Crowd Control in the woods. Stern words, harsh discipline, and maybe the dogs will get our basic message across to them: "please guys.... zip it!"

We have had great autumn colours this past 3 weeks; however, frosts and the nip of winter pending is here now, and the leaves are mostly off - the forest is thinning out as a result. Perhaps the increased visibility is dandy for moose-hunters...there has been the annual moose-hunting fest in the woods this past 10 days.  So, lots of cars slowly 'patrolling' the forest tracks near our place since moose were sighted IN THE DOG YARD.  Yes, 80 rather over-excitable huskies did not stop two adult moose and two calves from wandering in to have a gander. Norwegian moose are fearless, I tell you (it was a bad move though, as one of the calves then wandered into a nearby meadow where someone was waiting for it, leaning out of the bedroom window to take aim....). 

Here are some pics of dogs, in the yard and in training traces. Should offer some impression of the fall colours. It has been glorious :)