Americano Blue's musher/mushing chat thread

[Americano Blue]

It's finally cool enough to run the dogs harder! (By that I mean longer periods of time)

 

[charnic44]

Hi y'all. Howzit goin in your neck of the woods? We got rain and then some rain and then we got rain, but I think it's spozeta rain 2moro AM and then we'll get rain a little in the evening after light rain in the early PM.
No snow yet. But I finished my sled. Dang she Purdy. Evreything in blues and whites, even the snowhooks. The shock cord is red and green and throws the whole theme off.  Oh ya, the hook holsters are a nice shiny aluminum. I fabricated just about everything from rough materials except 2 of the snowhooks and the runners. I found a lot of issues with the old components so I just bought wood and voila. What I didn't see was the dang runners don't have the same curl tho. I didn't notice till everything was tightened up. I was wondering why things didn't fit the same on each side. I looked closer at the runners when I noticed they didn't lay the same on a flat surface. 1 is for a freighter sled and the other is for a racing sled. They're both long curls but the freighter has an extra bit of a curl at midpoint. That's so you can turn the sled easier with a heavy load on as opposed to a long flat runner. I got ripped off. Somebody else out there got the same thing I'm guessing.
It will run true for the most part but wear unevenly on the plastics. Oh well....... It looks nice anyway.
I have yet to hook-up more than 5 dogs for training/conditioning runs. I would love to have a full sized quad(with good brakes) so I'd be able to hook-up 10 at a time.
Blue, How's your training going? How many miles per day? ....days per week?
Anybody else out there training? LMK wuzup.

Rain here too. Currently we are trying to get my new (new to me) four wheeler running (I bought it for $200, and he told me the shift fork was bent internally). So hopefully we can get it working. It's too heavy for my 7 to pull just as dead weight. Either we have to gut the motor out of it or get it running. Anyways, training has been delayed because of this.



I'm building the sled in school for shop class, so I might be able to take pictures as I go. If my teacher will let me get away with it, lol. I'm just building this one out of pine as opposed to ash because it's cheaper incase I mess up, and I can revise my plans after this one. Supposedly we are going to get 2in of snow but I kinda doubt it. In West Yellowstone they are getting 8-15+ inches. I'm kinda jealous.

Time...................
I think if there were 2 of me I might enough time to do half of what I would like to do. In my experience when I have the help of 1 other human it  takes about 1/2 of the time it usually takes to complete a task. If I have 2 helpers the task is usually done in 1/4-1/8 of the time. Of course that all depends on the task. Repairing or making a fence, or fetching wood are 2 things that really see a marked difference. Taking care of my dogs seems so easy when there are 3 of us doing it.
A set of "dog chores" that takes a lot of time is cleaning atimomiy(dog's excrement). ....Get the wheelbarrow, shovel and rake, the 45gln barrel and wagon, rake the poop into the shovel, fill the wheelbarrow and take it to the barrel and put it in there. Go get the truck and hook the wagon to the truck then take the barrel of omiy(excrement) to the meadow or feild and spread it by the shovel full. When there is 3 of us doing it we all have certain aspects of that duty and it goes quick. When I do it alone(which is almost all the time) it takes almost 1&1/2 hours.
Even watering the dogs takes me about 20 mins. I don't have a fount out back so I haul 5 gln pails fro the house....6 of them...........3 x/day.
I love it when I have frozen fish or chunked red meat at feeding time. It takes only 15 mins to feed-up. Or kibble.(yuck! makes for big, stinky, runny omiy). If I don't have "ready to serve" I gota cook. That means fetching wood if I don't have any already cut, hauled, split and stacked, then make a fire in the stove, then put the food stuffs(meat(deer,moose,elk,cow,pig,chkn,trky,fsh,etc), veggies, fruit, rice, barley,etc.) into the 10 gln drum with water and keep the fire going as opposed to walking away to do something else that usually will distract me then hafta make a fire from scratch again. After it's cooked, let it cool (covered so the Ravens and Magpies don't get at it) then put it on the garden-cart or jumper-sled and scoop some yummy soup to each K9. After that's done gather the dishes, cooking pots and utensils and use the warm water(on the wood stove(remember all the water needs to be hauled 100 yards from the house)) and then all wash and rinse with cool water to remove any soap residue (which will without exception gives them kisikatewin(the runs) ). And "dog chores" is just 1 thing. Chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and rabbits are also under my charge,. Oh ya and pigeons. Prize winning show pigeons no less.The lawn and garden stuff, snow removal, fabricating mushing gear, vehicle maintenance. the list goes on...... And then there's my wife, children and G-kids.
When we want things, be they material/physical, spiritual or emotional, it all requires time to take care of. Thank goodness TIME is the one thing that was gifted to me to do with whatever I may so choose.  even if it's just sitting here typing.LOL 

[COLOR=000000]Mushing is rewarding but it is not a hobby. I repeat Mushing is not a hobby. Mushing is a way of living. It's a life style whether or not it is done for rec, pastime, work(trapping,hauling wood,etc)week-ends, pro racing, rec racing, ....it is a living choice.....and I love it.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0033FF]minopimacihewin nina oci soke-otoskew[/COLOR]  [COLOR=0000FF]Good[/COLOR](as opposed to [COLOR=B22222]evil or [COLOR=808080]blank[/COLOR][/COLOR][COLOR=000000]and/or[/COLOR] [COLOR=800080]n[/COLOR][COLOR=800080]ot referring to the easy life of riches and affluence most people refer to when using the term"The Good Life")[/COLOR])[COLOR=0000FF] life is retained in me by means of hard work.[/COLOR]
HAGD everyone. TTFN. TTYS.

Yeah. Luckily our property was set up for horses and cows so the water spickets are well placed for my dog chores. And the dog yard is right next to the pasture so I just throw everything into the horse pasture. How many dogs do you have? It seems like a lot of em if it takes 1 1/2 hours.

 

[spiritbrook]

Reading about so many dogs reminded me of Oregon's law that prohibits any dog from being on stakeout more than 7 hours. It also prohibits dogs from being crated the same number of hours. So, how would that affect dog lots, traveling with dogs in dog boxes and being dropped? I don't know if those times are continuous or accumulated. I'm not sure about Oregon, but other places uncovered fenced areas can be walked out of or jumped during winter. Half my team were staked mostly owing to my huskies love of recreational fighting. They certainly didn't mind being tied. The law affects houndsmen too, with those who couldn't afford kennels taking them to the pound, turning them loose in the woods or simply shooting them.

 

[Americano Blue]

Reading about so many dogs reminded me of Oregon's law that prohibits any dog from being on stakeout more than 7 hours. It also prohibits dogs from being crated the same number of hours. So, how would that affect dog lots, traveling with dogs in dog boxes and being dropped? I don't know if those times are continuous or accumulated. I'm not sure about Oregon, but other places uncovered fenced areas can be walked out of or jumped during winter. Half my team were staked mostly owing to my huskies love of recreational fighting. They certainly didn't mind being tied. The law affects houndsmen too, with those who couldn't afford kennels taking them to the pound, turning them loose in the woods or simply shooting them.

Your dog yard would have to be more like this

every few hours or so you would have to stop and let each dog stretch his legs and go to the bathroom. (Which I do anyway). I'm not sure how it would effect (Affect?) dropping dogs. I guess someone would have to pick up your dogs and take them back home?

 

[RezChamp]

It's finally cool enough to run the dogs harder! (By that I mean longer periods of time)

Gee I'm kinda jealous. More often than not it's still too warm here to run my dogs in earnest. Well actually it's cooler at night but I'm pretty pooped-out by the time it cools off enough. I am looking forward to - temps(in Celcious) and better yet snow. 5-10 ile training runs. Hopefully by X-mas I'll be going 20-30 or more. That'd be cool.
Glad for you to be training runs. Go Blue.

Rain here too. Currently we are trying to get my new (new to me) four wheeler running (I bought it for $200, and he told me the shift fork was bent internally). So hopefully we can get it working. It's too heavy for my 7 to pull just as dead weight. Either we have to gut the motor out of it or get it running. Anyways, training has been delayed because of this.
I'm building the sled in school for shop class, so I might be able to take pictures as I go. If my teacher will let me get away with it, lol. I'm just building this one out of pine as opposed to ash because it's cheaper incase I mess up, and I can revise my plans after this one. Supposedly we are going to get 2in of snow but I kinda doubt it. In West Yellowstone they are getting 8-15+ inches. I'm kinda jealous.
Yeah. Luckily our property was set up for horses and cows so the water spickets are well placed for my dog chores. And the dog yard is right next to the pasture so I just throw everything into the horse pasture. How many dogs do you have? It seems like a lot of em if it takes 1 1/2 hours.

Ya quads are nice to help with training eh. Sucks about tranny. Shouldn't be too hard to get rolling tho'. It's your sled. Why would the teacher deny you taking pix as you progress. I would simply tell him/her, "It's my project. As well I'm gona do it for my own records." That's me though. I refuse to bow to terrorists/power-trippers/ego-maniacs/dictators/etc... Pine should be good enough if like you said"cheap enough incase...". If you don't overuse or over power it (with 25 dogs type scenario) and if you oil it it'll last quite awhile. my first 2 slds were pine and spruce. They were good enough to train my "wild" first teams. When you spozta get snow? Apparently we aint getting any till the middle of November now. As well the Muskrat houses I've seen are pretty tall. Here that translates to less snow and/or colder than normal winter. I don't mind the cold but I want snow. I only have 22 dogs left. 19 are mixed bloods of Northern Spitz breeds, 2 are Racers(houndy), 1 is a Sibe/Australian Cattle Dog/Doberman/Sibe. I got her from up the road from my house. ........and she's expecting! I have an idea the sire is a American Bulldog/Boxer. She's small, heavy, and displays a lot of habits/tendencies/traits that I do not wish to have in my bunch so the pups are most likely going to a shelter and she's gona be spayed.
The reason it takes me so long to clean is because I'm feeding kibble right now. It's messy crap. Not like the firm "un-stinky" oness they leave after eating meat. I've tried to firm up the stools by feeding bread but that don't work so good. As well I gota haul it quite a ways. I dislike taking the vehicle in amongst the dogs so I gota take the wheel barrow to the truck to dump it. I also dislike throwing the atimomiy somewhere that it could have a negative effect on anything. Mind you the grass sure is green where I (if/when I) spread it. I should put it on my lawn with the rabbit, duck, goose, chicken, turkey, pigeon and horse manures.LOL Another reason it takes me so long is I seldom concentrate solely on 1 chore at a time. There's always little things as well. And of course there's the unspeakably discomforting chore

of loving-up my dogs. And of course

I aint quite as young as I was 10 years ago. I don't run when I'm doing things anymore. Well not as much as I usta.

Reading about so many dogs reminded me of Oregon's law that prohibits any dog from being on stakeout more than 7 hours. It also prohibits dogs from being crated the same number of hours. So, how would that affect dog lots, traveling with dogs in dog boxes and being dropped? I don't know if those times are continuous or accumulated. I'm not sure about Oregon, but other places uncovered fenced areas can be walked out of or jumped during winter. Half my team were staked mostly owing to my huskies love of recreational fighting. They certainly didn't mind being tied. The law affects houndsmen too, with those who couldn't afford kennels taking them to the pound, turning them loose in the woods or simply shooting them.
Yes there is need for laws regulating some things. The sad thing is it affects those of us that honor our charges. point, I do and say things to my kids and G-kids that some people (that haven't dealt with their skeletons) disagree with. Their are cultural differences that are deemed "wrong" that others have no idea what they mean. I am quite sure there are a lot of people out there who disagree with shooting a dog or decapitating a dog. And yet these people will euthanize a dog at the drop of a hat. point ;1of my friends became a vet and I utilized his services. I took 6 2week old pups to have euthanized( an ugly ugly ugly mutt got in the pen and bred 1 of my sled-dog F's). I noticed they were crying when he injected the "killer" drug in them. I told him I thought he didn't put enough sleepy drug in the before the killer drug, or wait long enough. He informed me that he put enough sleepy drug in them to knock-out a 12 week old. He also stated that pups are "different" than adults. The nervous system isn't as sensitive in some ways as an adult's. The pups were crying because they felt the killer drug killing them. An adult dog would be totally asleep and immobilized before the killer drug acted on them. He also informed me the most humane way to kill is by decapitation. The animal feels no pain at-all since the brain does not feel pain and since the brain is no longer attached to the body the nerves can not send the pain messages to the brain. A well placed high speed projectile essentially has the same effect. I have been providing food for myself and loved ones for almost 50 years. I have seen things that confirm what my vet buddy told me. That said I will shoot my dogs before I let someone take the from me and "crate train' them, keep them in an apartment, spay or neuter them and then see my K9's with hemorrhoids, diabetes and urine tract problems from eating commercial dog-food, from being "crated" for 7 hours, from laying around in a house for the day, freezing the pads off their feet when they go for a walk in the snow because they aren't acclimated because they were in a house, or getting sunspots/heatspots because of our stupidly frail human ego maniacal tendencies to want a "cute doggie baby". That all stated, where I live things are a bit different. There are laws, enactments, statutes, etc. that have no bearing/right/power over/on/to me although I am not above(and have the legal right to) utilizing them against the ones that formulated them. Also because I care about my K9's I will not turn them loose in the woods to fend for themselves and wreaking havoc on the natural environment even though I know they have more right to be there over any number of other breeds of dog such as Rottie, Lab, Chihuahua, Bulldog, Pitbull, Sheltie to name a very few.

 

[RezChamp]

Your dog yard would have to be more like this

every few hours or so you would have to stop and let each dog stretch his legs and go to the bathroom. (Which I do anyway). I'm not sure how it would effect (Affect?) dropping dogs. I guess someone would have to pick up your dogs and take them back home?

My dogs like Spiritbrook's don't seem to mind being tethered and again like her's seem to like"fighting".
1 chain 20 feet long will give almost as many square feet of ground as a kennel that is 40X40. Thing is it's about 1/100th the cost. Commerce eh........
The set up in this pic.... I think it would be mean to keep my dogs in an area so small. Not as mean to cut off his b___s tho and keep him in the house or cut out her uterus and ovaries and tubes and de-claw her and keep her in an apartment, or feed him commercial(hey there's that word commerce again)dogfood causing diabetes and......and freeze her foot and toe pads off because....

 

[RezChamp]

Reading about so many dogs reminded me of Oregon's law that prohibits any dog from being on stakeout more than 7 hours. It also prohibits dogs from being crated the same number of hours. So, how would that affect dog lots, traveling with dogs in dog boxes and being dropped? I don't know if those times are continuous or accumulated. I'm not sure about Oregon, but other places uncovered fenced areas can be walked out of or jumped during winter. Half my team were staked mostly owing to my huskies love of recreational fighting. They certainly didn't mind being tied. The law affects houndsmen too, with those who couldn't afford kennels taking them to the pound, turning them loose in the woods or simply shooting them.

I believe Quebec is soon to pass a law about tethering dogs. In their's it's a 7 hour stretch(not accumulated). I think it's also once a day only
I find it weird that people think "chains make dog's wicked",disallowing the mushers tethering their dogs, are the same idiots that allow K9's that are bred to have an aggressive tendency to be allowed to be brought onto this land and/or bred here. It appears they think "a dog is a dog, they're all the same".
I'm different than Spiritbrook is different than Americano Blue is different than Obama is different than Osama.
SkyeTerriers are lap dogs. Huskies are not lapdogs. Huskies are coldweather outdoor dogs that have been bred for pulling sleds for 1000's of years before commercial laws came to be.
I always thought dropped dogs were crated and sent home. I thought hounds just layed around when they weren't "hounding. I have had my perception changed today. Good 1. Thanks

 

[Americano Blue]

My dogs like Spiritbrook's don't seem to mind being tethered and again like her's seem to like"fighting".
1 chain 20 feet long will give almost as many square feet of ground as a kennel that is 40X40. Thing is it's about 1/100th the cost. Commerce eh........
The set up in this pic.... I think it would be mean to keep my dogs in an area so small. Not as mean to cut off his b___s tho and keep him in the house or cut out her uterus and ovaries and tubes and de-claw her and keep her in an apartment, or feed him commercial(hey there's that word commerce again)dogfood causing diabetes and......and freeze her foot and toe pads off because....

I was saying if there is a no tethering rule, that is probably what you'd have to do....

I believe Quebec is soon to pass a law about tethering dogs. In their's it's a 7 hour stretch(not accumulated). I think it's also once a day only
I find it weird that people think "chains make dog's wicked",disallowing the mushers tethering their dogs, are the same idiots that allow K9's that are bred to have an aggressive tendency to be allowed to be brought onto this land and/or bred here. It appears they think "a dog is a dog, they're all the same".
I'm different than Spiritbrook is different than Americano Blue is different than Obama is different than Osama.
SkyeTerriers are lap dogs. Huskies are not lapdogs. Huskies are coldweather outdoor dogs that have been bred for pulling sleds for 1000's of years before commercial laws came to be.
I always thought dropped dogs were crated and sent home. I thought hounds just layed around when they weren't "hounding. I have had my perception changed today. Good 1. Thanks

 

[charnic44]

ITS SNOWING!!! I don't think it will last long or stick. So far it hasn't melted as soon as it touched to ground so maybe. It probably won't snow the 2 inches they say it will but this is a start at least, a late start, though. I will respond later to above comments; in school right now.

 

[SternRose]

Nalas in Heat again! Plato can't come back until after Christmas :/
Nala won't keep her collar on either I want more pups but only if its to a good lead dog ( non round here lol)
Parents keep letting her run free and Hanks fathers staying by the house again, don't need him fathering another litter.. BUT NO ONES LISENING!! grrrr
NOVEMBER 5 AT 6:35 Nala was in active labor, 7:06 Hank interred the world!! ITS BEEN A BLOODY YEAR since Nala had puppies :'( a year already.....