Cimmaron Sled Dogs

We had a nice relaxing weekend.  Got lots of tidying done around the house and kennels and to the van and got the dogs out training quite a lot.  That actually doesn't sound very relaxing!  It was nice to be at home though.

We are going down to Pembrey this weekend for the Open race that Sue and Graham are organising.  We are looking forward to this race as the trails are lovely.  Its a pity it is so far away though.  We have booked ourselves into the local hotel on Saturday night, which will be nice and there is a "do" planned for the evening at a nearby location.

It will be a quick visit for us as we need to leave early on Sunday to get home in time for work on Monday.  Melissa is very kindly looking after some of our dogs at home, so we don't need to take the trailer.  This will help our speed on the windy Welsh roads!   Thanks Melissa, don't know what we would do without you.

We decided not to go up to Aviemore this year and save our money for Pembrey.  However from the pictures I've seen, it looks as if it was a great race.  Well done to all the competitors, especially Matty Clarke, Callum Patterson and Gary Patterson who were running Buffy pups in their teams.

I have a new fluffy arrival coming next week, but will update more when she actually arrives! Needless to say, I'm very excited.

Mandie

Nothing much to report from this weekend.

We had a nice relaxing time, just pottering about the house and getting the garden and kennels tidied up now that the last of the snow and ice has gone.  Our water started running again on Friday, which was a relief and meant Keith could power wash the kennels.

Got the dogs out on Sunday and the trail was OK.  Still a bit icy in some places but it was manageable. 

Lots on at the start of this week so it will be Thursday, Friday before we can get the dogs out again and hopefully the trail will be fully thawed by then.

Although we have been invited to stay with friends at Aviemore, we have decided not to go up this year.  It looks like we will miss all the fun in the snow though!  Should be interesting for spectators watching the teams go out with sleds.

Good luck to everyone who is going up this week.  Hope the roads are clear for you.

When will the thaw come!  We have been without water at our house for 5 days now due to frozen pipes.  Despite blasting the pipes with hot air, the ice has not gone.  It is so frustrating and we are getting fed up going to parents and friends for showers every day.  We phoned a plumber on Tuesday and can't get someone to come until Friday night!  Crazy stuff.  We are meant to have milder temperatures tomorrow and over the weekend but as I look out the window at more snow falling, its hard to believe.

Anyway, the first week back at work was hard and this week has not been any easier.  Its so easy to get into the routine of longer lies in the morning.

The SDAS Culbin race was cancelled last weekend, which was such a shame as the organiser and his friends had worked hard to piste trails.  Club politics!  So glad I am not on the committee any more.

Keith and I tried to arrange a sled race at John Carter's trails for this weekend to no avail.  Just not enough interest from club members.  Such a pity.  We spent another lovely weekend up at Bowlands last weekend in the snow.  John and Mary are great hosts.  It was nice to spend some time with Michael and Jim and Jude again too.

Had to take Remey to the vets this week.  She had a sore toe before Christmas which flared up again last weekend.  The vet pulled her claw out with pliers as it was getting infected!   Remey was a brave sole though an barely made a sound.  I think Keith and I were more traumatised than she was.  

Anyway, we are looking forward to having a relaxing weekend coming (hopefully with water) .  We do have 4 family birthdays though, so will be out and about visiting quite a lot! 

Think we will need to take the dogs to the beach for training as all our trails either have crusty snow or ice!  The joys.

The holidays have gone by so quickly.  We have had a great time though, visiting friends and family and training the dogs with the sled.

We had an evening with Emma and Henrik and their new hot tub. Fabulous. Drinking beer in 38 deg water whilst its -1 deg outside.  A bit of a mad dash back to the house when you get out though! Brrrrrrr.

We spent new year's eve at Alison and Steven's house with Beth and Dan and Mike and Liz and it was good fun.  Then a quick trip home on new year's day to collect some bits and bobs and up to John and Mary's place at Bowlands for some fun in the snow.

What an amazing place they have there and John has worked really hard to piste the trails, resulting in packed surfaces that are better than some we have sledded on abroad. 

We spent 2 days there and it was brilliant.  There were 18 round the table for dinner on Saturday night and Mary was amazing catering for us all.  Then out for some sled runs in the dark with the moon shining down.

So, a HUGE thanks to them both for inviting us - it was a great end to our holidays.  Video and photos to come soon.

Now its back to work and time to get back into a routine again.

SDAS Culbin is this weekend.  Not sure if the trails have snow or ice, so we'll wait and see what happens.

It's been a great few days playing in the snow. 

We've managed 6 days on the sled so far and with the cold weather set to continue, we are hoping we'll be able to get out in the snow until we go back to work next week.

I've uploaded some video to You Tube (link on the Video Clips page) of our snow runs and added a new picture folder onto the Photo Gallery page.  Enjoy. 

Can't believe all this snow!   Also can't believe the council in our area has not gritted the roads, including the main ones.   I saw one snow plough yesterday on my epic journey home from work - where are they all?  It took me 70 mins to come the normal 20 mins home.  Meanwhile, Keith was out with the dogs and the sled enjoying the snow.

He has gone out sledding again today and I am stuck at work.   I'll be off tomorrow though and I imagine the snow will still be there so that I can get out then. 

The dogs are having a great time playing in the white stuff.  We're just dreading the time when it melts and turns to ice.

Will try and post some pictures tomorrow.

We had a nice weekend running dogs in the lovely snow. Saturday, there was just a sprinkling at our usual training ground and on Sunday we went down to the Ae Forest and Keith managed to get a couple of runs out on the sled. The snow was not very deep but there was just enough. Keith took the dogs for a really long run and they all came back tired but happy. Then, back to Steven and Alison’s for something to eat – thanks Alison. It was a terrible journey home though. The main road from Dumfries to Kilmarnock had not been gritted, so it was a slow drive home.

I managed to find the time to put the Christmas tree up on Saturday, so the house is looking very festive. Only 2 more days of work for me (Keith is already on holiday) and then a nice long break. We hope the snow stays for a while – it won’t seem so bad that we didn’t get to France if it does.

Mac is back training again but has still to take his tablets for another 2 months. Bud is doing some short runs with the slower team and seems to be doing OK with this so far.

I finally resigned from the committee of SDAS (did give 3 months notice though).  It feels a bit strange after being so much involved for the last 8 years, but it will be nice to concentrate on my dogs and other, non-doggy, activities without worrying about club matters, and I certainly won't miss having to deal with some of the characters in the sport!

Mandie

We decided to give Kershope a miss this weeked.  With Bud and Mac not fit to run and Monty and Remey on 3 feet, we thought it best to stay at home.  We are glad we did, as Keith woke up on Saturday with a cold and then we found out that the race was cancelled on Saturday due to the hard frost.

I think the race went ahead on Sunday and we hope all went well.

We had a nice relaxing weekend.  Gave training the dogs a miss and just gave them all turns at coming into the house to warm up in front of the fire.   We did take Mac and Bud to the beach for a walk on Saturday and they had a blast exploring in all the seaweed that had been washed up and chasing the seagulls.  It is so nice to have dogs that you can let off the lead.  For the 3km Keith and I walked, I think Mac and Bud did 3 times that!

Can't believe it is only 2 weeks until Christmas.  Keith starts his holiday at the end of this week and I am off from the middle of next week.  Can't wait; lots of long lies and training the dogs.

Our sympathy goes to Steven and Alison who, last week, had to put the loveable Buzz to sleep.  He was a lovely boy and will be missed in the Pawtrax kennel, especially by his brother Woody.

After a couple of weeks of half-heartedly training the dogs, we got back into the swing of things last week.  After a shaky start on Wednesday, we had 3 good training runs in nice cold weather.  We have broken the teams down into smaller numbers since Mac and Bud are missing, and the dogs seem to be enjoying the change. 

We took them all to the beach on Sunday morning and let them free run beside the quad and they loved it.  Mac and Bud got out too and although Bud was quite tired afterwards, Mac would have stayed out running around for hours.  It is going to be hard keeping him out the team for the rest of the season.

We are still undecided about going to Kershope this weekend.  We are worried about having to take Mac and Bud with us, and not being able to get them out.  It seems cruel to take them with us and not be able to let them out for a run - they get so frantic when they are in the van.

I met friends for lunch in Glasgow on Saturday and was so glad that I have done all my Christmas shopping.  The city was heaving and the shops looked liked chaos!  Keith took advantage of the dry weather and got out for 2 long runs on his bike with the club.  The weekend went by too quickly though - can't believe it's Monday again and back to work!  Roll on the Christmas holidays and 12 days off work.

Well, my post from 27th November has disappeared - weird!

It was not very exciting anyway and basically confirmed that I was staying at home with the oldies and the poorlies, whilst Keith was going up to Black Isle himself.

By all accounts, the race was good - Alan and Lil did a great job as always under some trying circumstances.  Keith enjoyed himself although the small entry meant he had no competition in his classes.  Never mind, the dogs got out on different trails and it is good training for Stitch as he has never been up front on these trails before.

It has snowed in France, so we are now waiting to see how things progress before making a decision on whether we go out over Christmas or not.  I am in the frame of mind that it might just be nice to stay at home this year, although the pictures of the white stuff on the webcams make it very tempting.

Nothing else to report.  Mac and Bud continue to improve and we hope to get them out this weekend for a run around after the teams have run.  They are going stir crazy being stuck at the house.  They seem to think they are fully recovered - the vets have other ideas!