Introducing.....

Since I announced that we were looking for names for Kara's two little girls, we have literally been inundated with suggestions. A few folks, like my sis in law - aka Mrs. Geek - refused to even suggest names because they claim I always pick names outside of the suggestions anyway!! Actually, we do read and consider every ones suggestions and I believe over the years have utilized a few, but in reality, the names really need to jump out at us before we 'christen' a pup with them. Not only do they need to match the pup, they need to be names I like, that roll off my tongue easily, don't remind me of a person or experience that I do not remember fondly, and that don't conflict with any commands the dog might get taught down the road. Mark had actually suggested 'Shock' and 'Awe' as names for these girls - and I thought that was pretty cute until I realized I could be traveling through the woods calling out 'Awe Haw'. Not going to happen.
So I was just sitting back waiting for 'right' names to present themselves, when Mark joking referred to the girls by a set of names one morning and I said "That's it!! That's what I want to call them".
So....drum roll please....I want to introduce you all to...
KIM

And KELLY

YES, we did indeed name them after our friends, twin sisters Kim and Kelly Berg. And YES, I did ask permission first! In fact, one of the pups is quite a bit louder and more outspoken then the other, so I made the girls decide which one was going to be which. Out of respect for human Kim and Kelly, I won't tell which one is the noisier one. :)
Now, this does not mean that I'm going to start a theme of naming dogs after friends - so don't start emailing your resumes! Honestly, I'm not really keen on 'human names' for dogs but in this case it just seems to be a really good fit.

Unlike the other Kim and Kelly, canine Kim and Kelly are turning into real 'chunky monkeys'. I know some would say they are taking after Kara, but the truth of the matter is that their chubbiness far exceeds Kara's. Their little eyes opened overnight, so maybe they will start moving around more soon and Kara can start them on an exercise program before things get downright embarrassing!

Kara is still quite fond of them, but I think they are beginning to get on her nerves a bit. Yesterday when she was begging for Denta Stix they began screaming and howling in the back room (nothing was wrong, they just are rather demanding - probably how they got so fat). Kara looked at the door to the backroom (where the puppies are),up at the Denta Stix on top of the fridge, sighed and headed back to look after her kids. What a sacrifice, what a Mom! I wouldn't have bet money on how that was going to play out! :)

Opps, I hear screaming from the back room. I know nothing is wrong, but I better go check anyway!!!

I posted some more pictures of Kara, Kelly and Kim at
http://picasaweb.google.com/northwapiti/KimAndKelly
and a few of Sprite and her litter at http://picasaweb.google.com/northwapiti/TheEnergyDrinksJuly42008

Karen

Happy Canada Day

Yes, I'm alittle late on my Canada Day wishes. The actual holiday is July 1st, but I have a good excuse - I was busy welcoming 5 new little Canucks into the world! Yup, Sprite had her babies on Tuesday. I know a Canadian theme would be the natural for this litter, but in fact we have had a theme for this little ones since the time they were concieved. See Mom, Sprite, is out of the 'soda pop' litter and Dad, Watt - or more formally MegaWatt - out of our 'electric' litter, so what could be more approprite then an 'Energy Drink' litter??
Jolt, Monster, Rockstar, Wired, GoFast, Volt and more are are up for consideration. Do you have a favorite Energy drink??
I should also mention that there were 1 boy and 4 girls in the litter. The male is grey and white with a flashy white shawl, jsut like his Uncle Charge. There is one grey and white female, 2 black and white girls marked like their Dad and one black and white girl with a flashy shawl. All very cute!!

Pictures soon!!

Karen

Things that go BAWWWWW in the night!

I think somebody has something against me sleeping through the night.
Last night I was awoken at 1:30 am by a number of the dogs in the yard giving sharp warning barks. As I mentioned in diary entries before, the dogs have very different barks and noises that usually let me know before my feet hit the floor what kind of situation I'm heading towards.
Last night I was pretty certain it was the 'wild animal in the yard' bark, but when I got onto the deck, I was confused. Rather then being able to quickly pinpoint where the intruder was by what dogs were the most excited and where they were looking, different dogs in different areas where all barking and no one was staring in any particular direction. Odd.
I quickly surveyed the area around me to make sure I wasn't about to walk into whatever it was near the house (I almost walked into a cow moose once in Alaska because I was still mostly asleep and not paying attention). All was clear. I flipped on the big kennel lights, but that didn't help solve the mystery.
As I stood out in the yard the barking kind of died down and I heard a weird noise from a bit beyond the kennel. The dogs all instantly fired up again. I 'ssshhh'd' them and heard the noise again. Now, I know coyote noises - it wasn't that. I know mating calls of moose, elk and deer - but it wasn't that - and besides it is the wrong time of year for a ungulate with romance on it's tiny brain. What it sounded like was a young bear bawling for it's Mom. And whatever it was, it wasn't detracted by all the big lights and barking dogs, it was moving closer. Great.
The dogs were getting more agitated and were now pinpointing a location - in the woods behind Q and Kluane.
Now normally about this time, I would usually go and wake up Mark. Scaring scary woodland critters back into the woods is definitely a 'Mark job' - along with wrestling dead critters away from the dogs and killing spiders. However Mark was working nights, so I was on my own. I phoned him looking for suggestions, but of course, he wasn't near the phone.
By now whatever it was was close enough that a few dogs had spotted it - with my measly human eyeballs I couldn't locate it though. Big fearless Charge was barking and then jumping backwards. Many of the dogs were more nervous then excited, which is not normally the case when wildlife is around. I had no doubt we were dealing with a bear and for whatever reason, it wasn't acting 'normal'. Super.
In all the years we've lived in the country with dogs we've never had a bear come into the yard. Moose, deer,cows, horses, coyotes, muskrats, ducks,squirrels, crazy birds, stupid mice, even stupider frogs....but that is about it.
I tried calling Mark again and managed to catch him this time. Obviously, his distance from the situation allowed him to think clearer then I and he said "Why don't you let your big guard dog take care of it?". Ah yes, CRICKET!! Fly had much earlier sized up the situation and decided to play the 'retirement' card. He had been sticking right close to my heels the whole time. He claimed he was watching my back. Yeah, right.
Cricket spends nights in her pen, as she still has a tendency to roam, so I headed over to let her out. As she was bouncing around and celebrating her freedom (it had been a whole 4 hours that she had been penned up) the yard began to settle down a bit. It looked like Cricket's reputation might have proceeded her. With the yard settling a bit and Cricket on the job, I headed back inside, but sat up and watched a bit of TV just to make sure things were really over with. I figured when Charge went back to bed I would. It took an hour before the Siberian's barking episodes stopped and Cricket quit running along the edges of the dog yard issuing challenges. Charge settled down and finally curled up to sleep. I followed suit.
This morning Cricket was laying at the edge of the yard surveying the woods and her 'flock of Siberians' when I got up. I went out to give her a scratch on the head for her good work last night. My big fearless guard dog flopped onto her back and requested a belly rub. I happy obliged her. I think maybe she is growing up and stepping into her roll in the yard. Maybe I'll get a good night sleep now!!
Go Cricket!


Karen

The Other 2% Of The Time

When folks to come visit, they are often quite surprised by just how quiet our dog yard is. Sure, at hookups and around feeding time they can kick up a ruckus, but about 98% of the time they are as quiet as church mice. Honest. People come to visit during the day or the meter reader arrives and unless the ferious Cricket or Fly speak up, I often don't know anyone is here until they knock on the door. They are more outspoken if something out of the ordinary happens - like I always know if a car pulls into the yard in the middle of the night - but if it is something they see as 'routine', it isn't worthy of their comments.
And then there is the other 2% of the time....

Last night at about 12:30, I was woken up by the sound of a single dog barking repetatively. If it is a crisis in the yard, like a loose dog, the whole yard or at least the area that the crisis is in with all be SCREAMING. This was nothing like that, it was just the sound of a single dog barking. I stared at the ceiling a bit hoping the offender would shut up on their own, but after about 10 minutes I dragged myself out of bed. When I slide open the sliding door, I realized that it was one of the girls, but I couldn't quite place the voice. Yes, I can tell alot of them apart by the sound of their voices - or sometimes I can narrow it down enough by the sound or pattern of the bark to figure out the culprit, but not this time. A growly 'SHUT UP' seemed to solve the situation though, so I closed the door and padded back to bed. As I was snuggling back under the covers the mystery dog let out one more bark, just to get the last word in, and then all was quiet in the yard. I drifted back to sleep.
At 2:30, I found myself again listening to the same barking dog. Again, none of the dogs around her were joining in, so it wasn't a 'crisis situation', just barking at poltergeists or to hear herself bark. No more padding around the house - I stomped to the back door and flipped on the back porch light. That is the equivalent to my father's "If I have to get out of this chair..." threat. The offending gal had the decency to go quiet for about 1 minute, just long enough for me to think the problem was solved.
Okay, it was time to figure out exactly who was causing this loss of sleep. I slide into my flip flops and stalked off into the night with Fly on my heels.
We have something like 21 hours of daylight right now, but still at 2:30 am it was pretty dark out. I could still see the dogs moving around though. Of course, the yapping stopped as soon as I stepped outside, but normally whatever dog is worked up will still be up and flying around on their chain when I get out in the yard. I can usually stomp over , stand intimidatingly over them, giving them a growly lecture and that will be the end of it. However, because it was raining all day and the dogs hung out in their houses the whole time, they were full of beans and all zipped out to say 'hi' when I stepped out into the yard, effectively giving cover to the barker. I muttered a few meaningless threats and generally let them all know how unimpressed I was before storming back to the house.
The door to the house had just slide closed when I heard 'Bark, bark, bark'. ARRRRRRRHHHH!!! I made another trip to the again suddenly dead quiet top of the yard and vented at them all for a full 5 minutes. They all stood looking at me with their tails slowly wagging - no one giving up the noisemaker. I could tell they thought I had gone crazy and I suggested to them that if I had, it was their fault.
Still muttering and fuming I closed the door to the house and waited. Nothing. I spent about 10 minutes going to the bathroom and checking email before heading back to bed. I had just stepped back into the bedroom when it started 'Bark, bark, bark'. Mark was still sound asleep, oblivious to my adventures. I stood debating what to do. Oh heck...I crawled back into bed and yanked a pillow over my ears. Eventually drifting back to sleep with muffled barking serenading me. I think even through the pillow I could hear a bit of laughter in that bark.

Karen

There is setting the bar...and then there is setting the bar!

Those of you on our NorthWapitiNews yahoo list (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthWapitiNews/join) have seen some good natured ribbing and challenging between my friend Jackie Wepruk and myself regarding performance in the obedience ring since the post I wrote about Utin and I starting to do some obedience training. I was full of a lot of (good natured) bluff and bluster!
Well, it seems that the next thing I need to teach Utin is to roll over and play dead!
See Jackie and her latest in a string of amazingly obedient Siberians entered the show ring again this weekend.
Despite blistering heat, Triton and Jackie got a High in Trial with a score of 194 on Saturday. After getting 2 qualifying scores a few weeks ago at the Northern Alberta Canine Association Trials (with one 'High in Class score' and one 'reserve High in Trial' score) that officially got Triton his CD (Companion Dog) title.
So, because Jackie is a patient and dedicated trainer, Triton was actually trained up to the Open level before he made his debut in the Novice ring (most people train for Novice, complete the title, then begin training for the next level - not Jackie though)so today she 'moved him up' and competed in the Open level. Reports are it was raining pretty good today and many dogs weren't keen on working in the inclement weather - not Triton. His first attempt at the Open classes got him a score of 192 and a second High in Trial.
You have to understand, these accomplishments are amazing for ANY breed of dog - most people would say they were simply impossible with a Siberian Husky. Most people don't know Jackie Wepruk. They should.
This is the third obedience Siberian Jackie has taken into competition. Both her two previous dogs were High in Trial winners and each spent several years as the Top Obedience Siberian in Canada. I'm sure Triton is well on his way to the same.
Jackie is simply one of the best Siberian Husky trainers on the planet - plain and simple.
Mark and I are honored that Jackie and her husband Rick Austin have based their breeding program at TuColdturain Siberians (http://users.xplornet.com/~tucoldturain/index.html) on our lines. It is a great compliment.
For the record Triton is formerly known as Tucoldturain's Triton CD. He is out of NorthWapiti's Super Grover and NorthWapiti's Skadi.

Congratulations again Jackie and Triton!

I think I'm heading out in the rain to practice some heeling with Utin! :)
Karen

Kara's Dynamic Duo

Yesterday Kara presented us with 2 lovely little daughters.
Oh gosh, thankfully that isn't one of her puppies - that is Tic looking for a cosy place to sleep last week. Kara was less then impressed.

She looks much happier with these 2!!

Being that Kara is an older Mom (she will be 9 next month), I didn't expect a huge litter, but I was hoping for 3 or 4 little ones. Oh well, a healthy Mom and pups is really the only thing we really ask for - and that, it looks like we have gotten.

Kara's very first litter, way back in 2001, were 2 lovely little grey and white girls, Dasher and Dancer. So it looks like maybe she decided to end her whelping 'career' the same way she started it.

Of course, the issue of a 'theme' for this litter has already been raised. I will say that our original intent, seeing that they were the 'mo' 'ka' litter, was to use 'coffee' as a theme. I had a huge page of great names, but now that there are just 2 I don't think it will do the theme justice, so we will leave that for another litter.

I snooped around a little on the internet last night for some female duo names that caught my eye - "Thelma and Louise" "Lucy and Ethel" "Laverne and Shirley" "Cagney and Lacey", but nothing really stood out. Right now I'm leaning towards 'Zig' and 'Zag' - or maybe "Summer" and "Solstice" - but we are really open to suggestions!

It was pretty warm yesterday - at least for our part of the world - and didn't really cool off a bit last night. This morning is warm and windy - feeling like something is blowing in. I'm off to start my day so I can hopefully get everything in the yard done before it starts to storm - or gets really hot again.

Oh, forgot to mention - we watched the 2008 Iditarod DVD 'Deja vu' yesterday. Really well done. Nice footage and excellent commentary by Bruce Lee. Even some nice shots of my team and a quick quote from me at Finger Lake. It's available through the Iditarod online store.

Karen

...and the Thunder Rolled.

I can't believe that a month ago I was whining for rain. I don't think it has stopped raining since I wrote that entry!

Day before yesterday Mark had run into Athabasca to pick up a 1/2 load of dog food (50 bags). I had some running around to do in town too (just for the record 'town' - as in "going to town" is Athabasca, 'city' is 'Edmonton'). We both got home in time for a late lunch and then a glance out the kitchen window sent us scrambling to get out and start unloading dog food bags.
As I stood on the flatdeck of the old truck - which is back in action again - the sky kept getting darker and darker, lightening flashed over the garage roof and thunder shook the ground. I wasn't sure whether to feel powerful or foolish for being up there! Thankfully, Cricket barked feriously at the claps of thunder making sure none of them came into the yard (Fly was shaking and drooling in the garage).
As the last 40 lb bag was tossed into the garage, the clouds opened and rain began to fall. Moments after we scurried back into the house the skies really opened up and hail began pelting the yard.
I looked out into the kennel to make sure all the dogs had gotten into their houses and just about broke a rib laughing at X. He was standing next to his dog house, not tangled or anything, just standing there not wanting to go in his house. As hail struck him, he would spin around to try and catch a glimpse of where the 'blows' where coming from. After about 3 or 4 spins, he wisely gave up and headed for safety.
No one else stirred from their houses until the hail and thunder had moved on.
I hear St. Albert experienced alot of flooding from that storm. We must have just caught the edge of it, as the news that night showed cars in the city up to their hoods in water. Thankfully, nothing like that here!

Today we once again woke up to rain. Mushrooms are beginning to grow in the yard. I think Cricket is beginning to grow flippers. However, I'm scared to ask for it to stop, as I fear, after how sucessful I was pleading for rain last time, a month from now we might be back in a drought situation! So, I'll just continue to do chores between cloud bursts with a smile on my face!!

I can't write a Blog entry today without a update on Kara. Today is her first due date. She is showing no signs of being in a hurry to have her puppies. She is currently snoozing on one of the dog beds after just having tore through her morning Denta Bone. She's been doing a bit of nesting, but nothing serious yet. She is quite delighted in the fact that rather then heading to the city with Mark for a day of running around, I have choosen to spend the day hanging out with her. If it weren't for the kicking puppies that can easily be seen moving around inside her now, I'd be suspisious that she was just faking this for all the attention it is getting her. She is in her glory.

Anyway, those are the stories for today. Hopefully the next post will be announcing some new little arrivals to the family!

Karen