My New Collar - Bet

Howdy Ho Everybodies!!!

Remember on the Facebooks how I asked everybodies to help me pick out my pretty new collar and stuffs and things?

For those peoples that don't have an actual Facebooks account, did you know that you can STILL see all of our adventures and cool pictures and stuffs and things without having a Facebooks account?  Well you can!  You just can't leave comments or anything, but we do post lots and lots of goodies on there, so go visit us over there and see what's going on in between bloggity blog posts... just click here.

Anywhoooooooooooooooo,

We picked out my new fantabulous collar and the Musher ordered it for me and it arrived yesterday!!!

OH YES IT DID!  Can I say stunning?  Can I say FANTABULOUS?  Yes I can and I just did.

So... you want to see it???

Which one did I pick????

Well, first I had to take a bath... sigh.  I know.  There is a HUGEY HUGE price for beauty peoples, and that price involves water and soapy suds.  This time I sorta understand the whole bathy bath thing because I did want to be all squeaky clean to model my new collar, but it was still rather traumatic and I had to have some time to gather myself again afterwards.

Oh the Coolamity!

After I regained my composure, and certainly AFTER my furs were all dry (because I tend to get a bit poofy after a bath and I can't be seen in public all poofy), I tried on my new fantabulous collar...

the Maasai Shield

Look at how stunning it is and it perfectly compliments my furs!  Not only does it match the Pretty Curly Tails Kennel motif, but it also makes my eyes pop!

On top of the whole North Wapiti ensemble thing, I liked how the Maasai history was sorta like my own history.  According to this webby site, the Maasai peoples think that cattle are sacred (and since I'm a Pretty Curly Tail herder, that means they are my sacred moocow things.)  The Maasai are also into grass (which is medicinal when you have an upset stomach and need to urp), and figs... which... well... I can do without figs unless it's a nice figgy pudding thing and can go on crackers or something tasty, so I'm just like the Maasai peoples!  See how that works!

yaaaaaawwwwwwwn

Ok, I sorta bored myself with all that... I got it because it's pretty, but the whole Maasai thing is cool too.

So there!

- Bet

Why Are We Just Finding Out About This Stuff??????

Ummmm...Pete.....you've got a little 'something' on your nose......

Twenty Four Hours of Sheer Excitement....NOT!

I moved the game cam to a new location and this is what it caught in under 24 hours.....

Me skidding out 'poop' buckets.....

Coming home....

Homeland Security heading out on a call....

KD heading out to work on her hunting skills (should be noted she slept on the bed until she started stomping on my head at 4:15AM and I helped her out the door!) ......

Bait doing rounds....

My neighbours going berry picking.....

Bait heading out to keep an eye on the neighbours....

Neighbours heading back...

Oh the excitement.....think I'll move the camera......

Chlout's Hector of NorthWapiti

Chlout's Hector of NorthWapiti 

August 28, 2001 - August 10, 2014

How does 12 years go by so fast?

I still vividly remember the phone call offering me the 'H's' - and the scrambling to get them down to Alberta. 

It can't have been over 12 years ago. 

Hector and his brother Herman, normally running side by side, were staples on my team for so many years. 

Herman and Hector on the '04 Iditarod.

There are many memories that drifted through my mind this morning as I loaded him into the van and made the drive to the vet clinic......Hector leading group howls on the trail and in the dog yard, him gnawing away on some poor hunter's caribou as we tried to pass him hauling it home on the Copper Basin trail, him getting a point (and starting an 'in the show building' group howl) the one and only time I showed him, but mostly I remember a tight, tight tugline.

My heart goes out to Herman today too. In their whole lives they were likely only separated for a matter of hours. I imagine not having him around will be harder for Herman to get used to then for any of the rest of us.

Big thanks to Bob Chlupach for pushing Hector (and his littermates) on me. They were some of the best I've ever driven.

Tonight at dusk I'll be leading a group howl in the kennel in Hector's honour.

Bear Safety - Bet

Howdy Ho Everybodies!

It's time for your helpfully helpful North Wapiti Kennels tip of the day:  Bear Safety!

I'm not talking about that big smooshy guard dog Bear, I'm talking about those oogie, pointy sharp clawed, teethy teeth bears that come out of nowhere and eat you.

There's been some bear things wandering around the property and the neighbors had a run-in with one (everybodies is fine), so knowing that... the Musher wanted to go blueberry picking.

Seriously?

Um... ok, I guess, but we needed to put on our bear protection devices.

Bear bell image courtesy of Frontiersman Website

Yes... bells.  Bear bells to be exact.  I'm not sure what crazy science went into determining the correct bell frequency that causes bears to flee in fear at the sound of a tingling little bell.  I pretty much think it goes more like this:

Anyhoooo, so we get all geared up with our scary bear bells.

The Musher puts hers on her bicycle.

I get one on my FABulous purple collar (and frankly I think the red bell would match my collar and furs better than the yellow bell, but nooooo, I get the yellow bell).

Annoying?  You betcha.  tingle tingle tingle every move I make, stupid bell.  It's very hard to be stealthy when you sound like an ice cream truck... mmmm ice cream.

So, off we go into the wilds of North Wapiti in search of the elusive blueberries.

Nope, no blueberries here.

SHHHHH, be very quiet!  I sense a herd of blueberries up ahead...

tingle tingle tingle

AAAAAH, stupid bell, the blueberries are sure to stampede and escape now!

We finally corralled a herd of wild blueberries, so the Musher plopped her bike down (there are these things called "kickstands"... just sayin) and off she went to pick the tasty nom noms.

It's my job to make sure the coast remains clear of anything that could eat us while she's busy harvesting the blueberries, so I stay very vigilant.

WHAT WAS THAT?  DID YOU HEAR THAT??  WAS THAT A BEAR????

It's very tiring being vigilant... exhausting actually, and using a silly bell to keep the bears away is very stressful... so I made a quick call for back up.

Thanks for getting here so quickly you two, I think I heard a bear over there... no over THERE.... where are you going?

DID YOU HEAR THAT????  Guys???  um GUYS???

That's not funny!!!

Now that my back-up had arrived and posted themselves tactically around the most important member (me) I felt a bit better and could relax a bit.

Of course I couldn't help freaking out the Musher once in a while.

MUSHER!  IT'S A BEAR!!

Heheheeee.  She mentioned something about renaming him, or something, but I thought it was funny.

It's nice having the guard dogs around during such scary adventures.

Especially when we found this!!!!

Yep, that's bear poo, not to be confused with

Bear's poo.  Because it was not Bear's poo.

Nor was it

Pooh Bear (imagine from Crafterchick site)

It was real poo from a real bear, and frankly after finding that, I was glad it was time to go home where it's safe.

Well... sorta safe.

- Bet