Fights & New Arrivals

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Fights & New Arrivals

On Monday Linda and I decided to take the dogs on another run! Now due to the huge snow blizzard/fall (5th worst since records began- just had to shove it in there!) the weight of the snow pushed down on the icy lake and cracks formed...so water seeped into said snow and thus slush formed! Slush is hard for the dogs to run in and hard for the poor human on the back to run alongside the sled to help the dogs! But we took our chances and went for it! As we were hooking the dogs up to the fence Phoneix growled at Oken as he walked past but Linda and I brushed it off as nothing....in forsight twas a baad move! We put the dogs onto the gangline, I hopped into the sled and off we went but after 2 minutes of the dogs eagerly hauling ass through the slush Phoneix slacked a bit to shake off some snow...Oken was behind him, caught up and a big dog fight began! Oken and Phoneix were grappling and biting each other, and our Wheel dogs Zodiac and Journey (you know...Zodi...the big bully!) began fighting! Zodiac just began attacking poor Jour due to the excitement of the run and frustration that we weren't moving. Linda hollered for me to come stand on the drag pad while she grabbed the 'Whacker' and ran to break up the fights. Now the Whacker is a piece of wood with a bit of rope with a clip so you can attach it to the sled. It is used to break up fights as 1) you don't want to go shoving your hand in there! and 2) If you use your hands to discipline a dog it'll become afraid of human hands- not good! Hence the Whacker! She successfully broke up the fights and I jumped back in the sled and off we went. We were heading towards the bridge and all was well when suddenly Ilo began yelping as his back right foot was caught in the gangline! This can be an absolute disaster with a dog either dislocating there leg or at worst breaking it. However we humans and the sleg were on a slight mound while the dogs were on flat ground, if Linda had stopped the lead dogs would try and pull and Ilo's leg would be a goner, so she pushed the sled forward and continued to let the dogs run for a couple of seconds until we too were on flat ground. BUT this caused Oken to be shoved into a snow bank...he wasn;t impressed and went to grab the nearest dog which was poor Ilo!! I ran out of the sled and sat all my weight on the drag pad then quickly sank the hook while Linda again ran up with the Whacker and tried to help poor Ilo. (Again Zodiac attacked Journey.. >:� ) The run was slowly becoming disastrous! After sorting out the fights and setting Ilo free we were off again but Ilo's face was bleeding and Linda quickly decided to turn us around and head back for home.
I had to hop out of the sled and attach a neck line between the two Lead dogs (Tuloon and Phoneix) then grab it and pull them to the right to drag them onto the trail we just made- easier said then done! The slush was rising almost above my boots and with every step I cracked open thin ice!! One dodgy piece of ice and I could've been under! Meanwhile Linda was hanging onto the sled and she said she was practically waterskiing at one point! We then quickly ran the dogs home (but not before Zodiac had another chomp at poor Jour! the cut on her ear from the other week split open in the fight and began bleeding!).

After arriving on solid land we quickly jumped up to assess the situation, Oken was fine and wagging his tail! Phoneix looked good, but Ilo had it worst! he had two teeth marks in his face! Poor baby boy 😞 Linda phoned the vet and booked an appointment to have him looked at- we also took Topa and White Feather for their rabies booster and Wimzi for a weight check.

We arrived at the vets shortly after and Ilo's face was stitched up MUCH to his displeasure! It took two vet nurse's and Linda to hold him down while Dr J fixed him up. I was holding poor Topa and she watched with absolute horror! Oh and on a side not Wimzi weighs 60 pounds! She is officially the biggest female in the pack 😊 Ilo is now on anti-biotics and his face is all swollen 😞

On Thursday Neil and his Mum; Olive arrived (bringing with them a gift of Cadburys chocolate- 1kg to be precise! Thanks!) and they'll both be here the remainder of my trip (Olive and I are actually flying home on the same day!).

Yesterday Neil blazed a trail on the lake with his snow mobile which then opens up the slush. This then freezes over night and makes a decent enough trail for the dogs! In the evening we went to get our tree and what a fabulous tree it is! We all drove to this 'tree farm', where they give you a hack saw and off you trot around the trees until you see one you like! You then cut it down, pay for it and take it home! After not much deliberation we all agreed on a tree and it is now sitting in the lounge. We then decorated it with random decorations Linda's collected throughout the years (they are so cool! Real cute little things!) then sat back and watched some Tv. Good times 😊

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Photos

Puncture wound
it was real deep and looked horribly painful!

Topa watching!
Half with fascination and half with fear that its about to happen to her!

S'more man!
there was also a S'more fisherman and dog!