VicbertAlboria Racing Kennel

The dogs and I had a race planned for today — the Bighorn Rush Sled Dog Challenge — but withdrew because I don’t trust my car enough to make the trip (we would have left on Wednesday in the middle of more snow fall). The race we had planned for next weekend was also canceled. I finally figured out how to attach my drag mat to my sled though so we were finally able to sled around the unplowed neighborhood. One street was so untouched we even had to break trail. We met a loose dog and ended up going about 2 miles before turning back because it was getting dark and my phone couldn’t handle the cold.

I haven’t posted much this season but the dogs and I have been pretty active. We did 3 races in the fall (2 dog scooter and canicross, having the dogs switch out so that each had a turn in canicross and each possible pairing of dogs got to do 2 dog scooter). We have a number of races planned for sled season and today I finally got the 4-dog line I needed to train all 3 dogs at once. Here are some pictures from our first 3 dog scooter run all together with the proper lines. We only went just over an hour but Victoria got a lot of the experience she’ll need as (hopefully) the lead dog for most of our sled races. I fell once and we all got very muddy.

Late post, but our first race of the year is checked off the list! This was our newest addition, Elizabeth’s first race. I wish I had gotten some pictures of Albert and Victoria racing though! Albie and Victoria ran 2 dog scooter on day one but on day 2 the back tire popped and couldn’t be reinflated :( that really sucked because I just bought that scooter and also because we had to scratch. Canicross with Elizabeth went smoothly though. I felt bad for her because she was pulling so hard but I’m such a slow runner 😅 this was also our first time testing out our new Impact dog crate. You might notice a black scab on Elizabeth’s nose. That is an injury she got while escaping her wire collapsible crate. Because she needs a safer crate to crate train in I ordered a collapsible impact crate and I finally feel safe crating her again. I used the crate at the race to contain her when she wasn’t racing or hanging out with Albie, Victoria and me. I’m trying to focus on making the crate a positive thing for her.

This is what happens when you promise the dogs you’ll take the scooter out “no matter what” and don’t check the weather first! I had the dogs harnesses on and everything and as soon as we stepped outside I saw the snow and I was like “oh no...” but I drove down to the trail anyways and it actually went okay! Not a single fall even though the dogs were booking it down some of then hills (now if we could work on having some of that enthusiasm going up the hills too...) all in all a good run! And I found a cool new trail too :)

Albert Cassian

Victoria Star

Victoria and I had our first real canicross run together this morning. I’ve done a 5k with Albert before and a legit canicross race with his sister Mitsfit, but all Victoria and I have done together running-wise is a few laps around the parking lot. Well today she and I did a practice parkrun (5k) and she did great!! Only a few zig zags, and I had to keep her from chasing ducks a few times :P she responded to my commands very well, even when I said “Gee” and “Haw” instead of “Gee over” and “Haw over” when we needed to pass walkers. I don’t think we’ll make it to any dryland races this fall, but perhaps in the Spring she can be my canicross partner when we aren’t doing 2 dog scooter with Albie!

Btw, we still need more volunteers before Parkrun Meridian can be an official thing. Check out the “Let’s Bring Parkrun to Meridian” page for more info so that we can FINALLY have an Idaho Parkrun!!


@ Julius M. Kleiner Memorial Park

Good day for a rainy practice parkrun :) Parkrun is finally coming to Idaho and today was the first practice with a whopping 2 runners and 1 race director. We still need 4 more volunteers to commit to the first month before we can be official. If you or someone you know is in the Meridian area and is interested, check out the page “Lets Bring Parkrun to Meridian” or email [email protected] :) I ran it today and had a blast! I’m hoping to bring Victoria to the next one 🐶

In slightly related news, musher only training is going well. Here are some photos from last nights dog-less run. Soon it will be cold enough for me to be able do cannicross for some of my after work runs. I need to decide who will by my cannicross partner. The speedy Victoria (who thinks I’m too slow and has a bad zigzagging habit we need to work through), or the steady-at-my-pace Albert (who has an impulse issue we need to work though if I want him no to dart off the trail dragging me behind). I plan to do one cannicross arace with one of them, and another with one of my sisters dogs this season.

First training run of the season this morning!! I wanted to start earlier this week, but it was always too hot after work, and I didn’t wake up early enough to go before work. The dogs excitement this morning when they watched me bringing the scooter, their harnesses, and the rest of the equipment and supplies we needed from the apartment into the car was INSANE. They knew exactly what was about to happen. It was still a little warmer than I would have liked, and we didn’t go as far as I wanted (half a mile. We ran out of time, as I had to get them home and rush to work), and we didn’t run the route I wanted (you have to go on wood and concrete to get to the dirt trail, and we didn’t make it that far), but other than that it went great! The dogs listened to my commands (I had to say on-by more often than I wanted, but at least they listened when I said it), did almost every turn perfectly, didn’t get into any crazy tangles, and we didn’t crash :P I need to get my phone holder set up so I can get a video of tomorrow’s run :)