North of Ordinary

Way Too Much Fun With The Camera

2009-08-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

As I lay on the deck in the dog yard, (the deck is a piece of 4x8 plywood nailed on a 2x4 frame so the dogs and I have a place to sit or lay down that's not in the dirt), I get a different view of the dogs from below. I took the camera out with me yesterday to see what I could capture in a photo. Apparently Peat was not as interested in getting his photo taken, as I didn't get any of him. That's ok - it gives me a reason to go out and get some more pictures another day. Here's a few of the better pictures I was able to get.

Great Canadian Superstore 1 dog pull

2009-03-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

This year at Rendezous the middle wight division (60-99lbs) had an amazing turnout. There is some untapped talent with a lot of the first time pullers, hopefully some of these "new dogs" will make it out to the Summer dog pull. As expected and very well deserved Asha took home first place, Sherpa snagged second place and the pound pulled per pound of dog (which I personally think is the top award) and Aklak place third and had a personal best pull.

The following images are from Michal Kozlowski of Geist

Aklak's signature "dancing bear" move

Nice form....slow and low

happy Aklak

He knows when he is done... "take this harness off and bring me fish"

Is Rico a Rico Suave?....you tell us

2009-03-03T00:15:00.000-08:00

The Urban Dictionary defines Rico Suave as

A guy who is hot and knows it. Someone who has a cool confidence that over flows. Walks with a style that says "hey girls, take a look at this.." Not necessarily a bad thing

source:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rico%20suave

Suave? or just Rico

My 1st Dog Race

2009-03-02T22:45:00.000-08:00

Well my first race is finally behind me and it was GREAT!

My team of Peat (formerly of Drag N' Fly Kennel, now a member of Akeno Kennel), Sadie, Rico and Lucky hauled me over the 7km course at this years 4 dog Rendezvous race.

In lead is Sadie and Peat, with Rico and Lucky in wheel. Peat is the old man (and the real team leader) at 5 years old while the rest of them are our "puppies" at 11 months old.

I look forward to many more races with these fantasic dogs!

This is what happens when you bang your HEAD!

2009-03-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

It started out as just another routine dog feeding until....BANG! I didn't duck down enough to clear the cross bar on the gate to the dogyard. The came the pain and then the blood....oh my did it pour. It seems that in construction of our gate we did not clip the fencing close enough and that left one extra long "scalp ripper" hanging down just far enough to open my head up. Heather wanted my to get stitches, which looking back was probably the smart thing, but for those of you that know me I would rather a scar over a needle any day!

The Backdoor

The bathroom sink

The Head

Nice....eH

The Cold Snap

2009-01-19T19:00:00.000-08:00

So I'm a bit behind with the blogging again. The cold snap we had started about Christmas time and ended a few weeks ago. Since our cutoff for running dogs is about -30 degrees, we didn't run dogs for a while. During this down time, we took this opportunity to bring the dogs in the house as much as possible. Of course they would have been fine outside, but since we didn't exactly want to spend much time outside, we found them spending more time inside for visits. It was fun for all. We're happy to report that since we've been bringing the sled dogs into the house, Dust and Peat were officially introduced to the house dogs Aklak and Keno - and they've been buddies ever since! It's great that all 8 dogs can be in the house together without any issues. Here's a few of the photos we got when the dogs were in the house. Of course the best photo opportunities occurred when the camera was out of reach, but we're happy with the pics we got.

Sadie and Lucky. Cash in the background.

Cash and Peat chilling on the bed.

Dog days of winter (Peat and Cash).

Sadie and Cash

Rico

Dust

Happy Cash

Cash and Peat

Peat, Lucky and Cash

Cash and Lucky

Peat, Lucky, Cash and Dust

Pike...pike and PIKE

2008-12-15T00:02:00.001-08:00

Well thanks to Dennis Z. and very co-operative Esox lucius I had the BEST day ice fishing since I came to the Yukon! Even with temps of -35C the day was just perfect....pike, after pike, a pike and to top the day off I caught a 12lbs pike which is a personal best for me.

Thanks again Dennis!

Risdon Rig Win

2008-04-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

"Unlucky" Heather won a nice little sprint sled from a draw entered while at the 2008 Race of Champions. She claims to have never won ANYTHING in her life, so some may say she is due?
We have decieded that is it too much sled for her and that I should use it....and thanks to Jim and Lee I have. It is indeed too much sled for Heather unless she uses it to run Aklak and Keno only, but what a waste that would be eH?

Dave and Heather now have a Blog Site

2008-04-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hi all
We finally decided to leave facebook and concentrate our joint efforts here to allow our friends and family to keep up to date on our life North of Ordinary.
Enjoy.

Bombproof Outdoor Gear - Website

2008-04-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

We are trying to get the Bombproof Website up and running. To all our friends with Bomproof sled bags....could we get some pics of the gear in action? Thanks Dave and Heather.

Scooter Season has Arrived!

2008-04-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

We received our new Diggler Scooter last week. We've been tearing up and down Jackson Road (waiting for the snow to come off the trails). We're really pleased with the new scooter - it's much safer for running multiple dogs. The disk breaks are excellent and provide great stopping power. We're looking forward to the dryland race at Jim and Lee's this summer. We now have a spare scooter if someone wants to try it out!

Bombproof Harnesses

2008-04-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

The testing stage of the Bombproof SHORTY harness is nearing in-house completion. I will soon offer these harnesses to friends and get some well needed feeback well before the 2008/09 years mushing season. We plan on offering these harnesses in Black, Red, Blue and Yellow. Let us know what you think!

Akeno Kennels - the puppies

2008-04-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

LUCKY

CASH

SADIE

RICO

Well we have 4, 6-week old husky pups (thanks to Sebastian S.) their photos are above...

What else can I say? They are amazing, we are over the top happy, our lives have now changed.... We have 2 males, Rico and Cash and the 2 females, Sadie and Lucky. Top to bottom they go Lucky, Cash, Saide and Rico.

We chose thier names after interesting locations up at Keno Hill.

more puppy photos

2008-04-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

These were all taken last night when the puppies arrvied. Both Aklak and Keno have been great with these little ones. Keno is really interacting and playing well with them, while we think Aklak still remembers Puck hanging off his beard and does not want a fourpeat, so he is a little standoffish.

Skiing in Collingwood with Warnells

2008-04-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

These are a few pics of our ski trip with Chris and Kirstene.

This was the highlight of our last visit to Ontario - Thanks to Chris for showing me the ropes on snowboarding and to Kirstene for organizing it...what a blast!

More Puppy Stuff...

2008-05-05T21:09:00.001-07:00

So far we've only shown you picutres of our new puppies (as sweet and cute as they are, we don't want to you think we have forgotten about our first dogs - where the name Akeno Kennels came from). The puppies are growing like weeds. We can see them getting bigger in just the short week we've had them - their legs are getting longer and as they lay in their dog house as one big puppy pile, we can see we'll need to build them a new house in the near future (then they can bunk 2x2, until we finally build one for each).

Aklak - about 8 weeks old

Aklak - what a handsome dog he grew up to be.

Keno - we got her at about 1 year old - she would have been an adorable puppy with those big ears!

Cash

Lucky - wondering if it's edible - the rare moment we see them looking at their food instead of inhaling it!

Rico - he's so handsome! - wait to see the next set of photos - only one ear is standing now.

Psycho Sadie! need I say more?

The puppy pile! The one time in their lives they can all fit in the dog house with ample room to spare. I shall enjoy this time.

The puppies have adjusted to life outside just fine (after only 2 nights in the house, Aklak and Keno's fence was reinforced with chicken wire and they were booted out into the wild). Ok, well not really the wild. They grew up outside and were wondering free when we plucked them from their home. They are just back out to what is normal for them. After all, they are sled dogs! Aklak is definately happy to have his house and kitchen back. Keno still really loves to play with them. When we have free runs outside, Keno is very interactive with them. Aklak is pretty standoffish, but he's also very tolerant and careful when he steps. I know Aklak and Keno will be happier when we build the puppies their own run and they can get theirs back!

Scooter Photo

2008-05-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post this photo (taken by StacieZ) beacuse I like it...nothing more. Enjoy.

Puppies

2008-05-17T22:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since we've posted any puppy pics. They are growing like weeds! Stacie came over the other day and helped me haul the puppies over the fence for a free run. The puppies had a great time - they slept well that night. Keno still loves to run and play with them, but sometimes I think she forgets how small they still are! Aklak still doesn't want anything to do with them, but will tolerate them when they are playing in the yard together. Here's a few new photos...

Keno runs circles around the little dudes...

Rico and Keno - Rico is voted to be the most like Keno (in looks)

Puppy Dogs

2008-07-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since our last post. Time sure does fly in the summer - so much to do, so little time. But, at least I found some time to update the blog with some new puppy/dog photos. The little weeds have grown up so fast. Sure they're still puppies (about 4 1/2 months old), but they are becoming dogs in a big hurry. We have them tied out to eat from their own bowls now - no more running between bowls to chow down. This way we get to see who's eating what, and not to mention it gets them used to being tied up.

It took a lot longer than we thought to get the puppies into their new pen, but they've been in there about 3 weeks now and are loving it! Way more space for all. The only thing that they were lacking was shade, so we solved that problem (see photo below).

Sweet shade (above)

We had a heck of a time getting the gate square enough to swing properly, but we finally did it. Thanks to the advice of my mom, we put a turnbuckle (not sure if that's the proper term) in the center attached to 2 cables. We were able to adjust the buckle to 'lift' the gate so it was square. Sweet!

Chow Time (note puppies tied to the posts, eating from their own bowls)

Rico - not ready for the picture (note floppy ear)

Rico - posing for the camera - note radar ears! (or bat dog - either one works)

Sadie (she has similar ears to Keno, nice big floppy ears)

Cash and Lucky

Cash, Lucky and Sadie

It's been a while since they've seen the camera, so it was a bit difficult taking pictures of them this time. They were all quite curious and didn't want to get to far away (hence the closeups).

It's cool to see how their personalities have developed over the past few months. Cash is confident, curious and fearless. He was the first one to be tied up without any hesitation, and the first to be brought into the house on the lead without any struggle/hesitation. Lucky on the other hand is the opposite of Cash - she was the last one to be comfortable tied up for eating and she was shaking when I brought her into the house on a lead. She's a very sensitive girl. She's doing well, it just took a bit longer for her to adjust to new things. Rico is confident, but not as confident as Cash. He's quite the 'lover' when it comes to getting cuddled (they all are, but he has the most kisses to give). I see him protecting the pen when he hears the wolves or other dogs howl - he sticks out his chest and gives a 'burf', and runs to the edge of the pen and gives another 'burf' - not really a bark, but a 'burf'. Sadie is still the smallest - sometimes the sweetest, and other times the troublemaker. Depends on the moment with her. She's small and adorable. They all love playing fetch with the tennis balls, chewing bones and love it when Keno comes in the pen for a visit.

Serious White Dumping

2008-12-09T23:18:00.000-08:00

We FINALLY got some good snow!

Time to pack the trails and start running from home...hopefully.

My Skidoo is back and functional (not 100% but o.k. to use) so tomorrow I plan on making grooming trails.

Our puppy palace is back and being utilized (in more ways than I want to talk about) and all residents are living in harmony.

Peat has taken a liking to Heather

The new 6-pack (plus one human)

Cash

The girls...

Some more pics...

The Condos

2008-12-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

We finally took some photos of the dogs in there homes...Enjoy

Peat aka SneakyPete

Lucky

Cash and Sadie on the left doubled-up and Rico on the right

the shy one.....Dust

Hidden Lakes

2008-11-29T21:07:00.000-08:00

While our better halves were out playing pond hockey at Chadburn Lake Stu VanBibber and I were putting meat on the table at Hidden Lakes.
Stu, Fin and I didn't exacty slay them, but we did manage to fool one nice 2.5-3lb Rainbow trout to take our offering.
Thanks again Stu for the company....next time we fish the mightly Hidden Lakes they won't be so mighty.

Dave with Stu's fish......it's a long story

Our first run in the dark with the Akeno bunch

2008-11-28T22:21:00.001-08:00

Well we just got back from a great (but I feel we are still not going far enough) run up at the Copper Haul.
Thanks for the advise and help Stacie and Laura and for the chance to do a head on pass Jon.

CHT and other political BS

2008-11-25T20:46:00.001-08:00

Well the CHT first race was GREAT! even though some individuals were offended by someone donating firewood. WOW I mean really grow the hell UP! let the past be the past and move on.

To quote some famous book "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"

Everyone who raced this past weekend really looked like they were having a blast. I stood at the worst turn on the course and the only negative thing I heard was the ocasional "oH crap...this looks bad". I did not participate much in the CHT last season because I let egos and competitive crap get the best of me. I am not a competetive person because I believe competitivness brings out the worst in people. This season I plan on just ignoring any negativity a have a good time at the CHT races.

below are some photos from the now infamous drop kick corner...ENJOY!

Kyla charging uphill

Jon "cheating" ....he won didn't he? therefore he must have cheated. I think we need to measure his skijor line it looks longer than the allowable limit. Disqualify him...no better yet BAN him! (just kidding) but really where the hells are the dogs?

Darrel wonders if the drop kick corner is going to claim its first victim.

Aklakeno

2008-11-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well enough posts and pics of those time sucking little back biters.....Here are a few photos of Aklak (my first dog) and Keno (the dog that has taught so much about relating with dogs). These two amazing dogs are the reason we called our kennel Akeno.

Crazy dogs

Happy dogs

Aklak tries to catch Keno but really she is just toying with him.....