rig training devils den, 11-29-09, puppy team

I slowly figured out how to upload a video in HD. what you can see here is maybe just one percent of the quality of the original video. the original is in 1080p and I'm telling the truth it is blu-ray disc quality! I hope I will getting better with those codecs and settings how to upload a footage in best possible quality. The position of the camera needs to be adjusted too, I know.


The three puppies are fast - they think they are sprinters ;-) that was a 5mile run. Pure Quest, the old lead dog cant keep up with them any more. But he still knows a lot more tricks.

World Championship Dryland in Saguenay/ Canada

some pics:

we tried out the new trail in Pineland, ME where the DESDC has a race next weekend - that trail is just great 15-20 feet wide, no real steep hills no sharp 180, the dogs loved it.

I went out with Luc on the bike, then with Quest, the old trusted puppy-trainer. He trained Wolk, Lobo and Lund on the rig , and than again with Luc, Kaillou, Chinook and Lund.

you see in the clip below how the puppies behave the first 300m, Thanks to Mark for un-tangle them.

puppies training video

a little video of last weeks run (1.5miles) with the puppies.
Lobo, Lund and Wolk.

Surprise of the day was Wolk, who was so excited and eager to run with the older guys.
with his 5.5 months he starts to keep up. no pulling of course but did well without any major tangle.
Don't be worry, the paved part is only 200m long.

lost and found

lost and found the video from Lake Placid last year ;-)



It was a pretty wet and muddy trail, but we had a lot of fun in Lake Placid:

Hopkinton 2008

Last weekend was again the NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND SLED DOG TRADE FAIR & SEMINAR in Hopkinton NH. Like last year they had a little dryland race. little in distance but seems to me, every year there are more participants. there was 1 and 2 dog bikejoring, a scooter class, 4 dog and a 5-6 dog rig class and new for this year a canicross. The loop is only 0.8 miles or so. it seems there are some issues to get the approval to cross a road so one stays inside the fairground. But that's ok. I like all the dryland stuff because it simply extends the time to be with other sled dog people and race.
team snowrunner went out in the 1dog with Kaillou, who did surprisingly well (first place), the 2 dog bike with Luc and Quest (second overall), the 4 dog rig with Luc, Quest and Kaillou (third overall). Quest is now in an age that he cant keep up with the 3 (Luc) and 4 (Kaillou) year old. He is now the one who slows the team down. BUT and we will see it later in the snow races he safes so much time because he is an excellent command leader.
Interesting is that team snowrunner seems to have a good pace for a mile. as it was last year there were some pretty good sprint dogs at the start but for some reason Luc and Kaillou seem to beat them over that short distance. the difference is of course that the real sprinters would keep that pace over another 5miles whilst the Sibs slow down. But that's the reason we train for mid-distance, the natural distance for Siberians.
In the clip below you can see the whole race trail and one can also see how Quest (in lead on the left) is always one step behind Luc especially in last third.
Since we went out first there is no other team in sight.



Canicross - mass start -
I chose to take Chinook AND Luc. I shouldn't. each of them alone would be fine but together they act as pack. some of the other dogs growled a bit at Chinook and he growled back so that Luc started to make some noises too. At the start I thought it is better to keep a little distance to the other runners. Half way in the run there was a tangle of two or three dogs and their leashes and runners :) so we took the chance to run on by, had a very good pace and would have passed the two others in front of us but those were the ones who growled at Chinook, so I decided to take it easy and keep back. Not to mention that Ed and his dog Maggie was way in front. :-)




more pictures can be seen here and here

Hopkinton is a good start in the season, we have to thank the organizers. Each year the fair, the seminars and now also the race is getting bigger AND better. People came as far as Ontario!

running the "backyard trail"

Here a short clip of the trail I run in the woods right behind our house.
It connects directly to the back of the kennel. We can do up to 4miles on it. That's just enough for early fall training. There are 4 overflows, sometimes after a rain they are 2feet deep. Good for mental training. But pretty soon we have to go back to the Devils Den trails and ramp up the mileages.

This run is from last Saturday.



Watch at 4:40 how Quest turns the whole Gang back. For me he is THE excellent command leader, he accepts every command blindness, but unfortunately non of the others picked it up from him. Still hoping for Luc but... maybe there is not so much between his ears.

Finally!

Today was the first day of training in the new season.


I always wait until the temps are below 60F in the morning and the dew point should also be far lower than 60F.
This Sunday morning it finally dropped to 56F at 5am - that's cool enough. By 5:30 we were on the trail, only two miles, but that's long enough for the next two/three weeks. Important is to get the routine back, stretch the legs and have some fun.
In September the training will be serious and we'll start once again with short hill runs and will have some more weight in the rig.

rig training at the "Devils Den" in New Durham, NH

here's a short video of the "sprinters loop" how I call that short 5mile loop. It is just flat, sandy, without any obstacles; a simple out and back. 5miles.
The camera is mounted pretty low on the rig.
So, it is the view of a wheel dog. :)

trainings run with the rig

Just with three dogs today, Quest, Luc and Chinook. a short run in the "backyard"
Kaillou started to limp again thats why he stayed home.
we started rigth out of the kennel. the first 500m are fresh cut last summer.
The rigcam is mounted pretty low on the rig, so it is the view of a "wheeldog".

pictures from Sunday in Pineland

Christina Eagle


Marc


Betsy


Ed

and here all the pictures from Sunday.

Pineland, 2007 Down East Dryland Championships

I took a ton of pictures on Saturday.
You can find them here
Since it was very cloudy and overcast I took the pictures mostly in ISO1600 which makes them a bit grainy. But I needed at least 1/640s to catch the movements of the dogs.


Sara Vanderwood in the four dog class.


This picture shows the two fastest 5K-canicrossler in the North-East.
Ed Clifford of Raymond, NH who will be in Italy at the WC in two weeks, and Jason Sperry of Mexico, NY.

More to come tonight.

rig race at the Hopkinton fair

After just 5 training runs with the new rig I decided to compete in the 4 dog rig class in Hopkinton.

And yeah – team SnowRunner run in to the second place overall, just 5! Seconds behind Ed Clifford’s hounds. And that with just three mid-distance Siberians! Next team was 30 seconds behind. Not to mention first place in the pure breed section. 13 competitors over all.

It was a very short trail, just 1 km. A distance Siberians still can keep up with the acceleration of hounds.
Everybody took it as training but still, coming that close to Eds team is great for team SnowRunner. And of course it is also because of the new fast rig!

Now I’m ready to go to Lake Placid.

here some more pics.

But really interesting was Lance Mackey's speech!