A Splash of Fall Color

At the end of March a group of winter staff took 16 dogs north to Hudson Bay for a staff expedition. This involved two days of driving north and an overnight train ride. The dogs did well on such a long transport, and some even starting jumping right back up into their boxes at the end of breaks.

Running dogs on the frozen northern rivers and salty sea ice was an incredible experience for the staff and dogs alike. The group camped out for two weeks, ending in Churchill, Manitoba. Cold, windswept expanses and brilliant northern lights were regular parts of the trip. One of the challenges of this kind of trip is that unlike winter camping in the Boundary Waters, there is no firewood available on the transition and tundra landscapes to build fires each day. The trip was done completely in tents and the staff used two-burner camping stoves to heat water each morning and evening. The dogs, however, never seemed to mind the –20 temperatures and howling wind. A few of them even preferred to sit on top of the snow crust in the wind. I guess they were finally back in the place they were born to run in!

It has been a while since the last dog yard newsletter. A lot has happened in the dog yard this year. The biggest news is that the dog houses have all received a fresh coat of paint. But not just the same as always, the yard is now full of colorful houses.

Throughout the summer, student groups worked on painting the houses as service projects. Together they moved, scraped, sanded, and painted more than 70 dog houses. It was amazing to see them smiling as they worked hard and interacted with the dogs. The students also got a lot of quality brushing and petting time in with the dogs, of course. All in all, painting the houses was very rewarding for both the students and the dogs.

The trees have turned color to match the doghouses. Frost has been on the ground each morning this week, and the dogs are getting energetic as the weather cools down. Our litters of yearlings have been getting their first taste of what it like to be a sled dog, pulling tires up and down the road for training. A few days ago they finally went out on their first run with a team. I'm happy to report that they all did well, pulling and getting along with their partners. It looks like we'll have 10 new sled dogs joining the staff this winter.

As it cools down more in the next two weeks, we will begin to run all the dogs on the road. This is the first step to getting them conditioned for the season. Judging from their excited barks and howls whenever we take out the ATV and harnesses, I'd say they are ready.

For many years we have been finding adoption homes for our retired sled dogs. As the dogs get older we find people who want to give our dogs a comfortable retirement. The dogs love all the attention they get from finally having, "their people."

For the past two years we've put our dogs up on the Internet on the VOBS Dog Adoption page. This has significantly increased the number of dogs we've been able to find homes for quickly. In fact, more than 20 dogs have been adopted in the past two years since we started using the website! If you know someone who may be interested in giving an old sled dog a good home, check out our adoption page at the link below. It contains photos and bios of the dogs that are currently available.

Adopt A Sled Dog

Dog Sledding & Cross Country Skiing for Adults

Dog Sledding & Skiing for Families

Dog Sledding to Florida Keys Sailing – Semester