Howie's First Snow Pull

Not only was this his first snow pull, but it was his first UKC pull, too. We drove down to a tiny little town near the boarder of Ohio called Luna Pier (exit 6 on I-75) on January 1st. We went with our friends Amanda and Bruce, and their hoard of dogs: Luna, Ryker, Lyric, and Duo. The plan was to get there on Friday, settle into the hotel room, then pull on Saturday & Sunday.

We woke up bright and early on Saturday and headed down to the pull. Luna Pier is right off of Lake Erie, and the high temperature that weekend was expected to be in the low teen's - so, with the wind coming off the lake, it felt more like -50°F.

We were doing everything we could to keep warm. I was in long john's, fleece pajamas, a wool sweater, and a fleece; my coat acted more as a windbreaker than actually keeping me warm. I was wearing the warmest hat I had, which just happened to be bright orange (you'll see it in the video posted below). We were lucky that the judges let us go back to our car to warm up after our pulls if we had time to, normally this doesn't happen; this was also because we were in the parking lot of a tiny strip mall and because we were right off I-75. Still, I tried to do all that I could to keep Howie warm - he is not a cold-weather dog.

Because we were only working for his UWP, we only had to meet minimal requirements for the pull. To earn a qualifying pull, he only had to pull three times his body weight - he weighed in at 61.4 pounds, so he had to pull 184.2 pounds. The empty sled weight 245 pounds, and they added weight in 90 pound increments.

He pulled the empty cart, then pulled 335 pounds. I decided to withdraw him after that. We had earned the 1st (or 3) legs of our title, and he pulled well, I didn't want to push him too far.

We all went back to our hotel room after Amanda had pulled Ryker, and we all spent some time thawing out. Howie and I took a nap, we all ordered pizza, and then met some friends for dinner.

The next day seemed even colder. Due to a sudden change in plans, Howie's weight class went from being the third class to go to the first class to go - I had just settled into my car to take a short nap and wait for our class when someone came knocking on my window telling me to get my dog ready. Because of this, we didn't have time to warm up between our pulls...there were only 3 dogs in our weight class, so we were either "on deck" or "in the hole." Poor Howie was shivering so badly that his teeth were chattering.

Because he pulled 335 pounds on Saturday, that's where I started him on Sunday - I wanted to push him just a tad father, and had made the decision that I would pull him until he told me he was done.

He pulled the 335 pounds easily. He struggled a little with 425 pounds, but he pulled it. Then I tried him at 515 pounds, and he told me he was done. The look on his face was clear: "Mom, it's COLD! I'm FREEZING!" But, he had done what I asked him - he got the 2nd leg of is UWP title, and pulled just a bit more than he did the day before. He did a good job, and I was so proud of my boy.

We're planning to go to our next snow pull on January 15th-16th-17th to earn the 3rd leg of his title and to get some more points. Since he's neutered, we're not in a hurry to get a ton of titles, and we're just out there to have fun.

A near-disaster, and traveling

After my post about the foster bunnies, I had a bit of a scare the other day. The same day as the post, actually.

I came home talking to my aunt on my cell phone. I opened the door, and the alarm is going off. Over all this noise in my ears, I hear Howie's exciting whining - this is nothing new, he's normally excited for me to come home. I turn off the alarm, and his whining is louder. I open the door into the kitchen, and a happy pit bull is greeting me at the door.

I had locked him in his crate before I left for work that morning. I remember double-checking all latches (there are 4 because he has a crate with a side door in addition to the front door). Yet, here he was, so happy to have me home. I almost tip-toed through the house, "What did you destroy?" The house looked fine. All the pillows were on the couch, nothing was torn to shreds. "I don't see any poops..." Next, I had to walk into the guest room. I half expected bunny blood to be everywhere.

Howie is not aggressive, like I've mentioned. But he also wants to play with these bunnies so badly, and I am not exactly sure how strong his prey-drive is because I haven't seen this "in action." I do know that he gets far too rambunctious with dogs smaller than he is, and his eagerness to "play" with the rabbits tells me to never leave them alone together and to supervise him when the door to the guest bedroom is open.

So, I tip-toe into the guest bedroom, all the while talking to Howie and my Aunt is on the other end of the line. There was no blood. In fact, there was hardly a mess. Howie had tipped over Panda's cage, thus spilling her bedding, but other than that...nothing. Nothing was torn apart, everything was in his place.

This from the dog with such bad separation anxiety that he's destroyed the plastic venitian blinds in the kitchen (the window with the view to the driveway, next to the door we leave out of), who has shredded Very Important Paperwork from off the dining room table, and left couch pillows strewn about the living room.

I hung up with my Aunt, and got to cleaning the mess Howie had made. Then we headed over to my Aunt's house so we could ride with her to my mother's house for a visit. Which brings me to my next story.

Howie is a good traveling dog. He's not much of a fan of sticking his face out of the window for some air time, though he does like to stick his head out to look around when we're at a stop light. Usually, he's crashed out in the back seat, whichever side of the car has the most sun. In fact, during the whole 5-hour drive from Detroit to Pittsburgh in March, he was sleeping 5 minutes into our trip - we hadn't even left the city limits of Detroit, and he was snoring!

We rode with my Aunt to my parent's house, and she had laid the seats down flat in her Jeep Compass so that Howie had the WHOLE BACK to himself. He thought this was the bees knees! He hunkered right down and stretched out about as long as he could make himself. He did the same during the ride home. I love that I have a great traveling dog!