An exercise in futility!

They work!

There must be something yummy on that spoon!

There sure is - PUMPKIN!!

Sometimes someone takes a picture behind your back...

And it's precious. Thank you Ike.

Doin' what they love!

They're so proud of their Bull!

Black Friday Fun

Our one and only stop, and it was a successful trip!

We found some white stuff, and it's so pretty!

One of these is not like the other...

But, shhh...don't tell her! She's absolutely convinced that she really is a sled dog!!

Ayiyi

Amber has now learned that pulling quills sucks!

How does she know?

She always (& only!) does this when I'm trying to go through dog pix! :-D

This is cani-cross!

This was a heavily contested race and they took off fast...

Shark and Nate charged to a third place finish!

Nova hooked herself up to our friends' 'King' Endo and won the women's race!

We had so much fun splashing through all the puddles. I love this sport!!

What could be better?

This afternoon we enjoyed a run along the beautiful trails at Sunset Ridge and I got to watch Amber teaching the yearling Hazel how to be a cani-cross dog. Since she has already decided that she doesn't want to be a sled dog, this will be a good choice for her because she did great!

I can appreciate this!

We beat the wet weather!

It's really hard to motivate yourself to run early when it's this chilly, but knowing someone else is counting on you to help them get their run in makes it easier. Even if she would really have preferred to drink coffee...

Obviously they're enthralled...

What's that white stuff Amber?

Canicross Crew

Clifford Racing Kennel was sure well represented this weekend!

Ethan Howard Memorial Rig Race

Mushers or bank robbers?

"Are you going to finish that?"

Oh my!

Another 5 miles done!

And can I just say, "Brrrrrrrr!"

Wise Words

Goose

• Meet Mother Goose - she is 11 years young and mother and grandmother to many of the dogs in the kennel. This afternoon she learned a new skill - cani-cross - as she accompanied me on my long slow distance (9.5 miles) run. She is facing retirement this season because she just can't keep up with the younger dogs on the team. But, her cardiovascular system is amazing from all her years of running so that while I may have been breathing hard, she never did and had plenty of energy to start pulling me during the last 2 miles to home! She's timid, but after a few miles of looking to me for guidance and confidence, she figured it out and even a cyclist we met commented that he could see her tail wagging from down the trail. It is so much easier (and more fun?) to do my long runs with a canine companion!

Good girl Gwen!

The 6 mile training runs went well this morning. This weekend is the first time that they have gone that far, and the distance is certainly showing which dogs are sprint dogs and which are distance runners! Yesterday our little Gwen was a frustrated point dog, so today we put her back in lead. She wasn't the least bit intimidated by her big teammate Shark, and would shoulder into him to keep him running right! Good girl Gwen! We just need to work on those water crossings...

Cross Country Season is Over

This afternoon we attended the Cross Country End of Season Awards. He received his Varsity pin, Runner of the Meet for his breakout race at Leavitt, and earned The Coaches Award! I'm so very proud  of his efforts this season, and it's nice that his coach recognizes and appreciates the character underneath his 'jokester' facade. This is such a great group of friends and I wish them all the best of luck in their future runs! 

It's always so sad to see the cross country season end, but it's especially bittersweet this year. I might've gotten a bit misty eyed when I realized I won't be attending any more meets. I'll always remember that afternoon when big brother came home and 'out of the blue' announced that he had joined the cross country team! That was definitely a life-changing moment for everyone in our family.

He doesn't really want to catch her...

But she's fun to chase when she decides to run!

Oh, the games they play.