First Training Run

Today was a red letter day. We finally got everything together to be able to run the dogs. I parked the dog truck next to the kennel to give me a solid object for picketing the dogs and snubbing off the ATV. I put my most reliable leaders, Luna and Fresca, at the front of the team, and Mike rode on the ATV with me to help control the dogs. The rest of the team was composed of all lead dogs so that they could learn the trail and be ready to lead other teams. Some parts of the trail are tricky, so it was good that I had Mike along to help move the leaders over when necessary. The route runs along an old paved road, but there are ATV tracks in the grassy ditch alongside. Nonetheless, it took a bit of convincing to get the dogs to run in the grass instead of on the pavement. Mike walked along with the leaders until they understood that they were supposed to stay in the grassy ruts.