Sore Back

I have a seriously sore back. Why, you ask? Well, it is all because of the weather. Until last week, I had not been putting any booties on the dogs. But then the rain followed by extreme cold made it necessary to start booting the dogs. In fact, a few of the dogs were developing splits in the webbing of their feet. It is important to put booties on those dogs so the splits can heal up and to boot the other dogs so they don't follow suit.

I did a series of long runs last week, and I had to bootie most of the dogs to insure that their feet stayed healthy. Longer miles are more likely to put the feet at risk from cold, icy snow, which is also churned into sharp crystals by snowmobiles. Putting booties on requires bending over and keeping a bent position while trying to hold on to a (possibly) struggling dog long enough to get the bootie over the toenails, which always want to spread out and impede progress, and get the velcro fastened with all the cloth nice and flat against the leg. Straightening up and changing position between front feet and back feet is also part of the process, at least for me. Even the dogs who don't need booties have to have their feet examined to be certain that they are still okay.

Dogs with splits in their feet need ointment to help them heal, so that is more bending over. Then add all the bending over just from harnessing the dogs and hooking them into the gangline and putting down food and water every day and putting more straw in the houses once in a while, and it all adds up to a very sore back. But I was doing okay until I had to start putting booties on the dogs, so it is really all the fault of the weather.