Mailbox Run

We got some more snow, but I haven't taken any new pictures, so instead I am going to show you the mailbox run. This is a run which goes from my house to our rural mailboxes, almost three miles away, and returns. Here we are heading north towards the mountains that border Montana and Idaho. The wheel dog on the left is my toothless piebald Nutmeg. Notice how he is just a step further back than his partner. That is because one tugline is shorter than the other. This is an old gangline, and when one tugline broke, the new replacement tug turned out to be a touch shorter than the old ones. If I have a dog who does not pull consistently, I will put him on the shorter tug so that he has the illusion of trying to play catchup with his partner. Dogs usually pull better if they are behind because they naturally love to play chase.

The STOP AHEAD sign is meant for snowmobiles in the winter. That is why it is on such a tall post. In a high snow year the level will eventually reach the bottom of the sign. In a low snow year like last year it may only be halfway up the post. There is a road crossing at the top of this hill, but for the mailbox run, I turn right, before the road.

Here we have made the turn, and another turn around the mailboxes, and we have stopped for a breather. You can see the mailboxes behind us, nicely protected by a three sided shed.

Notice how my little leader Meadowlark is standing ahead of her coleader Charge. Someone chewed one of the leader tuglines in half, and instead of throwing it away, I just tied a knot in it, which of course made it quite a bit shorter. Now I put the most confident dog on the longer tugline, and I can train a new or less confident leader on the shorter tugline. Don't you just love the way I turn an equipment problem into an asset?

The brown dog on the left is Cinnamon. She is Meadowlark's aunt and Nutmeg's sister. She is standing to the side because she has no neckline. Yup, somebody chewed it, and I chose not to replace it. Now I use that position to train dogs to keep lined out and run where they should without being forced to stay in position by a neckline.