Sled Doggies

Sled Doggies

P3196815 On the beautiful day of March 19, 2005, Kate and I were invited to Robert and Kristy Chalender's to go riding with the sled dogs that they own. They have 9 dogs, but the one pictured here - Timber - was their first one.

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P3196816 While Kristy was preparing the dogs to be hooked up to the sled, I caught some of the enthusiasm waiting at the gate. Pictured from left to right are Dodger, Tusk, and Ebony.

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P3196817 Matrix was waiting patiently in his own pen.

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P3196819 Swaps did what he usually does, which is walk around in a circle at his pen.

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P3196822 Here is another shot of Matrix from above the fence to see how cute he looks.

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P3196823 Kristy got five of them ready to go and lined them up to wait to be put on the line of the sled one-by-one. From left to right are Doger, Tusk, Ebony, Kateel, and Doxy.

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P3196825 The first half of the trip, Kate and Kristy were on the sleds with the dogs, while Robert and I road out on snowmobiles - my first time actually being on one. Pretty cool. While waiting for the girls and dogs to show up, Robert and I waited with Timber, seen here looking in the direction of the barking of the dogs coming down the trail.

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P3196826 Timber is such a good husky - big one too.

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P3196827 Doesn't he look happy!

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P3196831 We rested the dogs for about 15 minutes before switching out for the second half of the trip. I switched places with Kate on the sled, but after only about 5-10 minutes, I had fallen and tweeked my back. Kate was behind us on the snowmobile, so I switched with her again in order to not hurt my back any further. After being back on the snowmobile, I got a nice shot of the team and the girls coming down the trail. Kate is behind Kristy on a secondary sled.

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P3196832 Another shot of the dogs and the girls on the trail.

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P3196833 Dogs left to right are Swaps, Matrix, Kateel, and Tusk. I took this from the other side of a loop before the dogs got to my spot.

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P3196836 Later on, the sled that Kate was on totally broke on one of the runners, so she was able to ride in the sled for the rest of the trip. We had finally returned after about and hour to hour and a half. The dogs were hot by then since the sun was out the entire time even though it was morning. Once back at the house, it was time to unhook the dogs. Just before the unhooking, left to right on the line going left to right in the photo are: Mickey, Dodger, Doxy, Ebony, Tusk, Kateel, Matrix, and Swaps. Robert is taking Swaps off the line.

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P3196837 Then, Timber comes down the home stretch after playing with some of the neighborhood dogs.

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P3196838 Timber surveys the unhooking, as Swaps winds down from the mushing.

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P3196839 Kateel, Kate's favorite, smiles for us through the fence. Dodger is partially seen right behind her.

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P3196840 Kateel still smiling.

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P3196841 Kateel getting some love from Robert. Tusk is in the background, while Ebony's ear is seen in the lower left.

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P3196842 Ebony joins in the fun, while Kateel continues to smile. They are both sisters.

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P3196843 Tusk (left) and Doxy (right) await some food, while Ebony walks in front of them.

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P3196844 Timber joind the gang, so that everyone can get something to eat.

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P3196845 Munchies for all as Ebony (front left), Dodger (front right), Timber (back left), and Kateel (back right) dig in.

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P3196846 While the others continued to eat, Dodger came over to say hello. This was a very fun day for everyone. Although my day on the sled was short, it was fun. Its a great thing to experience while in the 49th state.

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