Seppala Kennels 'SledDogBlog'

Spring is trying to happen

It keeps trying to be spring in Manitoba, but it sure hasn't made it yet. I see tiny leaflet buds on the Siberian Elms that surround the house, but no real growth of leaves yet. I see a couple trees that appear to be starting to grow leaves over by one of the sloughs but I haven't traipsed over to investigate yet. The Canada Geese are honking around in pairs like they really don't know quite what they are supposed to be doing at this time of year. That's the way I feel.

I've been building doghouses for last winter's litter of Seppala puppies, who are now fully six months old. Yesterday Tatka and Tsarko "Sharkey" spent their first full day on stakeout, having been left out the previous night. They didn't sleep in their doghouses, but they curled up beside them and were quiet all night. It takes pups awhile to learn to use our doghouses, as they are on legs with high, smallish entrances (against the winters' snows). The coats on these little guys, they don't NEED a doghouse in most kinds of weather.

That's Tatka above, not letting the situation get her down at all, though she does resent not being totally at liberty. She has investigated the rebar swivel to see if she could remove it, and has chewed a bit at the chain and the snap, enough to satisfy herself that there was no way to use her teeth to gain her freedom. So, like the smart gal she is, she has accepted the situation. These two have been virtually trouble-free in their introduction to the stakeout, other than the usual chain tangles that need to be fixed while they are learning how to manage the chain.

The weather today is nasty. Drizzling rain, with temperatures only a bit above freezing. But the two pups are just fine in the shelter of the spruce boughs; it's the two guys left in the puppy pen who are wet and muddy despite their doghouse. A few more days will see them staked out, too.

Posted by ditkoofseppala at May 12, 2008 01:32 PM