Tuesday, December 14, 2004

another disasterous run.

Linda had to work all day today. She is really a big help so I knew she would be missed. I really wanted to work either JJ or Fir back into the team, so I decided to run Pumpkin and Jack out front and Ruger and JJ in wheel.
I basically have NO leaders. zero, zip, nada.
Pumpkin tried to climb into a hole in the side of my barn. Pumpkin does not want to lead and she doesn't pull. I can't discipline her because she is so shy to begin with she barely lets me pet her. I have been bringing her around trying to gain her trust, she has become a little more affectionate.
Basically she ads nothing to the team but a mouth to feed. She is my best leader.
JJ has the turning around problem, so she can't lead for me at all unless she is heading home and knows the way back. The added disadvantage to her besides not leading is that she is so strong that even when she is in wheel, when she wants to go off the trail she leads all of the other dogs in the team with her, jerking them all sideways and backwards.
Then there is Fir. He is very similar to JJ in that he doesn't listen to commands at all and is stronger than all my yearlings, so that there is lots of potential for him to screw up the team.

Those are my leaders.
I really can't tell how good Ruger is because without a leader, its hard to evaluate a team dog. But he seems to be a good team dog but has no team to be in with no leaders.
I like Jack the best out of my yearlings, but it really is too early to turn him into a leader, plus having no role model to learn from, makes it even harder.

I guess I am back to two- dog teams. If I knew I would be running only two to four dog teams all winter, I sure would not have bought eight dogs. It's not like I could have two runs a day with four dogs at a time. I can't. Pumpkin and Jack up front and Strider and Doppler behind seems to work only because it is three yearlings that don't have a lot of power yet. So Pumpkin doesn't mind leading somewhat and Jack just wants to run. Put two serious dogs behind her and she falls apart.
No other four dog combination seems to work so far.
If I ran two teams a day the other team would be composed of Fir and JJ up front with Ruger and Cruiser in wheel. That won't work because JJ and Fir don't listen. Cruiser is too thin to run so I haven't tried him yet. I need to figure out what the problem is. I am ordering another wormer. I think he may have tapeworms. He paces all day too so that keeps the weight off.

I plan to run again today. Not sure on the combo yet. Maybe Jack and Doppler up front and Ruger and Cruiser in wheel. Of course Doppler balked last time in lead.


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