Or in our case – Make straw while the sun shines –
but you get the picture

I have said it before, fall is manic. You are excited about the winter ahead, and still working hard to prepare for it. No matter how much you do; there is always more that can be done. And mother nature sets her own time frame for the process, so you better be ready to work with her.

So far at Dew Claw the process of stockpiling various items in bulk has been going well. As you can see above we went down to Insanity Acres in Delta and came back loaded up with a winter’s worth of straw to bed down the dogs. With a stroke of perfect timing, rarely hit upon, we waited out 3 wet days, making our trip and getting the straw home and stored on a perfect bright sunny day.  After that things turned, and the season changed. Fairbanks area, under a winter weather advisory, was hit with snow. And here we are, all prepared with our nice new dry straw to fill the dogs houses.

(more straw photos at the end of this post)

In addition to straw we are freezing the hundreds of fish the dogs will eat all winter as trail snacks and in the cook pot. We feed a diet of quality kibble, fish, and  Bailey Farms meats. Although it is extra work to cook fish & feed meat daily we feel it is the best quality diet we can provide for our dogs. For this chore, Dan has made both a  propane and a wood fired dog pot. I tend to go with wood more often then not. You can fire it up and let the cooker do it’s thing while you  re out running dogs or doing chores. Later once the fire has burned out you come back and have a nice cooked soup for the dogs.

Now every year at Dew Claw we try to bring something new to the table, as part of the ongoing process of asking “what can we do better?” Each year we ask; and try; maybe it is a new training idea in practice, a way to be more efficient in the kennel, something that we hope will improve the way we run. In the past this has included some things that were very new and different for us.  Like when we went from the long x-back style to the ManMat short distance style harness. (That change worked out Great by the way, still running strong in quality ManMat Mushing Gear)  Some years it is more subtle, like when I made the commitment to yoga for my long term health and happiness, cause mushing can really beat a girl up some days. (Why did it take me so long to discover I love Yoga cause it make life hurt less) Other times it is an improvement to what we are already doing.

And this year falls into that category. We are very excited about Dr. Carson’s all natural pet supplements. Adding these all natural supplements to the Dew Claw Dogs Diet is something we had been looking into, and the time is now! You can not argue with the results we have seen in teams feeding Dr. Carson’s, and I am very glad the Dew Claw Dogs will be getting that same awesome nutritional support as we train and race. And Loben*, my dear, now old, retired leader, is benefiting from the Dog Joint & Cartilage Tabs. *she ran in lead for me in 2011 when I raced both the Yukon Quest and Iditarod, and is now living out her retirement with us.

All these different parts, the diet, housing, conditioning, training, care and planning; all these things need to come together. And the more effort and investment we make now the greater our chances of running a strong, healthy, happy team this winter are.  When asked at any race what my goals are, the answer for me is easy. To run the team in front of me to the best of our ability. And in order to do that then, it is important to be doing all this now.

As the first snow covers the ground and manic fall gives way to winter wonderland please join me in looking forward to the season ahead! & In thanking all the wonderful sponsors who help make this all possible. **Check out our sponsors at our kennel Sponsors Page**

And now as promised earlier, more pictures of cute dogs with new straw~