When KitKat had her litter last year, I intended to keep only one puppy. When Pete was born without a tail, he became my keeper, until I had a bit of a talk with Karen Ramstead (North Wapiti), who convinced me that in this case I should keep two puppies. As Piper was already deeply loved by Dave, the logical choice became Raven, and so suddenly my numbers increased by two. That has been a bit of a learning curve, as two puppies are a bit like twins, and as I grew up with twins for siblings I am often reminded of them as I recalled that they have their own language, and together they are their own unit. As it was with my siblings, the pups became a mini-pack within the larger pack. This past fall when Raven came into season I realized it was time to separate them and turn their focus away from each other.
This fall I have been running the pups in harness a wee bit, more to burn off their surplus energy than to put any significant miles on them, as they are much too young for that.
Both pups are eager in harness, and young Raven is very shrill and insistent about getting going, hammering her harness and shrieking her enthusiasm. Often I think I should wear ear plugs. And I have to confess that there are times I lose sight of her in my annoyance with how vocal she is at feeding time, in the dog yard, at hook up etc. Sometimes she reminds me of a little gnome the way she sits with her head hunched over thinking about life. And most times I'm blown away by her physical resemblance to her mother KitKat. Sometimes I cannot tell them apart, except for Raven's piercing blue eyes, and KitKat's maturity.
This week being what it was with the change in plans and all, I decided to hand the pups off to a couple of very trusted friends for some short runs in a different team while I took out the big team for the longer hauls. Piper's Daddy ran them one day, and my friend and mentor Mary also ran them with her mixed aging Alaskan and Malamute team. Mary has been running dogs for many many years, and so I listened to her report with great interest. Running lead is not a job for every sled dog. It requires a certain focus and ability and born leaders are not an easy find. Apparently Mary had decided that as her aged Alaskan Husky was not going to handle lead position by himself, she would put Pete up there with him. Nope, nothing doing, Pete was just not interested in being up front. So next she tried Raven. Mary reported that it took Raven all of about 50 yards when suddenly her whole demeanor and body language changed and she turned 
on the afterburners and never looked back. She ran her spot in lead with great focus and determination, and yet would follow the guidance of her aged partner when it came to taking direction. It takes a lot to impress Mary, and I felt a little shiver of awe to listen to her account of my baby girl stepping up. Mary suggested that Raven might need to come home with her! Well....... NOT!!!!
on the afterburners and never looked back. She ran her spot in lead with great focus and determination, and yet would follow the guidance of her aged partner when it came to taking direction. It takes a lot to impress Mary, and I felt a little shiver of awe to listen to her account of my baby girl stepping up. Mary suggested that Raven might need to come home with her! Well....... NOT!!!! Raven will not be put in that position again for a while, because it is the most stressful position on the team, but in the back of my mind I thought of her very famous lead dog grandfather, the late North Wapiti's Super Grover, and mentally I thanked Karen for her wisdom. I expect this is the beginning of some pretty amazing things from Raven. But then again her granddaddy was in a class of his own.
a couple more pictures of Raven and Pete, this time in wheel. Notice Raven's determination as she digs in.
Love seeing a puppy demonstrate so much potential.
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