Anyone need a cute companion?

And then there is Auk. He's only six, but we are wondering if he would be a better pet dog than a sled dog. He's had a few episodes of weaving around while running and then collapsing on the trail. It seems to only be induced by lots of exercise. He has bouts when he'll get wobbly every time we run, and then months of running 30+ miles with no problem. We've been running him up to 8 miles a day and he's been doing great. We are reluctant to give him up, but it breaks my heart to leave him when we want to go on longer runs and aren't sure if he is going to get dizzy or not.

He's one of the sweetest dogs, would love being a pet and getting all of the loving he could. He would love to go on walks and be active, just maybe not as much as he would be as a sled dog. He rides well in the car, loves being inside, is a natural cuddler and I think he would be great at ski-joring. We rescued him from a neglect situation 2 years ago and he has become one of the most loving dogs we have. There are two pictures of him. He's about 65 lbs, a good size dog, taller than most of our other dogs.

He has been mainly an outside dogs his whole life, although all of our dogs come inside and love to play and curl up on dog beds. Some of our dogs like couches, although Auk would prefer a nice spot on the floor. I imagine Auk especially would want to be outside during the day, in a pen or at a dog house. He's used to being outside on lines, or in a pen so he wouldn't need to be trained in that. All in all, he could be a very low maintenance pet. As long as he has straw in his house, he can be outside year round and if you ever have to leave, you just need someone to come by to feed, water, and scoop he (and give them a little lovin:) and he's set.

So anyway, if anyone is interested, give a call or email and we'd love to talk about him:)
907 683 2127
borg.bridget@gmail.com

The expansion

Bee on the trail
Enjoying the new space
Schnikerton packing his bags
Our "Pups" Porter and India cuddlin'
Jared giving me a lift down from the upstairs.

The addition

We've been planning an addition to our 16x20 cabin for over a year now. The main goal is to have a water holding tank that we can run a sink, washer, and shower off of so that we can stop hauling 5 gallon buckets every few days. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just us, but the 20 dogs drink a lot of water. It all adds up to a lot of five gallon buckets. Right now, we have two Brute/trash barrels just inside our front door. One is labeled "people" one is labeled "dog"... you get the idea.



So we haul the buckets from our local well house about a mile and a half away, haul buckets into our house, dump them in the appropriate barrel. The idea of the new place is that we will have a 500 gallon holding tank so we will drive to the aforementioned well house, fill the truck tank with 325 gallons at a time and pump it into the holding tank. Then we will wash dishes with running water from a tap (not an Igloo container) and wash clothes in our own house and fill up dog water buckets. I'm pretty excited.

The addition is a 16x16 one and a half story. The upstairs will be our bedroom and we'll have our computer desk up there too. After a couple of years with a 8x10 bedroom, I'm ready to have somewhere to put my clothes. And the necessary 2 to 4 dog beds on the floor:)

Jared's mom and dad visited in September and provided a needed boost of energy and time to get the whole project off the ground. Wayne got things rolling every morning and Char made wonderful home-cooked meals, walked the puppies and fed the dogs. I think the dogs still miss her:)

So for the must requested photos of the cabin-addition:
The old cabin and the new cabin-growth.

The downstairs and wood stove. You can see the water tank to the left.Our first story ceiling/second story floor. Isn't it pretty?

The upstairs. You can see where the old roof connects.A view of the downstairs while climbing the ladder up.
An upstairs window.

And the VIEW....

and now...

We've been spending lots of time with our dogs and our friends this winter. We've been mushing nearly every day, and been doing some guiding for a local outfitter. This week we're heading out for a week long camping trip out the Denali Hwy. We're mushing out with our dogs and then volunteering for the Cantwell Classic 200 sled dog race before mushing back. After a day or two od rest we'll head back out, but out Stampede to do some firewood stocking at some cabins. All in all, we'll be out more than in for the next couple of weeks and then Jared is leaving the end of January for Nicaragua and I'll meet him in Honduras in February for a medical delegation that Jared's mom volunteers with every year. We'll be back in Alaska in March, just in time to meet up with Lauren, who is spending her spring break from law school with us. March is the best time of year for winter trips, mushing and skiing, so we have lots of ideas and plans:)

I got a shiner for Christmas!

but

Taking my buddy, Charlie, out on a dog mushing tour, I allowed him to ride the runners while I sat in the sled. Two seconds later, I stopped the team with my face after the rookie musher tipped the sled. It looked pretty bad for awhile (notice the enlarged side of my face). Poor Charlie felt really bad about the incident, but I just shrugged and said, "Hey, that's mushing. $(%)@ happens." The swelling and everything looks much better now, and it doesn't look like there will be any scars (so quit worrying, Ma!)