First CSA Pick Up

This year, we opted to sign up for a partial share with a local CSA.  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, where local residents pay in for a share at a nearby farm and in return will receive a portion of produce weekly or bi-weekly.  We've opted to go for a bi-weekly share, a more affordable means to test try a specific farm.

CSA is a great way to not only support local farms but also gives the member an opportunity to enjoy produce that wouldn't normally be available at the grocer.  In some cases, such as the CSA we signed up for, the produce with also be organically grown thus eliminating the ingestion of harmful chemicals. 

This pick up included (from left to right): A bushel of hakurei turnips, a head of lettuce, 12oz of swiss chards, 8oz of kale, 6oz of arugula, and a bushel of chives.

So excited and can't wait to try out some recipes on these veggies. 

Beach Hiking

With warm weather comes the ticks, and this year is looking to be a terrible one fill with these nasty little buggers.  In order to keep our exposure to ticks as minimal as possible, we will switch our hiking location to this beautiful beach that is one of a few which are dog friendly.  Part of the beauty of the warm weather is being able to enjoy the cool ocean water without freezing to death and Titan, often overheating and needing many breaks during our last few wood hikes, is finding these outings to be enjoyable again.

The amazing thing about the beach is the diverse wildlife it has, between the mammals, birds, and sea life you never know what you will find during a visit.  Below is some video and pictures of a few of the wildlife spotted during our hikes.

 

Tikaani and Miyu find the dead horseshoe crab shell to smell quite interesting.

Tetsu watching the horseshoe crab swim away

 

Horseshoe crab

Bloodworm

Titan also found us a live jellyfish, silly boy wanted to sniff it but unfortunately he can't breath in the water.


 

Under part of the boardwalk a local fox had a litter, the parents stayed pretty close as we passed by with the dogs.

Such a cute little kit

Pictures of the pups enjoying the sand and water:

Stay tuned for future pictures and videos of our fun on the beach.

Bikejoring: Season's End

With the weather warming up, the mushing season is coming to an end.  It was a fun season with a slow start, and I can't wait until next fall and winter so I can begin working more with both huskies.  With Titan being practically done growing when it comes, I will be able to start really working him and get him to better remember what he should and shouldn't do during a run.

For now, during these warmer months, much of his training will continue during hikes on the beach.  The cool ocean water will help keep everyone from over heating while we enjoy being outside together.  Lots of great things happening there, which I plan to write about in another post.

Anyways, I managed to get 2 more runs since last I posted, not sure if I'll get anymore in until next winter.  Here are the videos of those runs:

More Pictures, taken during the break and break down:

Tetsu's First Barn Hunt Trial

Barn Hunt is an amazing, new dog sport where a dog and handler search for a rat (safely contained inside a PVC tube) in a maze of hay bales.  The rat must be found within the allotted time and it is also required that the dog go through a tunnel and climb on top of a hay bale.

Last year, I had taken Tetsu to a fun match where he did fairly well.  He aced the instinct test and wound up peeing on the course (a big no no) during Novice since I wasn't confirming his find.  Below is a video from the fun match:




Now fast forward to this year, I took the 2hr drive to the same location for the trial and as usual Tetsu just napped the whole way.  Tetsu was a bit uncomfortable with the all of the noise and dogs, being that it has been sometime since he has last been these kinds of events, but he still managed to be on his best behavior.

I signed him up for 1 Instinct run and 2 Novice runs, with the Instinct run being first.  With the Instinct level, the rules are a bit more lenient and the only requirement is that the dog finds the tube with the rat in it out of the 3 openly displayed on the ground.  After entering the ring and stripping Tetsu down (dogs must run naked), he perked up and was ready to explore.  I released him facing the tunnel, but the silly boy decided that following me was the best thing to do.  When he saw the 3 tubes, he rushed to investigate them and quickly lunged for the one with the rat.  I called it and praised him for a good find, holding him to avoid tossing the rat around.  He made second place for his class at 12.25 seconds, earning a qualifier ribbon and the title RATI.

Showing off his new ribbon

Next were the Novice runs, both in which he also showed a lot of enthusiasm when released.  During the first Novice run, he found the rat but we ran out of time before he could complete the tunnel requirement.  I was so nervous about him marking in the ring that I had accidentally called him away from the rat several times.  During the second run, he had completed all of the tasks but I had called the wrong tube. So sadly, we didn't pass either Novice run.



Even though he didn't learn any legs towards his Novice title, I was still very proud of Tetsu.  He really showed a lot of enthusiasm and had a better understanding of the game than he did during the fun match.  I plan to sign him up for another Barn Hunt trial in June, here's to hoping that we earn him a few legs there.

Bikejoring: Tikaani & Titan Together Again

Second time running both huskies, with it being some time since their last runs it's not surprise that they were easily distracted.  It was the first nice day in some time so the park was pretty busy and a barking dog proved to be a huge distraction. 

Regardless, up until that dog they both did pretty good and were easy to redirect their focus on running.  They do need more practice in a neckline, so we'll definitely have to start using it during walks.  Here's a video of the majority of the run:

Shooting Deer...With a Camera

When hiking in the woods, there's always an opportunity to bump into some of the wildlife.  At the park we often hike in there is a population of Sika Deer (Cervus nippon), a species of Asian deer that were imported when the park was once owned by a Sportsman's Club.  These cuties are significantly smaller than the native White Tailed Deer, with an adult weight being about 50-80lbs.  Here are images from some of the encounters we have had of them, we had the dogs each time so in the videos you'll be able to hear their frustration.  

Joring with a New Toy

So through Craigslist I picked up this baby:

Not really the safest way to run a dog, but I couldn't wait to test it out so I put on a helmet and (with the help of the fiance) we took it out with all of the pups.  We hooked everyone to it, including the fiance, and here's the video of how it went.  Sadly the angle isn't the greatest, hopefully I can get a better angle next time around.



The snow wasn't ideal, but it was still a lot of fun and a good work out for the pups.  The fiance tried it out, but his weight caused the skibob to sink into the snow enough to make it difficult for the dogs to pull.  I plan to add some sort of braking system  to it so I have a better means of stopping the dogs besides just digging my feet into the snow.  Once those are attached, and we have snow again, I can't wait to take it out again.