Pumpkin the musher

Gentle peace- your opinions are in no way falling on deaf ears- I support your right to have your opinions, but I would have you consider this. The deer population problem in N. Wisconsin is due to many factors, most having to do with human intervention, or lack there-of. We have 1000's of acres of free, high nutrition deer food- everywhere.(corn and soy beans, not to mention my garden... :-? ) The population of natural predators could not be brought to a point that they would have an impact on the deer. We have both coyote and wolves where I live. Impact? Zero. The biggest impact is from vehicle/deer interaction, and hunting. I do admire and love deer- I feed them during hard winters if there is no standing corn and chop holes in our pond for them to get to water. I hunt exclusively on my property- in a normal day I will see upwards of 50 deer just on our 40 acres. I shoot the one that I have the best chance of killing outright. The assumption that it often takes more than one shot to kill a deer is patently untrue. I have hunted for 29 years, and have shot at least one deer every year. I have never lost a deer, and I would say that 90 % went down with one shot. Most high powered rifles are more than adequate to kill instantaneously these days. This idea is a hold over from the 50's when every deer hunter had a 30-30 caliber rifle, which is like a bb gun next to the 30-06, .308 and .270's used today. Am I an expert marksman? Yeah. You could say that. I'm not trying to "convert" anyone, but to attempting to foster a bit of tolerance for something that is often misunderstood .

Hmm. This could take awhile... Cricket: Cricky poo, poofus, mite, shnozzle, silly girl, fartakin, cow. Bug: Bug-a-boo, boo, brown dog, queen mum. Merlin: Squirrel, white dog. Happy: Hap, snapper, beauty queen. Zeus: Zooster, Big man, old man. Bernie: Bernie boo, shit for brains, doofus, clod. George: Georgie-porgy punkin pie. (really :lol: ) red, red dog. Tynan: Ty, Ty the wolf, wolf. Gemma: Gemma-goo, goo, coyote. Woofy: Yellow pup, yeller dog, dummy, idiot. Dot: Dottykin, cinnamon dot, weirdo.

Make sure that there is nothing under the pad before wrapping- any bits of dirt could cause scarring and an abnormal gait. Allot of mushers I know will actually use super glue to hold the pad down to keep out the dirt. You wouldn't use enough that it would be toxic.

I personally love to deer hunt, it's one of my favorite times of year. This will be my 29th year hunting, and I look forward to it more each year. Does this mean I like to kill things? Absolutely not. I've been around guns my entire life- my father was a gunsmith- he not only fixed guns, but he [i]made them[/i],from scratch. They were, and are, works of art, with hand carved and tooled stocks, inlays and ingraving. The deer we shoot are used, [u]always[/u], nothing ever goes to waste. The meat and fat that is not fit for human consumption is cooked and fed to the dogs; the bones are ground and added to the garden and the hide is tanned and used to make leather. I'm in northern Wisconsin, and the deer population here is extraordinary. The weekend [u]after[/u] deer season last year, my husband and I drove around our neighborhood, maybe 8 miles total, and counted 167 deer. 167. I don't have much time for "sport hunting" either, where people are focused only on shooting a deer with the biggest antlers. That being said, it's still exciting when a big one runs over the hill... In 2001, I got a chance not only to fill the freezer, but get a once in a lifetime buck. (That's the original Pumpkin there in the pic with me) I also practise shooting; allot, to insure that what I shoot at is killed instantly. I agree that a slauughterhouse is definitely less humane.. [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UwDVAtwYVQDpyaJEJ8cnbgZ2iTbWv7Kup5DKsv6fkAI!Gc3kJ459mNkOvwNxvyW*Lv1nT!DgpabHSG9ov!LdRxTRK**l!k1gXz1MlCPgkF9RMnfvTzUnwb0e8fp0bRtN/75595_04.jpg?dc=4675475529664986908[/img]

I guess it depends on how you define "purebred" :wink: . My Alaskans are considered purebred, but have everything from Malamute, Border collie , Greyhound, and Belgian shepard mixed in somewhere in their past. Cricket is a purebred Pomeranian, but she thinks she's just a small sled dog!

Allot of old mushers used the same trick- all it tended to do was make a them hand shy and prone to fear biting. "Old" methods aren't neccesarily the best- There was a story about old eskimo mushers who would worm their dogs with bleach :o . sometimes it killed the dog, but the ones that survived didn't have worms... Talk about the cure being worse than the disease!

When it's said that wolves think differently, you have to remember that domesticated dogs have been subjected to human intervention for 1000's of years- dogs that "behaved" (we can read that as responding favorably to humans) were favored over those that did not, therefore assuring that the dog we know today acts as it does. Wolves are primarily prey/survival driven- my Pomeranian could no more survive on her own in the wild than most humans, where my sled dogs would probably fair better, but by no means have the survival instincts of a wolf. The one dog that I owned that did have wolf in her, probably between 1/4 and 1/2, did things like regurgitate food for her puppies, cache food in and under her house, try to "hide" her puppies-no mean feat considering there were 11 of them :o and was totally untrainable as a sled dog- she would do fine for a few miles, then decide it was time to jump off the trail into the woods, usually dragging the team along with her. :roll: She was a wonderful"dog" , but required some special handling to cope with her eccentricities.

Yup, that'd be me, with the brown dog in lead being Bug, my excellent, once-in-a-lifetime dog. That twisted head grimace on my face is because we had just left the starting chute, and allot of dogs tend to um, "answer the call" so to speak as soon as they leave the chute so there is allot of poop that gets kicked up , generally right in the direction of your face. :tard: .

There was an ad in our local major newspaper(St Paul Pioneer Press) advertisingwolf crosses- one litter crossed with white GSD and the other with [i]Great Dane[/i] :o :o :o :evil: I'd love to call and ask what the reasoning behind this idea was...

I've owned over 75 dogs in the last 30 years and all of them, (excluding the Poms and Poodles) would not only kill cats, but have a wonderful time tearing them to shreds, burying the remains, then digging it all up a week later to roll in the smelly mess. Huskies(not all, but the majority) are notorious cat haters. Sorry for the graphic content, but Huskies, and especially Alaskans tend to have the hunting instinct very close to the surface. A Malamute cross that I rescued a number on years ago was on the verge of death because she had been visiting the neighborhood farms and chasing, damaging or eating the livestock. On the farm where I eventually picked her up from she had consumed 15 chickens, hamstrung two sow pigs(each weighed over 400 pounds) and had bitten a couple milk cows, not to mention dealing with every one of the barn cats. Her original owners' excuse was that he didn't want her anymore so let her loose because"someone would pick her up". She was lucky I heard about her or the farmer probably would have shot her. She was a very sweet dog, and the mother of my older dogs-Bug, Merlin and Happy. She just required allot of supervision around "prey". This is Trinka- "Chicken Killer" [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UQClAqwZOTcvJrpNSodOmLR!Kc0lGco902IdxWIjeNZCJHQ!CG8IiVVDWZo2uh7ictvBT*IR5lXATmL6qXlJj5J36E4*OfRzE4jH*8jCvgSZeL*UwpsEguHx6OY8EnpM/trinka.jpg?dc=4675470135998168274[/img]

You could also make a really long cord that would float out of water-ski rope; also called poly rope. It's the same thing mushers use for tug lines. Most packages have instructions on how to make strong loops to add snaps to. I tether mine for swimming also, typical huskies that they are...

Even though George is a BC mix, he trys to "herd" the other dogs around during their play times. The Alaskans look at him like he's crazy( which he is... :D ) Stay tuned next week for a whole bunch of play time pics ! [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0XAAAAH0agpTnNV3Qgu5XnCxvM0h8cmE60vgTU6KCRxcVlG!Rg71cTxfouvqdHsaCLfEEezv52jzzHrlQESzPzMN3BI3EgZ0OK7XgcZcZWSNEZQzIizF9onUywt4F8Cyvt7qpDtkKqYw/5352840-R1-004-0A.jpg?dc=4675459247238038407[/img]

I would challenge the physical appearance criterea, especially when applied to Alaskans- a breed that was developed with [u]only[/u] purpose in mind, and appearance having little to do with the equation, except to avoid darker colored dogs as they tend to overheat faster. The three dogs below are full siblings, with a pedigree going back to the early 60's, yet they still resemble ech other only superficially. [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UwDdAs8Yq*3S4PbT220ZzLSZkbnF74EzQj7EnShh6EZh*VjwTJAhCi7sVIAMACX5vrwgOpSL4jGiig1JQ9GCg2ZcTiSzG0XAd8Pgx4cXkspCNFtCQUDB7zmWc6Od7n9d/45057_26.jpg?dc=4675469167105340421[/img] [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0XQCpArka8annNV3Qgu5XnECy9lJ8YsSusm6E5GN21XpQQHOozdeLaLJCQ56r5VW!!s!Zmw!Z0SbyZ1tsGhsx4N98ecjPs*iTTWmK!vMJFoDEyOlc0aVJKnGPsed05BCyhYS4tsEEz5I/5352840-R1-048-22A.jpg?dc=4675459247050077912[/img]

Also mention to your vet the possibility of pyloric spasms. What happens is that the muscles that keep the stomach closed to the small intestine spasm, and can cause the dog to throw up. A good indicator is that there can be throwing up even tho the dog has not eaten, so you sometimes get bile or foam. Just a thought.

I guess I don't disagree with the question of whether Klee Kais are a new breed, just the fact that the original breeder tagged them as "miniature Alaskan Huskies" which they are not.

NO NO NO. They are not miniature Alaskan Huskies. Miniature Siberians maybe, burt not Alaskans. Alaskans have too many different breeds in their backrounds to be able to produce a consistent line in such a short period of time. Just because they have a mask doesn't make them "Huskies"of any size. I've seen Poms and Chihuahuas with "masks". Not Huskies. I agree with Hillside- Another designer breed. Take a look at this purebred pom on Dogster- A mini huskie? Nope. [url]http://www.dogster.com/dog_page.php?i=22555&j=t[/url]

And yet another year Pumpy, and I still miss you so much. Little Cricket does allot of the same things you did, probably because she was raised by the same weird owners you had. I still cry when I look at your scrapbook, or hold your urn. We made a garden for you in the yard, and planted plenty of orange flowers, and carrots in the garden. I gave some of your old toys to Cricket, but bouncy ball disappeared. Dad thinks you came back and took it; Some part of me hopes to [i]not[/i] find it, so I can believe that he is right... kisses sweetie... [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UwC5Au8YEAObPx5827MXiipoHy3a5xDXYK4KHq6loJk9uiQuzxqfGwKSQKwamZbNvL62r8tHkhPAvKtFhh6Kpa1vBN0A96Qmu2tOTRgmUudaEFt6qn7ebea7xYQjtWpx/66686_25.jpg?dc=4675462040657793740[/img]

We had a Saarloos wolfhound at our humane society fund raiser.

Oh yeah, we have lots of howl fests! This is my lead dog Bug "roooing" for the camera... [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UwAdA*MYUQQNz4jR!ECQCokBxj34PEaJlERbfo6FSl!PrD3U7hyJww7gazSPTT!vko*p09HpRRV!fic60kvkj1q9OZ2i1Iw4BI8pQzXP4t2tz6ytVIH01OwJkjdnvA0s/49988_23.jpg?dc=4675451035270774570[/img]

Define sleeping"on the bed".... Cricket is so tiny she sleeps on her pad in the head board of the bed next to the alarm clock and books. I'll see if i can get a pic..

I've seen Brindle Poms too, very cute!! [img]http://www.dogster.com/pix/22/23322/3.jpg[/img]

Allot of the reasons for not chaining dogs seems to revolve around the "pack instinct", and "bonding needs". I would have to say that my dogs are more bonded to each other than me precisely becauase of the pack instinct. They respect me as pack leader, but rely on each other for companianship and on certain pack members for leadership. There are a couple dogs who are in charge (both female 8) ) and the rest have a fairly stable pecking order, with the youngest puppy being at the bottom of the pole, so to speak. They enjoy each others' company more than mine, I'm sure... :-? The dog yard is set up in such a way that they can all see each other and ajacent dogs are able to touch and play dish hockey. (This is a husky phenomena where at feeding time certain dogs will have all the food bowls, due to the fact that they pass them around, and if you play right, you'll have all of them.) Some dogs are better at it than others. I would have to back up Hmmmm also in refuting idea that because my dogs are chained they aren't in good shape. Quite the contrary. Like I said earlier, 1000 miles plus of training and racing miles makes for some pretty rock hard dogs. During a race they could be petted or handled by upwards of 100 people. Under- socialized/trained dogs could not perform under these circumstances. [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0VgDjAqoZZEjkhh0llLHNusBdlFLJyzSqLQZU6l2377dpRv1KjYKEen13As5lueJCBgEWPgnRuyrcmQL1!PB!sr1k6LnEDYOcDxNblwaWN7A0xgBf963dUfaXIZl5Jn3S/EMPIRE%2004.jpg?dc=4675469737644739663[/img]

Lots of deer here in Wisconsin too, I've got a dent in the side of the house where one ran into it.Yup, you heard right. I opened the front door and the deer was literally standing on the patio and ran into the house trying to get away. I am a dedicated deer hunter and have been hunting for over 28 years now. This is my record book deer. Check out that proud Pomeranian in the pic :wink: [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UwDtAs8Yz*7pyaJEJ8cnbgZ2iTbWv7Kup5DKsv6fkAI!Gc3kJ459mNkOvwNxvyW*Lv1nT!Dgpab2VKbey8*BK0xPspQtHfpZ6JOuqX07vgWL9dxZ*zufPnGXmO65mtyb/75595_04.jpg?dc=4675475529664986908[/img]

I stand corrected on the identity of the original poster; my apologies. However, I still feel that (read carefully now) certain types of [u]posts[/u], (not posters) are trollish in nature. Simply an observation of how they invariably turn out.

During race season last year my guys got rice or pasta cooked with their kibble(always warm meals in the winter) plus a 1/4 lb each of some type of meat- last year was fresh frozen salmon that I got from a seafood importer that had deemed it "freezer burnt" so couldn't sell for human consumption. Worked for me! I've also used ground beef, ground turkey and venison.