day no. 17/18 - in the woods...my first 30km Safari!

Erä-susi Huskyfarm -2 °C some like it hot...the dogs not that much!

Today was one of the 'big' days, one of those which are rare, but full of good experiences that will last as good memories for longer... 

I taught my first driving lesson on my own!
Every tourist group is introduced to sledge, equipment, dogs and shown how it actually works to go sledging with the huskies before they even meet their team. It is not really difficult, but still there are a few things one has to remember in order to fully enjoy this experience not risking one's health or the welfare of the dogs. They put up a little stage in front of the Safari house on which a sledge, equal to the ones that are used, is placed. The guide climbs up on the stage and shows how it works in a little driving lesson, answering questions and taking away fears and misgivings. I've joined a couple of times the riding lessons of the professional guides who have been doing thoset already for years- they are really good entertainers! People laugh a lot and arrive in a cheerful mood at the starting point, maybe still a little nervous, but not afraid anymore. After the trip the guide accompanies our guests to the cozy guest lounge where hot coffee, tea, juice and some snacks are already waiting heated up over the ingel. Then the guests have the possibility to have a tour at the farm, cuddling a lot of adult dogs and puppies and of courses they will sooner or later find their way also to the souvenir shop...
I learned that the puppies see about 7000 people before they, at the age of about 1 year when their almost grown up bodies can handle it, start running themselves. That's why they are so handsome with every kind of human no matter where they come from or how they look and smell like. Actually this is really remarkable! Among each other the dogs can act very rough and I can fully understand that people might feel afraid of them seeing how they treat each other. But they would never ever do something else to people then showing trust and affection without any exception. They love people and are quite jealous, when the neighbor gets more attention then one itself. From the beginning until the end the guide is always around ready to answer questions, tell stories, make the guests stay as comfortable as possible and most of all being proud. :) The people who work here seem to really love what they do and one can easily notice that just listening to their experiences and their anecdotes.  

Today I was invited to try the guiding myself and  taught a small German group the most important things to know. Afterwards I could accompany the group, too- this was a real surprise! So far I've been always working on the farm never leaving the closer surroundings. My maximum distance I did so far driving myself was a trip about 5 km and today I was shown the 30 km trail, since I'm not ready yet to accompany groups with the safety snowmobile unassisted. Everyone of the guides loves the 30 km tour, because it is actually like having a day off. Since the group is for at least 4 hours on the trails, the guide misses all the hard work that has to be done back on the farm and can ride through ice and snow, sitting at the camp fire eating sausages and having a chat with the customers. Obviously it is still an tiring trip, especially if something happens to the dogs or a tourit might fall from the sledge. (Fortunately everything went perfectly!) But in any case it was quite a cool experience! 
The weather was unfortunately not perfect. Covered with grey clouds the sky and underground looked quite the same, so that it was hard to identify the following sledges at the horizon. The warmth in these days bothers the dogs. They need about -20 degrees to feel really good. Working hard in these days they feel really warm and try to cool down whenever possible rolling around and burying their heads in the cold, refreshing snow until they are fully covered. Dogs are unable to sweat so they have to find other possibilities to cool down. 

snow white 

I was placed on the snowmobile sitting back watching all the time what was happening behind us while a seasoned guide was driving the snowmobile. We always drove much faster than the dogs could ever run leaving the tourists alone with the beautiful white and silent landscape only heightened by the sound of the dogs' paws hitting the icy surface and creaking of the wooden sledges. It's a wonderful experience! 

touris on tour

We stopped after a several hundred meters waiting for them in order to make sure that everybody is still ok and following the track. We were the first ones using this trail this morning and in front of us lay the untouched forests and fields. One might think that it could be boring to see all the time for hours just white and trees, but it is not! To start with it is not just white, the landscape is coloured in hundreds of different shades of grey, blue, white, green and deep purple, although the sun was not shining. Every tree looks different and after every curve another great view is offered to your eyes. The air is frosty clear out here. (Obviously not that much sitting back on the snowmobile. My mentor, a Finnish giant in his best years, sitting back to back in front to me protected me form the icy wind). I liked riding the snowmobile looking in the 'wrong' direction. I had the perfect view on our running dogs and actually it was quite a challenge: Not seeing where we were going, every turn and every hill came as a surprise. It reminds me a little bit of riding young horses- up and down, jumping suddenly in an unexpected direction...


After 18 km we had a break in a warm, traditional shelter. My professional companion lit a campfire in the tent and we grilled sausages and had some hot beverage. Inside it was really cozy and soon it got nicely heated up in there.
Even though is was a warm day, sitting for so long time one gets cold easily, since the cold airstream is continuously cooling you. On the farm I'm really ok with my pullover and a thin cap, but for that trip I put over my pullover, my thin Erä-susi sweater and the heavy Erä-susi outdoor jacket, covering my head with a fleece beanie cap and a heavy helmet. My hands were protected with leather mittens keeping really warm because of the wooly lining. It was really necessary. 

The trip ended far too soon for my taste, but I can hardly recommend to everybody to make this experience! Driving through this spectacle landscape with a dog sledge is even more amazing than with a snowmobile! For those who don' t like dogs: I found out today that all over North-Finland there are hundreds of kilometers long snowmobile trail marked with a blue cross which usage is free of charge. We tried to avoid those tracks because unfortunately the snowmobile driver don't drive really carefully and often much to fast. Some time ago one snowmobile has seen the sledge to late and crashing in the team it injured one of the dogs seriously. It can end really badly and that's why the Erä-Susi team prefers to use private trails, but sometimes it is inevitable to drive through those public ones for a while. Around Kuusamo and Ruka seems to be much traffic on that kind of trails, that's why the longer trips about up to 5 days Safaris are not started from here but from Rokua which seems to offer more quiet surroundings. 



I had a really remarkable day, admittedly among a lot of remarkable days..But still this one was very special. Thank you all for that really nice day ! :) 

Knowledge of the day: 

If your blade is too small to brave effectively the winter...

...get yourself a bigger one!

day no. 16 - bathing fun

Erä-susi Huskyfarm, -8° C tinkling of the snowflackes

Unfortunately it was too dark for taking a better pic

If fun or not, it was sooo cute! The youngest puppies used the new snow to run riot and get really dirty! Snow and dirt stick in their fluffy fur and sleeping cuddled closely together they spread the dirt everywhere melting the snow with the warmth of their bodies. We brought them in the stable in order to wash them with warm water and leave them over night in an heated shelter to let their fur dry. Nobody wants to see this little sweethearts ill. The lively puppies swarmed around in the stable stealing spoons and plastic sacks in which we keep the reindeer fodder. One of them expressed his exaltation for a blue scrubber disassembling it into thousands parts. They are so curious and unstoppable. 4 whelps on discovery trip! :) 

Once again some teams left today unfortunately. Now there are just about 20 teams left, which means from over 200 dogs are remaining about 140. It's getting empty here...slowly! But the dogs like the car- I guess it smells like an adventure. They are leaving for the other farm which is the starting point for 5-days Safaris, which means 5 days in a row doing what they love: running! I would be excited, too, in their stead!

How does reindeer meat tastes? Since I'm already here, I can't go home without having it tasted. So on my next free day I will get myself somehow a piece to try it. You can buy it here in the supermarket and not just the raw meat, but I have seen also reindeer salami, reindeer sausages, reindeer pies, pastries with reindeer meat filling.... I thought about trying it at a restaurant, since I have actually no idea how to prepare it. 

Knowledge of the day: It's time for a snowball battle and building a lumiukko (snowman)! 

Best way to finish a working day: oven-fresh, self-made cinnamon buns and a nice hot pot of tea.

day no. 15 - Mayday,a grey day!

Erä-susi Huskyfarm, - 16°C 

Halftime. And yet I know that I will be back one day. :) Coming here was one of my best decisions so far, even though not every day is full of amazing moments and great challenges to master:

My mood oscillates between elation and frustration, ups and downs (but until now far more ups than downs). Something in the middle doesn't seem to be possible. In one moment I'm allowed to guide a sledge, I could enjoy a really amazing experience/ natural spectacle or I just had the feeling to finally be somehow useful, trusted and proud that I mastered something on my own. In the next (rare) moment I just feel somehow not really 'arrived' yet. But in general I feel really well-balanced for the first time in a long while, I am at the peak of my emotional and physical well-being...Does that sounds paradoxical?

The root of all evil are, if you ask me,  two difficulties:
1)TIME: Most of the times everyone keeps telling what I'm not able to do yet, instead of using the time in an effective way (anyways talking to me) and explaining me how it's done helping me to affront it one day unassisted. The daily schedule is really well organized, but still it happens that in stressful moments everything has to be prepared perfectly and most of all ridiculously fast. That's where it starts to be difficult for me! I don't have the routine yet and I need time to observe the others and come to conclusions. But still...I want to learn how to make it better and faster!

2)LANGUAGE: I try to integrate, but the language barrier, unlike my expectations and experiences from the past when it comes to overcome such a barrier, turns out to be a problem. Sometimes I do not really feel part of the group although we had really cool and funny moments together and everybody tries very hard to express themselves best. I think the situation wouldn' t even change, if somebody always translated, since just the fact that a translation is needed makes me different. It's not the same laughing together with the others than alone afterwards, once I heard the translation. I don't know yet how to overcome this problem yet, but I will figure out a way...Excluding for my part some people have really limited language skills concerning English, which doesn' t make this little unpleasantness easier to solve. It's a pity! I need to improve my not really existent Finnish faster! I wish I would have studied the language before...

icy beauty

I think I don't have to mention that my mood tonight fits perfectly the todays weather: it didn't really became light. It was really gloomy, cloudy, grey and it kept snowing the whole day ... But the good point is: I have already a solution for getting rid of it : SAUNA-better than chocolate ice cream could ever be! Do you feel tired, annoyed, frustrated? Sweat it out and life will looks suddenly so much brighter and hotter! :)

Nevertheless I had a funny mo(ve)ment today, too. After a 20km trip the dogs crept the last meters home rather than they ran. They seemed really tired. I freed one of the leading dogs from his harness in order to bring him back home to his doghouse. Normally they jump and wrench once they are finally taken away from the main wire they are clamped on during the ride. He sat still, not moving at all while I was holding him at his collar. But then suddenly he changed his mind and jump over the main wire. His unexpected, powerful movement made me fall face down in the snow entangling one foot in his harness and the other in the main wire. He pulled me over the slippery with fresh snow covered icy surface until a sledge blocked his path. Certainly he wasn't as tired as I imagined. It was soooo funny and obviously I had a broader audience, since the tourists hadn't left yet. (Don't worry! No harm done to anyone) :)

Knowledge of the day: No one is born a master! I guess not even 'our masters'...

Yes, I am definitely going to miss her! Thank you, Caroola! :)

day no. 14 - keeping up the speed

Erä-susi, - 34 °C (in the morning)  my new record!

I had my first solo-drive! Just me, a customer sitting in the sledge and the dogs. (...I have to admit that the obligatory snowmobile was running far in front of us for some safety issues. Anyway...) It was soooo fun! :) It was just a short distance about 5 km, but I am happy for the trust in me. It was just sooo fun and ended too quickly! Even more, because I already know the dogs who ran for me and I enjoyed to be able to call them by their names to cheer them on.
Mr. Wolf was right: among the best things life can offer driving a Husky sledge is definitely among the top 5 directly followed by a nightly walk under the clear winterly sky. 

Trainees on tour ! (photo: Mirja/Erä-Susi Naturesafaris)

First driving experiences on the 2 km track a couple of days ago (photo: Mirja/Erä-Susi Naturesafaris)

Since it was so cold today I was forced to put 3 jackets, 2 pair of gloves, a fleece skiing mask and a head on just for seemingly short trip. I laughed about when we started our run, but after some minutes I was really grateful to have all that stuff to cover myself.

Today once again I learned something new about the cold:
Don't wash your face in the morning or put creme/make-up on when you plan to brave the low temperature. Better don't even wash your face the night before. There is a simple reason for: Everything which contains liquid gets frozen immediately, even though you put it on your 'warm' skin. Staying outside for longer, especially riding a sledge or a snowmobile, the cold airstream cools down your skin so much that the humidity in your breath freezes on cheeks, eyelashes, ears and nose. Same happens with skin care products, since they contain liquids (water), too. The best protection is the natural greasy layer your skins produced in order to protect itself. Treating your skin with water and soap destroys the natural protection of your skin. In any case you can use cremes over night. 
When it is so cold you won't even feel the ice layer on your cheeks. It does not burn or hurt, it feels just cold. It's important to warm up the uncovered parts by laying on of hands in case they got frozen, but don't try to move your skin when it is still really cooled down. You can also put one of your gloves over nose and mouth and respire in it. The warm of your breath will defrost your skin. The tricky thing about frostbites is, that you don't feel them until it is already too late as long. So I was insistently prodded to pay attention to that and to warn and check the customers, too. I found out that there are 3 categories of frostbites. The first grade one can handle without long-lasting effects. Your skin gets pale, which is actually the opposite of what you can normally see watching in peoples' by the cold red coloured face. When you start warming the cold parts it starts burning as hell, but the now really red stain will heal soon. If you get bitten by the frost even harder, then your skin starts to blister, but the red blisters will vanish without leaving scars. In the third stadium the blisters can turn even blue or black and they won't disappear without leaving ugly traces. It's actually not that easy to arrive in stadium 3, but since it hurts in any case I hardly recommend to beware frostbites.
The same with your feet-if they are so cold that you don't feel your toes anymore, even when you try to move them, then it is really time to warm up. If possible don't wait until you don't feel anything anymore. I would really discourage from that experience- it is a quite scary feeling and it hurts really badly when you try to warm them up again.  
I learned by my own experience that the only material that keeps your feet warm reliably is 100% wool. So get yourself some wool socks if you plan to stay out longer under conditions I experience in these days. Synthetic fibers don't keep really warm, not even in combination with wool socks.(Except this special high-tech stuff thermal underwear is made of, but wool is still the best choice, if you ask me.) 
Air is a good heat isolator, too. That's why your boots should be at least 1, better 2 shoe sizes bigger than your personal size. 
And the most important point at all: don't stop moving!

The teams on their waiting positions looking forward to leave. 
(photos: Mirja/Erä-Susi Naturesafaris)

Knowledge of the day: New challenges are an excellent motivation.

We don't sell Husky hides! (I was seriously ask,  if one may purchase a dog fur from us.) 

day no.13 - time to say goodbye...

Erä-susi Huskyfarm, -25°C

Every working day starts with the smell of dogshit. This is my perception at least. The good point is, that in this climate zone everything thaht touches the ground get frozen quickly. Once turned into ice it is nearly odourless and the only thing that lasts is the admittedly unsavory appearance. But this is something one get used to soon. We clean the fences always in pairs: One breaks the dog poop with a spade out of the ice and snow and the other gather it up with a rake and a kind of big dustpan. Cleaning after the dogs is actually one of the nicest work of the day. Sounds a little awkward, but it is actually relaxing. One can switch off the brain and just do. While cleaning we check, if the dogs are all ok. We ask them to leave their houses and greet us. Most of the dogs are already waiting for us, when we arrive. They like our equipement- I guess it smells interesting- and it is the only moment of the time when there is a minute to muck around with them and stay some extra minutes with ones favourite dogs. They are happy to get your attention and play, jump and watch intensively what we do with our cleaning tools. Some of the hairy darlings have the annoying habit to jump at or on my back, while I'm showeling their shit. I'm standing yet in dog poop, still somebody wishes to kick me in my ass. :) 
I noticed that my teammembers have a tool they prefer: I'm definitely a 'spade-girl'. To break the frozen surface keeps me warm. Especially for really cold days I would always recommend the spade. But gathering up has the advantage that you can cuddle the dogs a little longer, because you have to wait until the 'ice-breaker' finishes. 
The fences are arranged along a corridor. On the right side live all the male dogs and the fences on the left side are inhabited by the females. I guess this division has a certain background. In any case it helps me a lot, because most of the names are so strange to me- I'm not able to identify the sex of a dog just by the sound of its name. 

But to come back to the topic, I noticed that my teammates seem to have also their favourite side when it comes to cleaning. Some girls tend to go straight to the female part. Meanwhile the most fast male ice-breaker always starts at the right side where the males live... Who knows why...
I was wondering a couple of days ago why the fences are so low. Today somebody mentioned that in summer they are over 2 meters high. I totally forgot about the one important fact: The under part vanished in snow and ice we are walking on in these days. Furthermore I was told that it is soon about to become a problem, since the dogs actually get easily out of their fences. I'm curious when they will start to introduce countermeasures.

One of the girls I was living with for the last two weeks is about leave. She has been here for nearly 2 month and has become a valuable member. Most of the things I know by now  I learned from her (that her English is better then the language skills of most of the others could be significant in this case, too). I will miss her. 
We had a nice conversation a couple of days ago about how she ended up at the Erä-susi farm. As a student of an outdoor-wilderness school that trains future wildlife guides, she had to absolve an internship. I never heard about such a school in North-Germany. Probably because their is no need for. Despite of winter sports North-Finland has to offer friendly, cheerful company, sauna, beautiful landscapes, national parks and ...yeah.. that's pretty much it! A paradise for outdoor fans, who in any case need professional guides to enjoy the Finns' nature heritage without endangering it or themselves. She told me that most of the time the students learn the things they have to know in a practical way, which means: skiing, fishing, learning about flora and fauna etc....to sum up skills and knowledge one could need to survive out there and protect what the Finns' love and defend passionately - their nature! The awareness of where they live and what they live of is indeed remarkable. I really love my home region and I would consider myself deeply connected to this place I call home. But according to my impression what the Finns' feel and do for their home is something which goes even deeper and far beyond simply caring about the place they were born and made childhood memories at. They love what they do, but also because they have the privilege to do it right here. It feels intense and authentic - this has nothing to do with ecological movements, alternative life style ideas etc. which seems to be a trend in Germany right now. It seems to be even nothing you have to loose a loads words about, but when they speak about...how they speak about deeply touched me!

But to come back to our conversation: Even more interesting and equally connected to our work at the huskyfarm is dealing with health issues of the dogs- it turned out that she is a masseuse for dogs! I didn't even know that this a job. Basically she is a physiotherapist for dogs. She releases the dogs from tensions and muscular indurations attending the healing process of serious injuries, too. I got to know that it is actually a job you can survive with financially on condition that one lives (as she obviously does) in a region of this world where you can find a lot of working and competing dogs. But with her skills she treats other animal patients like f.e. horses from time to time, too. 
It's a pitty that I found out about her skills so late - I would have loved to learn a lot more about it. 

Yesterday evening we had the pleasure to be guests of Mr. and Mrs.Wolf in order to say goodbye to our leaving team member and to be welcomed for those who just arrived here. I can't get used to the prices in Finland - everything is soooo expensive compared to what I'm used to. We had a really nice and cozy evening and I'm really grateful for their hospitality. Thanks to the great atmosphere among the people living and working here I feel already somehow at home.

Knowledge of the day: "Take less snow and more shit!" 
If you want to find the light, than look out for the shadows. 

day no. 11/12 - Lost in space

Erä-susi Huskyfarm, - 19°C sunshine pure

Daydreaming I left the 2 km track and wandered into the forest. I've never been there before. We followed one of the tracks. I took pictures and invited Miia to play with me. Miia is a fantastic old Lady. As one of the yet retired dogs she doesn't run anymore. She wouldn't be able to keep pace with the youngsters. Nevertheless she still enjoys to move a little. So since I had a day off, I took her on a walk in the woods after having trained the puppies. Miia is sweet, handsome, clever, for her age in perfect conditions and she has an astonishing orientation sense, unlike me. I got lost in the winter forest enjoying the sunlight and this beautiful landscape. Suddenly I recognized the silence, I couldn't hear the other dogs anymore. Their barking and howling have followed me into the woods even though soon I couldn't see them anymore. The trees covered with snow obscured my view. I looked around me and realized that the setting sun already coloured the white forest in shades of orange- Perkele, where the f...was I? Actually I don't even know it now that I'm back home, but Miia knew. At first I told her in English to bring me home. I couldn't remember the right word for 'home' in Finnish. My Finnish is still nearly not existent. So Miia just hold her head in a tilted positions and looked at me with a questioning expression in her cute dog face listening to my voice with perked ears-obviously her English was not that good. I had no cellphone, no map, no compass, no idea where I was... I started wondering about the traces a snowmobile left - according to my calculations it probably passed here yesterday. It did not snow over night and the traces did not look fresh...So how much time will pass until somebody passes here or starts wondering where I vanished...? :) 

I started walking in a random direction. Miia seemed to be confused. So I just let her lead. I tried every word that came to my mind to make her understand where I wanted her to go..."ruoka" (food), "talo" (house), "koppi" (doghouse)...Miia was still confused. "koti" ('to' home)...That worked! She started pulling me through the woods and seemed to be so secure about where to turn and which trail to follow, that I decided to trust in her. Even though she does not run the tracks anymore, she knows her surroundings very well. Miia brought me home where her "ruoka" was waiting for her yet. Mr. Wolf was amused.

my savior Miia 

Rike& Salsa

It was such a beautiful day today that I just couldn't resist to go out and use the great weather to train the puppies. Before they can run with the other dogs they have to get used to collar and harness. They have to learn to stand still while somebody is putting it on. And since they rarely leave their fences, they have to learn not to be afraid of going beyond their personal territory and trust in whoever takes them out. Today I walked Paso and Salsa. They are siblings born in May 2013. The whelps of this litter are named after dances: there is Valssi, Jive, Rumba, Samba, Paso, Salsa..etc. Whenever somebody has the time, the team starts to prepare them slowly for the real training. They take them out for a walk on the 2 km track, the most used track at all.

I really like this litter (not just because of the name 'Tanssi pennut')-all of the puppies are cheerful, friendly and playful dogs. As long as they are in their fences, all of them come directly to greet you and invite you to play. But it is a totally different story, if they have to leave their home. Actually it is not that easy to get them out there without a little help. They are scared and don't know how to react. Once they left the fences, they react differently. Paso started jumping and fight against the collar. Salsa was just totally scared. Paso already got how it works, but he is so excited that he overreacts, jumps, runs tangling in his leash. He is a brave boy, not afraid to leave the track even though that means often that he vanishes in snowbanks. He likes to play in the snow. Salsa is a little spooky. She needs a lot of time to check out everything carefully. She is always walking 2 steps behind you, watching you and seeking for protection when she gets to see something new. But at the same time she is really curious, she wants to know everything and highly attentive she discovers bit by bit every meter of the track. She follows every little trace with her nose dipping it deeply into the snow until the whole snout is covered. It looks so cute!

Winter world

Both of them need a calm person, a lot of support and encouraging words, but in different ways. Paso needs to be calmed down and shown patiently what he is supposed to do, while salsa needs to be encouraged to go forward by herself and trust in herself. The aim is obviously to take away from them the fear of leaving their fences and fence mates giving them in a playful way a good memory connected to equipment, trainer and track. Sounds easy, but requires a lot of patience and time. That's why we can't do that with 11 puppies everyday. 

Actually to get on and of the collar wasn't a real problem. I just called them and invited them to stay with me. Cuddling them I calmed them down and after some minutes you can just put it over or take it away with a quick, consequent but unspectacular movement. Just do as it was a part of the game. The trick is not to make a big deal out of it.  

Lazy reindeers taking a sunbath

Knowledge of the day: Kylmä kahvi kaunistaa! (Cold coffee makes beautiful.)

day no. 10 - once again: snoooow!

Erä-susi Huskyfarm, -10 °C snowing

It got warmer! We already had 3 days with temperatures over -10 degrees. If you ask me it’s already too warm. Once again I don’t know what to wear. My warm working clothes make me slow. A short sprint is enough to make me feel like if I just came out of sauna. I feel so warm and I sweat! Everyone has nice advices. Some of them are a bit strange to me. I slowly get used to just throw my jacket away…in January with meter deep snow hills wherever I gaze. I’ve been always told by my mum and grandma to cover myself; better to warm than to cold. "The cold is dangerous, you know you just gonna get sick…" I heard often their voices in my head in the last days. But now I tell my mum's voice in my head to just shut up! I just throw my jacket and my gloves away, because -6°C is just too warm. Actually it is not the cold per se which is dangerous. Nobody dies just because of feeling a little cold, but if you sweat and stay out in the icy wind than you might get ill seriously. Once you are really cold, remaining outside you will not get warm again.

Even when it was really bloody cold, I loved it! The biting cold, the clear air…now it's gone. I hope it will change again soon. The dogs already start to change their fur and I feel less hungry. I guess I don't need so much energy anymore. Might be because of the warmer weather or because I learned how to do my work in an effective way without moving more than necessary.

With the warmer temperature the snow came. It was snowing the whole day long. The pure, fluffy new snow covers everything like a white blanket and the fences look more clean, too, even though dogs usually not shit less just because it snows. They like the snow. I've seen the puppies rampaging in the snow scattering the snowdrifts in all corners having a lot of fun. But the fresh snow is tricky, too. I have problems to recognize the tracks. Everything is so slippery and since I hardly see where our trails run, it happens quite often to me that I just vanish next to the trail in the deep snow or the course of stream running next to the tail, but being now filled up with snow. 

That's how a serious winter looks like - amount of new snow fallen within 3 days

New snow is a challenge for the sledging dogs, too. Whoever tried to run through the high snow will confirm that it is an quite strenuous activity. A good leader knows how to differ between a safe trail and deep snowbank. He or she will guide the pack safely around tricky passages. That's why a good leader is admired and hard to find. It requires a lot of experience, a good intuition and trust on both sides. Huskies don't just run in the same way for everyone. If the dogs admirs and trust you as you do, it has clearly noticeable effects on the performance and attitude of the dog. Sledging is nothing but teamwork. If the dogs do not respect and trust in you, in the wilderness you won' t get anywhere...

Bruises, lumps, scratches and aching muscles are part and parcel of working on a huskyfarm... like cold feet.

Especially for tall people cleaning the fences or feeding the dogs can be a real challenge. The fences reach just my shoulder heigh or sometimes they are just a little higher. The huskies are actually smaller than I expected, but still they could get out of there easily.

I've seen them climbing the fences and on youtube you can find a lot of videos that show how clever they are. They seems to be proper escape artists. At least when they got bored they can be really inventive. Probably that's why there is no need to make the fences higher. If they really want to break free, they will find a way to get out, no matter how high or low their fence is. 
The fences are framed by stable wooden construction which withstand the weigh of snow and ice and the jumping huskies longing for food. Every fence is a little bit different and offers nice possibilities to hit my head on the beams. It happens to me at least 10 times a day. I just can' t get used to it...-.-

Knowledge of the day: I'm already addicted to Mr. Wolf's little wolfs. Huskies are amazing dogs. But I realize that, even though they are such  handsome, admirably tender and playful dogs, they are born to work, they need to run! Born outside, spending their whole lifes outside, they will die outside...and that's the best life you can offer them at all!