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New Personal Bests for Team Luponooshka |
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This weekend,
the Luponooshka pack were a dog down as Mina had to stay home. James
stayed home with her whilst I took Lucien and Slink to the 4th round of
the Allerton Park Weight Pull Championship. I arrived early, the car
park was like sheet ice and i nearly slipped just getting out of the
car. After paying the entry fees i took the dogs one at a time to weight
in, this is usually a simple task where you walk the dog to the weigh
in area, get them to stand on the scales and then walk them back to the
car again. This task isn't so easy, when walking Lucien, on sheet ice,
when all he wants to do is pull. I managed to walk him most of the way
over to the scales, when he caught me off balance and dragged me on my
knees whilst he said hello to another malamute. He is usually very good,
but for some reason, he thought he could get away with being naughty,
we got there eventually and got through weigh in without further drama. |
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Lucien continues on winning form! |
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It
was a grey and damp day, the carpet in the chute was soaked through and
slippery with mud and getting worse throughout the day. My jeans were
doing their best to save North Yorkshire from floods as they soaked up
water, being 5 feet tall, my jeans are all a bit too long... you'd think
after 3 weight pull seasons, i would have learned my lesson and worn
more appropriate clothing! So now, wet and muddy, i was glad i had all 3
of my dogs entered to keep me running between the truck and the chute
and keep myself warm!
Little Slink (Hyteton Iggik For Luponooshka) was in Novice this time after a quite dramatic weight pull at the last event where she panicked and didn't enjoy herself. This time
we took things slow and built her up gradually. In the Novice Class,
the handler is allowed to leave a lead on the dog to guide them in the
right direction and stand close to the dogs using treats to encourage
them on. The pulls are not counted in competition and are treated to
train young or inexperienced dogs, or those recovering from injury or
time away from competition. |
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Lucien beats his own record... again! |
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Sunday 27th November, saw almost perfect pulling competitions. The weather was cool and dry, albeit with very strong winds. Again all 3 Luponooshka Dogs were entered, this time with Selene in full competition instead of Novice. This was a special day for us and Selene, as it marked the anniversary
of when we collected her from her breeder when she was 6 months old.
Selene
weighed in at 90lbs and started off well, pulling the first weight of
400lbs quite easily. We then made the decision to skip the 500lbs pull
as she found the first one really easy and put her in for the 600lbs.
This time she wasn't too sure and lacked the confidence she had on the
first pull. Selene then failed to pull the 800lbs deciding that sitting
down on the carpet was much better than doing some work! We are still
proud of her achievement and in just 3 competitions has gone from a girl
who wouldn't walk into the chute, t a girl who is more than happy to
run in there and be hooked up. Building confidence all the time. Mina was also not on her best form, after weighing in at her usual 92lbs, she only managed to pull as far as 1300lbs, failing to pull the 1600lbs, and like her sister Selene, decided to sit on the carpet and look the other way, ignoring anything i said to her. Such is the way with these fickle girls, if they don't want to pull, there is no convincing them otherwise. Lucien, however, was on top form. Weighing in at the heaviest he has ever been at 109lbs, he pulled consistantly and quickly. That was up until 1900lbs, where after skipping the two previous pulls, he got a few paces into the pull, stopped, put his nose to the floor and became obsessed with sniffing the ground! A grumble and shout of "NO" from me got him pulling again. That was until he stopped again, and like before, nose to the ground, sniffing away! I shouted "NO" at him, and told him to pull. A pull that would normally have taken under 12 seconds, took well over 20 seconds to complete. |
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Sam and James get Married |
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After 5 years, Sam and James tie the knot at Penshurst Place. Tonbridge, Kent. Surrounded by their friends and family. Read about the wedding from the perspective of their wedding photographers, Mark and Marianne Earthy here: http://www.earthyphotography.com/blog/11_0710.htm
Also view a "flavour" from the wedding videographers, Sylvia and Niels Puttemans (Ever After Video Productions)
Sammy & James, a flavour from EverAfterVideos on Vimeo. Sam and James honeymooned in Mauritius for 8 days, followed by 5 days on Safari in South Africa. Pictures from the honeymoon can be seen by clicking here: Ulusaba & Mauritius
Our wedding photos can be seen by clicking on the following link: http://www.everybodysmile.biz/markearthyphotography/. Password is malamute
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