Winter has officially arrived. The temperatures have remained between -7c and -10c during the day, dropping to -18c in the early morning.
I must admit that the cold is not as unpleasant as one can imagine. We've all increased the layers and put on the big snow shoes. My outfit when training the dogs in the forest includes 1 insulating T-shirt, keeping me dry when sweating, 2 thin fleeces, 1 thick fleece and 1 scooter overall, 3 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of gloves, 1 fury hat and 1 scarf pulled over my face up to my nose.
When training the dogs yesterday, my eye lashes were covered with a thin layer of ice. I felt very proud to look like those men and women I've seen on so many pictures.
We've now increased the daily training to 23km, so each team runs for a couple of hours. With the winter time, we now come back from the afternoon training in the darkness as the sun sets around 3.00pm.
These cold temperatures have brought some sun and clear blue sky. The forest looks absolutely beautiful under the morning sun. The entire forest is covered with a layer of frost which sparkles like diamonds all around us. Photos to follow soon on Facebook.
Saturday 1 November 2008
Thursday 9 October 2008
New day, new challenge
After learning to drive the ATV through VERY VERY deep mud, after training the dogs in the forest on my own, came the ultimate challenge of Driving on Ice.
Less agile and beautiful than the celebraties who skate on ice, Stephanie Driving on Ice can be as spectacular and funny...
It was snowing this morning... More than the previous days... The Swedish guide walked into my cabin this morning, warning me that roads were VERY slippery and asked me if I knew how to slow down the engine without using the brakes. Having had a "car racing" boyfriend for a few years, I nodded with confidence. And then I went onto the road with my blue Volkswagen van...
I was driving slowly and I was smiling with excitement about this new experience. I come from an area by the coast with very mild weather. It snows about every 10 years and the only memories of driving on snow were when I was 11 years old when my dad drove us into a ditch on the countryside road leading to my grand-parents house and when the driving instructor failed me during my driving test for not driving fast enough on an icy road.
So everything was going fine... I even passed the first roundabout without any problems. Then, came a 90 degrees turn. I thought I was driving fairly slowly but it turned out that it was probably a little too fast for that turn in icy conditions. The car only went 60 degrees left, heading right for the security fence, so I turned the wheels more to the left, then to the right , which worked, but then, the car kept heading to the left, this time in the direction of a high separation curb with another fence... Deep breath... A bit of steering on the right finally put the van in the right direction. Very deep breath...
I was followed closely by 2 other cars who must have seen the back of my van swinging from right to left then to the right again in less than 4 meters... I was now thinking, "Ok, I've experienced driving on ice, now stop it, it's not funny".
Then, as I was coming towards a green light in Kiruna... it turned red. I panicked a little and hit the brakes... Big mistake... The car kept going, the brakes sounded like they were scratching the road surface... I almost ended up right in the middle of a big junction... Rear gear on and I was back into position by the red light... Thank god there were no cars behind me! Brakes are definitely useless in icy conditions. I should have remembered that from using my bicycle brakes on a snowy road in London which ended up in a big slide on my bottom across the road...
Hopefully, I will have lots of practice by the time I start driving the tourists around... ;-)
Less agile and beautiful than the celebraties who skate on ice, Stephanie Driving on Ice can be as spectacular and funny...
It was snowing this morning... More than the previous days... The Swedish guide walked into my cabin this morning, warning me that roads were VERY slippery and asked me if I knew how to slow down the engine without using the brakes. Having had a "car racing" boyfriend for a few years, I nodded with confidence. And then I went onto the road with my blue Volkswagen van...
I was driving slowly and I was smiling with excitement about this new experience. I come from an area by the coast with very mild weather. It snows about every 10 years and the only memories of driving on snow were when I was 11 years old when my dad drove us into a ditch on the countryside road leading to my grand-parents house and when the driving instructor failed me during my driving test for not driving fast enough on an icy road.
So everything was going fine... I even passed the first roundabout without any problems. Then, came a 90 degrees turn. I thought I was driving fairly slowly but it turned out that it was probably a little too fast for that turn in icy conditions. The car only went 60 degrees left, heading right for the security fence, so I turned the wheels more to the left, then to the right , which worked, but then, the car kept heading to the left, this time in the direction of a high separation curb with another fence... Deep breath... A bit of steering on the right finally put the van in the right direction. Very deep breath...
I was followed closely by 2 other cars who must have seen the back of my van swinging from right to left then to the right again in less than 4 meters... I was now thinking, "Ok, I've experienced driving on ice, now stop it, it's not funny".
Then, as I was coming towards a green light in Kiruna... it turned red. I panicked a little and hit the brakes... Big mistake... The car kept going, the brakes sounded like they were scratching the road surface... I almost ended up right in the middle of a big junction... Rear gear on and I was back into position by the red light... Thank god there were no cars behind me! Brakes are definitely useless in icy conditions. I should have remembered that from using my bicycle brakes on a snowy road in London which ended up in a big slide on my bottom across the road...
Hopefully, I will have lots of practice by the time I start driving the tourists around... ;-)
Friday 3 October 2008
Winter has arrived
Winter has arrived. It started snowing a little on Monday morning, followed by some small snow flakes every morning of the week. I've added a layer of clothing when training the dogs in the afternoon as temperatures are around 0 degrees.
Roads are also getting icy so no more speeding when I'm late for school in the morning. ;-)
It's been just over a month and I'm starting to see the results of hard work. The Swedish guide with whom I now train the dogs has told me that I can start training the dogs on my own. 12 dogs per team over 15 kms of forest and wetland. It felt like passing a grade... It felt good. :-)
Dogs are also starting to respect me, although a specific dog yard is still a problem as I can't get one dog out without the other 3 escaping at the same time! As soon as I approach their dog yard door, they're like Londoners standing at the gate of Victoria Underground station. They will push you and run you over if you stand in their way! The only comfort is that the Swedish guide doesn't always get "one" dog out too. So even the best can get it wrong.
After about 4 weeks of Swedish classes, I'm starting to speak and understand a little but I keep mixing German and Swedish words! And I've been told my English and French are getting worse... Oops... Oh well... Nobody's perfect...
Roads are also getting icy so no more speeding when I'm late for school in the morning. ;-)
It's been just over a month and I'm starting to see the results of hard work. The Swedish guide with whom I now train the dogs has told me that I can start training the dogs on my own. 12 dogs per team over 15 kms of forest and wetland. It felt like passing a grade... It felt good. :-)
Dogs are also starting to respect me, although a specific dog yard is still a problem as I can't get one dog out without the other 3 escaping at the same time! As soon as I approach their dog yard door, they're like Londoners standing at the gate of Victoria Underground station. They will push you and run you over if you stand in their way! The only comfort is that the Swedish guide doesn't always get "one" dog out too. So even the best can get it wrong.
After about 4 weeks of Swedish classes, I'm starting to speak and understand a little but I keep mixing German and Swedish words! And I've been told my English and French are getting worse... Oops... Oh well... Nobody's perfect...
Tuesday 23 September 2008
Northern Lights
I saw my first Northern Lights last week while training the dogs with a guide late in the evening. And what a show!!
Stripes of green lights started following us through the forest. They started changing shapes, then the intensity of the green increased and decreased continously, then, the most beautiful show I've ever seen started.
A stripe of green broke into what seemed to be a piano keyboard. Then each "key" changed colour very quickly, like if a hand had been running through the keyboard. Green, yellow, pink... It was an amazing sight. Even the guide who had been up North for a while was amazed. My jaw "dropped" many times that evening and no words could express the magical feeling that was in the air.
And no, the dogs don't howl when the Northern Lights are on, as I've seen in some bad Hollywood movie...
Stripes of green lights started following us through the forest. They started changing shapes, then the intensity of the green increased and decreased continously, then, the most beautiful show I've ever seen started.
A stripe of green broke into what seemed to be a piano keyboard. Then each "key" changed colour very quickly, like if a hand had been running through the keyboard. Green, yellow, pink... It was an amazing sight. Even the guide who had been up North for a while was amazed. My jaw "dropped" many times that evening and no words could express the magical feeling that was in the air.
And no, the dogs don't howl when the Northern Lights are on, as I've seen in some bad Hollywood movie...
Thursday 11 September 2008
Holidays are over...
One week after my arrival, real work has started.
We now feed the dogs twice a day, in the morning and in the evening.
As I'm following Swedish language classes in the morning, here is a typical day at the moment.
5.30am Getting up,feeding the dogs, cleaning the kennels
8.00 Start of the Swedish language class in Kiruna
12.00pm Back at the kennel for lunch
1.30pm Start training the dogs
5.00pm Feeding time again and cleaning the kennels
7.00pm Diner time for me :-)
8.00pm Helping the guide training his dogs
10.30/11.00pm Back in my cabin, ready for bed!
I took the driving seat when training the dogs today. It's a fantastic feeling and also a great responsibility. You're sitting on this powerful machine and you need to keep a balance between letting the dogs pull and helping them a little when the trail is tough.
My lead dog almost missed one of the turns but as I've been told, it's not the dog who is bad, it's the musher giving bad or late commands. I guess this will also come with experience. :-)
Bye for now
We now feed the dogs twice a day, in the morning and in the evening.
As I'm following Swedish language classes in the morning, here is a typical day at the moment.
5.30am Getting up,feeding the dogs, cleaning the kennels
8.00 Start of the Swedish language class in Kiruna
12.00pm Back at the kennel for lunch
1.30pm Start training the dogs
5.00pm Feeding time again and cleaning the kennels
7.00pm Diner time for me :-)
8.00pm Helping the guide training his dogs
10.30/11.00pm Back in my cabin, ready for bed!
I took the driving seat when training the dogs today. It's a fantastic feeling and also a great responsibility. You're sitting on this powerful machine and you need to keep a balance between letting the dogs pull and helping them a little when the trail is tough.
My lead dog almost missed one of the turns but as I've been told, it's not the dog who is bad, it's the musher giving bad or late commands. I guess this will also come with experience. :-)
Bye for now
Sunday 7 September 2008
I love this life
On Friday evening, as I was taking a walk towards the river, I met one of the guides and the other handler training the guide's dogs with the ATV. They stopped next to me and offered me to jump in. And so did I! I ended up doing twice 5 km on the back board of the ATV behind the two guys, pulled by 10 dogs. We trained the dogs in the darkness, using only the ATV's lights. The night was cold, minus one, and beautiful. There was a clear sky and I had never seen so many stars in my life. It was a magical evening and I remembered my boring evenings in London where life after work would be heading back home, have dinner and watch TV. Being out with the dogs, even by minus one degree celcius was so much more fulfilling. I love this lifestyle.
Thursday 4 September 2008
When it rains...
Day 2 of training.
I'm starting to master the art of putting on and taking off the harnesses... We trained two teams of 8 dogs this morning under the rain.
When walking back one of the lead dogs to its yard, I stepped on the wooden palette at the front of the yard. As it had been raining all night and morning, the wood was quite wet. As I was trying to hurry to get the dog back inside, my right leg went left as my left leg went right and my buttocks landed on the floor while I was still holding the dog's collar in my right hand! It took me a few seconds to "untangle" myself and get back on my feet. As I looked behind me, I saw the kennel owner smiling at me and said "It's wet...". Embarrassing moment....
I'm starting to master the art of putting on and taking off the harnesses... We trained two teams of 8 dogs this morning under the rain.
When walking back one of the lead dogs to its yard, I stepped on the wooden palette at the front of the yard. As it had been raining all night and morning, the wood was quite wet. As I was trying to hurry to get the dog back inside, my right leg went left as my left leg went right and my buttocks landed on the floor while I was still holding the dog's collar in my right hand! It took me a few seconds to "untangle" myself and get back on my feet. As I looked behind me, I saw the kennel owner smiling at me and said "It's wet...". Embarrassing moment....
Wednesday 3 September 2008
First training day
Hello from Jukkasjarvi where I landed on Sunday.
I'm taking care of about 53 siberian huskies for a dogsled tour company.
After a lazy Summer, the dogs need to be trained for the Winter season. We started today and my skills as a handler were tested... It is probably important to mention that I have almost no experience of handling dogs as I never had a family pet. My only experience is back in May-June this year when I stayed 20 days at the same kennel to get a first taste of what the life as a handler would be.
It all started wrong when I was asked to get the first dog, a female living in a dog yard with 2 other females. Me, the rookie, tried to grab the dog while standing outside of the dog yard. First mistake as one of the other females forced her way out, opening the door wide enough for the 2 other females to run free too, leaving me swearing at my lack of agility, speed and strength to stop them in time.
Fortunately, they ran straight to the main dog yard, like well trained soldiers who know the drill of a training exercice. Indeed, the main dog yard is where a dog team is gathered before hooking them up to the gangline.
The second handler, even less experienced than me, but a "dominant" male, helped me to get the two dogs back in their dog yard.
Once the 8 dogs were in the main yard, we started to put their harnesses on. Once again, holding the dogs between my legs so I can put their harness on, proved to be challenging. Some dogs will hold fairly still and will hand you their front legs quite easily. It seems that the dogs I picked had a different idea of how dogs should behave in that situation! Finally, after some twisting and collar dragging, we got the entire team hooked up to the line and I jumped at the back of the ATV while the kennel owner took the driving seat.
I felt that, although the main point of this exercice was to train the dogs, the handlers got much more training!
The last challenge of the exercice was to take the bxxxxx harnesses off. Again, one of the dogs decided not to cooperate and refused to lift up his front legs. I then remembered the words of my German guide telling me that the dog didn't need to "want to" but "had to". In short, it's up to the handler, not to the dog...
Although it feels like a distant future, I am confident that these gestures will become second nature and that I will manage to get dog teams together for our tourist tours without so much trauma! At least, let's hope so!
I'm taking care of about 53 siberian huskies for a dogsled tour company.
After a lazy Summer, the dogs need to be trained for the Winter season. We started today and my skills as a handler were tested... It is probably important to mention that I have almost no experience of handling dogs as I never had a family pet. My only experience is back in May-June this year when I stayed 20 days at the same kennel to get a first taste of what the life as a handler would be.
It all started wrong when I was asked to get the first dog, a female living in a dog yard with 2 other females. Me, the rookie, tried to grab the dog while standing outside of the dog yard. First mistake as one of the other females forced her way out, opening the door wide enough for the 2 other females to run free too, leaving me swearing at my lack of agility, speed and strength to stop them in time.
Fortunately, they ran straight to the main dog yard, like well trained soldiers who know the drill of a training exercice. Indeed, the main dog yard is where a dog team is gathered before hooking them up to the gangline.
The second handler, even less experienced than me, but a "dominant" male, helped me to get the two dogs back in their dog yard.
Once the 8 dogs were in the main yard, we started to put their harnesses on. Once again, holding the dogs between my legs so I can put their harness on, proved to be challenging. Some dogs will hold fairly still and will hand you their front legs quite easily. It seems that the dogs I picked had a different idea of how dogs should behave in that situation! Finally, after some twisting and collar dragging, we got the entire team hooked up to the line and I jumped at the back of the ATV while the kennel owner took the driving seat.
I felt that, although the main point of this exercice was to train the dogs, the handlers got much more training!
The last challenge of the exercice was to take the bxxxxx harnesses off. Again, one of the dogs decided not to cooperate and refused to lift up his front legs. I then remembered the words of my German guide telling me that the dog didn't need to "want to" but "had to". In short, it's up to the handler, not to the dog...
Although it feels like a distant future, I am confident that these gestures will become second nature and that I will manage to get dog teams together for our tourist tours without so much trauma! At least, let's hope so!
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