Recovering tracks.

With 20 years of running with 3 generations of wolfdogs, I am marking my territory and tracks emerge where they have never been before.  Fierce winds the other day, layed down 14 trees just over my tracks and I had them removed today.  The tracks are now recovered and will be covered with snow tomorrow.  With either runningshoes, snowshoes or ski they are all seasons training facility.  In fact they are just an extension of my garden.

Adaptation

One often think of the cold and the wet when referring to being climate resistant in a dog. The summer-heat is an opposite climatic extreme as much of a challenge to the canine organism.  My wolfdogs can handle a run in the summer-heat without overheating, much to my astonishment.  I am impressed by the way they can adapt to all weather conditions throughout the year. Regular running and being in a fit condition helps the adaptation.   Once or twice during a run they cool down in a lake or a river - and they enjoy it. 

FIRM AND STEADY:      This dog has almost never been taken out for a walk.  All exercise has been in the trotting gait; easy and groundcovering on rough tracks or outside tracks; on snowcovered - or a summer- ground. This day was an exception and I was very happy with my observations of him in his way of walking.  During his first year he seemed clumsy and heavy and frequently preferred to pace rather than to trot while in the transition speed between a walk and a faster speed.   More than 2 years of running 4 - 5 days a week, exclusively on  uneven ground,  has changed his clumsiness into a springy and graceful trot.  It is particularlily observed in the pelvic region of the dog.  The sideway swinging movement often seen in dogs during a walk, is all gone and has become a strong, steady and straight gait.  The muscles developed in that region can now provide a springy trot even at a slower speed. The dog has very large paws and the muscles and tendons around the wrists are also very important for a natural gait.  I am convinced that this type of dogs, large and of a natural build, need to run as part of their daily activity.  It is a challange to train them properly because they are lazy by nature and cannot usually run free everywhere.  

Summer-Run.

Nia and Ulv; both reluctant to pass the photographer, but love a run as much as I do.  Maybe Nia will become the mother of the next generation some day. 

New Canicross Shoes and the Winter Coat off

Most of the dogs have taken their winter coat off by now and appear more lanky and slender than during the winter.  The nice muscles developed during the snow running last months are protuberantly visible through the skin.   New crosscountry running shoes are purchased for the summerseasons exercise in the rugged terrain in our territory. This time I try Inov-8 Oroc with embedded metal studs (only half the number as my VJ, but combined with sticky rubber on the sole with superior traction to the rough ground).  Happy man - happy dogs!

Epigenetically modified canicross activities.

Vivid post-exhaustion philisophy.

It is the terminal end of the running-season on snow-covered trails. It isApril 17^th and an anticipated thawing season has begun. Once a year I like to test my physical condition by running an insanely exhausting track. It starts off ascending steep, then increasingly becoming steeper and steeper until reaching the top. Usually I have no hope in my age to expect any progression, however I want to be able to confirm that my capacity for running hasnt declined. Today I took the test, a sunny day with a mild wind that gave me the courage to do some extravaganza after a long winter. Nia and Ulv were my running-mates on this trip. Unlike my other wolfdogs who seem to settle on an even trotting speed which they are unwilling to change, Nia and Ulv can be encouraged to both brake and increase the speed during a run. They have a little «husky-mentality» in that sense. The track starts climbing uphill already at the first steps. Usually before reaching the top my thighs ache, my lips become cyanotic, my vision become blurred, then dizziness and a slight nausea makes a final addition to the exhausted feeling. After reaching the top we continue downhill on the other side reaching the lowest point of the trail only to make a similar return back again.

Fascinated by the new science of epigenetics I have done an experiment on myself lately. For a year I have been running only in a catabolic state, which means no less than 6 hours after the last meal. The last meal never exceeds 15% of energy derived from glucose. In this way I deprive myself of the glucogen stores over several weeks. As a result I must fuel my muscles with fatty acids during a run. Theoretically such stress to the metabolic entities in the cells will lead to both intracellular and extracellular adaptations. Many of which are epigentically changes in gene expression following by transcriptions. Both enzyme production, number and size of mitochondria and increased blood supply in my fatty tissue are controlled by genes and can be changed through this adaptations.

Now, back to my run today. Reaching the top this year with the usual ache in my legs, but without the blurred vision, the dizziness and nausea. Downhill on the other side seemed a little odd as I felt very light in my body. Returning for the top the second time I felt surprisingly at ease. Descending the final downhill was «euphoric» experience. For the first time in years I had improved on this sadistic run. Noramlly I would be stiff and painful arriving home unable to walk normally, but today my vivid mind decided on another run with the other pair of wolfdogs. We jogged an easy trail singing joyfully at the same time. No pains, no exhaustion and a very happy psyche!

During this recovery run my mind also started to run with thoughts on epigenetic changes in our wolfdogs. One of my wolfdog litters produced 2 pups with inferior screeing results for dysplastic hips. However both parents and all four grandparents had excellent hips. Many disease processes beleived to be of genetic origin are now seen in the light of epigenetics. Epigenetic mechanisms that alter gene expression without affecting DNA sequence are now recognized as being of great importance in our understanding of disease susceptibility. Methylation of DNA, modification of histones, and interfering microRNA collectively represents a cadre of epigenetic elements dysregulated in chronic diseases. This is specially true in polygenetically controlled processes such as hip dysplasia in dogs. What can affect the development of a wolfdogs hips during its development? The wolf was developed for running in the forests and wilderness. Not at all on a paved road. The wolf was developed to thrive on nourishment like prey animals with food frequency like once every 3d day! What happens when a wolfdog puppy deprived of enough natural exercise in rough terrain and instead is walked on a lead on a paved road? Consider the importance of stress and the reaction to stress as a stimuli for full growth. The scientific publication «Nature» publised a review on a research on the ability to metabolize starch in either dogs and wolves. The research concludes that one of the genetically adaptations the domestic dogs have developed is its ability to digest and metabolize starch. On the contrary the wolf lack the enzymes necessary to utilize this food source. Can we then expect to be safe with feeding our dogs of recent wolfblood commercial dogfood consisting of a huge percentage of starch ? And again; how does this affect the development of the tissues around the dogs hips? We know that in humans the improper digestion of certain carbohydrates can leads to inflammation and systemic diseases. Maybe we must search for more than genes and breeding in our approach to prevent such ailments as dysplastic hips in our dogs. 

All Seasons Canicross

SNOWSHOEING

The art of living implies some plasticity of attitude.  Disadvantages can be twisted and turned and changed into a pleasant advantage.  Like having wolfdogs who on one hand completely restricts your freedom to take your walks or runs in populated areas, but on the other hand opens up a completely new world because you have to find secluded areas to sport with them.  Like snowshoeing this pristine landscape. This trip had not been possible without the initiative of the owners of another Nordenden-wolfdog who have learned the same lesson.

Sunrise & Sunset at Hardangervidda

At 4 a.m in the early morning, Nia (in full heat and in need of a whole day separated from her pack) and I took off by car heading for Hardangervidda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardangervidda_National_Park) for a full day outdoor adventure.
We arrived our destination just before dawn and commenced the ski- and paw-run in a dusky, deep violet hue with stars above.  No clouds and 23 centigrades below zero gave a fresh start.  Gradually the colors changed into blue with a very sharp horizon.  Then white mountains emerged with an orange-red zone generating in the east anticipating the rising sun.

We took the first brake at sunrise.  Nia immediately curled on the ground to keep warm and getting some rest.  Wolfdogs never waste their energy expenditure!  The pristine landscape at this part of Hardangervidda is feminine in the way that its seducing beauty can change all of a sudden becoming a fierce blizzard.  We were lucky however.  The weather stayed calm, cold and without a trace of clouds on a crisp clear blue sky the rest of the day.  On our way back the sun set as spectuacular and beautiful as the sunrise had done earlier this day approx. half an hour before getting back to the car.