Springbreak

My snowshoe trails transforme from a solid to a liquid form and runs hurriedly towards the ocean. 

The trails are difficult to walk and impossible to run on right now.  My wolfdogs with their large and weblike paws, still surface the trails, while I am surfacing 3 steps and breaking through on the 4th.  The picture shows the speed of the water and is just 10 meters adjecent to my track.  It roars like thunder and the noise makes the wolfdogs very cautious and reluctant to approach it.  On the third picture one can observe the dog`s anxious expression about crossing a bridge.

The small brook on the fourth picture wasnt there last week and his first response was to return, but very soon the dog seemed to remember the stream from the time before the snow and run over.  Any change in the environment, be it a fallen branch or tree or similar, must be inspected before passing by.

Frustration is released in the end by attacking some bushes before heading home.  My own legs are anticipating the springthaw  to make running possible.  Fortunately I have access to some dirt-roads that I use for running in this time of transition.

Forestal Signatures

New snowfall covers my snowshoe tracks in between every effort to make a trail the last couple of weeks.  It gives a perfect chanse to observe the tracks of wild animals.  Usually the animals dont move much the first days after a heavy snowfall, but it seems like they were in a need for a walk today.

Hares occure most abundantly with no particular direction to its tracks.  The fox has been absent for a while, but is forced on the go - maybe by hunger.  Squirrels have been in a hurry - no doubt about that - running at high speed from one tree to the next.  The most lazy walker is the lynx, barely lifting its legs off the ground and making parallell longitudinal lines in the snow.  Only a short sprint trying to catch a hare will make the lynx put enough energy to suspend its legs above the snowy surface.  The moose has no trouble walking with dignity and in no hurry on its stilt-like legs.  I doubt the snow is a hindrance for the king of the woods. The deer, not as large as the moose, has still no problems walking down to an opening in the river for a sip of water.  The last one to mention, made my wolfdog startle by its sudden appearance from under the snow.  A woodpecker had found an ants nest in a rotten log under the snow and had a january culinary meal while we almost stepped on it.  To get up into the air from under the snow made such noise that my wolfdog run off in fear.

INSPIRATION

25 years ago, while still roaming the mountains with my dogteam, this particular wolf taught me the differance in locomotion of a superior sleddog and the wolf.  The sleddogs could run at considerable speed and pull for hours knowing that the musher would provide a good meal at the end of the day.  The wolf had developed a most effecient gait wasting the least amount of  energy at any time to conserve its calorie storage for possible prolonged fasting and energy shortage. The anatomical differances in the sleddog and the wolf, although both species are extremely efficient in their locomotion, fascinated me and made me watch this wolfs gait for hours to learn the nuances.  I remember observing the similarities with my sleddogs and a good icelandic horse.  The wolf on the other side, could easily be compared to the wild reindeers on their move.  My wolfdogs exhibit a gait somewhere in between the wild wolf and the sleddog.  Running my dogs always remindes me of this old wolf. His apparition appears somewhere in the back of my head as a reminder of form and function.   If making another attempt at dogbreeding, my ambition is to improve this particular wolfgait in a future litter.

BRAKING TRAILS

Being consistently patrolling our trail every day now, I hope its surface soon will resist braking through it while jogging.  The cold, soft, dry and buoyant snow mutes all sounds in the forest.  The silence is absolute.

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.