Our growing puppies
Christer
10.07.12, 11:39

Apatchas malamute puppies are 4 weeks old now and becomes more and more active each day. This is both the sweet but interesting time when the puppies becomes individuals with different personalities. See Bilder
The summer rush on and we are supposed to be in the middle of the tourist season. But it´s quite few tourists in the area and those who are here seem to be not very active. So the demand for our riding services and canoe tours are low.




Malamute puppies
Christer
10.06.13, 16:48

Apatcha have given birth to 8 healthy puppies (4 males and 4 females). Father is Santana, a happy energetic male who is a good worker which have done good at several mid-long distance races. Apatcha is one of our strongest and kindest females which is performing excellent both on tourist- and racing tours. This combination have been tried out once before and resulted in hardworking dogs with nice temperament. See BILDER




Racing season is over
Christer
10.04.05, 17:52

About the long distance races 2010: Kristin started out participating in the Femundslöpet 400. Since it was some years ago she did any long distance race she was quite nervous before the race and used weeks in preparing. Our malamutes was well trained and was absolutely ready for the distance, the question was if Kristin was as prepared as the dogs. The first distances the malamutes was going fine but Kristin kept the speed down. After about 180 km Kristin herself began to feel more comfortable about the race and woke up more and more. There was never any doubt if she would come through or not. But by keeping on the safe side with rests and speed Kristin made it strongly into Röros after 400 km with 7 happy dogs. Se BILDER

In week 10 I myself started out on the Polar Distans 300 km. This year it was a little bit different since even the B-teams (malamutes, greenland dogs and samoyeds could drive 12 dogs. Me and Kristin did everything to prepare the dogs the very best way. So on the starting line I had a team of malamutes steaming with power which almost broke their pullinglines. The first day of driving was going OK even if it was a little bit warm. Driving down to the second checkpoint one of my more heavy furred males begin to be tired, but he made it down to the checkpoint where I dropped him. After 6 hours of resting I started out at 9 o clock am in the sunny and to warm weather. This day and distance proved to be quite demanding for the dogs. Quite often I had to stop and let them cool down and eat snow. Maybe it was the sudden temperature rise, after months of really cold weather, which really was tough on the dogs. At the last checkpoint I dropped two young dogs which I thought had done enough this time. The rest of the dogs was eating good and only one of the dogs didn´t want to take the water offered. But the veterinarian which checked her and the others said she was well hydrated. The last stretch over the mountain before reaching Särna was only 50 km but with quite much altitude difference. Coming over the mountain and down in the forest it was going OK. But soon after the sign saying Särna 18 km I had to stop now and then because some dogs in the team became warm. I let them eat snow and cool themselves in the snow. But just when I reached the Särna lake 4 km before the finish line I had to take Balto in the sled. As soon as we had crossed the finishline I told the veterinarians to check and treat the overheated dog. This of course gave me a bad aftertaste of the whole race and I´ve been asking me if I could have read the signs better. The problem was that he never stopped pulling or he didn´t refuse the snacks. The best would have been to put him in to a creek to cool down.

Last long distance race was the Amundsen which proved to be a temperaturechallenge as well. The start is on "masse" on the lake, which was covered with water over the ice, after a day of raining. Trying to keep the dogs cool I drove slowly the 30 km over the big lake. During the night the temperature became better and after 13 hours of driving the 140 km to first checkpoint, I arrived there at nine o clock. The sun was strong and the temperature was quickly rising. The obligatory stop was 3 hours but with the high temperature I decided to stay until at least 3 o clock. At 3.30 a.m I left the checkpoint in a little bit cooler weather. Driving over the mountain in a little bit of wind and snowfall was going OK and I kept a steady 10 km /hour. The big mistake happened about 15 km before Tänndalen where I missed the signs and kept on going after a hysky team. Both of us ending up down in Bruksvallarna. The mistake would cost us about 3-4 hours of delayment. Time limitations together with bad calculations made me decide to quit the race after 20 km. This decision felt particulary wrong when I realised I had miscalculated and also that my dogs was in quite good shape. But there are more races to come...next season.

Altogether the result was both positive and negative. The results show how difficult it becomes, even if it´s good and well trained working dogs, when the temperature after a very cold december,january and februar rises and becomes to many + degrees.



Se BILDER






2010!
Christer
10.01.27, 15:39

A new year and new intentions. We can as well begin to put in some short news on our web site.



- Dec and jan have been extremely cold and steady in the weather with long periods below - 25 C and down to - 38C.



It´s tough on machines and people but the dogs managed well - maybe a little below comfort zone for the huskies.







- Yra has become mother once again with her beloved male Gripp. This combination we´ve had once before but since the result became so good (f.ex Ulv,) 4 beatiful malamutepuppies was born in late december. Now 5 weeks later they´ve check out the big world (kitchen) and make running raids into the living room. Look for Bilder!







- Our tourist season with dogsled tours is in full swing. I´ve returned from a nice 8-day tour which averaged almost 50 km per day. I think the tourists we´re as satisfied and happy about this tour as I and our dogs were.







- Next big project is Femundslopet 400 km which Kristin will start in one week with our racing team Alaskan malamutes.



Kristin and her handlers are planning and checking out everything with big excitement now. This last week we will prepare and peptalk the dogs as good as possible.









You can also have a look on our big dog project "Malamute Quest". Please look at www.malamutequest.com




Nuna´s puppies
Christer
09.08.22, 13:41

Now the 8 puppies of Nuna has become 4 weeks and by every day they are growing and go further and further out in the big world. With the combination of Balto, the hardworking sleddog and the very fast leader dog Nuna, we are expecting great things out of this litter. For people with real interest in malamutesledding and performance we think this litter should be a must. Those who are interested in a puppy should contact us
as soon as possible. See photos on BILDER




Evenings are getting darker
Christer
09.08.11, 22:00

Summer is rushing on and now the evenings has become darker. Our dog training has began and I think they are performing quite well. Of course the malamutes becomes warm if the temperature is around + 15 C. This year we have quite many youngsters to train which is our future hope. Take a look on the website www.malamutequest.com then you know why we need good malamutes the coming years.
We´ve got two malefoals this summer which are looking good.