That's very true! I find their unique patterns to be very interesting, I've never seen markings like these before.

She is so lanky right now and so adorable. Her and Yukon do look a lot alike.

Liz have you see updated pix of Caohmie (I know the spelling is horrendous) aka Kee-va? Just curious.

wpskier222 wrote:

Liz have you see updated pix of Caohmie (I know the spelling is horrendous) aka Kee-va? Just curious.

Jen, I haven't! I haven't heard much from Cortnie lately, either. We met up with her and Caoimhe around November but haven't heard much since. I sent her a message on FB but haven't heard anything or seen any updated photos.   

simplify wrote:

She is so lanky right now and so adorable. Her and Yukon do look a lot alike.

Aw, thanks! She is quite lanky right now. I'm sure she'll fill out sooner or later, but right now she's my petite little lady.

So, I may have mentioned before that Darren had been talking up a trip he'd been planning for Valentine's Day weekend. He kept the location a secret until we arrived there, haha. Turns out we went to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. We were the only guests at a B&B on a farm near St. Johnsbury with more than 40 acres of land. The couple that owned it was very nice and the breakfasts we had on Saturday and Sunday were awesome. They're a pet-friendly B&B so we got to bring Layla, and she charmed both the owners, of course. They have two Bernese Mountain Dogs, and Layla got to meet the three-year-old female, Tess. She was very chill and let Layla climb all over her and give her lots of kisses.

We rented snowshoes for the weekend and went all over the B&B land and went to Dog Mountain in St. Johnsbury. It used to be owned by an artist and his wife. The artist did woodcuts all involving dogs. Unfortunately he killed himself some years ago, as did his wife, but the property and the land are still available to people and their dogs. There is a dog chapel on the property where people go and hang photos of their dear departed pets. We visited the chapel and did some snowshoeing around the land. The snow was VERY deep but we had a blast. We had bought a new leash for Layla that you can turn into about six different kinds of leashes: regular 6-foot leash, 3-foot training leash, leash for two dogs, "messenger"-style leash, belt-style leash and I forgot the sixth type. I used it in the belt style and attached Layla to my waist. It was almost like skijoring only she wasn't pulling me, but she kept a very tight line and stayed on the trail we created with our snowshoes. She seemed to love it!

Here are some photos from snowshoeing at the B&B:








Layla made another Bernese friend on Dog Mountain. He was kind of a grump but she didn't seem to care, haha.

Boston Snow Dogs and Yankee Siberian Husky Club had great weather yesterday for a mushing, bikejoring and skijoring demo for the public yesterday at DCR Stony Brook in Hyde Park, Mass. We had fun showing off our pups and meeting up for some fun in the snow. We love bringing Layla to events like these not only to see her doggie friends but also because she's a great breed ambassador to people, especially kids. We love educating people about Northern breeds and about the sports they were bred to do!

At yesterday's event Layla met a new friend, Diesel, a six-month-old male. Turns out she's only five days older than him but he's got about 15 pounds on her, haha. They were like long-lost friends playing and wrestling with each other.

These photos are from Diesel's mom:






And this beautiful shot was taken by another friend, whose family, by the way, brought their new 12-week-old puppy who, though he didn't mush in the demo, of course, was the star of the show!

Love that sweet face.    

Darren and Layla ran their first race at the Northern New England Sled Dog Trade Fair this year. I would've run but I'm 19 weeks pregnant. They came in 17th out of 28 in the one-dog bikejoring class with a time of 2 minutes, 3 seconds -- and that's with having to take a 10-to-15--second break when Layla thought it would be fun to try to play with the contestant behind her! They also ran with a friend's dog, Ariel, in the two-dog bikejoring class. The two make a great team and have run together before. They came in 7th out of 18 with a time of 2 minutes, 20 seconds.

Here's a pic Ariel's dad took of Darren and Layla aftre they crossed the finish line. I took some photos and video as well and will post it as soon as I get it off the camera.

Go Layla! That's such awesome placement for her!

Congrats Layla!! Lol, Goofballs, it's a competition not playtime, lol. Can't wait to see the rest Liz.

She's so cute! That headshot up there is just adorable.

She's just getting more and more beautiful Liz

Aw, thanks! I need to get the rest of those photos and the videos up! I got them off the camera but now Darren wants to "approve" which ones go public because he's in some of them. Hah!

OK, I know it's been a month, but here are the long-awaited pics from the Sled Dog Trade Fair back in early October! Darren didn't "approve" any of the ones he's in, so don't tell him you've seen them, haha!

At the starting line for the single-dog race


Coming in at the finish -- 17th place out of 28!


Layla and her mushing buddy Ariel wait for their turn for the two-dog race (with Ariel's brother Sebastian in the background)


7th out of 18!


Videos:
Two-dog race takeoff


Single-dog race takeoff

That looks like so much fun!!!

More bikejoring! We attended the Sled Dog Fun Day at Houghton's Pond today. My parents are visiting so they got to see Layla and Darren run for the first time. They were impressed. We didn't race or anything but participated in a demo with other Boston Snow Dogs members and their dogs for the public. It's a very popular event that lots of families come to, and the kids LOVE the chance to pet all the dogs. We probably had about 60 dogs in attendance this year and a couple hundred people. They even got the Girl Scouts involved this year. They earned a merit badge by doing a scavenger hunt of sorts to find out information about sled dogs. One girl asked me, "What makes a good sled dog?" So cute!

Pics are a mixture of a couple I took and some my parents took.







Layla was the same size as Jolene the 10-week-old puppy at the Sled Dog Day last year. This year it was Jolene's turn to steal the show. She always had crowds around her wanting to pet and snuggle her!

Liz, she has turned into such a lovely dog, she has matured so nicely. Love the pics and I love her long legs, thank you for sharing some great pics!

Thanks! She really has matured very nicely. We don't do it as often as I'd like, but it's so much fun to let her do what she was made to do and watch her in action, too!

I've been lazy in the picture-taking department, but not Darren. Here're a few randoms he took in the past few weeks:

Relaxing at the top of the stairs in between the guest room and Tabitha's future room (to the right)


In the living room


Looking cute in our bedroom

She has matured and grown so much! She has such a gorgeous face. <3

She looks so much like Yukon in that second picture. I find it kind of creepy that they just sit there sometimes and stare at you, as if they were trying to wrench out your soul with their death gaze.

AMB wrote:

She looks so much like Yukon in that second picture. I find it kind of creepy that they just sit there sometimes and stare at you, as if they were trying to wrench out your soul with their death gaze.

Wholeheartedly agree, Aidan. Though I might have put it in gentler terms

Liz, I love Layla's white "shawl" and her face is so sweetly beautiful. The pic with her paws crossed makes me just melt

She does have such a sweet face. It would be hard not not just sit and stare back all the time.

I love those big brown eyes...she's beautiful!!!