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Our trip to Wisconsin began by losing Ranger on our first night there. We were getting out of the car and Tom thought I had Nova by her leash. He gets Khuma and Ranger and everyone starts hopping out. Nova takes off in the pitch black down a dark road. I start walking down the road calling after her and Ranger and Khuma are going nuts. Ranger slips his collar and takes off down the road toward Nova. I had just gotten Nova to start heading back to me when Ranger caught up to her and they both take off further down the road together! CRAP! The road winds it's way down the mountain we're on and then goes out to a main road, which also winds around the mountain. I keep walking down the road calling and whistling and as I reach the main road I see Nova heading toward me, no Ranger. I get her leashed and head down the road in the direction I saw her come from. Tom heads back up to the cabin to get the truck.
I walk about a mile and a half up the road with Nova and Feather who appears to be sniffing Ranger out. After about 30 minutes of walking, calling, whistling and clapping my hands I sit down on the side of the road and just started crying. Couldn't believe we'd just lost Ranger, had no idea how we'd find him in the darkness and hills and woods! Thinking I had exactly 3 days to find him because there's no way Tom was going to stay beyond that. Tom catches up to me in the truck and we drive up and down the road calling, whistling, and clapping. After about an hour I'm hysterical. Drive to the cabin owners house and tell him what's going on. He calls all the neighbors and lets them know we've got a lose husky, get your cats inside! We take back off down the road in the truck to keep looking. All of a sudden Tom says, "Are those dog tracks right there?" I get out of the truck and sure enough there are tracks there that weren't there when I walked up the road. So he parks the truck and I walk one way and he walks the other. We can see tracks running up the hillside, back down, out onto the road a few steps and then back up the hillside. I turned to him and yelled that my tracks just ended, turn around, shine my flashlight down the road and there's Ranger, standing there staring at me! He was timid for a second, not knowing if it was me and then I called his name. He ran to me and just collapsed in the road panting. Not hurt just exhausted from running the mountainside! He was gone for 2 hours! I still can't believe that he came back to us with everything there was to explore. Him coming up behind us like he did leads me to believe he was behind us all along, just unable to catch up to the truck! Shortly after we found him the cabin owner calls me and asks what my dogs name is and says he and his wife are all bundled up and heading out to help in the search. I just thought that was SO sweet! They didn't know us or our dogs but were all about helping.
Days 2-3 were so awesome that we opted to stay an extra night! The dogs proved dogsledding to be 2nd nature to them. Ranger's proved to be a good lead dog. Khuma's still got an immature attitude about the whole thing but he loves it, he just often dives head first into a snowbank without warning. Nova proved to be an extremely hardworking girl who was easily frustrated with Khuma's juvenile behavior and gave him a nip every now and then to tell him to quit goofing off.
On day 4 Tom took the dogs down what he says was a really aggressive downhill trail and wouldn't allow me to go. The dogs were so tired after that run that I just let them rest the rest of the day and I didn't get to do any sledding with them after that. Disappointed that I didn't get to go again but wasn't worth risking hurting my dogs.
So hubby and I crated the woos and hiked the mountain across from our cabin and our 14 year old golderian as I like to call her followed us up.The old girls legs were shaking by the time we reached the top. We had to sit up there for a good 45 minutes before we would allow her to do any more walking. That old girl was so happy to be included in this trip. It's been along time since we've done any vacationing. When we got about halfway up you could here the woos down in the cabin howling, LOL! Was kinda creepy really! Sounded like a pack of wolves!
All in all we had a great time and look forward to doing it again. We were all very disappointed to get back to Indiana and find nothing but mud and not a lick of snow. Dogs seemed to have gotten into a routine in the short period of time we were there. They were all ready to head out there this morning, but alas with no snow...there's not much I can do at the moment. I need a cart or a scooter for this weather we're having! Anyone who says these dogs don't enjoy working is dead wrong!!
it is definitely terrifying when they get out like that, embry did it a few weeks ago and was gone for about an hour in the woods across the street from our house.
where in wisconsin did you guys stay?
