Thistle, 8 Aug 2010 - 14 April 2024

The future queen was born on Aug 8th, 2010 to Mama Gypsy and Daddy Guetknecht and grew up to be Jodi Bailey's star leader. She ran the Iditarod for the first time in 2013 and then ran the subsequent three years (2014, 2015, 2016) in lead. She had a gradual retirement. She was not interested in a couch-based lifestyle. Victoria tried to move her into her handler's cabin to sleep on the bed, but she was not interested (Cricket sure was though!). She ran loose with the team for a while, helping to train puppies and yearlings. In 2020, she came to live with us. She was not sure about it at all, and it took a while to convince her that it was okay to relax inside, and that we would never force her to relax against her will. True to her determined character, she never did fully embrace retirement. I just now did a rough estimate and we covered around 6000 miles together in just the four years we've been together, between running, hiking, skiing, and skijoring. Her line never slacked; she "lined out" like a boss, even when I was squatting to pee off the trail.

She was not lovey or cuddly, and it drove. Me. Batty. Because she looked like a teddybear and had the sooooofftest fur and the biggest fuzzy mittens and the cutest black tootsies. But she was mortified by her cuteness and did Not. Want. To be regarded as a teddybear. (Quote Jodi: She may appear to be "sweet, soft and snuggly but really, she could chew nickels and spit nails.") For the most part, I tried to respect her wishes although I snuck the occasional hug (especially while putting on or taking off her harness!).

But we knew that she loved us, and I knew that she loved me, despite our mismatched love languages. Her recall was not great (she had a classic husky "pretend deaf") but it didn't matter because she was never far. Even running loose on the trails, she was right there, and if she was ahead of me, she'd look back over her shoulder constantly, checking in. If I fell down, she was immediately at my side. And as her mobility began to fail, I worried for her pride, which was fierce. How could I support a dog who does not want to be held? I needn't have worried. The greatest gift she ever gave me was her trust. She let me lift her onto the porch when she could no longer do so. She let me take her for walks with her butt in a sling, and she was not ashamed. She was still a proud lead dog, and her limited mobility did not impact that after all. But as the days passed, I could feel her getting heavier and heavier in that sling, and when she could no longer bear any weight at all on her back end, we knew it was time. Boy, it was a hell of a ride though.

Leading with Chase-Um in 20014 Iditarod:

Testing out a new sled. Victoria took this photo. She was behind Dan, whom you can see in the photo. She fell off and they kept going without her. :D She snapped this photo on their way home.

Leading with Quill:

2015 start with Sparrow:

With Cricket's sister Bedbug:

With Maven and human Victoria:

In lead with Spitzer:

We had a blast! Thanks for the miles, my friend.

Thank you for four wonderful years, Miss Thistle. Four years of your beauty and your big doe eyes that gazed into my soul and greeted my heart with courage and wisdom. Please continue to check in. I will see you in my dreams.

Another spring approaches

We have just finished spring break and holy cow it was the least of a break I'd ever had! It's crunch time for graduate students defending theses planning to graduate in spring, and I had drafts to review and defenses to attend. In between, the dogs' daily run has taken more time as Queen Thistle has begun to slow down, and her shoulder has started to bother her quite a bit. On her better days, she walks the full 3-mile loop with her seesters and me, and they are super patient with her pace, which is especially impressive from Raven, the young'un.

However, sometimes Thistle's shoulder bugs her too much for her to do our longer walks with her seesters, so I drop her off at home after a short jaunt and we continue without her. It's hard. Without her, I feel rudderless, and some mornings I am so upset that I can't even run. We just walk our loop.

Although when we get home we generally find her waiting with perfect equanimity.

Sometimes I struggle with watching her age. For example, when she declines to eat her breakfast, it ruins my day. When she gobbles down her breakfast AND does our whole walk, I am so happy I am giddy! But then I get all upset again if she doesn't finish her supper. I know this isn't "healthy" at all, and I'm trying to apply to myself the wisdom that I already know: That is, she *will* leave us one day, but in the meantime, there is no point in pre-suffering when the pain has not come yet! It's something I tell my friends all the time, but struggle to apply to myself. She still surveys her yard at least once daily, and that always lightens my heart.

And sometimes she trots around so quickly I can't even catch her in a photo!

The other bit of wisdom that I am forever reminding others but struggle to embrace myself, is to let her be my guide. My Queen Thistle, she is not full of anxiety every day. She loves her life, even though now it's gentler and slower. And she will love her life as long as she can. So, too, should I just be gentle with all of us and love her as long as I can.

Raven is doing great in her skijor training! She's far more disciplined when hooked up with Cricket, but sometimes Cricket runs loose so she can have more fun.

Mmmmmm BELLPEPPERZZZ!!!

We love BELLPEPPERZZZ!!!

Yay! BELLPEPPERZZZ!!!

Pi day was last week! I made a rhubarb pi!

It came out good!

I wish all 12 of my loyal readers a happy spring!!

These flippin' dang dingdong dagdoofus DRRRRR DOGS!!

OK so as we were taking of this morning for our run, I had not fully hooked the latch attaching them to my belt, which is totally my fault, I get that, but (any musher or husky owner will know what happens next). Did they say, "Oh hey you aren't attached to us! Let us wait for you!" Oh no of course they didn't! They took off up the driveway and up the road like they were launched from a slingshot, I'm sure wearing giant shit-eating husky grins, dragging their lines like bats out of hell. Did Thistle's bum shoulder bother her? Suddenly--A MIRACLE!--Not at all! Did Cricket, my cuddly Reliable Dog With Good Recall come back? Guess! NO, SHE DID NOT.

I have had their line break before, and they toodled to a stop and waited for me, but did they do that today? No, they did not. They saw Raven up ahead and decided that they needed to go follow her.

Yes, my friends. My loyal, faithful Iditarod veterans saw a choice between sticking with the puppy they have known for seven months, and the loving human who has been providing food, shelter, and medical care for half their lives. Tenderly nursing them through their illnesses. Buying $5 a pound prescription food. Cooking special food for them when they are feeling poorly. Anyway of course they chose to chase the puppy.

WEEEEEEEEE up the road they all went!

Fortunately for me (and those idjits), The Bs are right up the road, so I hollered, "HI DB!!" as if she were there waiting to greet us. And it worked. They all ran up to her porch like "HI AUNTY DB! IT'S US!" And she opened the door, they all ran in, and that was their aborted adventure.

And I said some Bad Words.

The End

They are lucky they are cute. Look at these totally unrepentant faces.

NO RAGRETS!!!

Climbing out of BRRRRRR!!!

Last Sunday, temperatures climbed above -30 after nearly three weeks. (!!) Now it looks like warmer weather is holding, and we get to thaw out our butts for real. It had been a long time since we'd had a cold snap that long and that intense. Check it out:

I used quite a bit of leave time to stay home, keep the fire going, and manage dog walks. Queen Thistle still wanted to go for walks in these temps, but I wanted to keep an eye on her arthritic shoulder. Princess Cricket only wanted to run outside, poop, and dash back home. Ravey Gravy wanted to walk same as usual, but I cut her off to two miles. Look how frosty I get after just two miles in -40!

Raven has no problem! Her coat is astonishing. I'm really surprised she's only 30% an Arctic breed. Her coat is as thick as any pure husky's.

The middle-aged ladies, however, were content to remain behind after a quick poop-n-dash walk:

Since for three solid weeks, all I'd have to report would be "Butt cold today! Butt cold today, too! Another day of butt cold!", I will share instead food photos! It is amazing how rich our diets get when it's butt cold. Soooo without further ado... GRILLED CHEESE!

FLY LICE!

OMELETTES!

MAC N CHEESE!

PIZZA!

HUEVOS RANCHEROS WITH FRESH GUAC!

RAZOR CLAM CHOWDER!

BRAISED MOOSE RIBS WITH WINTER VEGGIES!

LASAGNE!

SALMON CHOWDER!

Notes from Here and There

"Um. Excuse us but iz... Iz that brocky you are cutting up? Because we like brocky."

Mmmmmm brockystem for Cricket!!

Thistle also like brockystemzzzz!!

And Ravy Gravy also like brockystemzzzzz!!

Miss Raven also likes to be squozen.

Cricket has always been a cuddler.

Thistle does not get squozen. She gets Respectful Petting. It is funny how cute she is though, and her personality does not match the cuteness at all. Her breeder/musher says that she may appear to be "sweet, soft and snuggly but really, she could chew nickels and spit nails." That makes me laugh! It's a perfect description. Even now, at 13, she will not slack off from her duties on the trail and around the house.

She's on Librela now. It's a new drug that's only recently been approved in the U.S. for pain management in elder arthritic dogs (NOT, it should be stressed, for young dogs), and it's been working miracles around Fairbanks, which has, as you may well imagine, a very large population of retired athletic dogs who are otherwise in great shape but have joint and muscle pain. Thistle's been on it for just over a month, and it seems to work well! It was difficult to tell at first, because her shoulder gimpiness was intermittent, but now it's been over a month and I have not seen her limp since! And--best sign of all--she now insists on accompanying Raven and me for Raven's 2nd and 3rd walks of the day! Cricket usually opts to remain on the couch, which is fine because she gets in her morning run.

It's also great not to have to stress out Miss Thistle's liver with Rimadyl, especially since she no longer has a spleen to help process it.

It's a monthly injection, but unlike Adequan, you aren't allowed to do it at home. So Thistle has a monthly vet tech appointment now. I also have them trim her nails because hey, if we are here monthly, why not outsource the struggle? She does not appear to be any less stressed, but I am less stressed. Hahahaha. Raven and Cricket but accept nail trimmings with dignity, so just think, I will not struggle to trim a dog's nails again for a very long time!

I got some skijoring video the other day. Look at my Goodest Good Girls!

Ravey Gravy's skijoring training is going great! After I unhooked Cricket, she successfully went "on by" a pair of loose dogs All By Herself! First time! They looked friendly, and bouncy too, which is exactly her type she likes to engage, so she was definitely displaying discipline! She has now successfully on-by'ed: People, meese, squirrels, loose stranger dogs. The only thing she cannot resist now is a dog who is already a Friend, but I can hardly blame her for that! I mean when I'm walking around campus and see a friend, I stop and visit for a bit, too But wouldn't it be comical if I shouted "ON BY!" and marched on past? I ought to try that on days when I'm not feeling sociable.