Happy Winter Indeed!

A few days ago I heard something compelling on a radio program that I don't want to forget, so I'm going to jot it down here. It said that atheists often scoff at organized religion because they say that you should not require religion in order to be a good person. If you are only a good person under threat of eternal damnation, then you are not a good person. I'd heard that before, and while I kind of agree on the surface, the reality is quite different. Firstly, I think if people are forced to be nicer and to behave decently, no matter what the reason, it makes for a better society. But secondly, and more importantly, I think the actual premise is false. I have never met anyone who was a cruel person but kept it buried due to religion. I know kind religious people, kind atheists, cruel religious people, and cruel atheists, so that fills every slot on the grid. But anyway--moving away from my navel and back to my radio program--the person then went on to say, religion is not useful as a moral code to make us be kind to one another. More people seek religion to find answers to unanswerable questions, chief among them being: Why are good things and bad things meted out so unfairly in this world? Why do good people suffer, and why do we see "bad people" go unpunished? Those, I think, are very good questions for both philosophy and religion to tackle.

Anyway, moving on... We have had several lovely snow dumps, and there is now enough to ski! Raven has proven to be an ace skijorer, and nailed it from the get-go. Her first time, she was pulling like a champ and solid on "gee" and "haw". Her second time she had grasped "on by", declining even to chase a SQUIRREL!! when I shouted "on by" at her. She is so smart that she realized after several times stopping to sniff things and me almost crashing into her, that that was just not gonna work. So now she lines out and keeps constant tension in her line like a champ!

I had been a little apprehensive about taking her skijoring the first time because she's my first dog who'd never been a sled dog. In theory, being hooked to two experienced, seasoned veterans is a perfect way to train an untrained dog, but Thistle and Cricket are so much older that I was leery of doing that because I didn't want her yanking them around and stressing out their old joints. So I started her completely alone. Under such circumstances, it's rare to get a dog who gets the hang of it immediately without learning from another attached dog, but Raven is a total pro!

In retrospect, I think all of our walking and running on the roads since June, when she was attached to my pros, was really excellent training for her: She learned her commands, figured out how to manage tuglines, how to untangle herself if she got tangled, etc. So the switch from me being on foot to me being on skis only added one new element: The issue of momentum. But she learned that in an hour! But this, apparently, is great training!

My goodest good girl! So smart!

Last weekend I finally deployed the schema I had envisioned when I first started thinking about bringing her home back in June. It worked beautifully. Now that I know that Raven is a wonderful skijor dog, hooking her with Cricket was no problem either. They good are good friends and work well together.

I had planned for Thistle to be a loose leader but she wanted to hang in back and is more like a loose caboose. She started a new drug called Librela that supposedly has done wonders for other elder arthritic dogs, but I just don't want her pulling any more. I hope it doesn't hurt her feelings. I tell her she is still our leader no matter what, and I always feed her first.

Another skier with a loose dog was approaching. All did great! He also had an elder statesdog.

Raven is also bonding with DL, although I am still her favorite.

Mmmmm CARTZ! Cricket loves CARTZ!

And Raven loves CARTZ!

And Thistle loves CARTZ!