Summer passes to Fall...

The weather has finally cooled down. Enough to introduce Raven to Ester Dome!

And our morning runs have been more pleasant, too.

And so, too, have our walks been on the neighborhood trails.

Because Raven was a village stray and had not lived a super clean life, I decided to avail ourselves of our free grooming, as donated by Pretty Pawz Grooming, a sponsor of Sirius who donates a first free grooming and bath to all Sirius rescue dogs. I wanted to do it because we had Raven scheduled to be spayed, and I wanted her to be clean before then. But also wanted it to be at least a week before her spay, so her skin microbiome could recover before being sliced open.

During her spay, we also had her rear dew claws removed. Rear dew claws are not common among dogs who are not livestock guardians (although they are a breed standard for Great Pyrenees), but that isn't the reason I wanted them removed. They were not fully attached, and they were flopping around, so I wanted them removed so they didn't get torn while hiking, or while running through punchy spring snow. Raven also has front dew claws, which is totally normal, but sled dog breeders often remove front dew claws just so they are more amenable to wearing booties. They do it when they are a few days old, when the procedure is trival. Removing them as adults is quite a bit more invasive. Raven's front dew claws are well-attached, and in fact she can control them like vestigial thumbs! So I did not want them removed. It would have been very painful, and pointless besides! Anyway, here is the bath photo they sent. Poor Raven did not know what was happening.

They put bows on them! How humiliating! But Raven knows and trusts Sam, the groomer (and another Sirius volunteer).

Who's that pretty girl? Raven! Raven is that pretty girl!

Just wanted to share this photo of four new Sirius resident working dogs. Sibes from working lines. Daddy is a Sirius dog, mama lives in British Columbia. Lookie these hooligans!

Raven is very comfy with us, don't you think? I sure hope she is comfy with us.

Mmmmm BELLPEPPER! Queen Thistle lovesloveloves BELLPEPPERZ!

And Princess Cricket also loves BELLPEPPERZ!

And Duchess Raven also loves BELLPEPPERZ!

Another summer-winding-down activity: Harvesting all of the rhubarb:

I put most of it into the freezer for pies and crisps, but made a double batch of this tasty cake (obviously also great with blueberries, but you can sub any fruit or rrhubarb).

The recipe calls for a 10-inch skillet, so for my second one I divide it among a 6-inch and an 8-inch. A 3-4-5 ratio of the squares!

See, high school trig is not just for engineers. It's also for bakers!

Look how nicely my girls all get along! They eatz together!

And ridez in a car together!

And walk with their frenz together (the black and white Sibe is Lucky! Another Sirius rescue.)

The pretty skies that come in between rain storms!

"Excuzee, may wee have some cantylopze, pleez?"

Miss Thistle gets cantylope!

And Miss Cricket gets cantylope!

And Miss Raven gets cantylope!

And last night was Miss Raven's last night in her doughnut! Her incisions have all healed well. Yaaaay!

"The Nenana Dogs" before and after

I want to give an update on the Nenana Dogs. Late last spring, eight dogs were dumped by a gravel pit by the side of the highway near Nenana. They had been starving, their fur was half missing, half matted, and infested with lice. They were severely underweight. A group of people quickly came together to live trap and help them, comprised of local residents and Sirius volunteers (not me; a dear woman named KD is our live-trapping expert). Of the eight, a local musher caught one and brought him home and evidently kept him. One was never accounted for (I hope he is okay! Maybe also caught and kept by a local?). And six ended up at Sirius, either directly trapped by KD, or they were picked up by other kind people and brought to Fairbanks Animal Control, who relinquished them to Sirius because Sirius is more capable of handling these severe abuse cases. These six got called:

Mae (L) and April (R)

Pretty Girl (L) and Gimli (R):

Jill:

and Jack:

Here is a photo of Gimli in the live trap:

I can now give you updates that are mostly happy! Jack got adopted immediately and renamed Sunny. His new family is a retired couple who just loves him to death! He now divides his time between two off-grid cabins, and goes hiking and canoeing and on all kinds of adventures!

His vision is poor, so his new parents drove him all the way the heck to Anchorage to see a doggy opthamologist. They say he only has 60% vision, which could be a byproduct of his early malnutrition and abuse. But he is happy and loved, and just like any dog you've ever known with cancer, or three legs, or any other struggle, he doesn't know he is supposed to be struggling and lives a happy doggy life. They came to visit last week, and this is what he looks like now! Isn't he gorgeous? I had no idea what color he was due to his crappy coat condition (white? beige? grey?). But it turns out he is pure white!

Next up I will give an update on Jill. My dear friends and former neighbors, who now live in Anchorage, agreed to foster her. They renamed her Ivalu, since she appears to be a Greenland Inuit dog. She was very shy, but warmed up quickly at Sirius and blossoned with M and T. In fact, they report that she has become very snuggly, as well as demanding of attention! However, she is scarred inside from her experience as an abused dog. She has bb pellets embedded in her from being shot, and she's also reactive to other dogs, so they have to be very careful with her. Here are some photos of a happy, confident, and loved Ivalu!

The puppies April and May have been at the rescue, and we volunteers have been seeing them regularly, taking them to puppy classes, and letting them bond with and play with the resident dogs. They are doing great! I've posted quite a bit about April, so will spare myself choosing more from the 342 photos I have of her and just show you the ones I took the other day--a happy, confident April who greets visitors at the fence! You'd never know she was an abuse case, would you?

And here is Mae. I could not take a nice portrait of her She is so goofy and playful! Which is how a puppy should be! It's so nice to see that this cowering, scared creature has turned into a proper puppy pain in the ass! :)

Here is a recent one with April.

And here is one with Uncle Clyde, a long-retired elder statesdog who just loveslovesloves puppies. But they sure tire him out!

Gimli and Pretty Girl are also at the rescue, but they still have a long way to go. I have gotten to the point where I can hand feed them kibble, and I can just barely pet Pretty Girl, when she's in the right mood. Otherwise she hides in her house.

I don't even have a recent photo of Gimli! I don't like to photograph shy dogs. I feel like... it puts a barrier between us, if that makes sense. Anyway, here is a video of him playing with his buddies Spade and Casper!

I hope my next update on these guys will be better!

Oooh a brush with fame!

The Head Cheese Human at Sirius has been gone on a road trip this week. She had sent out one of her resident dogs* to British Columbia to be a stud, and now the puppies were all born and weaned and she went down to reclaim him, as well as some of the puppies. The homestead was left in the care of us volunteers. In her absence, she mentioned that some researcher in canine genetics had asked to visit and examine some of the resident Sirius dogs, because they are from heritage lines of working dogs. Unlike my girls, who were bred for racing, the Sirius dogs are all freight dogs from ancient lines. In fact, the Alaskans are related to the Denali sled dogs. I agreed to meet this person, who showed up with grad students and totes of kits. Turns out... we were in the presence of fame! This was Heather Huson of Cornell, who had led the study on the genetics of the Serum Run Dogs.

I was very honored to introduce the Sirius Dogs to her. She took DNA samples of almost all of the heritage dogs (both Siberians and Alaskans). Most were via blood, but for the twitchier ones she did mouth swabs. She also wanted to take physical measurements from several dogs, who could be considered exemplars of their breed. She also took a portrait of each one, with their name on a white board. I thought that was adorable. Here is Burl getting his portrait:

And here is Oban getting his. Even the sweetest, most well-trained dogs are not super cooperative with this. They want to sniff the white board, then they want to kiss the researchers. It's very distracting!

I have a nicer photo of Oban, but of course I have no sign! I took it to go with the one I took of his sister Igraine. Very pretty dogs and very pretty fireweed!

Since Burl is so sweet, I also offered him to be measured. He was cooperative, but not pleased! After they left, I went back to him and told him I appreciated his sweetness. He gave me kisses, so I think he forgave me. Anyway, they measured his chin.

And the spacing between his EYEBOLLS.

And the length of his EARS!

And his clavicle!

And his neck!

And his shoulders!

And his paw!

Another sweet one I thought would tolerate this is Avett. Avett will do aaaaaaanything for attention, and sure enough, he ate it up. Avett is daddy to Levon, the Sweetest Boy in the World. Clearly sweetness is inheritable! Lookie as she ponders Avett's ear!

And then they measured his ear!

And his clavicle!

And the height of his shoulder!

And the length of his back!

And his wrist circumference!

Dear Avett, sweet Avett! Such a sweet, tolerant boy!

Here is a video clip of them taking Boo-Boo's blood sample. Boo-Boo is my personal favorite, although that's a tough thing to choose in this yard of giant Schweeties.

And here is one of them just trying to take Izzy's portrait! Izzy sweet? Yes, he iz! But izzy cooperative for a photo? No, he iz not! Izzy is Boo-Boo's son. And brother to Oban and Igraine, although from a different litter.

And here is a matriarch, long-retired Spook. Spook is Boo-Boo's mama (and thus grandma to Izzy, Oban, and Igraine). The researchers, of course, were super interested in samples from Spook, so they took blood, but I didn't let them measure her. We must Respect our Elders! (Well, Avett is also an elder, but he loves being manhandled, so it was fine for him!)

*Her resident dogs are distinct from the rescues. The residents are all purposefully bred and do tours to support the rescue. It's really a very lovely situation, the like of which I've never seen anywhere else. The residents are so sweet and well-behaved and contented that they provide comfort, ease, and good examples of behavior to the rescues, who are often from severe abuse cases. There are many rescues that are still so scared of people that we can't touch them for weeks, but they get playtime with the residents, which helps them relax and come out of their shells. And yet another benefit of this situation is that when rescues come in that are sled dogs, they can run with the touring team, which helps their confidence and sense of purpose.