Autumn in the Kennel

skyecurrie0307
Sep 26
2 min read

Sorken and Amber during fall training, with Alexa in the background.

This is my first 'fall' ever! At home in Australia, all of the gum trees are evergreen, so the leaves don't turn yellow and red and brown and then fall off. It feels very festive here in Sweden now, and the colours are amazing. We're in the thick of our 'fall training', which is the period between summer and winter when the dogs start running again. We have to get them into a routine before the guests start arriving in October and November, and build their muscles and stamina.

We've had a few setbacks with high temperatures (ideally, we would only train the dogs if the temperature is 12°C or under), and due to the hunting season, we couldn't train at all for multiple weeks in September. We're currently testing a few short loops from the kennel (7km), but next week we'll start stacking up the kilometres to 15km, and then 20-25km per run. We try to keep the dogs trotting at a speed of 13km/hr, but you always have to match pace with the slowest dog in the team.

The aurora has also started again! It's a great reminder that the season is approaching fast, and I've seen multiple moose in the last few weeks. We even had a bear sighting locally yesterday. The temperature is vast - between 20°C, and -3°C. On the hotter days, we can swim in the lake, but we can't go training. On the cold mornings, the water in the dog bowls freezes, and we have to kick the ice out to make way for their breakfast. The water in the hoses also freezes, which means that doing our cleaning after feeding is much more difficult. But the dogs are always more lively in the colder temperatures, so the kennel is a noisy place.