Fun at the beach

Well no pictures on this entry as mum forgot the camera on both days.

Due to Kayla's bad behaviour on the lead (pulling mum the length of the field on her nose in the snow) the long flexi leads were confiscated and Kayla has been put on a halti. However on Saturday we decided to take them to Roseisle for a run on the scooter and a play on the beach. They ran round the forest on the scooter and then I brought out the flexi leads for a play on the beach (Skye is overweight again so needs as much running as possible)

They had a whale of a time play fighting and chasing each other in the sea, they both love the water and even grumpy Skye plays like a child in it. We stopped off for ice cream and the girls slept like logs all night.

As today was such a glorious day we decided we wanted to go somewhere different. We headed for Cawdor Castle but it was closed and impossible to find due to lack of signposts anyway! We decided to head for Nairn beach as we didn't know any good walks nearby.

Again we decided to bring the flexi leads to let them play and help Skye burn off the calories. All was going well, Kayla was behaving well with strange dogs and both girls were play fighting and chasing each other again, ( i think they just like tying mym and dad in knots with the long leads).

In the distance we saw what looked like 3 huskies. They turned out to be Northern Inuit dogs and the girls had a play with them (yes even Skye played unusual as she is nervy around strange dogs). Sadly one of the dogs decided to pee on my leg and the owners didn't even apologise or stop the dog doing it. Was a bit narked at that when they said oh he does that sometimes! Ever heard of training?

We carried on our walk then Kayla got excited when she saw some horses. She pulled and managed to snap the flexi lead! I was mortified that she may chase the horses and get a kick in the head. However dad had the good sense to run the other way with Skye and call her. Thankfully that worked and we caught her. Its a husky owners biggest worry for them to escape or get off lead as they have a high prey drive and such an inbuilt drive to run that there is a big risk you may never see them again! Recall is not a husky's strongest point.

Luckily as Skye is placid we hooked her up with what was left of the broken lead and put Kayla on the other lead so that we could get back to the car! Luckily we also had the short leads so we swapped to them and went for ice cream (and yes the girls loved getting a wee taste of them).

The girls are loving this spring weather because mum and dad will do longer walks with them. They are not looking forward to summer as due to the risk of overheating they will only get early morning and late night walks.

Easter Weekend

A few weeks ago we decided to buy a caravan ready for the winter season of sled racing. Most people sleep in their dog vans but me and the girls are a bit more high maintenance than that! A friend of Rob's was selling an old one cheap. It is in almost immaculate condition so after trying it out for a night we bought it.

As the Easter weekend seemed to be defying the Easter weekend bad weather forecast we decided it would be nice to spend a day somewhere in the caravan. As we have not yet had a tow bar stabiliser fitted to the car we decided to stay closer to home so booked a pitch in Cullen.

We arrived just after lunch and once parked on our pitch decided to take the girls for a little walk so that they could relieve themselves! Our short walk turned into a walk lasting a good few hours. We got some good photo's of the sea, seagulls in flight and a boat! There was time for a quick walk through town for ice cream at the end of the walk........ yummy.

It took forever to get back to our caravan as everyone wanted to stop and pet Kayla and big sis Skye. The girls enjoyed being staked out on the grass outside the caravan while mum and dad made like pensioners and got out the foldy chairs to enjoy a wee bit of sun.

Once the sun went into hiding it was time for a cuppa and a dash for a healthy chippy tea and of course Arden Grange and some fat busting diet food for poor fatty Skye. After tea a quick walk was in order, we bumped into the owners of the caravan park who said there were some more huskies in another caravan. As we started our walk a lady shouted at us and pointed to her huskies in their caravan barking excitedly at the girls. They were asking about our dog scooter as they were interested in buying one. We had a nice chat and agreed to meet up in the morning so that they could have a look at it. We got back to our walk just in time to catch some photos of the sunset.

Well the girls loved their evening in the caravan, its great fun because mum lets them on the sofa for cuddles and then they get to snuggle up on the bed when it's time for sleep. Even Skye was smiling and being super cuddly and funny.

The girls decided it would be great fun to wake mum up at 8am for a pee knowing full well mum can't go back to sleep once she is awake! More fun being staked outside the caravan while mum and dad enjoy breakfast. We decided to go for an early morning scooter run and meet our new husky friends on the way.

Kayla decides to be reasonably well behaved and just woo woo a bit at them. Kayla and Skye show off by having a great run pulling the scooter. We then took Skye off as she can't run far and let the male husky have a go with Kayla. Kayla decides its time to be bossy and try to eat his ears every time he gets level or ahead of her. We got lots of good photos of the husky fun then stop for lots of water and a rest because it was a bit hot for running. Kayla decides she doesn't like the husky and malamute bitches and decides to have a fight with them. She does like Odin the big boy though and flirts like a complete hussy and eats Skye's ears every time she tries to play with him. Skye generally doesn't like any huskies as she is an old grump so is upset that when she decided she liked one bossy Kayla wouldn't let her join in the fun.

We get back to our new friends' caravan and decide to be nosy and have a good look round it. Funnily enough its same make and nearly as old as ours (theirs is posher though a shower and an oven!) and we find out how to make our beds work properly. Woo hoo no more using the tables like boards lol. We also admire their car/pickup which has loads of room and is refrigerated to keep the dogs nice an cool. As if we are not envious enough at this point they show us their fab no spill water bowls (will be googling those). Sadly it was then lunch time and time to vacate the caravan park and say good bye to our new friends.

It's not all bad though we got to spend the rest of the afternoon in the garden enjoying the sunshine and the girls can spend the rest of the night laughing at mum's slightly burned face!

More pictures at

http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/britnyalf/Cullen/

http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/britnyalf/Cullen%202/

Kayla's year so far

Well I guess it is about time I got this blog started! We didn't have a great start to our year, mostly due to me losing my nerve about the idea of showing.

Our first shows ............ Or not!

I eventually decided to get back on the horse to to speak so planned 2 shows for February. However I then pulled out thinking Kayla was having a silent season.

Kayla's First Race .......... Or not!

We then turned our attention to racing and decided that we would make the Scottish Husky Club Race meet at Quithel Kayla's first race. We trained hard and took her out training with friends in preparation. Quithel is the last race of the season so we thought it would be a great way to see how much work was needed to start racing in earnest next year. Madam Kayla however had other ideas and decided to come into season, ever the awkward little girl! We kept fingers crossed that Kayla would have a textbook season and finish in time for her big race.

Well you guessed it no textbook season, we held on till the day before the meet before making the decision to pull out of the race. We were gutted all that work and even the effort of getting a caravan so that high maintenence mum would agree to camp out and sample the Quithel meet party atmosphere. We decided to salvage the weekend by taing the caravan to Aberlour and testing it out to see if it was worth buying for the next rally season.

So I guess you are probably thinking at this point nothing else could go wrong? We all enjoy our night in the caravan (the girls love this being allowed up on the sofa for cuddles idea) but Kayla decides the gas fire is really interesting and would be nice to cuddle. Disaster we now have a husky with a singed coat all down one side and our first show is in 2 weeks cue hysterical mam!

Kayla's First Show arrives at last!

April 4th comes and we send Kayla to the groomers hoping her coat can be sorted and she won't come out clipped like a poodle! Thankfully the groomer does a great job, she has managed to brush out all of Kayla's dead hair (including most of the singed hair) and thankfully she doesn't look like a poodle although she does smell a bit like an old lady who visited the salon.

April 5th ............. Scottish Siberian Husky Open Show

We arrive and bump straight into our breeders who are delighted with how Kayla has grown up and tell us that she is looking stunning and is going home with them after the show! Our aim for this show was to improve my confidence by me not embarassing myself and to hopefully at least get placed. Our breeder gives me some great tips for standing Kayla better and a kind friend of theirs lends us a better show lead.

We are in the ring and I recognise some of the breeders I always see in the placings for all the Scottish shows so it's stiff competition! I do my best to keep calm and pray that Kayla behaves. Well she was an absolute angel and show off, she was alert, stood reasonably well (look I am a perfectionist if a leg is even a millimetre out of place I stress), she moved beautifully (so I am told) and she behaved for the judge - no sitting or acting up while she is going over her. Well much to my shock she gets 1st in her class Junior Bitch. Us and her breeders are overjoyed and her little brother also takes 1st in Junior dog.

So the day wears on and we anxiously await our first time ever having to compete against other winners - its Best Bitch in Show time. I wasn't expecting much from this was just chuffed to be in that line up. Our breeders Champion Bitch took Best Bitch in Show (no surprise there she is a one off and wins everything she goes in!). Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when the judge gave Kayla Reserve Best Bitch in Show! I had to do my best not to burst into tears or pass out. Our breeder and us were so proud and at this point I thought I coudl just chill out and enjoy watching the end of the show......

Unsurprisingly our breeder won Best in Show so imagine my surprise when my breeder grabs hold of me and shouts back in the ring! The rotten so and so's hadn't dare tell me that if they won I had to go back in the ring in case I had a nervous breakdown lol. The losing dog won Reserve Best in Show but Kayla loved one last chance at showing off!

Needless to say it was roast chicken dinner all round on Sunday night and Kayla is pleased as punch with herself.

Anyway apologies for the long rambling post but I am on cloud nine right now. Next stop SKC in May.