Sad news

Well even though I do not have time to blog these days I thought that I had some news about rescue boy stormy that some of you may still wnt to know.

Stormy passed away suddenly on Saturday night, he had a severe anaphylactic reaction and vet couldn't save him, We don't know what caused the reaction and are unlikely ever to find out.

Stormy was a one in a million and will be sadly missed.

Run free wee boy

Life with Stormy

Well Stormy has now been here just over a week. He is starting to settle in nicely now (well I think he is kinda slowly learning that I am boss).

He suffers badly with separation anxiety and is quite nervous due to being abused and moved around a lot. He howled a lot in the kennel last week when mum and dad were at work. One of our neighbours came and upset mum and dad pretty much saying he would have to go because she and the other neighbours refused to put up with the noise. Dad told her he was new and needed to be given time to settle. He also spoke to the other neighbours who said it was not a problem to them as long as mum and dad were helping deal with it so that it isn't a permanent thing.

Me and Stormy had a few fights when he tried to be top dog above me and when he didn't take my tellings or stole my place next to mum and dad. He is slowly getting the hang of how things work around here.

Mum took him to the groomers at the weekend as he still smelled a bit, poor boy was nervous and just peed himself the whole time. She also spent weekend feeding him and playing with him in our kennel to try and make him feel happy there.

This week has been a lot better he is not crying as much and we are getting on better. I am in season so am teasing him a lot and mum thinks that might have a lot to do with his crying! We have played together a lot this week so Talia is jealous (she doesn't understand I need a boy at the moment). Last night the angry neighbour shouted at dad again. She admitted that the noise was less this week but said she wasn't putting up with it and Stormy had to go! Mum and dad are furious especially as she even admitted that the noise was improving. Mum spoke to some other neighbours who said it was better and just to ignore the other lady. Wat upsets mum is this lady has 4 rescue dogs so should understand that Stormy will take a little time to adjust.

Anyway enjoy pics of us playing and it is race time again this weekend woo hoooo.

Meet Stormy

Hi I am the newest addition to the Kohoutek clan. My new mum and dad were pondering one last addition after doing the Aviemore race with my new sister Kayla. They decided she needed a partner who was at least as enthusiastic about running with her even if they couldn't quite keep up her. They were thinking about possibly getting another puppy but saw me on The Scottish Husky Club Website.

I am four years old and was looking for a new home. My first owner was abusive to me :-( A nice couple rescued me but found that I was a bit too destructive and didn't fit in with their lifestyle so they handed me in to welfare and asked them to find me a good home.

I stayed with a foster cared for assessment, I have seperation anxiety and am a bit noisy. He noticed I pulled and screamed a lot on the lead so thought I might like to run in harness. I am also good at opening doors, fridges, stealing food and destroying things.I love running and can't wait to do more of it and become fitter.

My foster carer found me a pet home but sadly my new owner only kept me for 9 hours :-( I stole his roast chicken dinner, destroyed a few things and cried a lot :-(

My new mum thought I sounded adorable and told welfare she would be interested in meeting me. It took a while to arrange transport but last weekend a lady kindly brought me up to meet my new family.

I was a bit nervous but my new mum was was really nice and put me at ease. I met my new girlfriends. Kayla was a bit mean to start off with but all the girls seemed to like me. We went camping in a caravan due to mum and dad racing Kayla. It was great fun meeting new dogs and people and on Saturday dad took me for a run with Kayla after the race and on Sunday mum did the same (I am honoured as she is a bit nervous about running).

I have been a bit of a naughty boy this week opening doors, trying to steal food and I objected to sleeping in a crate so I destroyed it and sneaked into the kitchen to try and steal some more food :p I am a bit unsure about being in the kennel while mum and dad go to work and cry a bit annoying the neighbours but in spite of all this my new family love me and have decided to offer me a permanent home as they think that with some love and training I will be a great boy :-)

More racing woo hoo

Life has been busy again here. we had a few lovely weeks where mum was off work and able to spend lots of time with us. Sadly mum and dad ae both back to work now so mum hasn't had time to let you know what we are upto.

This weekend was more husky racing at Culbin. We had a great weekend there was a really great atmosphere with everyone pitching in to help handle dogs at start and finish lines. Me and dad had a great racing weekend we finished in first place on Saturday finally beating the guy we have come second to for most of the season! Mum was dead proud of me and dad :-) Sunday we finished in second place beaten by another really fit man with very long legs heheh. Mum said he scooted like the bionic man and that I did well to only be 30 seconds slower with my rather unfit dad running with me hehehehe.

Mum had a run around the trail after the race on Sunday with me and a friend and thoroughly enjoyed herself even though she got very muddy and broke a nail hehehehe.

Sadly we only have one more race left for this season :-( Then it is back to showing for me with the big Crufts show coming soon.

Look out for a big announcement tomorrow :-)

Aviemore Sled Race

Last weekend was the 27th annual Aviemore sled dog race. Mum, dad, me and Skye have been many times as spectators but this was the first time as competitors.

Dad went up on the Wednesday with me, Skye and Talia (mum had to work) to try and get some extra training in with my partner Blue and to help with flattening of the trail. We had fun being as naughty as we could in the caravan so that by the time mum arrived ob Friday afternoon dad was close to a nervous breakdown hehehee.

Friday night was the mushers meeting and a mushers market where mum bought me a lovely new purple running harness. Afterwards mum and dad went off to a friend's caravan for drinks!

Saturday was day one of the race and this year is extra special as it is the first time weather conditions have allowed the race to be run on sleds in 15 years. Mum volunteered to marhsall in the morning so was able to see how many people fell off at the bend after the first big hill hehehe. She gave dad a few tips on how to approach it after watching lots of the other teams.

My first run was Saturday afternoon, I had a fabulous time the snow and trail were lovely on my feet and we were able to go fast and scare dad hehee. We finished in 19th place in a class of 37 teams. Mum and dad were very pleased with that for our first sled race and first race as a 2 dog team. Blue my partner is a very nervous dog he was scared of the loudspeaker system and of spectators on the trail. Dad also told mum that I was still doing the lions share of the work.

Sunday brought a bit of a problem, it turned out that Blue seemed to have pulled a muscle on Saturday and was unable to run on Sunday :-( Mum and dad were very disappointed. We had lots of offers of another partner if the organisers would at least let us still have a run (you are not allowed to switch dogs so if they let us we would be a disqualified team). The organisers very kindly agreed to let us run the trail even though we would be disqualified.

Dad decided to run me with Yukon who I have trained with in the past. He is 10 and retired from racing but a good steady dog and usually is used to help train other dogs up. Dad was offered faster dogs but thought it was not a good idea to run me with a strange dog in case we did not get on.

We surprised everyone by running the course in roughly the same time as Saturday which considering Yukon usually tires after a couple of miles was really good ( I think he was just scared I wold bite his bum if he didn't run well with me).

Dad said we learned a lot over the weekend mainly that they need to find a running partner of the same level as me as I am carrying my partners at the moment. On paper Blue should be a better runner than me he is from pure racing lines whilst I am racing lines on my dad's side but show dog on my mums side. People are very surprised how well I run for such a petite dog so the search is on for someone as hard working and fast as me!

Talia news

Kayla has very kindly decided to let me tell you some news about me before we get back to talking about her again.
The weekend starting 15 January were my first proper trips into the outside world and what a busy weekend it was! On the Friday there was a photo shoot at dad's RAF base for some articles in local newspapers about our dad and some friends entering the big Aviemore Sled Dog Race.

The photographers and PR lady all thought I was adorable so I got to be in some of the pictures too. Mum didn't take pictures so here are some links to some of the articles (not all made it online as well as in the printed papers).


http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1564614

We were also in 2 of the other local papers the Northern Scot and the Forres Gazette.

On the afternoon mum and dad took us up the high street for me to have practice walking somewhere noisy and being approached and touched by strangers. I loved all the cuddles I got from people :-)

Saturday was more sled training for Kayla, I hung out and bossed all the dogs around hehehe.

On Sunday I got to be the centre of attention. BBC Countryfile were up in Aviemore filming a story on the Aviemore race and sled dogs. They were looking for sled dog puppies and I went to represent Siberian Huskies. Oh what fun I had I met malamute, Eskimo Dog and Samoyed puppies and had a play with them. I was the cutest and youngest pup there so me and mum had our photo taken with Matt Baker one of the presenters for one of the newspapers.

http://www.strathspey-herald.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/5014/Dogs_ready_to_line_up.html

I really enjoyed being a TV star and having everyone fuss over me but in true husky style I made as much mischief as possible heheheh.

Weekend Sledding fun

Well we were supposed to be racing at the weekend but due to some politics within the club the race was canceled at the last minute. Mum, dad and some of their friends decided we would do some sled training at the race site as the trails had been nicely prepared.

I went out on the first run with my racing partner Blue and dad The leader (who had 6 dogs on his team) decided to take us on the very long train, me and Blue struggled a bit so dad's friend gave us his bitch Nala to finish the trail with. Usually me and Nala do not like each other as we are both dominant girls but we were just so excited about running that we didn't fight.

Mum took Skye and my friend Little Skye for short run. Little Skye had other ideas though and did not want to run she wanted to head for the deep snow and trees and raced off the trail and mum fell off. Mum had one more go with Little Skye but she still wouldn't run so I got to have another go woooooo hoooooooo. Mum is a bit nervous of the sled so we did a short run and bumped into our friends walking one of their huskies so he was hitched to the sled too. Mum screamed a lot when he picked up speed hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Little Skye's owner Shiree had a little go with me and Skye, she wanted to try with Little Skye but mum said that would be dangerous the way she is behaving. Shiree really wants Little Skye to run but isn't having much luck as Skye is very naughty. Mum told her she is not prepared to keep trying her with me and Skye till Shiree is more assertive with her and instills some discipline as it is dangerous and spoils our runs.

As all the dogs present were fully vaccinated mum let her meet a few of them and Blue really liked her and confused her by cleaning her furiously hehehehehe.

Bah the irony of snow causing trouble

Well we are onto week 3 of the "big freeze" in Britain. It is causing chaos here Britain is coming to a standstill lol. The humans are all acting like the world is ending, panic buying, schools and local facilities closed you would think Armageddon was upon us lol.

The north of Scotland has had snow lying the full 3 weeks and it is causing problems here. Dad had mums little car this morning as we were all going to the vets today. Well he had a little bump on way to work so had to come back (luckily only damage to a wheel and burst tyre or mum would have given him a right telling off hehehe). At least it meant we could have a family trip to the vets hehehehe.

Talia was there for her 2nd vaccination and to get microchipped. She was a good girl just like me as a baby she thought the vet was a new friend rather than someone to fear. She didn't even squeak at her injection or the big microchip needle. Vet thought she was lovely (she forgot to say not as lovely as me hmpff) and she got a clean bill of health. Mum also booked me in to get my hips checked next week to see if I am good enough to breed from in the future if she decides that I can ever have pups.

This weekend was meant to be another race and we were all excited as it was going to be on sleds due to the snow (that is a very rare event in Britain). Sadly due to some politics between committee members at that club it has been cancelled at the last minute :-( However a few of mum and dad's friends suggested we all go there for a training session as it is a shame to let a trail that has been nicely prepared go to waste. It is looking very likely that the big famous Aviemore race will be on sleds too so it will be a good practice run as mushers here have very little experience on them.

Last bit of exciting news is that mum has entered me for this years Crufts. Woo hooooooooooo we are all very excited.

My 2nd birthday

Today is my 2nd birthday and mum says I have turned into a real lady now :-) No food treats today like last year but I did get an exciting new present, can you guess what it was?

I got a wooden sled wooooo hooooooo hoooooooooooooo. Mum and dad hadn't planned on it (they say we need a rig for when Talia grows up) but someone local was selling it at a good price. A lot of dogs here don't have sleds as we rarely get a proper covering of snow! This last few weeks we are having a freakish amount of snow so when dad was told of someone selling their's yesterday he and mum bought it for me.

Dad took me and Skye out on it yesterday and we had a good spin as the snow was quite hard and icy, Skye was even excited and did some pulling!

We had a lot of snow last night so mum and dad took us out for a little run today. The snow was really deep today and very soft so pulling the sled was actually really difficult. We just went round the field by our house for a little bit to get some pics :-) Hopefully over next few days the snow will compact and harden again so that we can have a proper run :-)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all our friends :-)

Has been a busy week here, lots and lots of snow. Poor mum was at work all week but luckily dad has been at home and taking us out to play in all the lovely snow.

My sister Talia had visitors for lots of puppy cuddles this week and on Sunday my best friend Little Skye came to meet her too. We had a few hours running round the house together (well apart from Big Skye who is still very grumpy and not happy with a new sister heehhe).

Talia was not at all scared of meeting a new dog although she was naughty and joined in to help Skye against me rather than showing sisterly loyalty :o

Mum is very proud of me at the moment for a couple of reasons. Firstly because I have been so tolerant and playful with my new sister which she really didn't expect and secondly because finally I am becoming interested in food. Since I was 9 months old I got bored of food and would often not eat for days. If we go away from home I don't eat at all. At one of our races we met a new food supplier and mum told them about how difficult I am. They spent a lot of time letting me sample different foods and found one that I got excited about.

Mum bought some and had started introducing it slowly to my existing food. However when we went to pick up my new sister I didn't eat at all for the few days we were away and when we came back I was sick for a few days. Vet gave me some convalescence food and after a few days of that mum decided to abandon my existing food and risk changing me directly onto my new Omnipro. I love my new food and am now getting excited at meal timed and mum is hoping that I will now put on a little bit of weight :-)

Mum now has a few weeks holiday to spend quality time with us, looking forward to it as dad tends to be home more than mum (and he says life in the air force is hard) so he tends to get to spend more time with us. I hope mum will plan lots for us to do.

Merry Christmas

All of us here at Kohoutek Siberian Huskies would like to wish you all a fantastic Christmas and all the best for 2010.

Hello from Talia

Big sis Kayla said I could come and introduce myself to you all. My new mam and dad came to my breeder on Saturday to stay and meet me. I have lived in the kennel with my mum since being born so have not spent that much time in the house. Kayla was left outside and I came in to get cuddles from my new mum and dad. I made them giggle a lot by being cute :-) I didn't get to stay in too long before my breeder put me back with my mum so that Kayla could come in and the adults could all have a beer or two.

Kayla and my dad Zak apparently fell in love on Saturday night and played together all evening and then cuddled up together to sleep for the night.

On Sunday Kayla, Zak and the mums and dads all went out to a show, apparently getting there was very difficult due to a lot of heavy snow. Zak took first place in the class, another bitch bred by my breeder took second and Kayla took 3rd (she hasn't had much showing practice recently so mum was just pleased she walked on a lead).

They all came back at lunchtime for a cup of tea and to picked me up to take me to my new home. My breeder cried as she said goodbye to me. I was a very good girl on our long trip home, I didn't pee, puke or poo on mum (apparently Kayla did a lot of that when they picked her up as a pup). Kayla was in her crate (so she could just get used to the smell of me) and I was cuddled on mum's lap. I refused to go to sleep the whole 8 hour journey I poked my nose at Kayla to say hello and tried to climb and explore everything in the car (mum said I was like a wriggly worm).

We reached my new home at 9.30 pm and my other big sister Skye came back from gran's and they came to meet me. I was really excited and wanted to explore my new house. Kayla is a great sister she was a bit jealous on Sunday night but by Monday we were great friends. She is happy to play chase and wrestle with me and even lets me cuddle up to her a bit :-) Big sister Skye doesn't like me at all :-( She growls every time she sees me and snarls if I go up to say hello. Luckily Kayla comes over if Skye is grumpy with me to tell her to behave and I sit and bark at grumpy Skye heheheheeh.

I like my new home and have had fun in the snow and fun nipping mum and dad's feet and making them yelp hehehehehe. Can't wait till I am allowed to go out for walks and also looking forward to the first humans that will come visit and cuddle me.

Big news catch up

Mum hasn't had time for blogging lately so thought we would log on today and give you a run down on what has been happening here in Scotland.

I am really enjoying my racing mum says I am a monster now, I just want to scream and pull all the time hehehehehehe.

I had my second race weekend of 28-29 November in the Black Isle near Inverness. It was a very wet muddy weekend and we were all overjoyed to be invited to stay with some new friends (mum and dad were cooked a lovely 3 course dinner) rather than trying to get the caravan to a forest with no facilities. Me and dad did really well and we took first place in the scooter class both days. I got a lovely trophy and a medal for dad and we made lots of new friends.

Weekend of 5-6 September was the British Husky Club race in Elgin. Was a lovely cool, crisp weekend. I took second place in our scooter class both days. Mum was so proud as we were only beaten by the team who won at the last Culbin race. First day we were 4 seconds slower than them second day 40 seconds. the musher Matt is very fit (dad is not hehehe) so mum says we did brilliantly. A lot of people who criticize my breeder as breeding dogs that "don't run" are really sitting up and taking notice of how I am doing! Again we made some more new friends and mum says she is learning a lot by helping other people get their dogs to the start line and stuff.

It has also been decided this year that dad and me will compete in the big famous race at Aviemore in January. There is no single dog scooter class but some of our new friends offered to loan dad a spare rig and one of their dogs as a running partner for me. So last weekend I went to meet my new friend Blue. He was a bit scared of me but we got on well and dad did a 2.7 mile run with us both on the rig. After a short rest everyone ganged up and made mum take us out on the rig for a run :p Mum was terrified heheheeheh and had a few steering issues but I ran my little heart out for her. Blue got tired halfway round so I got a bit angry at him for not keeping up! To mum and dad's amazement Skye did some pulling. Usually if she comes on the scooter with me she makes me do all the work and just runs along behind me. Dad had put her on the scooter alone to follow me and mum so he could make sure mum got round ok. He didn't expect Skye to pull but to everyone's shock she did. Dad was able to keep pace behind me as for the first time ever Skye took the weight of the scooter and when Blue got too tired he took him and Skye came on the rig with me. She didn't pull and let me do all the work on the rig but she did manage to at least keep speed with me till the finish. I was very tired with doing most of the work myself on the second run! Mum and dad were really proud of us both :-) Blue's owners are going to run him a bit to get him fitter before we have our next training session.

This weekend we go to collect my little sister Talia and I also have a show this weekend. Mum and dad are very excited to be getting my new sister at last!

Scary Talia Pics hehe

These are the latest pictures from our breeder. Doesn't Talia look scary like a big fat bulldog heheheheh.

Apparently it was her first time in the living room and she just froze in such a big space.

My weekend of good deeds

This weekend me and Skye were out doing our bit for sled dogs who are less fortunate than us.

Saturday was the Moray Winter Festival where Santa is out and the Christmas lights get turned on. We spent a cold afternoon giving cuddles and having mum and dad tell people a bit more about us huskies. Got to get into a bit of mischief with my friend "Little Skye" too hehehehe.

Sunday was another hug a husky day in Decora DIY store. We did the morning shift with our friend Marley or the wookie as he is also known). Finally we have found Skye's talent. She is no good for showing or racing but guess what she is really great at fundraising. With her pretty Disney face and different coloured eyes people make a beeline for her (I get a bit jealous of that hurrumph). She is very good at sitting next to the money bucket making cute faces and has very good pleading eyes according to mum.

Mum says she is so proud of how good I am with toddlers, I walk up to them (or just sit if they are a bit scared) wag my tale and smile then give them a sweet husky kiss.

Back to cute pictures of me

I mentioned in my blog about my last shows that I made a new best friend. Mum finally got the pictures of me and wee Emma lying together on the floor.

Meet Talia

Sigh mum wants to show you my new sister's latest pics grrrrr. My sister has a aname apparently mum and dad decided on Talia.

Our First Husky Race

This weekend saw our first rally as competitors. Me and dad entered the one dog scooter class. We had only been training for distances of a mile and a half as mum had been told that was the usual scooter distance. Much to our shock it was decided to use the same 3.6 mile trail as the bigger dog teams were running.

On Saturday me and dad took 3rd place behind huskies who had rather fitter mushers who are more used to running than poor Dad, they finished only 3 minutes behind the leader and Dad said he had held me back a bit worrying that maybe the distance was too long for me.

Sunday Mum and Dad considered maybe not running me for the second day as I had already been run harder than I had been used to. Mum and Dad decided to see how I was at the start line and if I didn't seem keen we would scratch her from the race. They need not have worried as I was screaming with excitement and me and Dad managed to finish second on a trail which was wetter and harder work on the second day. We finished only a minute or so after the winner which was a fantastic achievement.

Mum and Dad are so proud of me and say for a little dog I have such a big heart and such determination and we are all very excited for our next rally at the end of November.

Mum says as racing people think my breeders breed dog's who are not good runners that a lot of people were surprised at how good Iwas. Oh and mum survived camping in the caravan with no electricity, hairdryer or hair straighteners hahahaha. Mum is high maintenance and does not like roughing it heheh.

The photos were take by George Michie http://www.georgemichie.co.uk and we have also changed our website address to http://kohoutek.weebly.com/

Kohoutek is our chosen kennel name which has been provisionally approved by the Kennel Club.