We made it!

Hey all,
we made it here to Norway! we have been here for just over one month and have not had any time to breath and eat let alone update the blog. Now (hopefully) things have slowed enough so that the blog will get the attention it deserves.

We started fall training as soon as we arrived and the dogs already have nearly 80 miles on them so far this fall season. Kaia and I, apart from running our own dogs, are doing the early season training for Tore Albrightson and Tove Sorensons race teams. They are quite a bunch of dogs and they have a ton of potential even though they are very young.

We have been up in the town of Nordreisa in Northern Norway. The temperatures have been hovering around 50F during the day, but dropping below freezing most nights.It has been raining pretty consistantly for several weeks, but that is supposed to stop soon. The training trails are really beautiful and the dogs are getting really strong. Running them is a lot of fun. We have around seventeen 14-dog teams that we are running and training.

The mountains around us are covered in snow, and the lake that we are next to is frozen most mornings. During the clear nights, the Northern Lights are truly fantastic, really the most amazing thing I have ever seen. They light up the whole sky and dance and spin across the mountains which is breathtaking. Even the dogs seem moved by the sight. They sit and stare up at the sky, howling sometimes, but mostly just sitting and looking. When the northern lighst are out is one of the few times we can walk into the kennel without any fanfair. Even the most excited dog is captivated, which increases the surreal feeling that comes from looking at the Nordlys.

The internet connection is very slow, but pictures will follow soon.

Cheers for now,
Barry

Final Tally!

Hey there everyone!
We are finally almost ready to go! The shipping was a major hassle. But we finally got it nailed down and we are leaving on the 30th and 31st out of Logan airport in Boston. Kaia is leaving first and I am leaving second. We are bringing 6 dogs with us this round with the possibility of bringing two more later next year.
The dogs that are coming are George, Jedi, Orion, Sub-chief, Freya, and Fenris.
We will start putting up photos of our trip as soon as we leave, and will add a running commentary as often as we can!
Cheers, Barry

Tough Choices

After much agonizing and looking it has become apparent that there is no company that will allow us to bring 11 dogs to Norway for less than $13,000. So we have unfortunately had to limit ourselves to 6 or 7 rather than the original 11 that we had planned on taking. This has meant that some incredibly hard decisions have had to be made about who stays and who comes.

The dogs that are coming for sure are: Freya and Fenris the pups. Orion, Sub-chief, Jedi, George, and possibly Ricki. It looks like we may have found some wonderfull homes for Jarvi, Casey, Koyuk, Yoda, Jesse, and Moses. These homes are really excellent and will take wonderful care of the dogs mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. It makes it a little easier knowing that they will be in such good places.

The dogs we are bringing are just a few months away from a flight from Boston to Oslo, Norway. Then Kaia, the dogs and I will drive from Oslo to our new home in Tromso, a trip of 3-4 days. We are building a dog box for Kaia's fathers truck to transport the dogs there, and then we will take the box off the truck and send it on it's long journey back to southern Norway.

Once in Tromso, we are going to start fall training with our dogs after a few days of rest. We're hoping that starting a routine with the dogs quickly will aid in their adjustment to their new surroundings and give them some much needed outlet for any residual stress from the trip.

Updates as events Warrant.
Barry and Kaia