Lots to report!

So, things have worked out very well. We are now living at the kennel of Asbjørn Erdal Aase in Mesnali, Norway. We have a big house all to our own, which Kaia has been working very hard to turn into a home for us. The kennel is called Lillehammer Husky Farm, and has just 34 dogs, so a very managable number for the two of us. They are sprint dogs so the training is very fast. We can train directly out of the kennel, which makes our lives much simpler, as we don´t need to drive with the dogs to train. The winter training trails will leave from the kennel and go straight out over Sørmesna, the lake near the house. So we are very comfortable and happy here!

Also! Asbjørn has given me the opportunity to take a team made up of my dogs and his dogs, and run a 600km dogsled race in February. So our training has taken a big step up, and we are training long miles and long hours. The dogs are doing great with the increased training. The sprint dogs are learning to trot and pull, and my pups are learning to do longer runs. So very exciting. Check out the race website at femundlopet.no

Jesse has gone to live with Mr. Ben Hoops, Mrs. Amy Hoops, and all of their doggies. It is a great situation for him. Kaia and I couldn´t have asked for a better home for one of our favorite dogs.

I will try and keep updating as we get closer to the race!
Cheers from Barry, Kaia, and the gang!

More new beginnings

So, our job in Tromso was not what we expected. So we moved down to south-eastern Norway, to train the dogs and regroup. We have been training the dogs a ton. We have nearly 200 miles on them so far this season. Mostly short stuff, we aren´t doing more than 16 miles yet. They are doing really well. Fenris and Freya have really settled down since we got to Sigdal, and have stopped running in huge teams. That seemed to be a little overwhelming for them, but longer runs with a smaller team seems to suit them very well. Kaia and I spent a bunch of time looking for new jobs and may have found something up in Lillehammer. I have not yet been to Lillehammer, we are going to check it all out tomorrow. They had the Winter Olympics there in 1994, so there are ski trails everywhere and the outdoor and dogsledding community is very big.
I have finally been able to attach pictures of our trip to Norway! So enjoy!

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