Summer is here finally. We have had some days in the high 80's and the dogs can go hours without moving a muscle. The sun us rising at 3:45 AM and setting at 10:42 PM these days. The new puppies are doing great. they have started to eat puppy kibble soaked in water, and have taken to toddling around their pens. We had a big work weekend at the kennel, and got some dog houses built and the new gate that Kaia and I built hung up, so things are starting to come together! Arne and Asbjorn are getting serious about preparing the kennel for competition in the 2011 world championship in open class sprint. The WC is taking place in Hamar which is where this kennel does most of its racing, so they seem confidant that the new puppies and possibly one more litter will set them up with two competitive teams.
Kaia and I are busy planting trees and amusing puppies. We took this past weekend off and went to Kaia's family's cabin to spend the weekend with Ingema, Bob, and Marie. Great fun was had by all, and George got some practice being a cabin dog.

We will be coming back to the States in the beginning of July. We will be there for a few weeks, so those of you back home can expect us to pop up!
Starting in early August, Kaia will start work at the Kindergarten and I will keep planting trees and begin the training training season with the dogs. We will start again in the mornings on the Four Wheeler. Kaia and I have big plans for doing a lot of fun stuff, with the dogs this year so hopefully it will snow early. Until then we are going to enjoy the sun and soak up as much vitamin D as we can before the sun sets for the winter.
Also! as soon as he is done sailing across the Atlantic our friend Mike will be coming to stay with us for a while. He has been a tropical guy for some years, so now he wants some quality winter time, and there is no place like Norway for finding quality winters.
Updates as events warrent.
Happy Summer,
Barry, Kaia, and the dogs.

puppies

We are happy to announce the arrival of 16 new puppies at Lillehammer Husky Farm. All puppies are doing great, and both Moms are healthy and settled into puppy life. The first litter was born on the 1st of May with 9 puppies. Barry won the how-big-the-litter-is raffle and earned breakfast in bed. The second litter was born on the 4th of May and Kaia won dinner and dessert for guessing 7 as the number for that litter. The ice on Sørmesna lake is gone, and the yard is finally completely snow and ice free. The dogs are fat and out of shape, but enjoying their much deserved time off.
Barry started work planting trees and has found it to be as boring as he feared. He has stolen Kaia´s I-pod and plans to use that to break the monotony.
Kaia will start working at the kindergarten next week. She will only work a few days between now and when she starts her full time position there in August.
The dogs are doing very well. Sub-chief has completely healed from his run-in with a Malamute. Fenris has completely healed from his run-in with his food bowl, and Orions wounded pride has healed following an unfortunate falling asleep and then falling off his dog house roof incident.
Updates as events warrent.
So long and thanks for all the fish.

It is spring time now. With temperatures in the high 60´s and little snow left we have packed away the harnesses and sleds, and the dogs are enjoying some much needed down time. The winter was a great one. Kaia worked a little to much but otherwise our time was filled with little projects all dog related.
The team of dogs I trained for the Femundløpet race in February were a great team of dogs to train, and we had some really fantastic runs. The team and I were not ready for the race in february so I decided to withdraw and start focusing on creating a solid foundation for next years season. With the long distance plans shelved for the winter, I was able to spend a lot more time with the yearlings and the older dogs that had not been getting the attention the deserved. I spent all of february and march harness breaking the four yearlings and using the experienced older dogs to help settle the youngsters down. The big surprise of the season was Freya, who at only 16 months old turned out to be the best lead dog in the kennel after running most of the season in swing position right behind the leaders. One of the most challenging things for a lead dog to do is to find a trail that has been blown full of snow by a strong wind. After many hours of leading the dogs myself or even worse, breaking out the trail with a snow machine, I put Freya in lead and she led us for almost 10 miles on a lake with no percievable trail, finding her way by the feel of the snow beneath her feet. After that, Freya and Jedi spent a lot of time running together, building up Freya's confidence by running her with a very solid leader.
We had a great surprise around christmas time when five puppies joined our ranks. Calvin, Hobbes, Lille Spro, Chewy, and Satchel are nearly 30 lbs each now and have of course turned the damp ground in their puppy kennel into a No-Mans-Land mud hole. We moved them to another kennel to let theirs dry and they muddied up the other kennel. So despite our best efforts they look like little swamp creatures whenever it rains.
We topped off the season by giving rides to families effected by Cancer at the Monte Bello Center. We gave mile long tours of the lake that Kaia and I live on, on Easter sunday for children with Cancer. The kids had a great time and the dogs were perfectly behaved.
We have lots of work to do in the kennel this spring and two litters of puppies that will be born any minute so stay tuned for updates as events warrent.
Ha Det Bra fra Norge.
Cheers, Barry and Kaia