Last Puppy Walk

Today was my last day at Dream a Dream Dog Farm. I'll keep posting pictures over the next week of pictures I took here, but I am now going to be staying a few days in Wasilla at a hotel. Here are some pictures from the puppy walk this morning. Each day, we took the pups farther out into the woods to experience new challenges. I didn't realize until today that it took courage for this little guys to go new places. Vern knows just what to do to build trust in his dogs by doing this. Today was the first day the pups ever visited the top of the trail. All of the puppies stopped, looked down, and stopped wagging their tails. I think they were nervous about the steep downhill ahead. Instead of pushing the pups to keep going, Vern let the pups play around and get used to the view down the hill. (It reminded me of what the dogs will have to face during the Iditarod when they get to Denzel Gorge, right after Rainy Pass. Do you remember the steep downhill section with lots of turns? A lot of mushers tip over, wipe out, or lose control in this section of the race.) He didn't force them to go down. Instead, we turned back towards the farm. Each day they go a little farther. Tomorrow, when they are ready, Vern will take them down the hill. This will help get them ready for the big challenges they will face when it is their turn to be part of his competition team that does the Iditarod Race. I bet these guys will be awesome in the Denzel Gorge because they will have confidence in their musher and courage to speed down the steep trail. Did you ever have a challenge that made you nervous or afraid? Maybe, if you take it one step at a time and do a little more each day, you'll overcome it just like these puppies.