Coldfoot Alaska: The Dogs (Part 3)

Ok, time for the next installment of sled dogs! I am going to try and shorten my descriptions up though, otherwise I'll never get on to any of the other aspects of Coldfoot!

Bella

Bella: Bella is still a puppy, and the only one of her siblings  (brothers Cash and Leo I think?) that has figured out how to pull a sled. She is a cute girl (and Jays favorite) with big brown puppy eyes and a real soft spot for by brother. She isn't dainty like Bacon, but at the same time is still obviously a girl. She lines up at the back of the sled and pulls along side of either Winchester or her Grandpa Shaggy.

Tatonka and Jay

Tatonka: He (?) is one of the middle dogs in the sled team, and most of the time I can't tell him apart from Butkus (whom I will get to in a bit). I think he's one of the younger dogs (but not a puppy) and seems to be very good natured, a sort of "go with the flow" kind of guy. He'll run when it's time, but he won't try to pull the sled by himself if you take too long of a break.

Bowser pretending I'm not there

Bowser: He is easy to remember because of his husky markings, and because of how tall and lanky he is. His legs are at least 3" longer than every other dogs. He has this aristocratic way of laying on top of his dog house with his front legs crossed. While he is friendly and everything, he has this air about him that says he won't beg for ear scratchies or attention. Where some of the other dogs will look you right in they eye Bowser won't, but he makes you feel like it's because your not interesting, not because he's uncomfortable doing so.

Blacky: Another one of my favorites! I thought Blacky was a he, but Jay says he's really a she. However I am skeptical because in one of my photo's "she" has a wee-wee, and so either I am confusing dogs or Jay is wrong. (I'm probably confusing photo's but either way, I'll let you know definitively as soon as I find out) But she/he is a sweetheart. Gentile and calm, and patient (like the other older dogs) but a hard worker. She doesn't complain or get caught up in all the carrying on of the other dogs. She seems content and happy, and very appreciative of attention when anyone directs any at her. She is a middle dog on the sled team.

Cash trying to jump on me

Cash: Cash is Bella's brother. He looks a lot like her, and is also very adorable, but much more manly. His face is wider than his sister. He's a jumper, and has lots of energy and often gets in shouting matches with his brother and the other adjacent dogs (except Blacky). He is in dog sled training right now, but from what I've seen it will be a while before he pulls a sled. He and Leo remind me a lot of Harry and Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber when they are leashed up and practicing. Not too organized and always willing to stick together even if it means walking in circles and tangling the leash repeatedly.

Harnessing up Leo

Leo: I could use the exact same description of Leo as I did for Cash. They are two peas in a pod, and seem to get along really well (even though they are two boys) Leo is darker in color, and he does this really cute thing of burying his head in your lap or arm if you sit on his dog house or crouch down on the ground. He will nuzzle in  until his whole face is covered in you arm and just stand there and want you to pet him. It's really endearing and none of the other dogs do it.

Butkus barking at Cash

Butkus: Somehow I always miss Butkus. He's the one I forget when I try to name them, and I spent a whole day  mistaking Tatonka for him (so I took twenty pictures of Tatonka thinking 10 of those were Butkus). Anyway, naturally I feel bad about that. So unfortunately I can't recall too much about him because I don't know if it was really him or not. I do remember that he would get into scuffles with Cash, and I got this one really vicious looking photo of him barking, but he wasn't mean at all. I should ask Jay give me a better, more accurate description of him to post here. Poor Butkus! Sorry!

Mommy Jenna

Jenna: Jenna is the mom of the puppies, but she doesn't look like it since she is grey and white and all her puppies are black. She seems pretty mild mannered, but I think it is more that she is exhausted by being chanined in the back of the lot surrounded by her loud, whiny, energetic, rambunctious offspring. He spends a lot of time in her dog house (I would too) and although she seems to want attention from people, it appears that she has resigned herself to the fact that most of us can barely make it though all her babies to give her pets or say hello. And when we do the howling and whining from the puppies (who want to eat your mittens and hair) is so distracting that Jenna and I both appear to agree it's not worth the noise. SHe is the one who got in that terrible fight with Lightning and almost killed her. It's hard to imagine she'd be so violent when you look at her, but the scars on her face are from Lightning trying to defend hereself.

Puppies, Jay, Cash and Leo

The Puppies: I lump all the puppies together because I can barely tell them apart anyway. There are four girls, Grace, Winnie, Stella and Georgia and one boy Rocky. They are so wild and jumpy that I pretty much tried to avoid them while in the dog lot. They just wanted to chew on everything and play with everything, and while that is certainly OK and expected, the problem was that there were FIVE of them doing all of that at once. You turn to pet one, and the other would jump on your back. You try to push another off you and the one your not facing pulls your mitten out of your pocket and starts chewing the thumb off. I must admit they were pretty cute though when we took them for walks. They were like a moving pile of black tails and ears.

Wheew! We made it! That's all of the dogs!