List of Fun Facts by Mandy

There’s a little habit I do within the first two miles of a run: I go through a mental list of fun facts I know about each dog on the team.

It’s a mixture of basic information such as age, little-mates, and races they’ve completed so far. The facts might relate to running. Is this dog a trotter or pacer? Good Poopers are labeled above the Team Stoppers. The former poop beautifully and quickly while still efficiently running... the latter stop so fast that the dogs behind them practically run them over and squeeze it out like brown toothpaste if not for the musher’s encouraging “come on” chant and careful speed control—but try to never break for a bad pooper. But best of all, I really enjoy thinking of more odd fun facts. 

•Bull always poops to the right of his dog house

•Dolly either runs straight back to her dog house or belly-crawls under the dog platform, causing heads to tilt at the ground in confusion

•Oryx usually greets us with a bone in her mouth to help against her habit of digging aggressively into your back, leg, or other closest body part to her 

•Watson is a gentle giant and will push his head in between your legs for attention while you’re poop scooping his spot—he requires a lot of pets 

•Rucu the teddy bear loves pulling and running... until the dog booties come out

•Wombat often rolls over whenever you initially go to harness her

There’s a lot of pieces to keep a kennel running smoothly and the to-do lists can have a tight grip on the mind. It’s distracting. Leaving the dog yard for a run, there’s an incredible amount of energy and excitement—screaming dogs and harness banging—and it can be contagious. 

So, my habit of fun fact listing is a bridge between the craziness of hooking up and when we settle into a run. The dogs soon find a steady stride and my mind calms with them. The air and scenery are serenity, easing us into the miles for a lovely run. I adore it. 

And it just gets better with snow!