Gabe
So I don't know what's up with Gabe's breeding that gives him this weird labby look. All I know is his father was a winning Quest dog (a leader) and he produced some pretty lab-like looking pups. They all have these big floppy ears, Gabe is golden/white, one brother is more golden, his sister is orange/golden/brown, just weird. But they all have big, sweet personalities. He's may be a candidate for my "geriatric/slacker/short attention span team" this winter since he's around 10 now.
Gabe came along as dog #5. I had no way to run the three sisters, due to a lack of leaders. So I begged the owner of the kennel I worked at, and annoyed him for months before he gave up the Gabester. Gabe hadn't been running much anyways, because he was said to have epilepsy. When I first got to the kennel, I'd take him on walks and he did have a few seizures that first year. We figured I could just manage it with short, easy runs and see how it goes.
Well, it's gone really well! I realized what a great leader Gabe can be. Here he is way up in front one day when I was bikejoring and forgot he was loose. Well, he motored along on this whole run in front of us the whole way. Totally loose, but never straying away from in front of us. In fact, he was booting along so fast, at one point he was looking back at us dropping further and further back, as if to say "C'mon! Keep up!"
Gabe loves the truck.
Gabe and his buddy Octane.
Gabe is the freakin' cheerleader of the team. He NEVER shuts up. Even if he is tired and not pulling (which he's only recently started to do), he'll bark his head off the second we stop to break, annoy the heck out of me, get all the other dogs all fired up until we get going. Ah, but you can't fault that enthusiasm. Gabe has done the 1000 mile Yukon Quest before my time with him and he's got that inner sled dog buried way down deep.
Yeah, kinda like this!
One thing he excels at and we are TRYING to teach Ripper (pictured at left with Gabe) - is lining out at hookup. That is, keeping the lines tight and staying in front. Sounds easier than it is maybe, but when you see all the other maniacs behind jumping and bouncing around, some pulling on the lines because they're so impatient, it can be pretty stressful for the leaders. But Gabe is a pro.
Gabe came along as dog #5. I had no way to run the three sisters, due to a lack of leaders. So I begged the owner of the kennel I worked at, and annoyed him for months before he gave up the Gabester. Gabe hadn't been running much anyways, because he was said to have epilepsy. When I first got to the kennel, I'd take him on walks and he did have a few seizures that first year. We figured I could just manage it with short, easy runs and see how it goes.
Well, it's gone really well! I realized what a great leader Gabe can be. Here he is way up in front one day when I was bikejoring and forgot he was loose. Well, he motored along on this whole run in front of us the whole way. Totally loose, but never straying away from in front of us. In fact, he was booting along so fast, at one point he was looking back at us dropping further and further back, as if to say "C'mon! Keep up!"
Gabe loves the truck.
Gabe and his buddy Octane.
Gabe is the freakin' cheerleader of the team. He NEVER shuts up. Even if he is tired and not pulling (which he's only recently started to do), he'll bark his head off the second we stop to break, annoy the heck out of me, get all the other dogs all fired up until we get going. Ah, but you can't fault that enthusiasm. Gabe has done the 1000 mile Yukon Quest before my time with him and he's got that inner sled dog buried way down deep.
Yeah, kinda like this!
One thing he excels at and we are TRYING to teach Ripper (pictured at left with Gabe) - is lining out at hookup. That is, keeping the lines tight and staying in front. Sounds easier than it is maybe, but when you see all the other maniacs behind jumping and bouncing around, some pulling on the lines because they're so impatient, it can be pretty stressful for the leaders. But Gabe is a pro.
posted by dogsled_stacie at 7:05 PM
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