The guides are all given approximately 22 dogs to care for. They are responsible for 100% of their care, digging them out of their homes when there has been too much snow, fluffing their hay, putting new hay in the houses, fresh water and fresh food. The dogs are fed 100% raw diet. The guides even can take dogs home at night. Our guide talked about some of the dogs he was working with and would take them how to help build a bond with them. Frank said that all he expected from his guides was for them to care for the dogs and to know what the dog is going to do before they did it!
We were picked up from the hotel at 8;15 and got to the kennels at about 9:00. After signing waivers and getting on boots, we met our guide - David- and headed out. Tina and Peter started out with Peter on the runners with the guide and Tina in the basket. Rod and I were on our own sled with him on the back and me in the basket.
Heading to Granite Hot Springs was eventful. The weather was cold - about 20. The forecast had been blowing wind of 40 mph and 18" of snow. LUCKILY... the weatherman was WRONG. It was not nearly that windy and the snowfall was no where near 18". I started out being fairly warm and was pleasantly surprised at how well I did with my Raynaud's. The sight seeing was beautiful!
About 1/2 way there, we were getting passed by some snowmobilers. These are inexperienced people that have probably never been on a snowmobile before (which will be us on Friday..) They passed Rod and I just fine, but when they got to Tina and Peter's sled, they tried to pass on the side where the snow was about 3 feet high. The next thing Rod and I are watching them slowly start to roll right down on Tina and Peter's dogs. The snowmobile missed the sled but grazed one of the dogs. The guide said this had never happened and he was furious! Luckily the dog was not injured. Peter and David helped to lift the snowmobile back up and everyone was OK. Tina said that the guide told them after it happened that if the dog would have been hurt, he would have punched the guy!
Once we arrived at the hot spring, it was NOT what I was expecting. At this point I had gotten very cold and my hands and feet were in real pain. I thought there was going to be a heated changing area where I could warm up... WRONG. There was a changing room but there was no heat. I had to sit in there for a long time trying to get my hands and feet to have blood flow again. Rod, Tina, and Peter all changed and got into the hot spring but since my hands were so cold, I didn't get good pictures except for Rod because he stayed in there the longest.
After the hot spring, lunch was served and they had a small fire that became my life-savior. I was able to finally get warm and blood flow back to all my fingers and toes. Lunch was some chili that Rod and Peter especially liked. Warm drinks were provided that helped warm us up from the inside out.
The ride home was quicker because the dogs were headed home and knew dinner was going to be served. However, the temperature dropped to about 10, the wind picked up some, and it was much colder. We swapped sleds, so now Rod and I were with the guide. Peter drove his and Tina's sled and I rode on the back with our guide. Everyone got pretty cold, but especially the two in the baskets (Rod and Tina) because they were the wind breakers. Our guide was nice enough to give me his gloves because they were warmer than mine and I did ok until the last hour.
All and all it was an amazing experience. As a dog lover, I saw nothing that worried me about the care of these dogs. They were happy, ready to go, wagging their tails, jumping to take off, etc.
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