As training rolled along, it started to become clear who would be dog handlers or orienteers. Some dogs seemed to get stressed with having a different handler each day, so the bosses decided to try figuring out which people and dogs worked well together sooner rather than later.
I think most of us entered the program in the hopes of being handlers, but we knew from the start that there were limited handling positions. Unfortunately the “being watched” aspect probably got to me more than it should have, and I think I would have done better with fewer people around. I wasn’t too concerned about becoming an orienteer, though, because the program director and a couple of the pros started out as orienteers. It seemed like watching someone else handle a dog for a season would probably be a good learning experience.
Since we were training from late October to later in December, our crew spent a lot of time together. Instead of taking a break for Thanksgiving, we chose to stick around and make a gigantic Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, 2 salads, pumpkin rolls, bacon chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, and maple bacon pecan pie. If you’re not drooling by now, you should be. We have some good cooks in this group!
Shortly after Thanksgiving we started to combine orienteering with dog handling. The orienteer’s job varies from project to project, but it’s generally to navigate to the search area and then keep the team inside that area or walk a specific transect to search for scat. Then the lucky goon gets to pick up scat and record data regarding the scat and its location!
After a pop quiz on map/compass navigation, I remembered how easily forgotten those skills are when unused. Luckily after a short crash course on the basics of bearings, Brandon and I were in business. From the very beginning of working in handler/orienteer pairs, Brandon and I were a team. In my mind I had thought the 2 of us got along well and would work well together, and apparently the bosses had the same impression. Plus we have the midwest connection. Gotta represent! Other teams switched around handlers and orienteers a bit to see what worked, but I only ever orienteered for Brandon during training.
Once we started training in teams, our exercises changed. Instead of just searching the field or trails for some scat samples, we began working in areas all around Pack Forest. 
So I chopped it off!
I’d been planning on getting a hair cut before NZ (May 2011) … then while in NZ… then when I got back to AK… and then before the end of summer 2012. Ultimately I’d decided to just wait until whenever I got home so my family could see my long hair, but then I got an impulse to cut it and surprise most of the crew on 12/12/12 when I had time to kill in Seattle. I got quality reactions of “Oh no you didn’t! Where’d it go?” so I think it was a good choice. I shipped off the hair to Locks of Love; hopefully a kid will become a happy ginger sometime soon! My life is so much less tangled now, but bad hair days are easier to come by.
Back in the world of training, Brandon and I started with the adorable Chester as our teammate. A hardworking ginger, Chester also serves as an ambassador for the CK-9 program. He’s the biggest lover out there and will charm anyone he meets. If you have a hand, it’s your job to love him – and why wouldn’t you?! He’s awfully soft and sweet. He also has a very lionesque stance, so I’m pretty sure he secretly thinks of himself as Simba.
Ultimately Waylon (above right pic) became Brandon’s dog as we tackled days of finding scat in Pack. Most of our training in Washington managed to get us rather wet; after all, we were working in the Pacific Northwest in early winter. Fortunately we had been informed of the wonders of wool, and our many trips to Seattle for gear shopping proved beneficial.
Whenever we did go to Seattle, most of us felt a little out of place. Meetings actually happened at designated times! People didn’t wear Carhartts and sweaters everywhere! Our trips were rather hectic with dashes to thrift stores, REI, Army Navy stores, Outdoor Research, Filson, sporting goods stores, the obligatory coffee stand, UW, and maybe a bite of food. Everyone was always rather worn out after a whirlwind day of shopping.
As December began, we started preparations for Alberta in earnest. We needed to prepare or buy snowmachines and trailers, toppers for our 6 trucks, electronics, emergency kits, dog first aid kits, etc. With so much to do, we were lucky to have so many hands to work on various tasks. Life was not all work and no play, though.
We did make time for fun to celebrate my birthday with Coldstone and bowling, but only after I shared my birthday had just passed. Since nobody seemed to know my b-day was coming up, I decided to see if I could go the whole day with nobody around realizing its significance. It was strange to experience but also pretty fun. To look at the day from the outside and pretend it meant nothing showed me that honestly a birthday is nothing. Try it sometime! Somewhat unfortunately my parents did spoil the fun of completely blowing by my birthday; as a present they treated the whole crew to ice cream, which we enjoyed as part of an evening out.
On another day the UW lab staff that analyzes all the scat our CK9s collect managed to come down to Pack Forest to see the kennel and meet the dogs. That night was also Keegan’s (and his girl Haley’s) last in Pack Forest before retiring/heading home to Indiana and other adventures, so we sent him off with a grand night of Rock Band and running around outside. I think minimal tears were shed, but the program will miss him and speedy Haley.
Perhaps the most crucial fun to be had before leaving for Alberta was seeing “The Hobbit,” the film for which I tried to get a part as an extra!! I’ll admit I was a little too distracted watching the scenery to fully follow the story, but I’ll be watching it again. Of course I was happy the whole time for various reasons, one of them being that I was wearing my OR Mithril softshell. Does it get better than that?
By 16Dec we were estimating a 20Dec departure, which left little time for final preparations. Not surprisingly that got pushed to 26Dec, but we felt rushed for time even with those extra days. Some folks got out for some snowboarding at a nearby hill, some went to briefly see family or friends in the area, and some of us kept plugging away at preparations. The plus side to staying at work? I got to work a crazy girl named Pepsi on a field exercise! Then I saw Heath work Dozer (the newbie) for the first time, which was (1) incredibly cute and (2) neat to see how quickly Dozer picked up on the fact that when he sniffed for the scat sample and had his nose on it, the ball appeared!
Before we knew it the time to leave Pack for Alberta had come. We packed up our belongings from the houses, moved our extra stuff to an empty area at the kennel, packed the trucks, loaded the dogs, and hit the road the morning after Christmas. (And you wonder why I didn’t have time to post every few days?)
