The Off Season

The dogs do not run year-round. Once temperatures are consistently above 50º F, our season officially ends. In the North Country, this usually means May through late August is the off season. During the warm months, the dogs blow their undercoats, eat less, and relax more. After running hundreds of miles, they totally deserve their summer break. (And maybe I do, too.)

That’s not to say the off season is completely uneventful. When they’re not sunbathing outside or napping under the air conditioner, the dogs will accompany me on hikes, zoom around their huge enclosed play yard, or go swimming in a nearby reservoir. Keeping them happy, healthy, and fulfilled is a year round activity.

When temperatures get really hot, the dogs don’t want to do much outdoors—especially exercise. This often results in zoomies and wrestling matches in the air conditioned dog-den. To help expel some of this cooped-up energy, we now have a DogPacer treadmill so the dogs can run indoors, even when it’s 90ºF out!

We recently added barn hunt to the mix of off-season fun. Barn hunt is a sport that tests a dog's natural hunting instincts, agility, and scenting ability. The dog must locate rats in tubes (ignoring “decoy” tubes) hidden among straw bales. They also need to pass through a bale tunnel and climb on top of the bales. Siberian huskies are known for their prey drive, so this provides an excellent form of enrichment when they’re not working in harness.