We have so much to cover today including a Natasha update as well as our Book of the Week. Up first, however, has to be a little story about jail time.

Innocent. I swear I am innocent.

When The Herd is outside in the yard of Sibe Quentin, Hu-Dad will periodically take a break from his work and check on them. At one point yesterday, Hu-Dad noticed that Typhoon was in his crate with the door closed. Since Hu-Dad knew he had not placed Typhoon in his crate, he checked and discovered the door was not latched, but had been pushed close.

Yes, for some reason, The Herd had decided that Typhoon needed some jail time and gave him a crate time out without human intervention. In pure speculation, Hu-Dad guesses it went something like this . . .

Here comes the Judge.

Of course Queen Natasha was the Judge. Is there any doubt about that role? And she is quite the harsh judge, too, based on the way she runs The Herd.

Law and Order

Come on, can’t you hear the theme song in your head right now? For Kiska, however, she is both the law enforcement side of things as well as the prosecutor.

Jury of your peers.

Any trial requires a jury of your peers. And Typhoon’s peers are certainly his day in, day out wrestling pals.

Ok, so we have the judge, the prosecutor, and the jury. What have we left out? Of course, the best defense attorney that money can buy.

Sorry, Typhoon, but we think we have identified the flaw in your defense strategy.

Natasha Update

Natasha had another vet check yesterday and all signs were good. Her stitches all came out and, most importantly, she had gained two pounds over the weekend. Apparently, that roast beef infused diet is doing the trick. We will do blood work in a couple of weeks to see if the liver has regained its functions, but Natasha continues to make great progress.

Book of the Week

Being Siberian Huskies, we, of course, dream of winter and winter sports all of the time. Nothing is more fun than hooking up a cart or sled with a couple of dogs and going mushing. Of course, we are held back by the clumsiness of the Hu-Dad but we like to dream about the legends in sled dog racing who are pure professionals at all times. Right?

That is precisely what makes Gary Paulsen’s Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod so fun. A long-time musher of slower working dogs, his stories of preparing for the race with fast, high-spirited dogs are absolutely hysterical. Paulsen ultimately ran and finished the Iditarod in 1983.

The book will make you laugh out loud many times, but you will also watch the bond between man and dogs build over the course of the story. And readers at Amazon give it a solid five stars and Goodreads give it 4.2 stars – both very high ratings.