Dog Days of Summer

This August is warm. I keep waking up at 5:00, checking the temperature and hoping for a drop down to around +10°C. Last year, around this time, we were already out and training, but to comfort myself a bit, I keep saying it´s good this way - at least we get all the summer projects done before we start focussing on training fully.

On that note, I just realized that I haven´t posted any pictures from one of this year´s major projects we´re on to. The remodelling of our dog yard.

This is how it looks now, in August, after what we call PART 1. We took down the entire old kennel building on one side of the dog yard, and created a perfectly drenaged gravel area where we moved some of the old houses and many newly built ones, including wooden platforms for the dogs to rest comfortably on.
Part 2 and 3 will include remodelling of the old dog house area and fencing the two lots, so the main string dogs can live there in two groups and roam free in their big and natural area, with the possibility of joying together if we open the gates between them.
Our dogs love the company of each other and with the acception of two or three grouches, they socialize together in the spacey dog yard. One of the future projects is to even enlarge the dog yard, so the dogs will get extra 1000 square meters or so of "just for fun" space.

To see pictures from Part 1 of the project, go to: http://picasaweb.google.cz/kippsiberians/DogYardProject2009Part1#
(you´ll also find a few pics of some of the dogs there).

Nugget loves his new place

Galena longing for the winter

Magneto relaxing in the shade of his big house

Cooper enjoying visit with our numerous summer guests

Nugget is bored. "When will we go running again, mom?"

The puppy pen

Snowy changing her coat, hoping this will call the winter