School project plus my dogs

    Today is going to be a short blog. The main reason is because I have a project. I won't be able to blog the rest of the week. My teacher assigned the class a project to write and make a visual product of a settlement in Indiana. Mine is in southern Indiana along the Ohio River. It is due March 5. So far my writing piece is going pretty well. But I still need to work on a map of my settlement. We're learning the culture of settlers in Indiana and their history. I'll have to give a presentation. When I'm done though, I will post my PowerPoint on my blog.
     Also I have I-STEP this week. So I will need to get a good night sleep for it. If you don't know what I-STEP is, it is a test that you take in grades 3rd through 12th grade. I need to pass it to go on to the next grade. You take math, english/language arts, and science. I hope I get a good breakfast and good scores. 
      A quick update on Lizzie. Lizzie is becoming my companion, sleeping on my floor. She talks a lot to Hoover and she is starting to play with toys. Instead of 11, I think she is five or six. She almost scared our cat to death. This just happened, Lizzie thinks she is a parrot. She perched on dad's shoulder. She also jumped on my stomach! Good thing she doesn't weigh much.
     I'd like to thank everyone for reading my blog and thanks for commenting. I really appreciate it. Because this blog is about sled dogs, here is a video we found from a few years ago of Hoover and Nikita playing together in the snow. Hoover tries to pull Nikita but she is too heavy.

    

Lizzie Stories

     Today I shall talk about Lizzie and her fun adventures since she got here. They are all short stories but they are all good. For example, Tuesday we were watching an Indiana University basketball game. Our team was in Michigan and they were up against Michigan State. There was about 1:00 minute left. And our dogs were going for IU. Well, mainly Hoover and Lizzie. Why not Nikita you ask? The answer, she is practically deaf. Lizzie got hyped up and started howling for IU. Then Hoover started talking. We all got excited and we all joined in. And I guess our cheers worked for we won the game! 

    The next day Lizzie went to Mom's office. I was at school unfortunately. Do not blame me if this is dull to you. These are my mom's words. She met people and slept on the floor for most of the morning. And when she was awake, Lizzie explored the offices and went for a bathroom break. Mom shared a chicken sandwich with Lizzie and Lizzie didn't eat her veggies. I added the veggies part. Dull huh?
     Wednesday Lizzie and Hoover were outside before I went to school. Read my post about Wiley to find something familiar. Hoover outweighs Lizzie by about 60 pounds. Who is the boss? Lizzie. She was chasing Hoover around the yard the entire time! Just like Nikita use to do to Wiley. 
     And then on Tuesday, when I got up, I discovered that Lizzie was sleeping on the dog pad in my room! I hope she sleeps in my room tonight. I'm glad she feels more comfortable to come down to my room now.

    I'm hoping for a 2 hour delay tomorrow so I can play with Lizzie because it is snowing ice. I hope it's not too slick. Lizzie is being a true husky, she is sitting out in the cold and sleet with Hoover. Until next time...

 

             

Foster Dog Lizzie Arrives

    I know on my last post I gave a hint about a new foster dog. Well, here she is. It's Lizzie! Mom picked her up this morning. When she got back, I saw Lizzie in person for the first time. She was REALLY skinny and her bones seemed to stick out. My parents say she is like a fawn. I get the idea that she didn't have good food.  

   Our dogs really sniffed her out. In fact, Hoover practically drooled on her.Well, he did. His drool was all sl..., right you don't want to hear about Hoover's drool. Later the trio was sniffing each other. Lizzie went in for a sniff on the butt. Nikita was ready. Once she felt the nose she whipped around and grumbled. Thus ended the butt sniffing.

   When my mom and I came back later, Lizzie was getting all hyper. She is very energetic for an 11 year old. She sure is a couch potato, meaning she loves to lay on the couch. And she loves people(mainly kids) and likes to snuggle (mainly kids). And I don't want to brag or anything but I'm the favorite. I hope she sleeps with me. Lizzie is new to this because she has spent her entire life with another family. She has been investigating and nervous, though I have been helping her. She hasn't slept all day, although tonight she might finally be settling down.     

      I'd like to give a shout out to my friends Lena and Nora. They raised money by making friendship bracelets and donating the money to the Bloomington Animal Shelter. They donated around $117.00. Today I went to the animal shelter, I met Willow again (for more information go to last post). She is so skinny she needs a sweater to stay warm. We found biscuits and my mom showered her with biscuits while I was generous and handed out dog biscuits to the other dogs.  

     I'll give more Lizzie stories soon. Don't fret. Stay tuned. This has been another story by Ian. If you want to see a video of Lizzie, go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7jgBCDxEX4&feature=player_embedded

 

      

My Weekend Plus a Surprise

    Today I shall blog about my weekend. It has some connections to dogs. But the first part doesn't. It's about soccer. On Saturday I played soccer with other kids in the Cutters league. At 12:30 we began. Well, it didn't exactly start at 12:30 but you get the point.
     We had an even amount of players for both teams. My team was purple and the other team was green. The green team almost scored immediatly. I thought we were gonna lose. When I got in, I dribbled the ball down the field and shot the ball. It hit the goalie's face. On the bright side, my teammate was next to me and scored. I'm not sure if it was an assist or a mistake. Later on, 1:00 minute before the end of the half it was 3 to 3. And that's how the score remained. During the last minute, me and another player were out, we were begging our coach to get back in. But in the end it was a tie. Both of our teams did well and hustled.
    Later we went to the Bloomington Animal shelter. We go about once a month. We went to see the cats first. I went in a room with a kitten. I tried petting the kitten but she tried to bite and scratch me. So I picked up a cat toy. The kitten was in a cat structure and there was a hole at the top. I put the end of the toy in the hole. In a few moments I felt a tug on the toy and I lifted up. I had almost caught the kitten. And I had created Cat Fishing. I played with her for awhile but then my mom and I went to a different room. We went over to the dogs next. The dogs were lined up barking or lying down. We came to a container filled with dog biscuits. Since I had found it I fed all the dogs a biscuit. Then I found Willow.

     Willow is a Saint Bernard. Her tongue is hanging out of her mouth. The reason was her tongue is too long and her jaw is too short. She also had a very very skinny body. It was obvious she had been neglected. I kept on feeding her biscuits and Mom comforted her. But, we had to leave. I fed all of the dogs one more biscuit. Oh, and if there is anyone who would like a Saint Bernard who needs care, go to the Bloomington Animal Shelter. 

     New Update: We shall soon have a new foster dog. Her name is Lizzie. She loves kids, Yahoo! I'm hoping that she will sleep with me. Lizzie is 11 years old and is a stay at home girl. I don't know much about her yet but once we get her I'll give you more information. Until next time...

Iditarod Trail Facts

     Today I shall talk about the Iditarod Trail. I started this blog because of a presentation I saw, it's one of my first posts, "Finney's Iditarod Trail Adventure." I'm going to continue on that subject by giving you facts on the Iditarod Trail and sled dogs. 
     The first race started on March 3, 1973. It always starts in March. It starts in Anchorage and ends in Nome. The race is over a 1,000 miles. Iditarod means clear water. It can also be called The Last Great Race. 
     The teams average 16 dogs. The puppies first harness usually when they are six months old. The dogs can eat up to 10,000 calories per day! I want to be a husky now. They don't have to eat vegetables I bet. Although they do have to run in temperatures that can be 100 below wind chill. I say I have husky blood because when it's cold I don't feel cold. Now I'm not sure I want to be a husky anymore. The dogs have microchips that track them so the officials can know where they are going and if they're in trouble.
    There are two routes, there is one that is north and a south route. The north one is even years and the south one is odd years. The race can take about 10-17 days. There is an award called the Red Lantern. It is for the person that finished last. It doesn't symbolize that they are bad, it symbolizes they showed determination and effort. If you want to follow the race in March go to: Iditarod race.
     I'm going to talk about Balto now. In 1925, Nome, Alaska caught diphtheria. The native children weren't use to it so it was deadly. A team of sled dogs pulled a sled full of medicine to Nome. Two of the leaders we recognize are Balto and Togo. Togo went through the most dangerous parts of the trail. Balto brought the medicine into Nome. But I recognize both of them as heroes. Speaking of Balto, I put up a Balto on my blog. You can give him biscuits and he won't get sick. You can throw a ball and he won't get tired. He's Balto! Though if you've got the ball out, put the ball away before you feed him.