Holiday without Danny - Fur, Feathers and Fins

You probably noticed in my previous post that the Alaskan huskies don't look like the Siberian Huskies with grey and white fur. That's because unlike other breeds, Alaskan Huskies are typified by their purpose rather than their looks. This defines them as being highly efficient sled dogs, regardless of ancestry. (Credit: Wikipedia) As a result, a lot of them look like the street dogs we have here.

One of the most famous sled dog races is the Iditarod, or as our guide called it, the Great Puppydog Race. It stretches around 1,100 miles or 1,770km, across 3 mountain ranges. Each team comprises of 12 to 16 dogs and takes anything from 8 to 30 days to complete. To prepare for the race, they are trained from puppyhood and can run 20 miles a day as adults in training.

Oh, and did I mention each dog eats 10,000 calories a day? Our guide likened it to a grown man eating 80 Big Macs every day!

So they may not look it, but these dogs are athletes in their own right.

Getting ready to mush

Taking a drink in an icy river

The other thing Alaska is famous for is Salmon. Hubby and I saw fishermen fishing in a river just outside downtown Anchorage. Hubby was actually super grumpy cos he had a runny nose, wanted to sleep in and was so sure we wouldn't see anything. When I said I'll go on my own, he got out of bed and got dressed.

He was Mr Sourpuss all the way from the hotel to breakfast and on the way to the river. When we reached, a fisherman happened to be reeling in a catch. Thank God! After that, he was the one scurrying around trying to spot salmon.



I spotted a few of them among some rocks and I yelled to hubby. The fishermen heard me and they started casting their lines there. One of the salmon came up with blood running down. Oops.

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I was without Danny, but Alaska wasn't the only place I managed to get my dog fix. Up on Whistler mountain in Canada, we headed to this park by the river. Someone was playing fetch with her German Shepard.

Canada's quite a dog friendly place. We spotted this water fountain just for dogs outside the Buchart Gardens. I think it means dog parking. We also spied a few water coolers for humans with an identical one below for dogs around the city.

Oh, and check out the ENORMOUS chew bones for dogs! I have no idea what animal they're from ... goat, cow, ...dinosaur?

We saw several birds but they were too small or too fast for the camera. However, this seagull and his girlfriend, made themselves quite comfortable on our hotel balcony. They were our wake up call every morning in Vancouver...and he still had the cheek to moon me!

In Stanley Park, I had my first encounter with a black squirrel, which came racing up to me, ...

...and a racoon!

Both of them were heading my way because they thought I was going to feed them. Appearantly people have been doing so cos they think they are cute, but as with our monkeys here, they bite and scratch.

Still, I have these people to thank for me seeing the racoon. They are nocturnal animals and this one only came out during the day hoping to be fed. He is super cute though!

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One of the stranger pets I saw was up on Whistler. From a distance, I saw this lady walking what I assumed was a small dog.

Erm...It's a mongoose.

Funny thing is, no one else thought it was weird!

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Oh and yes, what is Alaska without the reindeer? In case you weren't aware, there are 2 kinds of reindeer. The first come in herds.

The second come in sausage. And they're yummy too!