On December 3, we ran in the relay for Dogs Across America. It was a cold winter day in Wisconsin, with the potential for snow. Blizzard and Flurry began the day with watered down dog food. Then they watched me through the back windows, waiting for me to get ready.

We hit the Bugline Recreational Trail at about 11:30 am. We started our leg in Sussex, Wisconsin were the trail intersects with highway 164 and ran a four and a half mile stretch to Menomonee Ave. in Menomonee Falls.

The dogs found the temperature to be ideal at 25 degrees; I thought it was a bit cold at first, until we got going. It did not take long for the action to start.

A quarter of a mile from were we started the trail starts to form steep banks on each side just before a bridge crossing over a set of train tracks. As the sides of the trail began to drop away, the girls spotted a large deer running down below on the right side of the trail.

They picked up speed quickly and were tempted to run down the side to chase after the deer. I of course was repeating, “on by” each time they looked down the side. I would have also had my fingers crossed if my gloves had not been so thick. My other fear as we picked up speed was the bridge ahead maybe icy. I used the brake to slow us down a bit. Luckily, the last snowfall had a nice powder over everything, which meant there was no slick ice on the bridge.

After the bridge, the dogs lost sight of the deer. Blizzard (a 2-year-old husky mix) is new to pulling this year since she was just adopted this summer from a local shelter. Flurry (3-year-old Siberian husky) however started pulling me on skis the previous winter. If one of them is going to listen to commands, it will mostly likely be the more reliable, not as easily distracted, Flurry.

Blizzard slowed down to look back for the deer for another half mile until she forgot all about it when she saw some birds take off. She forgot about the birds when we came across a woman walking a collie. She forgot about the collie when she saw our photographer at an intersection ahead.

As we were running down the trail, flurries began to fall; it was definitely winter in Wisconsin. We continued down the trail with flurries scurrying around us. We met a man out for a walk on the trail (the girls wanted to stop to say, “Hi”, but I insisted we continue).

The last mile was a little slower; I kept running along to help them out and to keep them motivated (they love making me work). We made it to our final destination and found our ride waiting for us. In fact, the girls started running faster when they heard the voice of our driver call.

Blizzard and Flurry napped in the car on the way home. As soon as we were safe and warm in the house, the earlier flurries turned to large flakes of snow. We spent the afternoon watching the snow, while I anticipated swapping the scooter for a pair of skis. It was a great day and we were sorry others were not able to join us in Wisconsin this year - maybe next year.

For details on the next Dogs Across America Event go to: http://www.dogsacrossamerica.org/

For information about the Dog Pack Scooter Club in Wisconsin go to: Wisconsin Dog Pack