We wake up early so we have time to get dressed and eat breakfast before starting on our dog chores. Maddox has to add in some extra time because she has to wade through the puppy pile on her way out of her cabin.

After breakfast, it's time for chores! In addition to starting up the generator, we scoop the dog yard, fill all the dogs' water bowls, and give the puppies the first of their three meals for the day. The other dogs get fed after their run. Our last task for the morning is to back the side by side up the driveway and get the line out and ready for runs. The dogs always go crazy when they see this.

With no snow on the ground yet, the dogs are in dryland training mode. They run in teams of 12 hooked up to the side by side. These training runs are pretty short so the dogs don't get overworked in the heat - it's only about 50ºF this time of the morning but that's roasting for the dogs!

By midmorning, we're back from all the training runs, we've tidied up the dog yard, and shut off the generator. It's time for a puppy hike! We take all eleven puppies out with a few adult dogs along as chaperones to frolick through the woods around the homestead. As the puppies get bigger, the hikes get longer - up to two hours! This is definitely one of the best parts of the day, the puppies love exploring and the older dogs are always thrilled to run free through the trees.

Lunch time! We usually just grab a quick snack because the puppies need lunch too! They are all growing super fast, so the eleven of them split 24 scoops of kibble per day.

Our afternoons are a little different each day, since this time is used for working on various projects around the homestead. So far on the To Do List we've checked off blocking puppy access under the cabins, securing the puppy pen fence, clearing out last season's straw, mowing and weedwacking the lawn, and painting signs for the roads around the homestead.

The quality of our dinner varies widely, depending on our level of motivation. We've had some great successes (like Colton's grilled salmon) and some spectacular failures (crunchy moose lasagna). Culinary skills were not necessarily top of our list for things we expected to learn when moving out here, but we are definitely making strides in this area.

In the evening, we do one more round of dog chores including scooping, watering, and feeding. We usually finish up by feeding and playing with the puppies. Then Happy Hour commences on the porch with the retired dogs!