Lots of great questions in the comments over the last week, and Natasha was yelling at the hu-dad that he has not responded to questions in forever.  So, we thought we would take a post and answer some:

Stop being so lazy, hu-dad, and answer some questions.

White Dog asked, “Does hu-dad have an emergency supply of foodstuffs and kibble?”

Oh, yes, we have plenty of kibble.  We get our kibble at a great store about an hour from the house.  They always have our order stacked at the front door and we load up the Jeep every few weeks with it.  For some reason, the store manager is always very excited to see us come in.  Oh, and the hu-dad probably has some soup or something always stored in the pantry, but that is not really that important.

Got food for us, right?

HoundDogMom asked, “How many days have you guys actually ever been snowed in?”

Never, for several reasons.  First, the one other year round neighbor that lives here is one of the owners of the 1000 acre horse ranch next door to us.  He and his wife help with the feeding and care of the horses at the ranch, so they have to be able to get out no matter what the weather, so he uses his John Deere tractor and cleans the road to the main road anytime it snows (and comes down our driveway, too).  He is an absolutely awesome neighbor.

Our other big neighbor is Cataloochee Ski and they maintain the main road off of the mountain to the valley – meaning they have their own private fleet of snow plows and salt trucks.  We probably have the best maintained high elevation road in the county.

This is all a good thing because if we relied on the hu-dad to keep our roads cleared, we might be stuck at the house from the first snow in October or November until the last one in April.

The main road off the mountain stays in good shape even during the middle of the storm.

FiveSibes asked, “Now that looks like Husky Heaven – just how deep is it?”

Let’s see.  16 inches on Saturday.  12 inches on Monday.  Another 4 on Tuesday.  So we were at 32 inches (81 cm) through Tuesday.  And it snowed Wednesday, but we haven’t measured yet.

Hey - we can still find the road signs, so it is not too deep.

Ok, this has nothing to do with snow, but is about our beach week . . .

Sam asked, “Do Sibes swim? …Or like water?”

Ok, that is a complicated question.  In general, the breed is not known for loving water (and sort of makes sense because in the harsh cold of Siberia, water would be deadly to any creature).  But, Siberians are known for breaking any rule.  Cheoah, for example, absolutely loves being soaking wet and swims at any chance.  Natasha loves wading in the waves, but doesn’t like getting her head or body wet.  Qannik and Kiska tolerate the water and Rusty and Kodiak prefer dry feet, thank you.

So why complicated?  Amazing how many Siberians seem to love sitting in a drenching cold rain.  Our first Siberian, Nikita, would sit for hours in the driving rain and the hu-dad was always worried that people would think she didn’t have shelter.  She just loved the feel of rain, but she never had the first interest in swimming.

Wow, this really feels like a distant memory.

Thanks for all of the questions and comments.  Keep them coming and we will try to answer some more.

While stopping at a great view on the trails, I turned to notice that Qannik was just enjoying the pause, shade and wet foilage.

P.S. #1 – Qannik is Inuit for Snowflake, thus the title.  As our buddy Bricey well knows, Qannik came to us from the Haywood Animal Shelter with the name Snowflake.  We decided to keep the name, but change the language.

P.S. # 2 – Yes, it has been very hot here.  But we have to explain.  At the house, we have not yet crossed the 80F (26 C) level – that only happens a few days each year.  BUT, when we travel, we have to cross valleys and into towns, and the temperatures can be in the 80′s and – rarely – even 90.  Sometimes, the rapid change in temperatures can be as tough on the dogs (and humans) as the high temperatures themselves, so we constantly monitor them and make sure they have plenty of fresh water.