About Elsa:
Elsa became a house dog the winter she was a yearling. Initially she came inside to heal from an injury but she was also incredibly hard to keep weight on so I wound up keeping her inside for the winter in an effort to prevent her from losing more weight. She was so well behaved and cuddly that come springtime, I didn't have the heart to put her back in the dogyard!
Elsa was a chronic harness chewer. I remember one run her yearling year - I was training for our first 100 mile race and although Elsa was behind the others on mileage I took her along on the run. I had my handler on a snowmachine with a dog crate trailer behind it, so I told him we'd likely need to give her a ride when she got tired. If I recall, the max miles she had done at that point was around 20. We got to 25 miles, her tug was still tight. 30 miles: still tight. 35 miles, still not tired. She did the entire 40 mile run with the team and then proceeded to chew her harness off at the truck while I was busy putting other dogs away because she wasn't tired enough.
Elsa always made my race team as she was super driven in harness and I'm not sure I remember her ever having injuries. She finished 2 Beargrease Marathons, the UP 200, the CanAm 250 and many other races.
In the house she was a constant companion. She loved snuggling and slept on my bed most nights. My nickname for her was Coyote Snuggly. She was an aggressive face washer, needing to get every inch of my face including my eyelids, slobbered. I hardly ever saw Elsa with her ears up - her favorite expression was 'happy squish face' and she wore that constantly. One of her favorite jobs in the house was prewashing the dishes before they went into the dishwasher.
Although she had just turned 9, Elsa was still running with the team and died doing what she loved. She was taken from me FAR too soon and I miss her every single day.
I love you my little coyote.... my house is not the same without you in it.