Sled Dog Blog

More analysis on the Genetic study

2012-01-10T12:06:00.000-08:00

Alaskan Sled dogs cluster with the "Ancient Asian Group" which is the group closest to wolves and believed to have branched off from wolves the earliest.

So to me that intuitively makes sense. That shows the genetic relationship between alaskan sled dogs and Asian pariah dogs believed to have crossed the Bering land bridge with the First Americans, the ancestors of the native people.

So Alaskan sled dogs have this unique genetic signature, but its related to Asian pariah dogs, which basically resemble dingos. That's basically what a primitive dog is, a dingo basically. You see these dogs throughout Asia, New Guniea, the Sinai Peninsula(Canaan dogs), and even in North America(Carolina dogs) and Korea (Jindo).

So these pariah dogs are around. They aren't really valued, where they still occur, but rather tolerated, but some modern breeds have been created from them, such as Japanese Breeds such as the Shiba Inu and the Akita, the Canaan dog of Israel, and the Basenji of Africa.

Basenjis and Shiba Inu's are closely related, which may seem strange given the geographic distance, but not so strange when you consider the basic phenotype of the two dogs. Basically they are identical with the exception of the coat length. The Basenji has a short coat in keeping with the hot climate its found in and the Shiba has a warm coat. Both are cat like, primitive behaving dogs, with a tightly curled tail. Both are predatory and territorial and would probably be too much to handle for most pet owners in a larger size. Of, course, a larger version of the Shiba, is the Akita Inu, which actually is too much to handle for most pet owners, the same with the Chow. These are primitive dogs.

The dogs of Jindo island in korea are intermediate in size between a Shiba inu and Akita and these dogs have their wild hunting instincts completely intact and can and do take down deer and eat them just like a wolf.

These primitive dogs, represent the first domestication event of primitive dogs. Its belived these first dogs were descended from wolves that began to hang around human camps and formed a symbiotic relationship with humans. It wasn't really a master slave relationship, which is what the relationship of modern breeds and human's resembles. It was more of a partnership.

That is why these pariah dogs are less domesticated. Its because they are less dependant. They are semi feral. They breed on their own, raise pups on their own and hunt and scavaenge for their own food. The modern breeds are totally dependant upon humans and are the result of planned breedings and strict artifical selection and genetic isolation.

Modern sled dogs, however, are not pariah dogs. They aren't free ranging, the breedings are carefully planned, they are well fed (and thus don't hunt and forage for their food) and they are bred to a standard, which is a performance standard.

The diffeence between them and modern AKC style breeds, is that the standard is a performance standard and that the "breed book" is open and not closed, so there is much more heterogeneity in the gene pool.

But I think going back in time, the ancestors of the Alaskan sled dog, would more closely resemble pariah dogs found else where in the world in its way of life. This way of life is still seen in the Arctic, or was seen in recent memory, where eskimo dogs were relegated to islands in the summer and left to fend and scavange for themselves and breeding was more or less random.

But modern racing dogs aren't Greenland dogs and they aren't pariah dogs and they are bred to a strict standard a standard that didn't really exist before the advent of modern sled dog racing.

With racing sled dogs, Some human athletic analogies break down. For example iditarod dogs are compared to marathon runners and sprint racing dogs are compared to sprinters, but really the highest level of sprint racing resembles a human marathon, beyond the capacity of human endurance. Its basically like running three marathons consecutively over the course of three days at a spped of over 20 mph. Its a feet that no human being can perform. Its a feat of extreme endurance.

Pariah dogs aren't subject to such extreme selection pressure. Many, were and still are used as primitive hunting dogs, so this is reflected in a certian level of athletic ability that is superior to most modern breeds. In Russian Laikas this ability have been developed further. Historically Alaskan Native dogs were used for hunting also.

So among this pool of primitive dogs, the Alaskan sled dog was created. There was a lot of culling for racing. So this changed the gene pool. traits associated with extreme athleticism were chosen and traits associated with primitive behaviors like aggression were weeded out. This has been going on for nearly a hundred years, at least 60 years for really serious racing. Dogs used for general transportation have more or less died out.

But with specialization, there have been some trade offs. One of the trade offs has been breeding for short coats. The short coats prevent over heating, in events such as open class sprint racing. Open class sprint racing is more demanding than other types of events with a slower tempo, such as mid distance racing, so winning animals from open class events have been more in demand for breeding.

Open Class sprint dogs are the most gifted athlitically, dogs going back to these lines are the most successful in distance events. So the upshot is that Alaskan husky sled dogs of today are more athletically gifted than their more primitive ancestors. The downside is that most of the really athletically gifted dogs are too short coated to perform their original jobs of providing winter transportation and running traplines. But still, the genetic link to the past is still strong. Genetically, open class dogs are not mostly hound dog. Pure hounds can't do what they do.

I have seen throwbacks to a more traditional husky phenotype, among sprint racing dogs and there are also a few of the husky phenotype competing at the highest level.

The best distance dogs go back to older less houndy sprint lines.

So based on this gentic evidence I would the best sled dogs, for winter transportation would be dogs from long distance racing kennels, possibly outcrossed with more old fashioned expedition type dogs.

A dog with a background like that would probably be superior than the sled dogs of yesturday, running traplines in the Bush, becauase these dogs would have 60 years of performance breeding behind them.

I miss my sled dogs

2010-10-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

Alaskan Huskies are a Breed Apart

2010-10-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

From the study, it can be concluded that the Alaskan Husky has a unique genetic signature, as well as obvious contributions from other breeds.

The Alaskan husky is composed of two sub populations:
Sprint and Distance

Of the two the Sprint population shows the greatest heterogeneity, but interestingly the highest percentage also of the unique Alaskan sled dog genetic signature.

The distance sub population show less heterogeneity but also has more contribution from Siberian husky and Alaskan malamute genetics, in qualities related to endurance. Also the most successful distance racing dogs are more closely related to the sprinting sub population dogs. It can be concluded from this that the best Sprint racing dogs can be successful in distance racing also whereas the reverse is not true.

Another interesting finding is that there appears to be no correlation between pointer genetics and athletic performance in terms of speed, endurance or work ethic.

Some other findings weren't so surprising to me, such as the sprint population having more contribution from hounds than the distance dogs.

One point I find that needs clarification is the distance sub population having more contribution from what the study calls "Anatolian shepherd."

I don't believe that the AKC breed known as the Anatolian Shepherd has made any contribution whatsoever to the Alaskan Sled dog gene pool, and neither have sharpeis, shitzus nor tibetan terriers, whose genetic markers also showed up in the study.

The "Anatolian shepherd" is just a breed of dog with a closed studbook, based on some People that brought some Flock Guardian dogs back from Turkey in the 1970's.

I think what these genetic markers are for are just flock guardian/mollosser genes in general. These types of dogs historically spread all over Eurasia and are believed to be descended from the Tibetan Mastiff. So I think it was various types of Mastiffs, St. Bernards, Newfoundalands, great Pyrenees etc. that made the original contribution to the Alaskan Husky gene pool, during the Gold Rush.

The genetic markers from the lapdogs showed up basically because these breeds come from Asia, and that is no doubt where the indigenous huskies in the Alaskan husky gene pool came from also, when they crossed the land bridge in the Berring strait with the first native Americans.

But what is most interesting to me is that there really is a unique Alaskan sled dog signature and that its stronger in the top sprint lines.

I chalk this up to the fact that these dogs originate with alaskan husky village dogs used by the Athabaskan indians around Huslia. These are indians not eskimos, not white people. So that would make sense why they would have had unique indian type dogs originally. The Eskimos would have had Malamutes along with the whites and the whites would have had Siberian huskies and also dogs with more of a mollosser content.

When the Iditarod was started these long distance lines were created from the Indian dog gene pool but also with big contributions from malamutes and Siberian huskies. So now the genetics of the two sub populations reflect that. Also historically Athabaskan sprint racers in the villages would trade many dogs back and forth pooling their dogs collectively to field big teams in the races like the Rondy and Open North American. Whereas when you picture what Iditarod mushers do, its usually white people that are fairly well off, financially who own their own land and keep more to themselves, in their breeding programs. So that's reflected in distance lines being more genetically isolated, though still not as isolated as AKC pure breds.

Its also interesting about elite dogs transitioning from sprint to distance being one way. A "good dog is a good dog" in terms of a good sprint dog being a good distance dog, but not the reverse.

As far as what to conclude from this in terms of creating a breeding program that could potentially win distance races: I think its obvious that distance racers should breed their dogs to top ONAC bloodlines, that don't contain too much pointer and they should probably out cross to the fastest siberian huskies they can get a hold of.

I think the fact is that the level of competition between elite sprint teams is greater than what you find in the distance games and that this creates a more severe selection criteria.

But still, though, Iditarod/Quest dogs still really need a certain amount of Siberian/malamute genetics.

Also if you wanted to create a really tough draft dog that pulls really hard to recreate a Gold rush type freight dog an anatolian Shepherd Malamute cross would be something to consider.

Old Timey Village dogs

2010-10-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

Here

Here

Here

Here

Here

Looking for an all purpose hiking and skijoring dog.

2008-03-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

I am thinking of buying a dog. This will be a hiking companion and skijoring dog. Plus an all around all purpose type dog to have with me out in the Bush when I go to Alaska. I really like huskies in terms of sled dogs. That would be a good choice for skijoring. But in my experience, huskies, especially siberian huskies and more primitive type alaskan huskies aren't especially good "all around dogs."
Generally they can't be trusted off leash, have no watch dog ability, they have a prey drive, but not in any kind of a way that I have seen, that can be channeled into being a hunting dog.

What I mean, by an "all around dog" is basically an all purpose farm dog. There is a breed of dog from down south that is more of a "type" than an established breed, called a "cur." there are different varieties- "Black mouth cur" "Yellow black mouth Cur" " "catahoula leopard dog" "mountian cur" They are used as hunting dogs, cattle and sheep herding dogs, and watch dogs. They can tree coons like a coon hound, or be used to hunt wild hogs.

They are obedient and somewhat protective and can also be used as a "varmint dog" that kill rats and other pests around the farmstead. The ancestors of these dog seem to be the ancestors of the Great Dane that came to the Americas with the Spanish, that were then crossed with local indian dogs. They are actually quite similar to Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Which are a cross of the same type of Great Dane type dog with indigenous dogs from Africa.

The Great Dane is just a show dog and a pet today, with little or no working ability. But originally it was a bear and boar hunting dog combining the best qualities of mastiffs and sighthounds.

Curs are kind of like a smaller more driven version of a great dane. They are lithe and muscular, with a learn wiry build and a bigger sized head and strong jaws. The catahoula leapard dog has an unusual coloring, related to the merel gene, similar to a harlequin Great Dane, but they also come in solid colors. The other cur varieties come in brindle or tan or red with a black mask.

These aren't cold weather dogs. They have a coat like a pointer or a hound, so it would sleep indoors with me. I was considering a german Shepherd also, but they have so many horrible health problems. Its really sad to have a beautiful German shepherd with a great temperament totally break down and become a cripple after just a few years. This has happened to me and to so many other people I have known. I had one I paid $1,200 for from German import parents that had to be put down at 4 years because of severe hip dysplasia. I had a neighbor with one that lost all its fur to allergies, and also knew a person with two that could barely get around due to various structural problems.

Just seems like too much of a gamble.

I would imagine that a cur with have similar abilities as a pointer in skijoring. They are similarly athletic and driven and probably even have higher intelligence than a pointer since they are used for herding.

Speaking of herding dogs, I have also considered a border collie or a blue heeler, but I tend to like bigger dogs. I have also considered a Chesapeake bay retriever or a Rhodesian Ridgeback. I exclude labs, because I like hiking dogs that are a little aloof with strangers. Its inconvenient to hike around with a dog and have it go berserk with affection every time I encounter another person on the trail. Plus they are just so darn common. I'd like something a little different.

I would also consider a mutt with the above characteristics I am looking for or even an alaskan husky with the right qualities. There are so much variation with alaskan huskies. I have encountered some that were trustworthy off leash and very trainable and intelligent. I have also seen some that were very much like a typical siberian in temperament and some are dumb as rocks. Which in a sled dog, its not always bad to have a dumb dog as long as it is a good runner that is an easy keeper that eats and drinks well and keeps its line tight. Thinking too much isn't always a good thing.

I imagine a Russian Laika, might be what I am looking for, they are similar to a cur in purpose, but with beautiful husky looks. Seems like it might take some doing to find one, though and would be expensive. I also have never seen one in person, and it may be they they are not as trainable as some other breeds.

The few belgian sheepdogs I have seen were nice. Having a similar temperament as a good German Shepherd in a slightly smaller package without the massive amount of health issues.

This year Siberians might win it!!!!!!

2008-02-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Like a lot of guys, my head is filled with useless obscure sports trivia. Except in my case, its sports trivia about a really obscure sport: Long Distance dog mushing. Of which, there are really only two events: The iditarod and the Yukon Quest.

Also within that obscure sport, I root for an even more obscure segment: Siberian husky mushers. They are the ultimate underdogs. Literally. Every year there are one or two teams in either race, carrying the torch, but they usually get the red lantern.

So why do they always get the red lantern You ask? Well the easy answer is because siberians are slow. But that doesn't really answer the question. It goes deeper than that! Because to get the red lantern, first of all you have to complete the race and not give up! You have to be mentally tough and stubborn! People that scratch, never get the red lantern!

Time and time again, these rookie mushers running siberians, get the red lantern. I think it says somthing about them. People tend to value the qualities in their dogs that they value in themselves. Like their chosen breed, these people are tough and stubborn! And loyal! They simply won't give up on their chosen breed even if statistics say they have no virtually no chance of beating the speedier crossbred sled dogs!

You gotta love people like that.

But this year, there is somthing happening that most people may not know. There is a guy, Mike Ellis, running a team of dogs, that are actually of the same bloodline, of dogs that were run in 1998, by "Hall of Famer" Andre Nadeau, who almost won the race, but lost a showdown with Bruce Lee, but managed to win rookie of the year, First to Dawson and First across the border.

These were siberian huskies from the kodiak bloodline. Neadeau, had let their registrations with the CKC slip. But that is what they were. Some people have argued that, once you don't register a litter of siberian huskies, they automatically become alaskan huskies. And that is why they came in second place in 1998 because alaskan huskies are faster and his dogs technically were alaskan huskies.

Somthing doesn't seem quite right with the logic there.

But besides that, you may wonder, how can these dogs be that similar to Neadeaus, since its ten years later and Eliis dogs are registered siberian huskies. Obviously they aren't descended from Nadeau's dogs.

True,they aren't but genetically they are very similar. That is because the kodiak bloodline is very inbred. Inbred in a good way. Go back a few generations and you see "Spook of White Water Lake" over and over again. Spook, was himself inbred, so back from Spook, you get a bunch of the same dogs also. Plus people have linebred on Spook. So its almost like Kodiak dogs are all twins. Genetically, they are really alike.

I could spot kodiaks in a line up. They have a distinct look. But the fact is, this is the only line of siberians that cam close to winning the Yukon Quest in recent history.

Mike Ellis is doing well too. Its early in the race, but he is towards the front of the pack. So watch this guy.

But another thing to watch for is that Lance Mackey is also running a dog from Nadeau lines. It may be a bit watered down from the pure husky lines at this point, but still, I am sure those kodiak traits are shining through after all that intense line breeding. And Lnce Mackey is always in contention to win.

Check out "boycuz" on Lance Mackey's website

end of civilization dogs

2008-02-10T17:09:00.001-08:00

That's the bottom line for me in terms of what kind of dogs I want. If civilization were to end tomorrow and I had to rely on my dogs for survival, transportation, etc, and i had to feed them foods I had to procure in the wild, like fish and game meat what types of dogs would I want? Open sprint hounds? By the same token would registration papers do me any good?

I'd want tough easy keepers with efficient metabolisms that can sleep out in the cold and pull a decent amount of weight over long distances at a moderste speed.

Dogs that fit the bill would be older type alaskan huskies, or siberians or malamutes with good work ethics. I see no reason not to get some different breeds and cross breed them like Will Stger did with his polar huskies, but select for traits associated with traveling in the interior rather than the high arctic.

Denali ranger dogs would fit the bill, just fine.

Making me rethink siberians

2008-02-10T12:07:00.000-08:00

Don Schmidt

Here is an interesting article it contains an interview with Don Schmidt, a musher who ran the iditarod with registered siberian huskies last year and who is running the Yukon Quest right now with the same dogs.

Most people run these races with mixed breed alaskan huskies but, there are a few dedicated mushers, who still use registered siberians. But anyway, they all generally get the red lantern. I think its frustrating for most of them.

Here is why I think alaskan husky teams win races:

The selection pressure for breeding a winning race team is intense, but this selection pressure is acting upon greater genetic variation because of the cross breeding.

In addition to this, there are just more alaskan husky kennels out there competing in races. Its a numbers game.

There are a few siberian kennels competing seriously but they don't compete successfully at the highest levels, so if they wanted to only breed race winning stock, they would never breed anything. So even though their standards may be high in terms of their goals, compared to top racing teams they aren't.

What I mean is, alaskan huskies that perfrom like siberians in races aren't bred by top alaskan husky kennels.

Also in a closed gene pool, like siberians have, there will only be so much genetic variation. There is much more genetic variation to draw from with an gene pool open to cross breeding. More culling too though.

Personally, though, I don't want to race. So, producing siberians that can win races over alaskan huskies is not a goal I would ever pursue.

I just want really durable working dogs and I like primitive characteristics. It looks to me based on this Guy's performance that he has really tough durable dogs. They are thick furred and medium boned.

I think over time, what has happened is racing kennels acting with the natural variation in the siberian gene pool, have made choices and selected for racing qualities. Longer legs, lighter bone and lighter coat. Not as exagerated as it is in the cross bred alaskans, but by competing with alaskan huskies, I think they have come to resemble them a little.

Its seems to be the case that there is somthing to be said for siberian huskies in their own right according to the standard as it is written.

More or less sick of the internet.

2008-02-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

I would much rather be mushing dogs right now than vicariously reading about mushing on the internet. Plus, I really don't have much to share.

Things I need to do before moving to Alaska

2008-01-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

1. Save money (between 2 and 4 grand)
2. Get in the best shape of my life
3. Whittle all my belongings down to just a few things
4. Work on my writing skills, start submitting essays to magazines

Dream not Dead

2008-01-10T07:53:00.000-08:00

I still plan to go to alaska and have a sled dog team and live off the land. I am going up in the spring.

What the World needs....

2007-01-24T21:27:00.000-08:00

"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
-Howard Thurman

I think that is the advice I am going take. That's what being a free range organic human is all about.

Dream

2006-08-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

The dream is kind of dead for now. It may be ressurected in the future. If it is I will have about four big dogs. Probably mixed breed dogs. Alaskan huskies from between 60 to 80 lbs if I can find them. I really think I learned a lot from my short stint in alaska as a handler even though it didn't work out. I learned basically this: I need to do things on my own. I really don't like being told what to do. I really don't like not being in charge of myself. I also know that without a doubt racing competitively holds absolutely no appeal for me.

I like quiet. I like moving along at my own pace. I like figuring things out for myself. I have the confidence that I can take a bunch of rejected sled dogs and turn them into a team. I have the confidence that I can train a yearling pup to be a gee haw leader in one winter. That is I can train a yearling to pull a small team for a few miles on a familiar trail. Not impressive in the overall scheme of things if I want to race the iditarod. But for just knocking around in the woods, pretty damn fun.

As far as being a fast, efficient, machine, I never was and never will be. I don't even like fast efficient dogs. I like obnoxious rebellious dogs. I like dogs with weird quirks and lots of personality.

I was not a good handler. If I were a dog, I wouldn't even really make a good sled dog. I don't listen. I get bored with routine, I don't like to work that hard. I do like adventure though, but in between adventures, I like to loaf around a lot. I like to day dream. I get in arguments.

One thing though, I have going for me is that I am not bothered by the cold. I actually like the cold. I don't mind not showering for months. I like eating wild game. So I think I might be able to fit in in Alaska.

I know there are sled dogs out there like me. Unruly dogs with warm fur that like eating meat and going on slow moving adventures in the wilderness and loafing around in between and geting in argumments. I know this because I have met dogs like this.
When I meet dogs like this instictively, we like each other.

Well, I'm up here...

2006-01-09T20:47:00.000-08:00

And I am tired. Dog handling is hard work! Feed 40 dogs, scoop poop, cut fish, fat, frozen , meat, haul wood, pack sleds, hook up dogs, unhook dogs, sort harnesses, booties,scoop again, feed forty dogs again, and start the whole thing over again!

So I am feeling a bit worn out. But, I get to run dogs tomorrow! At least a ten miler and if that works out, a 20 miler on top of that would be awesome.

There are lots of caribou and moose around. The mushers see them everyday. Its been about 25 below consistently. I have gotten pretty well adapted, it wsas 10 above yesturday and it felt hot! I didn't wear any gloves that day.

Also...I may get to see Jack and Doppler! The guy that Karen Land sold them to is racing the Copper Basin 300 sled dog race, next week. That would be so cool to see them.

There is another team training here, so another cool thing is that after the racem the mushers staying here will move back to White Horse and I get my own cozy litte lakeside cabin! woohoo!

More later

That's It, I'm going!

2005-12-15T00:24:00.000-08:00

I am not sure how I am going to do it, but I am not staying here another month. I am going to Alaska, if I have crawl there on my hands and knees. Eee Gads! I hope I don't have to do that!

I'm broke, so hopefully I can figure out a cheap way to get up there and still have some money to settle in and get a job. Maybe there is still time to handle for somebody and get free room and board! Then I will just get a job in the spring. But whatever I do I am going up. No more over thinking it and coming up with the perfect paln. I'm kust going, Damn it!

Kind of dogs I like

2005-12-14T04:01:00.000-08:00

Check out this profile of Russ Bybee on the Yukon Quest website: Russ Bybee

I assume that dog on the right is Chester, which he describes as an 80 lb lead dog. I think that is awesome. Most racing dogs are 40-50 lbs, 60 tops. That is my kind of dog. Big husky looking alaskans.
The Denali Ranger dogs look like this. Big long legged thick coated dogs. They aren't bred for looks but some are quite beautiful anyway.

Another Guy with dogs like this is Frank Turner
I think these are the best kind of dogs. Better than malamutes. These are large race tested dogs, that hearken back to Gold Rush days. So they are dogs bred to high performance standards, but still retain old fashioned qualities.

Purebred dogs like malamutes retain old fashioned genetic characteristics, but they haven't been bred for performance for many generations.

I'll be following this man in the Quest.

Sled dogs

2005-12-02T02:42:00.000-08:00

That last post obviously didn't have anything to do with sled dogs. But sled dogs are on my mind this winter. It always happens when there is snow on the ground. This time last year I began my first sled dog runs with my new team. Now the key members of that team are in Alaska with Clint Warnke. Who knows if they will ever race? Jack, Fir and Doppler, each had their draw backs as sled dogs. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten them. Still, they were some amazing dogs. I think having a small team, allowed me more time to bring out their leadership skills. One thing I learned is that buying a pre-trained leader is somewhat of a myth. Its a handy myth for selling a lead dog, but in reality, it seems to me that dogs lead for their masters. They lead based on the bond that has developed with their master through the training. I never got any of my "lead dogs" that I bought to consistently lead for me.

And when I gave my dogs back to Karen Land after I got divorced they no doubt were not then lead dogs for her. They had far less miles on them than her other dogs and they were used to leading a six dog team not sixteen. A six dog team of racing culls and retirees. So they were sold back to Clint Warnke, who had originally bred them.
But they without a doubt knew Gee from Haw and how to hold out a line. I think their greatest gift to me is the coinfidence of knowing I can train my own lead dogs. Although I only had them a short while, I will never forget this team.

Jack, I think had the most potential. He looks a lot like Joe Runyans famous lead dog "Furlin." He is a medium sized dog, with a thick wolf colorored coat and rippling muscles. Karen Land's mentor, Terry Adkins, a bit of a lengend himself, showed an interest in the dog after I returned him to Karen. But Jack has this annoying habit of getting so excited at hook up that it is nearly impossible to put his harness on. As a small time recreational musher, I simply thought it was funny and a bit annoying. I tried to work on him and break the habit. My solution seemed a bit counter intuitive. I hooked him up first and trained him to hold out the line and began training him to lead. It was the only thing that could channel his boundless enthusiasm.

But to a serious racer with several dozen dogs and not a lot of time to waste, its no laughing matter apparently. So Terry, neutered Jack, to prevent this annoying habit of being passed on, and gave him back to Karen, who sold him to Clint.

Who knows if I will ever see him again? Maybe he will find his way to the iditarod. In my opinion he is a great sled dog. I miss him quite a bit.

Art

2005-11-27T22:51:00.000-08:00

Here is a sample of one of My Aunt's drawings that I am trying to help her sell.

Net, eh?

Here is another:

Who am I kidding?

2005-11-25T13:12:00.000-08:00

I am not meant for civilization. There is one really cool old growth forest here in Madison. Its called "picnic point." There are huge 200 year old Cottonwood trees on it and Oaks and other hardwoods. But you can't go there without seeing a gazillion joggers and mountian bikers etc. and Yesturday I took a walk there on a beautiful evening with full moon out and I almost got a ticket. This police woman drove up and informed me that the Park closes at ten pm and that I could get a $ 180.00 fine if I didn't leave.

Imagine if I was an indian or somthing whose ancestors were burried there? It doesn't seem right. Ancient forests shouldn't close at ten pm. I used to love taking long walks in the woods in northern MN when there was a full moon out.

Madison is a beautiful city. But there are just too many damn people. You need lots of laws and regulations when you have so many people all crammed together. I am glad I came out here and got to spend time with my Aunt and my Mother. But now I am basically here to save money to move to Alaska. Regroup. Recover from the divorce, and all the changes to my life recently.

I thought at first that maybe I would put down roots here and get involved in the arts and the local left wing politics. I am against the war and globalization and so forth, but most of all I am a non-conformist politically. I don't really fit in with left wing political groups. It burns me out. Plus the vegan bunny hugger contingency really irks me.

So I am running out of excuses not to go, not to take the plunge and move to Alaska. I am done overthinking it too. There is no perfect plan, I have to come up with. The planning just keeps me from going.

I could have went after high school, but I joined the Army instead, rationalizing, that I would get a college fund. I could have moved after I got married and my Wife and I wanted to go an be close to nature, but I moved to Minnesota instead. The rationalization was that I would still be close to family and that Minnesota was a lot like alaska because it has moose and wolves and lakes and so forth.

well not quite. but it was nice. I got a sled dog team, but before I really got fully into it, I got divorced and had to give all the dogs back.

Its really odd how I have always, from earliest childhood had this yearning for alaska, while always having this hesitation, of going. Somthing holding me back. I can't figure it out. I don't know what it is. Maybe its because I know I won't do it part way. Maybe its because I know I will be drawn very deeply into the land and want to be like these handful of people that still live a substinence lifestyle in the Bush.

Maybe its because I fear not seeing my relatives again, maybe its because I don't know if I can really make it. I don't know if I can be totally self sufficient and really live off the land. Hunt my own meat, build my own shelter, carve out my own existence. Maybe its a test I don't know if I can really pass.

I mean if its a matter of moving to Anchorage or Fairbanks and getting a regular job. I know I can do that. I can be a "weekend warrior." Camp, Hike and explore here and there as a vacation.

But compromises have not satisfied. This is what I have been doing. It just increases my appetite. I got a taste of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and I felt like I wanted to dissapear into it. Slip into its expanse like a lone wolf and never be seen again. But civilization has permeated that place too.

I guess what I am facing is similar to what the pioneers of old faced, as they decided to "light out for the territory" and become a "mountian man."

They faced the strong possibility that they might not make it, that they would die, fail the test, or even if they made it they may not see their loved ones ever again.

This is what is ahead for me. I must face this fact.

More on the Amur Laika

2005-11-16T11:00:00.000-08:00

The next dog I get is going to be an Amur Laika. This is actually a real life embodiment of my concept of the perfect dog. Before I discovered this breed of dog, I actually imagined it and thought of various breeds of dogs I would have to breed together in order to create it. I thought of maybe breeding an Akita to a German shepherd and then crossing it with an alaskan or siberian husky. The qualities I wanted were that of a leggy agile akita, that was an obediant companion dog and also had sled dog ability so that it could be used as a skijoring dog and also a hunting dog.

American Akitas, are very large and blocky;very big boned. They are not a sled dog. They can be trained as a sled dog, but lack endurence and can be very dog aggressive.

They also are challenging to train and are very protective and can be agressive toward humans. A dog that is very protective and can be aggressivce towards humans combined with being difficult to train, is a very potentially dangerous dog.

Contrast this with the siberian husky. The siberian husky, is a capable sled dog with natural beauty, not dog aggressive, not agressive to humans at all, actually, no watchdog ability whatsoever. However, very hard to train, as far as being off leash. This dog does not tend to come when called and can roam for days even weeks if allowed loose.

German sheperds are very trainable, obediant dogs. They are protective, but easy to control with proper training. However, they are designed for the flying trot, which is not the best gait for sledding or skijoring. The working lines are better, but they still aren't built the best for sledding because of their heavy heads and fronts.

The Amur Laika, combines all the traits I want. Superficially, they look a lot like a siberian or alaskan husky, but perhaps a bit larger. The difference is in their temperament. They are protective, and give a warning bark, when strangers approach, but will not bite humans. They are more trainable than siberian husky and can be off leash. They don't stray but keep close contact with their master. They also have good sled dog abilities. Check out the racy lines on these dogs:

The Amur Laika is actually a subspecies of the "East Siberian Laika". The live in the Amur river region of the soviet union. This is where Siberian tigers live.

These dogs have actually been used to hunt Tigers. They also are used to Hunt brown bears and 500 lb. wild boars.

Notice how close this region is to Japan. The japanese have recently altered the type of the Japanese Akita and created a seperate registry to differentiate them from the American style akita. The American style Akita hearkens back the the earlier type of fighting akita that showed the influence of european giant breeds like the St. Bernard and Mastiff. These older style Akitas are massive (over 100 lbs) long bodied with massive mastiff like heads. The japanese breeders wanted to breed these qualities out and return the akita to what they percieved to be its original more natural form. So they imported laikas from the Amur region and added them to the gene pool. The newer version of the japanese akita is leggier and more agile and not so massive of bone.

The bone and head structure of the Amur Laika, however, is heavier and sturdier than that of the "West Siberian Laika." The west siberian laika is finer boned and only about 50 lbs. Below is a photo of a "west Siberian Laika." These are from the western region of Siberia, closer to Europe and Central Asia.

The Amur Laika is about 65 lbs. This is a larger more substantial dog, but still very agile. This incidentally is also the upper size limit of an efficient sled dog. The type of sking I want to do would require a larger type of sled dog that can pull a pulk or small sled but have the endurence to travel long distances on remote trails, in deep unplowed snow conditions.

Testament to the amazing abilities of the Amur laika is the story of "Otchum."

Otchum

This was a Laika from the Lake Baikal region of the former soviet union, owned by French adventure and arctic explorer, Nicholas Vanier. Othchum led thousands of miles of arctic expeditions, with a team composed of his offspring, that resulted from a mating to a Greenland dog bitch. This dog also acted as a companion on horsback rides in the summer, a pack dog and a companion and babysitter to his yound daughter. I have a picture book by Vanier with several pictures of his beautiful dog "otchum." Vanier has also written a book about this dog and his amzing exploits.

Here is a link to a page about that book with some more pictures. Scroll down for pictures. The page is in french:Otchum book

Unfortunatly OTchum was killed in a dog fight with one of his sons. These dogs however went on to take Vanier in many more arctic journeys, including a winter long trip across the entire contiennt or North America.

Otchum was a very handsome obediant dog.

Still love dogs.

2005-11-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I have this blog here that people still seem to be visiting to check up on me...

So I just thought I would check in. I live in a little aparetment now, in Madison, WI. This is the capital of Wisconsin and a college town. Its kind of an urban area, but it is a rather liberal/progressive city and most people here are very concerned with conservation, so there are lots of well treed parks and wildlife preserves and several lakes. There is this one area called the "arboretum" that I walk in every day. It is a man made natural preserve, that belongs to the university. I think it was created in the 1930's. They apparently just bought some farm land and planted a forest. There are turkeys and deer in the park and several other species of birds. They are quite tame, since hunting in not allowed and I have walked to within a few yards of both deer and turkeys.

The arboretum is very nice, but it is strange to see so many people while walking in the woods. This is not Northern Minnesota.

This is a fairly large city with lots of cultural opportunities, lots of resteraunts, museums, Art galleries etc. I was kind of missing this aspect of life while living out in the woods, so I am catching up on this. I have been working on my writing and assisting my Aunt, who is an artist, in getting her work shown in galleries.

Probably I will be here for a year or so, get all this culture crap out of my system and then head of for the wilderness again somewhere. I'd like to make some money and get established as a writer. That is my main reason for being here.

I don't think I will get right back into mushing though, especially with global warming. Though I only had my sled dog team for one winter and thought it was the most fun I ever had in my life, I really don't think it if feasible to have a team of dogs, if its only going to be winter for 2-3 months. Where I lived in MN used to have winter from Halloween to Easter. That is, it used to be almost 5 months. But lately for much of the upper midwest it has been only basically january and February. Manybe half of march and half of december.

There is a lot I want to do the rest of the year, like traveling, hiking, kayaking, camping, hunting etc.

What I plan to do is get a pair of dogs someday for skijoring. Then in the summer I can pack with them, and camp with them and if I need to I can board them.

This is even if I move to Alaska.

I really am still into dogs, and like talking to people around here when I see them out walking them. I have seen a couple that look like alaskan huskies even.

What I'd like to do this year, is see some sled dog races in the northern part of the state if they have them. I will post photos. I am also excited about following the quest and the i-rod this year too.
Two of my favorite mushers, Karen Land, and Karen Ramstead, are both running the Quest. I am really anxious to see how they do.

I also still like to research breeds of dogs on the internet. Here is a link I found about a rare breed, called the "Amur Laika" Its in Russian, but there are lots of cool pictures.

This is an all purpose dog that looks like an athletic looking malamute. It can pull sleds or skiers and is also a fearless hunting dog.

This may be the perfect breed for me somday, when I get established again with a house.

Check it out. cool dog breed.

Amur Laika

Update

2005-09-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well, just a little update here-It looks as though, this site is still getting a few hits a day, so people are probably wondering how I am doing.

The dogs all found homes, The house is sold and I am living in Madison, WI. I am planning to go to alaska as soon as I can and be a dog handler.

More later...

Dogs in need of homes

2005-05-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

All photos are clickable.
Cruiser

Cruiser is a pure bred, though unregistered siberian husky. His mother was a seppala siberian line husky and his father was a mix of anadyr and seppla. He is about 2 years old. I harness broke him and he took really readily to work. He is very focused and driven. He also is not prone to overheating like some siberian huskies. He is a very high strung dog and paces on his chain all day long wearing a trench into the ground. he loves to run and is a good worker. He is a small dog of about 40 lbs.

Doppler

Doppler is originally from Ross Adams. He is from swingley lines. He is a very sweet intelligent dog and pretty fast. He learned how to be a Gee Haw leader and led a 6 dog team on up to 12 mile runs his first winter in harness. He catches on very quick to every thing. He is very sensitive and eager to please. I think he could be a racing dog, but I have picked up that he likes to lope really fast on smooth trails with a largetr team more than with a small team on crappy trails, which is what I did most of the winter.

One thing about him is that he could also be a pet, since he is so well behaved. I house broke him in one day. He laso learned how to heal in one training session and will walk on a leash without pulling. He is a really nice sweet dog. He sleeps over night in the house with me very often, most of my dogs would wreck the house.

Fir

Fir is from Swingley and Terry Adkins lines. He is a strong, very fast dog. He led 400 miles of the iditarod with Karen Land. Soon after I got him he got in a fight with my wheel dog and sprained his ankle. He is not a fighter though the other dog started it. I didn't run him most of the season because of this.

Jack

This is my favorite dog. He is both a hard worker and also very affectionate. He is a real character. I think a recreational musher would appreciate him the most because he has so many humorous antics. But I think he has the natural ability to be a distance racing dog too. He is from Butcher and Buser bloodlines. His parents were on Clint Wankes winning Candian challenge team. He has a lot of energy and is very playful unless he is run up front. Then he can channel his energy and is very focused. He ran lead with Doppler most of the season but Doppler was better with commands. He cought on really well for a yearling though. The reason I think he has potential though is because he is a really hard charging dog and faster than he looks with his stocky build. I think he could also work out on a freight team because he is so strong. He has a really good coat for camping out, too. He eats and drinks really good. If I wasn't selling my house I would keep him. I really love this dog.

JJ

Photo coming soon.

JJ is a seven year old Beargrease vetran leader. I got her from Pat Faherty who got her from Mark Black. She is a bullet proof dog. The epitomy of the easy keeper. Gets fat on a handful of kibble a day off season, never hurt, bullet proof feet, warm thick coat, pulls like a truck. Sweet dog too. She didn't lead really well for me though because I think she was too used to her previous owner and running with a big racing team with a person that knew what they were doing, unlike me.

Pumpkin

Photo coming soon

Pumpkin is a 5 year old Peppy daughter. She has run the UP 200. She is a good back up leader and good "going home leader". She is a shy dog but a real easy keeper, eats and drinks good.

Yukon

Yukon is not neccessarily a sled dog. He is a pet siberian husky, one year old, that I was planning on trying out in harness next year. He is a handsome happy dog and would make a great pet for siberian lovers, but I make no guaruntee on his sledding ability. He does seem to be strong and athletic though and might work well in a rec team.

.

Dream on Hold

2005-05-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm going through a divorce. I will probabably be moving, maybe to Alaska. I may have to sell most or all of my sled dogs. I will be selling the house. Things are kind of up in the air right now.
If I don't sell my dogs I will be kind of tied down to one spot. I only have one favorite dog and that is Jack.
It would be really hard to let him go. He would be horrible though if I ever had to move into an apartment temporarily. I just know he would destroy everything. He is like a tasmanian devil. That is part of why I like him so much.
He's been keeping my spirits up lately. Every time I come by he jumps all over me and gives me Hugs. He likes to jump up into my arms and can even stand on my shoulders like a cat or somthing. You'd have to see it to believe it. He's quite a dog.

I've been going on long walks with him lately. He likes to pull really hard the whole way and wheeze like huskies will. But I like his humorous reactions to things out in the woods. He is very curious about everything.

I have an online friend up in Alaska that has offered to let me stay in a remote cabin he has near the Yukon. No electricity, running water or anything. Just a little cabin way out in the wilderness with a stove. If I can time it right and get the house sold and pay off a few bills I'll take him up on it.

Might be a nice change of pace. He even has a sled dog team I could borrow. Might be some great inspiration for my writing. Did you know that Jack London only spent one winter in the Yukon? Look at all the books he got out of that breif experience.

Yukon's head

2005-04-23T18:14:00.000-07:00

I let all seven dogs run around in the backyard today as I often do.
I got a chance to observe Yukon around the other dogs to see if it will give me any insights into his inherent personality/athleticism or anything else. I always find myself making observations of my dogs, looking for new insights into their behavior.

Its a big free for all in the backyard, but for the most part they get along. They mostly just run around and act crazy. Act like wild happy dogs. Both siberians and alaskan huskies have had a lot of the dog aggression bred out of them.

Yukon is not shy at all around the dogs. He is pretty bold and outgoing. He is definately not as graceful as my alaskans and not even "Cruiser" the othere sibe. He kind of lumbers around. Of course, Ruger was a lumberer also. Pulled like a truck though. Some of these alaskans are realy graceful and athletic, particularly Doppler and Fir. Must be the greyhound blood. They are beautiful to watch in motion. They are not only fast, they can stop and change direction on a dime. They are extremely light on their feet, always whirling around and jumping around, but perfectly in control, kind of like a cat.
I am kind of into the more old fashioned type of dog, but I have to admit there is somthing to be said for these racing dogs.

One thing I noticed about Yukon is that he would pick one dog and chase it around relentlessly and pester it to annoyance. Maybe that is a good sign. Maybe he won't ever give up in harness either. I hope so.
I think every dog I have can outrun him. But he kept chasing them and never gave up.

I noticed once again that he has a really big wide head and a short blunt muzzle. There has been some discussion on these among siberian enthusiasts. During the last SEPP evaluation they recomended this trait be bred out.

Among racers, the conventional wisdom is that large haeds are bad. They are thought to be too heavy for a running dog and put too much strain on the front end. Many alaskan huskies have little heads. Sighthound have small narrow heads also.

What I wonder though is that if this is such a detrimental trait to have why do all the natural sledd dog breeds tend to have big heads? Seems like nature would have selected against it. There must have been some advantage for malamutes, eskimo dogs etc. to have big heads or else they wouldn't have them.

I have a hunch it has to do with certian other traits, like dominance. The inuit more or less let dogs breed randomly, so what that would mean in dog society is that the dominant dogs would breed, like how wolves do.

I also think that maybe in a draft animal, as opposed to a racing animal a big head would be good also, because big strong dogs come with big heads. Almost like a molosser trait. If dogs are bred to develop large size, larger than the average size for domestic dogs, which is around 30 to 40 lbs, worldwide, then they grow big heads. Big in porportion to the body. Giant breeds like St. Bernards have big heads. It has to do with the growth hormone causing certian effects.

Abnormally large people develop big heads also, like people suffering from acomegally such as Andre the giant.

I also have talked to other dog breeders commenting on the relation to big heads and personality. Pointer breeders mentioned a big head and chest being associated with bold dominant personalities. A German shepherd breeder mentioned snipey heads being associated with nervousness.

If you think about it in general terms it makes sense. Greyhounds in general are shier and more nervous, and a dog like a rottweiler or a bullmastif would tend to be dominant.

Personally, I like dogs with bigger heads. I just think they look better.

New dog.

2005-04-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

Ruger is gone. He has been gone for about 2 weeks. Not sure what happened to him. I was walking him on the logging trail near my house, the trail we ran on all winter and I thought I would let him off the leash a bit. Bid idea, I guess. he looked at me for a few seconds as I called to him and then took off into the woods. I never saw him again.

I know that you aren't supposed to let siberian huskies off the leash because they are prone to wander and chase game and can be gone for days before they decide to come back. They are a bit less domesticated than most dogs apparently, a bit less bonded to their owners. But more and more I hear about people letting their alaskan huskies off leash. People running them loose with an ATV, going on hikes etc. Alaskan huskies aren't the same as siberian huskies, they have other breeds mixed in.

So I had tried this with a couple of my alaskan huskies. I would walk them on the leash for a while and than after they were a little bit calmer, on the way back I would let them run off the leash a bit and burn off some energy. Stretch their legs out. I would call them back a few times to get them used to coming. JJ is kind of funny. She can't seem to get used to walking on a leash and jerks this way and that with all her might, then I finally let her off and she made a bee-line straight back to her house.

But Ruger I guess is more of an old fashioned type sled dog. I should have known that.That's why I liked him. I let him off and he was gone. Animal control hasn't seen him or heard of anyone finding him. I posted flyers around town, nothing.

Unless he is walking back to Duluth,(which is possible)or unless he's dead from getting hit by a car or shot by a Farmer for going after newborn calfs out in some pasture somewhere( which is possible also), Linda and I were thinking maybe he has become someone elses pet. He is a very sweet friendly dog.

People do that somtimes, find some dog and figure he is lost and no ones looking for him and take them in as their own. I have done it myself in fact. If that's the case, and this may be wishful thinking, that wouldn't be all that bad really. He was going on eight years old after all and would end up just being a pet anyway in a couple years as he retired.

So anyway, a lady at church was buying a house and the people she was buying it from had a husky and they couldn't take it with. They were moving to Minneapolis. I said I wasn't interested in a pet husky. People have this idea that any pet siberian husky can be a sled dog, but in reality many siberian huskies are just couch potatoes because many of them haven't been in harness for five or six generations and have lost most of their ability.

But then they said it was a sled dog and pulled on a team at one point. So I went and checked it out. The people were really nice. Just as I suspected it was a pet siberian husky from pet stock. The only work it had done was pulling a kids sled.
But I got a chance to look at the dog and he was a friendly little guy and kind of reminded me of Ruger. He had a big fat head like Ruger. He looked somewhat athletic, so I was a sucker and adopted him. His name is "Yukon King" named after a "famous sled dog" the Guy told me. I supressed a chuckle. Yukon King was a fictitious sled dog, much the same way this guy is. But time will tell. I'll give the guy a shot.

I got a chance to see some real siberian huskies a month ago. I went and visited Ann and Al Stead in Duluth, they have been breeding sibeian huskies for over 30 years and produced a line of race winning dogs. These were real athletes. It's kind of funny, I think siberian mushers are a little self conscious about usually getting beat by alaskan huskies and hound crosses, so they tend to breed racy looking siberians.

Alaskan husky mushers don't pay as much attention to conformation but mainly performance. I actually have some stocky built alaskans that are built more like what most people would think of as a siberian than most of the actual dogs in the Stead's kennel. They were all smaller sized wiry little dogs. About 22-24 inches at the shoulder 40-50 lbs.
This is the most efficient size for racing. They don't have short coats, but not so long and thick as to cause overheating.

"Yukon King" is the old version of the siberian husky, or maybe not even the old version, more like a show breeders version of what a siberian should be. Big masculine head,really thick coat, and huge paws. But what matters to me though is a work ethic. He'll either have it or he won't. If he works hard, he will make my team. I am not running speed demons. I actually do have some fast dogs, but out in the woods on an unbroken trail, we don't go fast. I also weigh down the sled. I am trying to build a freight team. So I was thinking about Yukon. If he is any good, if he has retained the work ethic of his ancestors, generations past, when they were sled dogs, not show dogs, maybe his build will be good for what I want to do. I need strong thick coated dogs, those are the qualities I selected my alaskans for. All the serious sibe people just race, maybe there are other uses siberians can excel in besides racing.

Well, here he is anyway. God looking, eh? He doesn't have much fur on his tail, apparently he got into a bunch of burrdocks and when his owners got them out it took out some fur with it.

Mish mash

2005-03-25T14:16:00.000-08:00

One of the differences between my team and a top racing team, besides my limited level of experience, is the make up of my team. Dogs from many different backgrounds that are the result of several different breeding programs.

A top team will have more uniformity, because they will probably be related and have certian things in common that their owner wanted to bring out and conciously bred for and selected for.

There are many different styles of mushers and so many different styles of sled dogs.

This is "Cruiser" he is my only purebred siberian husky. His is unregistered though. He is a smaller male, in the 45 lb range. Not particularly fine boned or well angulated. One oddity of his build is that he has extremely wide barrel shaped ribs like a show dog. Siberian huskies from lines that compete in the show ring often have qualities that don't have anything to do with performance. Somewhwere along the line sombody that competed in the show ring but never set foot on a sled decided that siberians need to have wide barrel shape ribs. This is actually false. The most efficient build for athletic perfomance is a narrow deep rib cage and a long back.

However Cruiser is a hard worker and pretty athletic, his odd mix of features points to his mixed show quality and racing background. He has some showlines in his pedigree as well as "Anadyr" and "Sepp-alta" which are racing kennels. He is friendly but also has kind of an independant personality. He is a focused worker and pulls hard.

This is "Fir". He is the fastest dog in my kennel. He is from Terry Adkins breeding. He has a bone structure and hard muscle tone much like a greyhound. He also has a thin undercoat, though lots of long tough guard hairs. He has some tough sled dogs in his back ground from Herbie Nyokpuk on shishmaref island, but He most resembles what Terry refers to as "Canadian sprint lines" which probably do have some type of admixture of sighthound blood like saluki and greyhound, pointer, irish settr and other fast dogs. One thing about him that I notice is different from my other dogs is that he has a loud bark. I notice my more "old fashioned" sled dogs are less noisy and barky.

This is Jack. Jack looks more like an old fashioned sled dog but is actually a throw back. Many of his siblings don't even resemble what many people would think of as a sled dog. Some are solid red or red and white with floopy ears like a lab, some aren't all that thick coated, either. He has a nice plush double coat and wolf like markings. Even though he has a stocky build like a frieght dog, he has hard muscle tone like a hound dog. Hard ripling muscles. His hidquarters are almost like a pit bull. This is his normal build even without conditioning. But conditioning muscles him up more. He is also a pretty fast smooth runner. His angulation is pretty good in the rear and his shoulders and not as well angulated. He has a very bold energetic outgoing personality.

This is Ruger, even though he is an alaskan husky, and all alaskan huskies have some hound blood in the background, I am hard pressed to see any of it in him. He has a thick warm double coat. He has stiff upright ears, he is not particularly fast, though an honest hard worker. He is as strong as an ox but the quality of his muscle tone is different, more like a siberian, not pumped up like a hound dogs muscle.
I have never heard him bark and when he howls he sounds just like a wolf. He has heavy jaw muscles and strong teeth. His natural gait is a rolling "pace".

To me he looks like the original alaskan husky back when they were used not for racing but for carrying mail and running traplines, there are a few details I think are more refined though, he is small, only 55 lbs compared to these "mail dog" type dogs, and his bone structure is more refined and he has a sloping croup and a low tailset. He resembles a lot of iditarod dogs back in the eighties I think.
He is a really happy dog, very hardy and easy to care for, he wolfs all his food down
Tough feet and never had an injury.

Here is Doppler. I have no idea of his background, but he is from Ross Adams.
He is my second fastest dog. He has hard hound muscle tone too and a short coat. He has a very deep narrow ribcage. This is a dog that is very easy to train, he is very sensitive and eager to please. I run him in lead with Jack butb they are total opposites. In some ways he reminds me of a siberian husky but is also very greyhound like. He is very agile and sure footed with really quick reflexes.

None of these dogs are really anything alike other than they are all sled dogs. They all have different builds, personalities and abilities, and I find I am learning alot from them.

JJ is a still a "good boy"...

2005-03-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

...Even though she is a girl. I ran the dogs on my little track today, and found myself calling good boy to all the dogs now and then for encouragement. I ran Doppler, Jack, in lead and JJ and Cruiser in wheel. I think JJ didn't mind being called a good boy.
They all did well. Doppler is to the point that he knows commands and when he wants to go the way he wants to go instead of the way I want him to go, I know.
Where he wants to go is up the logging road on a 12 mile run and not just around in circles on my 40 acres. The problem is the sled is in bad shape. But it's good for little runs around the track. This is what I will be doing as winter winds down and the snow goes away. Its a good time to work on training.
Tuesday, I will be going to Duluth to visit the Steads. They are a couple that are well known siberian husky breeders and racers. That should be a lot of fun. I am especially interested in taking a look at some of their kodiak line siberian huskies.
They said they still have plent of snow and will take me out on a run. Should be fun.

Understanding Fir

2005-03-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

We had a warm spell and a lot of the snow melted and then we had a cold snap and now a lot of the standing water turned to ice. So most of my trails are composed of ice and bare patches of frozen mud. Not the greatest conditions for sledding, though I might still take the dogs out. My sled is getting trashed. It was a cheap sled to begin with and I have pretty much knocked the tar out of it. It flexes like a sprint sled, even though it is a stiff unflexible toboggan. Its a Tobogan built from a kit that can be purchased online for $ 250.00 then shipped and assembled. I bought it when I bought my dog trailer. The owner of the trailer didn't know who made it but I did. She was selling it for $300.00 and it was several years old. I tried to explain to her that it is only worth about $100.00 but at the time no one was selling any sleds online for that cheap that I knew of, so I bought it for $200.00. It may have been worth 100.00 but that doesn't mean I could get one for that much at that time. It came with one extra runner plastic. I have used that and now one other runner has worn down to the metal and I am tempted to order some new runner plastic, but wonder if the snow will last long enough for me to get it. With my luck I will sit around for a few weeks waiting for it to arrive and then once all the snow is melted the runner plastic will arrive.

So I have decided to run until my sled gets destroyed and then that will be the end of the season for me and next spring I will get a new sled.

So anyway, I decided to walk Fir today, on a leash. I have a special leash that hooks
one line to the collar and one line that I hook up to a harness that I put on the dog. That way he can pull hard on the leash, like sled dogs do, and not throttle himself. The pressure is spread out by the harness just like if he was pulling a sled.

Fir is a dog that has not been run much at all this winter. He is a dog I got from Karen Land, along with Doppler and Fir. Fir led 500 miles or so of her iditarod team last year.

I can't relate to this dog. I basically bought him becsause he was a trained lead dog, but I never could get him to lead for me and then early in the season he got in a fight with Ruger and sprained his ankle, for month he limped and hopped around but now seems to be fully recovered, but I just have not run him.

He has kind of an odd personality. He is very hyper and a little skittish. He is affectionate, but petting him makes him more hyper and bark more. Usually a dog will bark to get you to pet him and then when you pet him he will stop and let you pet him.
Fir barks more after you pet him and then gets more riled up while you are petting him. He has a little wiry grey hound like body and a short harsh coat. He sems to have mostly wiry guard hairs and not much undercoat, so when you pet him you feel mostly rough feeling hair, hard muscle and bone, plus he won't hold still and has this annoying bark. So really this is the only way I have interacted with this dog all winter, that is, by petting him, and even that is not enjoyable. Before he got injured, he wouldn't listen to commands from me at all. I was running him with JJ and he picked right up on her turning around habit, but never helped reinforce her when she was listrening to commands. Sometimes one lead dog will be a little confused and then the other will pull or nudge the other dog in the right direction. Fir didn't do that. He also requires more food than all my other dogs even when not being run.

So basically, I have this dog I don't particularly like, then he got injured. Now he's OK but hasn't been run all season. So basically selling him would be very hard.

People don't flock to newbies running dogs their first year to buy dogs, especially if the dog has other features going against it like just coming off an injury.

Another ironic thing is that most mushers, at least racers, value speed above almost everything else and this dog is very fast. Probably the fastest dog I have. He is also a decent worker.

Maybe some racers would think I have romantic unrealistic notions of what a sled dog should be, But I figure why not have dogs I like? They are my dogs. I am the one running them and caring for them.

So I walked Fir today to see if I could get to know him, understand him and bond with him a little. Nothing.

I can't figure him out and the more time I spend with him the more he bugs me.
I just don't like hyper active skittish little greyhound like alaskan huskies. I was thinking about my other dogs and why I like them, because of this.

My two favorites are Ruger and Jack. Two pretty old fashioned type dogs. Tough dogs, yet very outgoing and friendly. They also look like huskies not like a saluki or some type of hound. They are energetic but not what I would call skitish. They don't have little twig like bones. Everything about them is tough and durable. They don't have a bird like metabolism and a short coat requiring tons of food.

Basically what they are are siberian huskies. Those are the main characteristics about them that stand out. They aren't pure bred of AKC registered but what I like about siberian huskies I like about them.

So at least I know what I like. Probably the next dog I buy will be a siberian husky, which won't be for a while.

What I should do with Fir is run him next year get him in shape race some races with him and then try to sell him. It's not his fault, I don't like him. And now that I own him I have responsibility towards him to take good care of him.

Strix Nebulosa!

2005-03-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

I went on a 12 miler today. The logging road got covered with snow and the loggers were gone. So I figured I would take five of the dogs out on a 12 miler on the usual route I had been using before I built my training course. I have really been proud of Doppler and Jack. They have been learning so well. I thought I would reward them and myself with a nice long run, giving us a chance to see some scenerey. It was a beautiful clear day today.

I hooked Jack and Doppler first and they held the line out, standing in place like little troopers, while I went and hooked the other three dogs up one at a time. I put Cruiser in point right behind the leaders, there by himself. Next I hooked up JJ and Ruger in Wheel. They are a really good pair in wheel, steady seasoned hard pulling veterans.

As we took off I was fiddling with the snow hook and not paying attention, and Doppler and Jack hung a right onto the training trail through the pine plantatation, as far as they knew it was just another training run. So I called "Good Gee" not letting on that I was goofing off and not paying attention (It's good for an officer to maintain an a good example to the troops).
I figured we would run a few loops of the training trail to brush up on commands since the dogs hadn't been run over the weekend. They executed very well. There was hesitation on one turn but after I stood on the break a few seconds they soon sorted things out and were off in the right direction.

Then we took off up the logging road. I had 80 lbs of salt in the sled and stood on the runners up the hill. I wanted to give them a good work out. Everyone was working really hard and running smoothly. I am impressed with cruise especially, he is always pulling his butt of and straining in harness. Great work ethic for a yearling.

Well we crossed the intersection, and headed into the Wildlife management area after passing through a section of snowless gravel (wreaking havoc on my runners).

Doppler did somthing that really annoyed me. He tried to dart off the trail after a snowshoe hare. But at the sound of my voice he stopped that foolishness. A little farther down the trail, I noticed Doppler wasn't the only would be predator looking out for game, On a branch above the trail we saw a Strix Nebulosa! Great Grey Owl!
What an awesome sight! It was enormous. The largest Owl in North America, bigger than a great horned owl! It looked bigger than a bald Eagle in the Body. It turned its hear around 180 degrees following our trajectory as we passed under it and down the trail. It had a magnificent presence about it. These are Super predators and very rare. I was really blessed to see one out here.

The dogs picked up on my excitement and sped down the trail. They didn't miss any turns and part of the trail was blown over. We hadn't been here in a month, and part of the trail runs adjacent to an open feild was totally obliterated by drifting snow. It apeared as though I was asking them to head out into an open field. Jack hesitated at first, but Doppler charged right a head orienting self as if by memory. I was very impressed. We ran about a mile of this obliterated trail through the open feild and then came to the familiar opening in the trees, there we picked up a snow mobile track carved into deep snow on the dirt road. WE then followed that to the main gravel road and then I guided the leaders into a 360 at the intersection and then headed back the same way.

The only criticism I have with Doppler at this point is that he slacked off with the pulling on the way back at times when the going got slow, but he seems to have some really amazing trail sense. He also seems very in tuned with his environment. At times some coyote tracks would come onto the trail and Doppler would be very interested in their scent, but when they veered off into the woods he knew enough to jeep moving ahead.

When we got back, Doppler and Jack still wanted to turn off into my pine plantation and run some more loops around the training trail. They did this just as we were approaching the dog yard even though I called out "on by" Ruger and JJ would have none of this and but the breaks on and helped stop them so I could face them the right way. Even though they had missed the last turn on a nearly perfect run I was impressed with their boundless energy and enthusiasm.

It is a good feeling reaping the fruit of our labor this winter with an nearly seamless run on a beautiful day. What my two leaders need now is some conditioning and hardening of muscles, basically just miles on the trail and I think we will be ready to race mid distance next year. With some goof fall training and some more reinforcement of commands and some new training situations we will be ready. I also want to go on some winter camping trips.

values

2005-03-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

During this last, Yukon Quest sled dog race, there were two mushers I was rooting for most of all. They were Blake Freking and John Schandelmeier.
This is because of the values I believe they represented. The value of doing more with the dogs you have.

There at one time was a conventional wisdom, that in order to win, what is needed is an enormous pool of dogs, with several litters produced a year, in hopes of whittling down from this pool, the best 15 dogs or so to put together a team. Breeding and putting together 100, 200 or more dogs. Culling all but the best.

By culling I don't neccessarily mean, euthenizing dogs, though historically this is what happened. I think it happens less and less, but even if dogs are passed on to beginning mushers or even pet owners, there is a glut of dogs created. Too many unwanted dogs.

I think this problem is exacerbated by multi-generational expirimental breeding programs. For example buying a pure bred greyhound or pointer, with the hopes of producing a cracjerjack team, three generations down the road. What generally happens is the first generation cross is hit or miss, a few stars created and other dogs that are worthless as sled dogs. Then the second generation will have more success. For anything other than a sprint race though, you need a quarter or less hound dog.

So really what justifies bring all these unwanted dogs into the world? Winning a race? For Sprint racing, this approach has had the most success. Today, the top sprint teams resemble hound dogs more than huskies. It is truly amazing what these dogs can do. They reach new heights of speed and endurance every year. These however are very specialized dogs. Sprint racing is a very specialized format that varies greatly from other forms of mushing like winter camping, expeditions and even long distance racing.

How this effects distance racing is that distance races are above all a race, and people want fast dogs. So commonly what mushers do is incorporate the best sprint dogs into their breeding programs and produce houndier faster dogs. These dogs also need more care on the trail. They aren't as naturally suited to the rigors of traveling long distances and sleeping out in the snow. They need coats to keep them warm and heating pads and blankets when they sleep. Their feet are not as tough and many need to wear booties for the entire duration of the race.

The trade off is the hope that this extra care won't take away from the superior speed of the dogs.

A different approach is to breed faster siberian huskies. This is Blake Freking's approach and the approach of the mushers that mentored and came before him.
Careful long term breeding programs. Not massive breeding programs, but litters that produce a higher success rate of good dogs. Dogs that are bred tightly, have less variation and more predictability. These dogs all have good coats and feet and sled dog ability. This will get passed off to their offspring.
Over time, testing breeding stock in harness and only breeding proven dogs, there is an increase in quality of dogs.
Also siberian husky mushers have not as many dogs to choose from, there are few racing quality siberians out there, and the ones available are expensive. The cost comes from various genetic tests that are done as well as the AKC registraition costs. In addition to that the dogs have great aesthetic appeal with their natural beauty. Also there is not an expectation of overnight success in breeding siberians.
The results of breeding two relatively fast siberians will not be as great as breeding a husky to a saluki for example. So a competitive racer will focus on training and conditioning to bring out the best in their dogs.

Now John Schandelmeier, is not a siberian racer. He races rescue dogs. Alaskan huskies that were dropped from other teams. He started a program called the "second chance league" he hopes to pass on the idea that all dogs deserve a second chance.
That dog you are thinking of cutting from your team might just need a second chance. A little more training, might bring out its ability.

The idea of "throw away" dogs is what he is fighting. This is a problem with all dogs not just sled dogs.

There are no doubt other mushers with these same values. Many mushers can be sucessful with small kennels and limited breeding programs aimed at the highest return and percentage of success. Also there is no doubt, that many of these mushers with huge breeding programs expirimenting with other breeds have improved the athletic performance of the alaskan husky sled dog. I just think that perhaps there is a little too much focus on exciting new crosses, and achieving success by the large multi generational breeding programs involved. . I think there can be aproaches to winning that rely more on training what you have and bringing out the best in them. Not cutting dogs every year and buying more dogs to get an competitive edge, but spending more time in training, perfecting the dogs you already have.

Rocket scientists

2005-02-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

I must have a couple rocket scientists on my hands for dogs. I must have gotten lucky, or else dog training is a lot simpler than people let on.
Hard to say which. Of course my optimism might be causing me to forget all the frustration and heart ache. Probably that is part of it.
But these guys just about have it down.

I took Jack and Doppler out again today and boy was I impressed. They are really starting to learn these turns. I really marvel at this because I hate to admit but somtimes I screw up left and right. The other day I did with dogs and I was really kicking myself over it. So today I drilled it into my head that the snow hook holder is "Gee". So then I went out with the dogs on my training trail, going around and around the various loops making them go a different way each time.

I think at first they just picked up that when I hit the break before a turn they knew there werre two choices, so they tried one or the other and just waited to see if I let go of the break. But eventually they were hitting turns and I didn't need to break at all. They just did it. Then I mixed things up a bit and made sure they weren't just used to going a certian way. Well it seems like they really do know "Gee" and "haw". I think I need to reinforce it a few more times and then they will really have it down.

I couldn't be more proud of these Guys! I don't think just any two dogs could do this well. They obviously have special leadership qualities. For one they are both very affectionate dogs that seek my approval, especially Doppler. They also are both very enthusiastic to run. Obviously they have intelligence. I feell almost like I just got done building somthing on my own, like a porch or somthing. A real sense of accomplishment, it's pretty neat.

Laurel and Hardy

2005-02-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

Here are the two knuckleheads, Jack and Doppler. Actually they are not knuckleheads at all. They are doing pretty well. I took just the two of them out today and worked on turns. They each have their respective strengths and weaknesses.

Doppler is more eager to please and is catching on to commands faster and Jack is the harder puller and better worker. They are total opposites actually. Doppler is tall and narrow with a short coat and built for speed. Jack is short and stocky with Bulging muscles and a thick coat. Doppler is shy and submissive. Jack is bold and boisterous. They are both crazy to run though.

Doppler is not shy when He sees me getting ready for a run. He goes crazy. Even more than Jack. Both protest loudly telling me to hurry up. After I hook these two up the dog yard is fairly quiet.
After a little two mile run on the logging trail I went and got the camera nad snapped some pictures of my apt pupils. I feel like this one on one training is really bonding me to them. They are interacting directly with me and not just as part of a group.
I am getting a real kick out of this leader training, I think these two knuckleheads are too.

Yukon Quest

2005-02-17T06:18:00.000-08:00

For me the next week or so is Superbowl sunday, or the World series! The Yukon Quest sled dog race is on. Its a race from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory to Faibanks, Alaska. (alternate years its the other way). Think Iditarod on steroids!
IMO this is the toughest sled dog race in the world. Compared to the iditarod there is rougher more remote terrain with fewer checkpoints. I think there are eight checkpoints to the iditarods 22. Right now the racers are in a trackless 200 mile stretch of wilderness. I have been following the race on the official website Yukon Quest. But the mushers are on their own right now until first racers arrive in Dawson somtime around noon today. There are no updates untill then. During this long 200 mile stretch the mushers have to pack extra food and figure out the best strategy of run and rest to get to Dawson ahead of the competition.
Some teams are steady marchers that move slower but rest less frequently. Others move faster and stop and rest more frequently.
The person I am rooting for is a Minnesota musher Blake Freking. He is last years winner of the Beargrease sled dog race and the only one to have won it with purebred siberian huskies. He has been holding steady in tenth or eleventh place. Will he pull ahead in the long stretch between Pell crossing and Dawson? Stay tuned!

Links:
Yukoner and fellow blogger, Stacie, with the inside scoop:
Chaos Kennel 13
KUAC radio Fairbanks where you can listen to audio clips of race coverage:
KUAC
Some cool video clips of the race:
Video Album

Love Stinks!

2005-02-15T07:48:00.001-08:00

What would put my toughest best eating dog, off his food for three days, and cause him to pace around all day and whimper like a whipped puppy?
Only unrequited love!

I had a cockamamy idea that I would breed Ruger to JJ. Its not a cockamamy idea altogether. They are my two hardest pulling dogs and are both proven race vetrans. There are probably better dogs I could find though. I do like tough old fashioned huskies with good coats though, and they are becoming harder to come by.

But the reason I decided against it was all the money and time involved with raising pups and finding homes for most of them. My wife helped bring me back down to reality while Ruger was in the back yard wooing JJ and trying to mate with her the way dogs do. She was both attracting him and playing hard to get at the same time in their little courtship ritual leading up to her finally allowing him to mount her. Before it got to that point I came back to my senses and put Ruger back on his chain.

The poor Guy has been pining for her ever since. Today he ate some food for the first time. He had lost some weight and worn a trench into his area from pacing.

He seems to be finally getting over it and JJ is hopefully coming out of heat. It will be nice to be able to run them together again. They are an awsome pair in wheel that add power to a 4 to 6 dog team comperable to switching into 4 wheel drive on an icy road.

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.

2005-02-11T18:46:00.000-08:00

I laid some more track in with my snow shoes. I have three loops now with five different intersections to use to teach turns. It is interesting to observe the mental processes of my two lead-dogs-in-traing, Jack and Doppler, as they learn.

There is one interesection that is especially hard, where the dogs could either do another lap on the main loop or go back to the dog yard. I stood there on the brake at the intersection. You aren't supposed to repeat the command over and over agin for various reasons. It's poor training for them. They should only need to hear it once.

The dogs were stretched out poised right at the intersection. I had given the command for "haw". They seemed to be thinking. I wondered what was going on in their little heads. Was it:
Gee, I'm confused. This Gee Haw stuff is really hard.

or more along the lines of:

Man, he wants us to go around agin? I would rather go back into the dog yard and sniff that bitch that seems to be going into heat. How can I keep the big Guy from raining on our parade? Maybe we can act dumb and look innocent.

I came up with an idea to test my hypothesis that it was the latter and not the former. I reached down and rolled a snow ball and beaned Jack with it. He immediately roused himself and pulled the team left onto the trail.

I am finding that Doppler is really come into his own. He has more of the responsible attitude of a true lead dog. After this snow ball incident he never missed that turn and often either dragged or nudged Jack in the right direction. They hop back and forth over each others backs and may be on different sides when we come to the turn.

On my next run I think I will just work on turns with Doppler and Jack alone pulling an empty sled.

Track

2005-02-08T22:14:00.000-08:00

Today I spent some time on the track I have made on my land. Its god for working with small teams and leader training. I ran Pumpkin, Jack, Cruiser and Doppler on on run and then later I ran Jack by himself and Doppler by himself.
It was a new experience for Jack to run by himself pulling a sled, But He caught on and dug down and pulled. I am working on teaching him commands. When I tried Doppler, I thought he would not do quite as well as Jack because Doppler is not as strong but the whole time I was working with Jack, Doppler was quite impatiaently protesting from his chain asking me "why can't I go?" "Why can't I go?" "Please? Please?" "Oh, come on!"

You may think I am anthropomorphizing but those were his exact words. Except the dog mouth is not designed to make consonants, only vowel sounds.

So By the time It was Dopplers turn he was so full of pent up energy, he shot around the track.
I think Doppler is better with commands too and is very eager to please me. I still think these two dogs are my best leader prospects even though they are yearlings.
Jack knows how to talk too, but He says things more along the lines of "Hey, Buddy, what do you think you are doing? I am the one that gets hooked up first! or Hurry up with that food."
Or "Boy am I glad to see you! How bout a hug!"
Most of the time though he likes to shoot me quizzical looks.
Both of these young Guys look at me with a degree of admiration, and that may be the main reason why I like them in lead. As someone once said, If I can strive to be half the person my dog thinks I am I will be doing well, indeed!

Strider finds a new home

2005-02-08T11:38:00.000-08:00

Strider wasn't really working out as a sled dog. He was too big and slow. It was hard for him to keep up and it caused him stress so he would get diarrhea. Poor guy! He really tried hard, though. He would get really excited before a run and jump high in the air. I think he was just excited to get out. He also would rather be a house dog, I think. He liked being around people more than just hanging around the dog yard with the other sled dogs. I do miss him a little.
We found a nice family for him. They seemed to really hit it off. It was a young couple with three small kids. They wanted a big friendly dog that had a scary bark so he could be a watch dog.
That fits strider to a tee. He has a big scary German shepherd bark but is a big baby that wouldn't hurt a flea. But if you didn't know him and came over to the house and he barked at you and you got a look at his piercing blue eyes you might be quite intimidated. That's all that is really needed for a watch dog.
The rest of the time all Strider wants to do is play and cuddle and shake hands. I think he will be pretty happy and they will be happy with him. It worked out well for everyone.

New Trail.

2005-02-03T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I snowshoed in a new trail on my own land. I am not the greatest at estimating distances, but it might be a 3/4 mile loop or maybe a half mile. It's somewhere in there, anyway.
It encircles a section of my Norway pine plantation. I will get a picture up tomorrow. It is habitat for several snoeshoe hare. It's kind of neat to mush through there. The trail I made cuts right through the middle and the trees are so close its like mushing through a tunnel. There are serveral turns for the dogs to practice commands on. I ran Jack and Doppler in lead and Ruger an JJ in wheel.
Jack and Doppler are catching on with the commands. I did about 3 passes through the trail, the last one we went the opposite way so the dogs would learn commands better.
I notice doppler isn't the greatest puller when we are going slow. It was a soft trail yet so things were slow. I don't want him to pull too hard since he is in lead, but he needs to keep his tug tight.
Tomorrow I will try some of my other leaders and give Doppler a break.
If nothing else this little trail of mine will be great for leader training. Jack seems pretty confident in lead. I think he is an exceptional dog.
I bought a trailer hitch to put on my truck. There is a guy at my church that might be able to weld it on. Once I get that taken care of I can truck out with the dogs in search of trails and eventually go on a trip. I am hoping I can. The winter is still young and I hear early spring is the best time for cross country trips with dogs anyway. I will try to use the mnth of Feb to get them in condition.

Buldozers

2005-02-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

Well while I was out with the flu, and not running dogs, some big changes took place in my little sledding microcosm. My neighbor apparently wanted to do some logging so he had the little trail I was running on bulldozed flat and graded. There is absolutely no snow for the first mile of trail. This is the part that my driveway connects on to. So I can't use that.
Meanwhile, we have had a few days of balmy 35-40 degree weather and the roads are all sloppy and muddy now. So I can't run on the road. Some parts aren't that bad. I'm not sure I still might use it.

So today I got my own little bulldozer, Jack, and worked on laying a little trail of my own through a stand of Norway pines on my 40 acres. I got the special training leash and put his harness on him and got to work with him breaking trail. It's fun working with such a confident little guy, invariably he screws up and I correct him, but its impossible to dent this guys boundless enthusiasm. He seems to be really picking up "gee" and "haw". He is good at forging ahead out in front of me where there is no trail. This is harder than it sounds, not all dogs can do this, especially yearlings. But Jack is a little bulldozer. Ifter one pass around the little loop I was a pretty out of breath. I'm still getting over the flu so I thought I woukld head in and rest. I had a bit of a coughing fit.

I might get some snow shoes and lay it in even better, then on days like today where the trail is unuseable, we could have our own little track. The other thing I am going to do is put a new hitch on my truck so I could tow the dogs out to other places in search of trails. Some mushers have to do this every time they run so I have been lucky.

Flu

2005-01-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

I've had the flu. So I haven't been running the dogs. Actually before I got the flu I was working and then during my time off when I would have run them I got sick. Cleaning the dog yard and feeding and watering them about wiped me out today. I hope I feel better tomorrow.
I have been thinking about my dogs. I think I know what kind of dog I like now. Sled dogs come in all shapes and sizes and actually I have several types. My two favorites are Jack and Ruger follwed by JJ. Cruiser has a special place in my heart also. I do like all my dogs in different ways.
But the type I like the best are smaller stocky dogs that pull hard. about 45 to 55 lbs.
This weight is kind of a magic number. Iditarod dogs are all about that size. It seems to be a size that brings a balance of speed power and endurance. Dogs this size are less injury prone also. These three dogs are built like tanks. They have super hard muscle tone and are really strong. You would be surprised that a dog that small can be so strong. These three are each nearly impossible to walk on a leash. They can knock me over and drag me, even though I weigh 220.

I also value toughness, mental toughness, and physical toughness. Dogs that keep hard charging in difficult situations. My young dogs haven't really been through the test but Ruger an JJ have for sure.
Coats:
I like a dog with a thick coat. It doesn't have to be long. The length is more or less determined by the outer guard hairs. The undercoat is what keeps a dog warm. It must be thick. My dogs are kept outside in plastic barrel houses insulated with straw. Some dogs have thinner coats and really need the straw. Sometimes on cold days you will see them shivering when outside their house. I don't like seeing this. I like dogs happy and naturally adapted to be out in the cold. The thin coats are caused by breeding to various hounds in order to increase speed. I have one dog that is built just like a grey hound. He ran 500 miles of the iditarod. He has a thin coat. The way he was kept warm on the trail is that he was covered with a blanket and heating pads. That is fine, the care of dogs on the iditarod trail is fine, but I would rather have tough dogs that don't need extra care. The thin coated dogs also need more food.

Jack for example sleeps outside his house at 30 below. He has a hole in the snow he sleeps in. It is about the size of a garbage can lid. It is about a half a foot deep he melted it into the ground with his body heat. The house is there for him but he never uses it.

Appetites:

I only have one dog that has the kind of appetite I like to see. That dog is Ruger. He scarfs down immediately any thing I put in front of him. The reason this is good is because such dogs are easier to feed on the trail. You can put the food pans out and take them away quickly before they freeze. They also tend to keep weight on better. Ruger has a very efficient metabolism.
There are ways to train dogs to eat better, like taking the food back after a little while so they learn to eat fast. Somthing about seeing a dog eat really good makes me happy. I guess to me it says the dog has good survival instincts.

Feet: I like dogs with tough feet. I have had no foot injuries so far except for Strider. I suspect that is because he is not a real sled dog.

Tough feet are not calloused and hard, but supple and soft yet tough like leather. They have springy pads. Siberian huskies have the toughest feet but may alaskan huskies all have tough feet too. Foot problems can put a dog out of commission. Their are booties available, and I plan to get some before going on a long trip, but once again I prefer dogs with naturally tough feet.

Good looks don't hurt, but is not the number one priority. I do like the looks of husky dogs over more houndy dogs, but some of my dogs have floppy but are tough and have thick coats.

Personality: This is where I differ from a lot of mushers. I like super hard headed dogs. Many mushers prefer slightly shy, softer temperamented dogs. I always worry I will hurt their feelings. My voice can be a little gruff at times. Hard headed dogs don't seem to mind. They may need a little more work but they are usually hard driving dogs also. Our personalities mesh better. I do have one very shy dog, Pumpkin, but she is growing on me and coming around. She is actually kind of hard headed in her own way.
I worry about Doppler at times because he is so sensitive and eager to please. I have never seriously reprimanded him. But he is also a hard charger and catches on fast. Leaders need to be more responsive than dogs in other positions but for team dogs, I would like dogs like Ruger that only know how to pull straight ahead and don't think much.

I also like affectionate dogs. My most affectionate dog is Jack. He always gives me a big hug when I come by. He likes to climb up into my arms to and try to take my hat off or stick his nose up my coat, funny things like that. Somtines I act like I am waltzing with him. I can lift his feet off the ground and whirl him around and he keeps coming back for more.

In the spring I might find some homes for a couple of the dogs that don't fit my standards. They may make excellent dogs for other mushers.

Wolf Eyes

2005-01-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

What do you see in this dogs eyes? I see somthing of the wolf there. Somthing mysterious an untameable. I am glad I was able to catch this. Often Jack has a friendly husky dog look in his eyes, but once in a while I catch this fiery little glint. He is an alaskan husky. His ears don't stand up like that normally, he was running and they got flipped up. Alaskan huskies are mixed breed sled dogs. Some have a lot of "hound" blood in them, But way back there is some wolf blood, from about 50 years ago some wolf was crossed in. Most wolf characteristics don't make for good sled dogs. Wolves are untrainable and unpredictable and don't have any work ethic like a good husky.
But I see little wolf characteristics crop up in my alaskan huskies, or maybe I am just imagining it.
What do you think?

Finally get to relax (yeah right!)

2005-01-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

Today, I got to ride in the sled while my wifes tood on the runners. I had to get out a lot to corect little mishaps. My young leaders don't really know any commands. But at least they stay on the trail most of the time. Its a bit of a dilema. I have a book where you can train a lead dog one on one over a four week period finally ending with him leading a team. I am doing things a little backwards, but I can't really justify letting all my dogs sit idle in the middle of the winter while I work for four weeks with only one or two dogs.
But the run went well, we shortened the root because of the added weight but they all pulled strongly and it was fun to be out with my wife.

Bumping it up to the next level

2005-01-19T18:03:00.000-08:00

I left the dogyard today going about 20 mph. That is what it felt like anyway. Power in a sled dog team bumps up in increments. There is a noticeble difference in power between a four dog team and a six dog team. With four dogs you are kind of playing around. Six dogs is a team. You can go hundreds of miles with six dogs. We did the first mile at a dead run, uphill. I was airborn a few times. At the first turn, the sled tipped over and I was drug a bit. Good thing I have pretty good upper body strength and was able to right the sled and hang on. The dogs didn't miss a beat.
Doppler was eating up the trail. Like I had suspected earlier speed and the power of a big team motivates him.
I rode the break to slow things down a bit. I am not training a sprint team, though after a week off, sprinting is what the dogs feel like doing. I let them have their fun a ways and then let them settle into a comfortable 12 mph. pace. I had hooked up Doppler and Jack in Lead followed by Strider and Cruiser and then Ruger and JJ in wheel. I can't wait to feel what it is like to run six dogs that are really for real. I mean trail hardened dogs in their prime. It must be electrifying. Ruger and JJ are in their autumn years, retired from racing, but still quick hard workers.
Strider is a screwball, that only pulls for the first half of the run and may not really turn out to be a sled dog. Cruiser is just a pup, running in harness fore the first season and the same for Doppler and Jack. But these three boys, in my opinion anyway, have some serious potential.
We headed out onto the gravel road, still at a lope, except for Ruger with his fast trot. Crossed route 31 and headed into the Wild Life Management area. There once again we encountered some deep drifts. There was a single fresh snow mobile track down the middle but the snow was still soft and it was slow going.
This was another excellent training opportunity for the boys in lead. There were few minor mishapps, but I kept my composure, meted out some discipline, in a quick to the point way, and we were off again. Doppler and Jack are pretty familair with the trail by now and knew the deep drifts only lasted a mile or so, so they threw themselves into harness wanting to get on a fast trail again. When we got past the drifts and up a little rise the rest of the trail was slow and punchy. A punchy trail, is a trail with a thin crust of snow on top and softer snow beneath. The dogs keep punching through and so cannot go very fast.

The kind of trails I train on are not ideal for race training. Serious racers want smooth fast trails.
There was a race in Alaska last week called the "Copper Basin 300" Many racers were using it as either a qualifier or a tune up for the iditarod. Race trails are set with snow mobiles and then allowed to harden. This year the organization went badly and the snow mobiles were only a few miles ahead of the racers. This did not allow the trail to harden which slowed the pace down to 5 mph. They want to go 10 to 12 mph to be competitive in the iditarod. Also running 300 miles at 5 mph on a soft trail conditions the dogs muscles differently and also gets the dogs settled into a slow pace. Due to these considerations, almost the entire feild withdrew from the race before finishing. That is known as "scratching". Scratching means quitting.
Even though these racers, have my respect, and many have forgotten more than I know about dog mushing, seeing most of them scratch, kind of bothered me.
I would like to think that if I were to enter a race and spend all that money, sponsorship money, often, that it takes to do it, I would not scratch unless I broke my leg or somthing or all my dogs were sick. I also would like to think I had a team that could get me from point A to point B, even if conditions were not ideal. I suspect there was a bit of a Herd mentality going on as well. Some big name mushers scratched and then lots of people followed suit. Mushing great George Attla, once said:
"If I gave my lead dog a cigarette after winning a race, the next race I would see cigarettes dangling out of the mouths of 15 other team's lead dogs."
Racing has become very specialized. Right now I am in a learning mode, learning the basics. The high point of my season will be an overnight camping trip in the Bounday Waters Canoe are wilderness. The BWCAW does not have groomed trails. So I am glad I am able to train on less than ideal conditions in order to get ready.

Well back to the run;
As we headed down the last stretch of trail onto the Stockyard road that leads to my home, We saw a cotton tail. Sled dogs are draft animals, but they are predators not horses. The reason you can hook up six dogs and run them like this harkens back to their wolf ancestors running in packs in the primordial forests.
When they sight game it motivates them and they put on a burst of speed. Fortunately when the game crosss off the trail the dogs don't veer off after them but keep heading down the trail.

As we came to the turn onto the Stock yard road (just the name of the road, its a regular gravel road) I called out "Haw" for left. I had been traveling in a rough loop. I had been calling out "Haw" quite a bit, all the turns were left so far. I think the dogs were going by memory though. I was hoping they were catching on. But they missd this turn. When the dogs miss a turn it is unwise to keep repeating the command. Otherwise the dogs will think the command for left is "Haw... HAW...HAW!!!" when it is supposed to be just simply "haw." almost in a spoken voice.

Well they missed it but JJ, my demoted lead dog, running in wheel, she knew. Luckily Jack and Doppler saw what she was trying to do and ran out ahead. The rest of the run went well except for Striders attacks of the runs. He doesn't know how to poop on the fly yet. he hits the breaks to take a dump, bunching the team up.
Experienced dogs can poop and run at the same time. They learn this from the unpleasent sensation of being drug by the rest of the team as they try to stop and squat. Strider is a burly 75 lbs though and actually can nearly stop the whole team. He managed to get going then and I was able to observe that Jack had mastered, the pooping on the fly technique. His motivation for not stopping, is not wanting to have a 75 lb German shepherd mix slam into his behind.
This last stretch of trail was a plowed road and the dogs did it at a lope and looked pretty strong the whole way. Cruiser slacked off a little but It is to be excused. This is his first ten miler and only his second run of the season. After a little bit he started pulling again. From now on a plan to run him in every run.

We only saw one car and that was right as we were turning onto our road. I had had a bit of anxiety before the run, wondering what to expect with running a six dog tream with the new leaders, but they did me proud.

Breaking Trail

2005-01-13T15:42:00.000-08:00

It was no where near as cold as it was supposed to be so I ran the dogs. It was probably around minus ten with windchill it may have been 20 below; not that serious. I hooked up Jack and Doppler in lead and JJ and Ruger in wheel. Ruger must be taking a liking to JJ as she lay down during hook up he peed on her.
I am not sure how exactly to proceed with the leader training. The book calls for about 4 weeks of one on one training. Seems like a waste to have eight dogs laying around in the middle of the winter while I take one dog out at a time for a 15 minute jog on a leash. So I decided to keep with the plan of going on four dog runs and varying the route to give Jack and Doppler time to pick up commands. Then from time to time I will go to one on one leash traing to reinforce some things.
Doppler seems to be learning that his job is to pull all the time, not just when things are going fast.
He did much better and even seems more focused on his job than Jack at times. What I want to do is keep running these two guys and developing them as leaders, without pushing them too hard, but slowly adding new experiences for them and mileage.
Today provided a new experience and a new test. About a mile of trail in the Wild Life Managent Area was drifted over with two even three feet of snow in places. My two young leaders did really well. It was slow going for a while and I stopped for short breaks a couple of times but we got through it without a hitch. I only led them by the collar a little bit and once they got the hang of they went at it full bore untill we got past the drifts and onto the better snow.

If I was on a serious long distance expedition, there could possibly be miles and miles of drifted over unbroken trails. What people do in that case is tie out the dogs and mush ahead a few miles with snow shoes to break trail and then walk all the way back and mush the dogs up to where they need to break trail again and then repeat the process. That can make for a long day. That is one reason people on expeditions travel a lot slower than say, dogs running in the iditarod. Racing dogs are faster, but also the trails are groomed ahead of time.

Instead of going around on the Lolly-pop shaped loop and coming back, I went back on the road. I saw one car the whole time and it turned off another way. This is a road that doesn't get much traffic and is pretty wide so I wasn't worried.

They all finished pretty strong and were well behaved as i unhooked them and gave them all a drink. It was another good run. Just a great time spent outdoors with my dogs. When runs go well like this I begin to plan my over night trip. They may be more ready than I think.

One on one training.

2005-01-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

Yesturday, I spent some time working one on one with five of the dogs, using Lee Fishback's leader traing methods. This training consists of training dogs to be leaders one at a time with a special leash. The leash has two snaps on it. One hooks to the end of the harness and one to the collar.

The idea is to get the dog to run out front and pull as you jog along behind and teach it commands.
His book has a proscribed course you follow that takes about 4 weeks. I may modify it some because two of my yearlings have led three eight mile runs leading two other dogs, so even though they don't know commands, they have picked up some things.

I tried out five dogs just to guage their abilities and attitudes. Out of this pool I will pick two dogs to be lead prospects. I am kind of torn as to wether JJ will ever be able to lead for me. We had a positive training session, but I had to really push her hard to get her to break her turning around habit. I also don't know how she will be once she gets out in front of a team. I may have ruined her for leading by letting her be this rebelluious this long. Lee Fishback even said, that once a dog has learned that basically the driver has no control and the dog is able to do whatever it wants out front, it is ruined.
JJ is also seven years old, in the autumn of her working career. It will take a lot of work for me to get her to the point where I have confidence in her and I may never really have it.
She also is a valuable dog to run in wheel because she is so powerful. So even out of lead she will contribute to the team.
Pumpkin, may yet earn her keep, helping the yearlings learn and by being a back up leader. I have gained some insights from this book into her personality and motivations. Fishback gives tips on training shy dogs that don't care much about human contact.

I also worked with Cruiser, Doppler and Jack. I still think at this point Jack and Doppler have the most talent and potential. Cruiser has the strongest natural pulling instinct, but may not be as responsive as the other two yet.
Doppler, needs to work on pulling. In the team he only seems to pull when we are going fast. The one on one trainig teaches him to always pull. Of all the dogs he is most eager to please and sensitive to my wishes. He also seems to be the most intelligent.

Jack, is my bud still, but showed his stubborn side a bit during the one on one. I think the reason he likes to run out front is because of his inate curiousity and desire to be ahead of the other dogs. Lee Fishback warns that "natural leaders" like this need training too. Their natural enthisiasm can go a long way but they need to learn how to lead even when they don't want to.

Life around the dog yard

2005-01-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

Next couple days are supposed to be 50 below with a high of 20 below. Contrary to what some of you may have heard, most mushers don't train in 50 below. They may talk tough but unless they are in the middle of a race, that is a good time to stay inside and give the dogs a rest.
There is risk to the dogs also, even arctic breeds. Males can freeze the tip of their penis, for one.
That right there, is reason enough for me not to run them. That is probably another thing you don't hear about very often in non-mushing circles. But it is serious business and is said to be slow to heal.
I got slight frostbite on my ear already running in 20 below. Another injury that can happen to mushers is that they can freeze their corneas.
So, though I am one to usually jump at the chance of adventure and run off half cocked, usually. Training in 50 below is an adventure I will opt out of.
So I just figure I would make a few posts about life around the dog yard. People interested in the outdoors have probably gotten litle snippets about dog mushing, here and there, on the travel channel, or in National Geographic, but there are little details about mundane things that are kind of funny that you don't always hear about.

One detail is that sled dogs love to pee. Male sled dogs that is. That is their idea of being macho and showing all the other dogs who is boss. Don't leave anything within striking distance of a male sled dog or it will get marked and marked a lot. Probably a male sled dogs doghouse gets peed on at least ten times a day, probably more. If you give them some fresh bedding ( I line their houses with straw) that will get peed on. "This is MY straw". is what they are saying.
I read another mushers blog that had a tree fall down near one of her dogs area. He showed that tree who was boss and marked it about three times every half hour.
If you stand in one spot too long you are fair game as well, or your truck, coat, sled, anything.
My one dog Doppler, actually has a foot high yellow ice sculpture on the wheel axle he is staked out to.

This is one reason why many people don't bring their dogs in the house. You can though. they can be trained to be house pets, but in my opinion they are a little different than most pet dogs. More high strung and destructive. If you have ever seen the movie "gremilins" you will have an idea of what bringing my sled dog team into the house for the first time would be like.
These are outdoor dogs.

As far as noise goes, they are really not all that noisy. That is, unless they think they are about to be fed, or about to be run. They look for little clues when they see me walking around in the dog yard. I time the feeding times about 12 hours apart. Roughly, 10:00 am and 10:00 pm. So they know that routine.

But as for running them I run them at different times, and my schedule varies, so they don't know exactly when they will be run. So they look for "clues" to gauge my behavior. If I have the poop bucket and a trowel in my hand, its obvious what I am about to do. If I pick up a harness, they might indicate somthing, so there begins to be a little bit of a din. If I touch the sled at all, they begin to jump around and carry on, but if I appear just to be moving it, it dies down. When I set it up and begin stretching the line out in the snow, they know what is about to kick off and they get pretty crazy.

Excpept for Ruger. He is a really quiet dog. It is almost like he is a sled dog mime or somthing. He goes through all the motions but never makes a sound. I have heard him whine maybe once. He can howl just like a wolf or a coyote, but otherwise he is silent.

The rest of the times the dogs are quiet. I had a dog that would get loose. This was Strider. He was chained to a steel cylinder that I found. I think it was a tractor axle. The wheel end was pretty big and it had a steel shaft of about a foot long and three inches in diameter. The car axles, which I use for the rest of the dogs, had a longer thinner shaft with a smaller wheel base so I pounded them in with the wheel hub on top. But this tractor axle was top heavy and really short. I think it was for the front wheel. I burried the hub and looped the chain around the shaft.

Well, Strider is a leaper. He can leap almost six feet in the air straight up. He figured out how to flip the end of his chain off this steel shaft. But he would only get loose during feeding times or hook up. Like the rest of the dogs the other times he was quiet. I finally switched him though and put Pumpkin in his area, whonis not a leaper.
When they aren't running it is kind of a boring life. Some dogs will run all day though and wear a mote into the dirt path they make running around and around. I have one like that, Cruiser, the siberian husky.

The social structure, loosely resembles that of a wolf pack. They aren't really wolves, but closer to the wolf than other dogs, especially Ruger. He may indeed have a little wolf blood a ways back. His eyes reflect light really brightly and shine green at night in the headlights of my truck, when I come down to feed him.
He likes being part of his little pack too. The one time I heard him whine was when I was keeping him in the back yard before I got his spot set up in the dog yard. He wanted to be out there with them.

please feel free to comment

2005-01-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

I just found out that I can change my settings so that anyone can comment without having to register. So feel free to leave one.

Thanks

It's not just me!

2005-01-11T03:49:00.000-08:00

I just bought this book and training gear :
Training Lead Dogs
It is an excellent book and it has been very encouraging to read. It turns out that it is pretty common to buy a trained lead dog and have it end up not leading for you.
Mushers have different personalities and different styles and their lead dogs adapt to their way of doing things and style of running.
Here is an excerpt from the book:
"...Yet it is a common experience to invest $500.00 or more in a lead dog only to find that the dog does not suit the driver's style, is too temperamental for him, or is too old or too slow. Worst of all, a highly trained leader often knows too much; the beginning driver can't keep up with him mentally"

This seems to have been my experience. Note this book was written in 1979 and those are 1979 dollars the late author is talking about. My "best" lead dog I got for free (Pumpkin) and my other two "JJ" and the injured dog "Fir" I paid $350.00 and $400.00 respectively. Neither one of these dogs were sold as serious racing prospects from big name mushers.
But as I began having problems, some advice I got was to invest in a "real lead dog"
Meaning a $1,000.00 or more dog from a serious racer. Well I don't have the money and I'm glad I didn't take that advice because a $1,000.00 or even $5,000.00 dog(which are available) may not have worked out any better for me. Then I would have 4 lead dogs that won't listen to me and I would be broke.

One thing I began to notice is that I had been having better luck with my yearlings that I got for $ 100.00 or $200.00 a peice and don't know anything.

The author had his best luck training a dog he got at the pound. His philosophy is that your best lead dogs will be ones you train yourself. I am pretty excited about training my own lead dogs now. I think maybe my season will be focused around that. I may not log 1000 training miles like some other mushers this winter, but I think it will be a lot of fun. I am kind of an independant person, and I like the idea of having the satisfaction of running lead dogs that I have trained myself.
From what I have read so far the three yearlings I have been considering working with have the types of personalities that give them good apptitude for this type of work.

Article in "Makin Tracks" Newsletter.

2005-01-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

I just had an article published in the "Makin' Tracks" newsletter. It is an online dog mushing newsletter put out by a dog food company called "RedPaw". The article is about my freight team and my Yahoo e-mail group I just started for freight mushers. The article is in the freight section.

This Newsletter comes in e-mail and is not online yet so I am linking to it from my e-mail grop website. Just scroll down and you will see it.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oldschooldogs/message/339

Cruiser's Debut

2005-01-06T13:59:00.000-08:00

Well, Strider, the big goofy German shepherd mix, I just found out has developed some horrendous foot problems so he is out for a while as I research foot care and buy some extra large size booties( he has Mastadon size feet) I know where I can order this ointment called algyval that is supposed to be really good. I probably should have been prepared for this, but I figured I was only going on short runs so I didn't forsee a problem. I went and checked all the dogs feet and they all look really good. That was one of the things I specifically asked about when buying dogs and deliberately chose dogs with no history of foot problems. All the other dogs have soft pliable pads that are the consistency of a "shammy" you know the thing that you wax cars with. Striders are kind of dry and cracked. A couple of my dogs have run several 250 mile races and never had a problem but I am going to order booties for all just in case. Strider is the only dog I have that is not a "real" sled dog, so it stands to reason his feet would be less tough. Poor Guy. He was a little bummed that I didn't run him today.
But the great thing is I got a chance to run "cruiser"! He is awesome! This was his first run in harness, except for a couple disasters I had where I was having leader problems and never left the dog yard.
He is a natural sled dog. Beautiful to watch. For some reason, he requires no training. It is kind of a weird thing but all he wants to do is pull. He never screwed around or straddled the gangline or got tangled up or did any of the things I expected him to do as a yearling, his first time out. He pulled the whole time and was very focused on his job. The only problems I had were the other dogs faults. They aren't used to running with him and scuffled with him a couple of times. I broke it up and reprimanded all of them, grabing my hands ofer their muzzles with both hands and looking them in the eyes and saying "NO fighting." I think I got their attention. It was a dominance thing. The dogs are trying to sort out his place in the pack, but I am not going to let it happen. My philosophy is that I am pack leader and I don't allow dominance battles.
I hope Cruiser wasn't intimidated by this experience. I don't think he is he is a very self assured confident dog. After getting scuffled with, he seemed a little hesitant to keep his line tight and necklined a little, but before long he was pulling for all he was worth again.
Here is the situation: This is an unregistered siberian husky that I got for $100.00 from a recreational musher. He was very thin and I suspected he had worms. I wormed him a couple times and some worms came out but he has a hard time putting weight on. I found that if I over feed him he gets the runs. What I think it is is that he runs all the weight off. He constantly paces around in circles all day long on his chain, wearing a circular trench in the ground. He finally gained a little weight and so I thought I would try him out.
All that pacing must have paid off because he is a natural . He actually is more focused and harder working than Doppler, so if I can get him to get along with Jack I might try him up front.
Jack and Doppler are still pretty spotty on commands but with only four dogs it is not hard to hop of the sled and pull them onto the right trail.

I am pretty excited about this new "star" of mine.

Run of the Innocents.

2005-01-05T13:47:00.000-08:00

I left my resident "headcases" at home(Pumpkin and JJ) and just ran Ruger, Strider, Doppler and Jack. I call this the run of the innocents because they are all yearlings except for Ruger and bereft of psychological baggage. Even though Ruger is seven years old and has been around the block and run lots of races, he is not smart enough to have psychological problems. His life consists of eating, peeing, taking dumps and pulling. That's fine with me. I wouldn't mind having 4 more dogs just like him and Jack and then I would have the perfect team! I think some of these dogs think too much and that is the problem.
As I suspected, with the addition of a couple more dogs and the added speed and power, Doppler was a lot more motivated and focused in lead. We missed a couple turns but both he and Jack seem to be catching on. They both can at least get the team out of the dog yard and onto the trail.
It's really not that complicated. It was nice to only have to deal with problems caused by youth and inexperience as opposed to outright mutiny.
The sled was loaded with 80 lbs. of salt and with my weight on the sled each was pulling over 100 lbs. So with this 8 mile run they all got a serious workout. Despite this they did the first mile uphill at a lope. I am finally having fun again! It was nice to be out there having fun with dogs that are having fun. They all ran very well.
Strider had not been run in a few days and was eager to go. He did pull a lot better, especially in the up hills when things are going slow. He did slack off a little during the fast times, but I hit the break to slow things down enough for him to get his tug tight.
Doppler needs to learn that when he is up front he can't screw around at all and sniff things or sightsee, or else he will screw up the whole team, but he seems to be catcing on. He likes going fast and breaking into a lope whenever he can. He is learning how to dig down and pull also when he needs too.
Jack continues to shine in lead. He had a problem at the beginning when he would look back and growl at Ruger during the first mile but I scolded him and he stopped doing it. He always keeps his line tight and is more and more focused on every run.
I was really impressed with Ruger. He is such a little trooper. Always looking straight ahead and keeping his line tight. I think he was pulling more than his share the whole way.
I think I am going to stick with this bunch as my core group. With this low level of stress involved, I might be able to run them everyday with maybe one day off and rotate different dogs in the whell position where Strider ran today. I want to give Cruiser, the siberian, a chance. Now that things are working out better I don't look at these runds with trepidation. Now I am considering what new trails to go on and thinking of how far I can go.
As far as the headcases go, they are fired from their lead positions, but I will think of a way to work them back in again. Ideally, I will eventually run eight dogs, but right now four is enough for me. Tangles are easier to fix there is more control, and less power and speed.
Wether I am an "innocent" or a "headcase" I don't know probably both.

Jack and Doppler

2005-01-05T07:56:00.000-08:00

Well, JJ totally did not work out in lead yesturday. She missd the first turn and then when I got her back on the trail, she deliberately pulled off into the woods and wrapped the gangline around a tree. I just have to face it that none of the "lead dogs" I got from other mushers want to be lead dogs. Fir never listened to me either even before Ruger chomped on his leg and put him out of commission for the season. Pumpkin is just too unreliable. She gives me subtle hints that she doesn't want to run like hiding inside her doghouse. Then when I hook her up she balks and won't run out front. Once we get going she seems pretty good but half the time she can't lead the team out of the yard. So I need to develop a new leader. One that can at least stay out front and lead the team from the dog yard to the trail. Once on the trail I could probably switch Pumpkin into lead again.
My only real candidate for the Job is Doppler. He is intelligent and responsive and fast, but very young. So is Jack, but I only have so many dogs to work with. Strider is turning out to be too big and slow to keep up with team, Ruger doesn't have the mental capacity to lead, Cruiser might have potential But I haven't run him enough yet.
So after my disaster yesturday, I hooked up just Jack and Doppler with an empty sled. I must say I had some of the most fun I had with the dogs all year! We went six miles. We didn't go really fast. With me on the runners they were each pulling over 100 lbs. so I helped out a bit but still gave them a chance to pull. This gave me a chance to try Doppler in lead without any pressure on him, so that I could observe him.
He doesn't have the "fire in the belly" that Jack does, but he does seem to have some potential listening to commands. I could see little wheels turning in his head. The wheels are still turning in Jacks head to as he decodes these commands also. The difference with these guys and my other "leaders" is that they want to do the job. They are eager to try. The older dogs maybe have some baggage, psychological issues, that I can't sort out. They are no doubt comparing me to previous owners, previous runs and experiences.
These two yearlings are fresh slates. They look up to me and everything is pretty new. I feel like a Holloywood director working with some fresh new actors. They aren't Jaded at all and are eager to take direction. So it was kind of fun just being out there with these two Guys. The snow cover on the trail was nice. It was maybe ten degrees out, clear and sunny. I got thinking that This is my first year, I am not training for a race, I am not trying to impress anyone so I can move at my own pace, really get to know the team well and work on putting a team together. I have decided that for every bad run, I will make sure to do somthing positive, hook up a little team, or work on somthing to make it fun. If I had to be in a race in a few weeks I would be pretty stressed out right now, but as it stands, its not hurting anything.
With this in mind going on that short run with the two young dogs was pretty cool.

Pre-run anxeity

2004-12-31T14:55:00.000-08:00

I have been going through this. Looking back at my lasy entry it seems kind of disjointed and depressive. It's because I have been a bit discouraged. I had four days off and only ran the dogs one of the days. Today isn't really a day off because I work tonight. I kept putting it off or coming up with excuses until it got dark. This can be a stressful hobby. I was thinking about this as I was running today. I was trying to come up with an analogy. The one I came up with was coaching a sports team of a sport you never played before and none of the players speak english. That's about the best analogy I could come up with.
It's kind of a weird balance you need to have I am finding. You need patience and a calm demeanor also persistence but at the same time lightening quick reflexes and decision making skills. Dogs can die. They can get tangled up and then get in a dogfight and kill each other, they can get tangled up and then drug and strangled to death. There are a lot of very stressful things to worry about. Its physically demanding also. Which I don't mind that part because its nice to be getting back in shape again. But unlike a solo sport, where it is just you and the elements, thuis is a team sport and I am the coach as well as a participant.
The leader problems I have been having have kind of been taking the fun out of it too. The majority of the time I have a major tangle as I am trying to get to my driveway. This is when the dogs are all juiced up with adrenaline and ready to fly. But this is the first turn where the leaders have been deciding to screw up the whole team in order to opt out of the run. Hooking the dogs up is stressful. Most of them are jumping around and screaming and whining wanting to run. It is a highly charged atmosphere. There are also a lot of quick decisions to be made and some last minute preperations to take care of. I usually try to plan out ahead of time who I will run and where but then will often make last minute changes for various reasons.

With this on my mind I was tempted to just take it easy today. But that would mean I ran the dogs once out of five days. So I forced myself to run the dogs. Here is how it went:

Pumpkin was snug inside her house. All the rest of the dogs were jumping around wanting to run including Fir finally walking on all fours again but no where near ready to run yet.
I tugged on Pumpkins chain to pull her out of the house to harness her up and I had to literally pull her out of her house. I don't like seeing this. I like dogs to want to run. But I was stuck.
I hooked her up and chained her to the set of tires I have to keep her in place holding the line out. I hooked up Strider and Ruger in wheel, Doppler and JJ and last of all Jack in lead.
Really Jack is an odd sort of leader. He has to be hooked up last because he is my most unruly dog. The leader is generally the most well behaved well trained dog. Good thing he is one of my favorite dogs or it would be really annoying hooking him up. It is a wrestling match every time just trying to get his harness on. He tried to climb inside my coat or somthing today. Then when I hooked him up he seemed to be catching on and held the line out after I unhooked the tire and walked back the the sled.
Disaster.
Pumpkin decides that she isn't going to run today. So she refuses to keep the line stretched out and the gangline gets all bunched up. Jack decides to turn around and sniff JJ because she hasn't run in a while and I guess he missed her. This is JJ's cue to bail and drag the team back to her dog house. Somehow Strider gets a knot tied around his leg composed of the gangline and three other dogs tugs. Ruger is all turned around and begins snarling curses at Strider because they are all twisted together.

So I took a shot and put Pumpkin away and put JJ up front after I got everything all untangled. I figure a leader that turns around at will and doesn't listen to commands is better than one that won't keep the line stretched out. So true to form she missed the first turn but I wasn't to upset. I pulled them onto the trail but Doppler shot ahead of the leaders. Minor tangle.

Then as we are going down the driveway Jacks tug comes off and he is running with such force he flips around in a circle around JJ. I whoa the team. I get everything all fixed up and then JJ decides to pull her first U-turn of the day. I gave her a sharp slap on the nose. The "positive reinforcement only" thing is out the window. I seemed to have got her attention.

Then she misses the turn onto the trail. Can't for the life of her fathom what "Haw" means. I am starting to have the impression that she is not really a command leader but is a good dog to run next to a command leader, kind of like Jack. That is she WAS a good dog to run up front before she developed this U turn problem.
About this time some ATVers come down the trail as I am untangling the dogs and trying to get them facing the right way. They decide to stop on the middle of the trail and gawk. I wave them past. I am sure they were nice people just interested in seeing a dog team and wanted to chat but now was not the time. I hope they don't think I was too rude but they seemed to wilt slightly when I looked at them. I was not in the best mood at this point.
So we finally get going down the trail and JJ is doing really well and Jack is right along side her running wide open. I have to say, for all the problems I am having, I really do like JJ. She is my type of dog. Tough "village dog" type dog. Totally honest. She is always pulling her butt off even when she is disobeying. Jack seems to be feeding off her energy and is pulling hard as well. Not that he is a slacker, but Pumpkin is kind of a limp noodle at times even when she is running out front and listening to commands. The only time she pulls is on the way back and even then it looks kind of odd with her hybrid saluki type body. JJ runs with her head down legs wide and digs.
I have a loaded sled, loaded with about 150 lbs of salt. We are going uphill in fresh snow for this first mile of the trail. The dogs are all doing great. Strider is running a little better than last time keeping his tug tight at a gallop instead of just running to keep up. I like watching Ruger run too. He is another very honest dog. He looks kind of humorous though for some reason. It think its because he has this cute Teddy Bear look to him but looks really serious when he runs.
Doppler looks good to. He is the super smooth natural athlete of the bunch. Wheras Ruger is very strong and honest and still pretty quick, he has kind of a rolling gait. Doppler's gait is perfect, effortless, everything perfectly in line. He runs best when we are going fast and there are at least five dogs hooked up. Speed motivates him. I tried to take it all in and enjoy the run while things were going well.
We got the place where we cross a road and JJ could not fathom that I wanted to cross the road. She wanted to go "Haw" and follow the bikejoring route we had done in the fall. Once again reinforcing my impression that she is not a command leader but runs on memory. I halted the team and kept saying "on by" What she does is what she often does and that is lunge in harness and scream, to keep going the way she wants to go. At this point I was thinking maybe we can just turn around and make it a 4 miler, JJ is not as well conditioned as the other dogs anyway, because I haven't been running her, eventually she turned the team around on her own. At this point I was too spent to get upset too tired to correct her again.
I decided on the way back I would just relax and enjoy the ride. The weather was nice; not to cold out but not too warm either. The trees were covered with fresh snow. Everything was silent except for the footfalls and panting of the dogs. I thought about how nice it will be when we get to go out on an all day journey in the woods on new trails. I tiried to implant this things in my mind to think about just before the next run.

Best run of year in worst weather.

2004-12-30T15:41:00.000-08:00

I had a ten mile run today. It went pretty well. That was the farthest we have gone so far. We did kind of a figure eight pattern on the trails we have been running. I have mixed feelings about how excited to be about this. I still am not really doing what I want to do yet. The goal is to go exploring in the wilderness. Running the same trail over and over again working out kinks is just the lead up to this.
I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Pumpkin still. I guess "hate" is too strong a word. "Love" is too.
Call it a "need/strongly frustrated with" relationship. She has led a 200 mile race before for a top musher. So she knows commands. She still can't seem to get out of the yard half the time and will ignore commands from time to time. Never on the way back though. On the way back she always gets everything 100% right and pulls her butt off to boot. Little details like that frustrate me, when the realization hits that she could do the right thing all the time. I also have no idea what motivates her. She is not at all affectionate. She tolerates being petted. I work on this everyday trying to pet her, but the impression I get is that by letting me pet her she is doing me a favor. She is like "OK. I know that this is about the time you pet me everyday after you pick up poop so I will crouch here and tolerate it"
But I realy do need her because Jack is a yearling and needs to run alongside her and learn. JJ is less reliable and stronger than any other dog on the team so really causes problems, Fir got his leg chomped on and sprained it in a fight with Ruger and is probably out for the season, even though it looks like he will be OK, eventually.

So basically I really really need Pumpkin. I think in retrospect, I should have been a lot pickier choosing leaders. I should have made sure they were dogs I really really liked. I am thinking my leaders should be my favorite dogs of the team. When I think about what Pumpkin is getting out of the deal, I am surprised she listens at all. What does she really gain? Two warm meals a day and a place to sleep? Its not the petting she is after. So I have to give her a lot of credit. I also got her for free. I plan to keep her. One of the sad facts of racing is dogs get passed around a lot. Competitive racers go through a lot of dogs because they want a top team and are always cutting dogs. I have decided to keep Pumpkin for life. Ideally, she will eventually be only a back up leader. I will be leader shopping again this spring when dogs are cheap and plentiful. But I would be lying if I said I was not about to jump out of my skin in frustration yesturday when Pumpkin missed the first turn onto the driveway and pulled the team out into the yard again for the umpteenth time. Jack even looked like he wanted to go the right way. He looked back at me in confusion, but is still not confident enough to correct Pumpkin and yank her in the right direction.
Today Pumpkin pulled the same thing but I had weighted the sled down and was able to stop everything and pull her back onto the driveway. We had one other major screw up a little ways up the trail where Doppler pulled himself out of his collar while he was pooping. He hasn't learned how to poop on the fly yet. Either has Jack, for that matter, which being in lead and putting the breaks on to poop, has even more disaterous consequences.
But the run went well for the most part. They all pulled hard, except for Strider. I had five hooked up: Ruger and Strider in Wheel. Doppler in "swing" or "point" by himself and Jack and Pumpkin in lead.
Strider can't really keep up. His tug was slack most of the way. I was advised to ride the break a little, untill all the dogs are pulling, but to do that with Strider would be way slower than I want to go. He is not fitting in with the team and is just along for the ride. I may try to give him away. He has a lot going for him. He is friendly and very handsome and some people like big dogs. He might be a good skijoring dog for someone or maybe he would fit in on a large malamute team. I don't like the idea of going through a lot of dogs but his situation is a little different than Pumpkins. He is house broken and would make someone a handsome affectionate pet.
The ultimate team as far as power and speed would be Jack and Pumkin up front maybe cruiser, the siberian husky and Doppler in swing and Ruger and JJ in wheel. That would be some serious power, I can always notice a difference with different combos.

Unfortunatley I need to order some more harnesses or repair the two Jack chewed to do this. I am short now.
All in all it was a good run.

Temperaments

2004-12-26T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Sorry for not posting in a while, got kind of busy.
I have been learning about the different temperaments of my dogs as well as my own temperament. Some of my dogs are quite sensitive and others very hard headed, like Jack. When things don't go well and I get frustrated I tend to yell and this makes things worse. JJ especially, gets upset when I yell and that is why she wants to bail out. I noticed this the other day, when I yelled at Jack for causing a tangle. Yelling doesn't seem to phase Jack at all but, it apparently upset JJ and she decided to try to drag the team over to her house while the sled was tied to the truck. The fact that she almost accomplised it from the wheel position with five other dogs hooked up facing the opposite way is a testament to her strength and determination.
So I decided from now on to really try to maintain a calm demeanor. Many of the dogs key off of this. Pumpkin is also a very sensitive dog. I would say Ruger and Strider are about even as far as sensitivity, not really hard headed but not too sensitive either. Doppler is a bit sensitive, Jack on the other hand is a really confident, cocky dog. Personally, I prefer the more hard headed temperament. That temperament reminds me of my German sheperd that passed away. Police dog people prefer hard dogs. Hard dogs can take a serious reprimand and it won't take the wind out of their sails. If you think about the types of people that train working German Shepherds, many of them are big gruff former cops and this type of temperament meshes well with their personality.
Alaskan huskies, especially lead dogs, have a tendency to be a bit shy and sensitive. Many mushers prefer this type of temperament. This is called a "soft" temperament. These types of dogs are easier to train. They really want to please their master and if they feel they have done somthing wrong they feel bad. They are eager to please.
Jack on the other hand, is a very hard headed dog. The thing about him that is so amazing is that he is a pretty good lead dog and this is his first winter in harness. He just has a lot of confidence. He is very hyper and unruly too, but when In put him in front of the team he is a natural. He likes being in front and he is a fast learner. If he were a kid though, he would be the kid that was labeled as having ADHD. The kid that can't sit still and causes a lot of trouble in class. He is a chewer, it is really ard to put his harness on. It is really hard to bring him up to the line. I have too hook him up last, he used to wrestle with the dog next to him with his former owner during fall training, but as he gains more experience he gets better and better.
He pulls hard and he really likes to run.
I think in many ways, as I have said before,he is a throwback. First of all he is not built like a fast racing dog. He is short and stocky with a big fat head. He likes to sleep outside his house. A few days ago it was 30 below zero and he slept outside his house on the ground. When I came out to feed the dogs he had frost all over him. He has this one spot where he curls up in a ball. The snow has melted and there is this little hole.
Alaskan huskies have changed over the years from having, other breeds crossed in like Greyhounds and other things, plus there has been selection over the rears for racing traits. The more old fashioned dogs like Malamutes and inuit dogs are harder headed. Later in the winter I plan to get together with some freighting people with these types of dogs, it will be interesting to observe their personalities.
But whatever kind of dog you run it is best for the "lead dog" (the one behind the sled) to have a calm demeanor and act in control at all times, it makes for a more positive experience for all.

Roadkill.

2004-12-20T23:22:00.000-08:00

My dogs really like venison. The four deer carcasses my neighbor and fellow church member gave me are all eaten up. So I went around to various grocery stores trying to find a good source of cheap( or free) raw meat, but to no avail.
Then on the way to work I saw a roadkill deer and thought, "Hmmmm."
I made a mental note of the location and on the way home stopped to snag it.
Well, first of all it was on a highway with lots of traffic and I felt a little embarrassed about people seeing me pick it up. Second of all, it was in kind of bad shape, gutted from getting run over and it had frozen in place and was stuck to the highway and I couldn't pull it off. So there I was with cars going by yanking on this deers leg trying to pull it free. I felt pretty stupid, plus there was still fresh blood and guts leaking out of it and I knew it would make a mess of my truck.
So I gave up.

Then on the way home , on a less busy road just two miles from home, I see a beautiful deer on the side of the road, with just a little bit of blood coming out his mouth and one mangled leg.
It had not been there earlier that morning.
So I stopped and quickly hoisted it into the bed of my truck and was off again in less than a minute.

So now my dogs have fresh venison again in addition to the kibble that many of them are not too excited about. I guess I should have gutted it and skinned it and hung it somewhere, that is if I had the tools and know how to do that. I am not a deer hunter though. My method was to let it freeze as much as possible(the 20 below cold snap helped) and then chop it up into peices and dole it out over the next few days until its gone.

The dogs were pretty excited about it. Yesturday I cut all the legs off and doled them out. Ruger got the head. He likes the head. He has eaten three so far this winter. I am sure there are lots of vitamins, in these parts as opposed to just feeding the meat. Along with the legs I cut off chunks of shoulder , because the legs really don't have much on them. Jack got the heart and some chunks of lung. They do look like a pack of wolves when they eat the raw venison. It is kind of cool to watch. It becomes pretty clear that these are not housepets. It comes only too natural to them to tear into this raw meat.
Their droppings begin to look like wolf droppings with fur and little bits of bone in them.
Ruger can actually crack open and eat the better part of a deer skull. Of all the dogs he is the most primitive one. Not too much hound blood there. He never barks, but only howls like a wolf in pure clean mournful notes. A very "arctic" sound.

JJ

2004-12-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

Well I had another good eight mile run. It went so well it was over pretty fast and I was like, "Wow, I can't believe its over, I though eight mile runs were supposed to kill an entire day."
That's not how it is supposed to go , but has been my experience as often as not, so far.

Now my goal is to add dogs till I get up to six and then start packing on serious miles and get the team in condition. I hooked up Pumpkin and Jack in lead, and JJ by herself in wheel. I felt this would be the best way to really work on JJ and get this girl straightened out.

Here is the difference between JJ in wheel and two yearlings in Wheel:

I hardly peddaled at all the whole run. (for you non-mushing folks enjoying this blog; No sleds don't have peddals. Peddaling is kicking your foot to help push the sled along!)
With the yearlings I peddal a lot. Too much, in fact. I may be teaching them bad habbits. When the going gets a little rough and the sled slows down the yearlings look back as if to say:
"Hey, Bub, why aren't you peddaling?"
When JJ is hooked up and things get tough, she puts her head down, spreads her feet out wide and digs! You go girl!
I still peddaled a little though as JJ doesn't have as many miles on her as these other dogs, I was kind of tapping into her latent conditioning from years of racing and also her time running and playing in the back yard.

We are finally working things out with JJ. First I would like to say, all of the problems I have had with her are my fault and not hers. She is an awesome dog. The musher is the person responsible for the training and conditioning. The dogs don't make mistakes, mushers do. Dogs do what they are bred, trained and conditioned to do.

JJ still tried to drag the team into my back yard, but I was able to pull her back out onto the trail. I ran her just with the two other dogs because three dogs is all I am confident dealing with right now in a serious tangle. I am moving at my own pace right now. We did have a couple really bad tangles but I worked through them.
Part of the problem is Jacks inexperience. He won't hold the line out in the few seconds I need to untie the sled from my truck when I start off. He turns around and wants to play.

This makes JJ nervous and then she trieds to bail and pull the whole rig back to her house.

But we are working things out and I still have hope of eventually putting her in lead with Pumpkin to give Jack a break.

Once we gott on the trail though JJ was great. He tug was tight as a piano wire the whole time. I got a chance to see a fine dog at work doing what she was born to do.

Pumpkin is getting really good on comands too. The training is there, but is just coming out as she gets used to me. We went the other way on the Looop coming back home. Gee instead of Haw, this is just a little trick to do to keep her sharp.

Good Bookends

2004-12-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

In the interim since my last post, I would describe my runs as two good "book ends" punctuated by two disasters. That is, good run, disaster, disaster, good run. A "good run" is a run where nothing goes wrong and we put some serious miles in. A "disater" is when things get so royally screwed up we don't leave the driveway.

Wednesday was my best run so far. I started out a bit discouraged but then things went really well. Linda was helping me so that was a real plus. I hooked up 5 dogs. My idea was too hook up two yearlings up front, Strider the big German shepherd mix, and Jack. Behind them I hooled up two lead dogs, Pumpkin and JJ. In wheel, basically along for the ride, was Doppler. The idea was to make the two lead dogs a little jealous, that they aren't in lead, and then when Strider begis to screw up a little out on the trail, like I knew he would, put the two lead dogs up front. This woukld be there chance to rise to the occasion, answer the call of duty, whatever.

Adding JJ to the team added some serious power, she is from tough "village dog" stock and her muscles are hardened from years of long distance racing, but I have yet to harness that power productively. We could feel it though, we left the dog yard like a shot out of a gun. The first turn at the barn went OK, then JJ tried to dogleg into the back yard like she always does. I was able to jump off the sled and correct her. We got going again and I grabbed the sled as it shot by just barely. The next tun at the driveaway went well, and we hit the trail probably doing about 20 mph. The sled was jumping all over the place, Linda and I each had a runner, but it was hard to hang on, so Linda jumped off. This amount of speed wouldn't last long but Linda wasn't aware of that yet.
Soon things slowed down a bit and right on schedule Strider began to screw up, sniffing trees and things like that, But I didn't fault him, this was part of the plan. Now it was JJ's turn to shine! I tied the sled off to a tree and managed to keep the line out. I then switched JJ into lead alongside Jack. But as soon as I did she tried her turning around crap again. I kept werestling her back the right way, but eventually gave up.
I said "JJ, if you want to go back home that bad just go." I unhooked her and let her walk right back to her house. We were only a half mile out at this point.
I then tried Pumpkin. Praying that it would work out. It did. Pumpkin really came into her own. When ended up going eight miles, our longest run of the year so far. It was great. We finally were a real sled dog team. The amazing thing though is Jack. He is only a yearling and is learning to lead his first season in harness, he pulled like an absolute animal the whole way.
He is smart too and is really catching on.

We encountered a fallen tree across the trail. The trunk was about a foot in diameter and it was about six inches off the ground. I halted the team, and then jack just jumped right over the log, Pumpkin hesitating for a minute and then jumping right over as well. All the dogs were able to negotiate it. I was able to get the empty sled right over it and we were off.
Next came the poodle. This is really funny! The two track, turns into a gravel road at about the two mile mark, right there is a driveway. Smack dab in the middle of the road right across from the driveway stood a toy poodle puppy. The dogs sped up to a gallop, a look of horror came over the little poodle face and it shot down the driveway. Here is the best part: Pumpkin perfectly executed an "on bye" command and did not go down the driveway, averting total disaster. (and possibly a poodle sandwich) Good thing this was not one of those toy poodles with a Napolean complex that thinks he's ten feet tall.

It was a fast run down the gravel road, there are no deep tire ruts like on the "minimum maintenence" section of the trail. Then we came to where a county road crosses. That went well. Then I was back to "slolom sledding" as I balanced on one runner staying out of the deep tire ruts. We headeed into a wildlife managemant area. This a beautiful really scenic area but I was looking at the dog team, evaluating each member. Doppler is a beautiful dog, he is so graceful, everything moves like a well oiled machine, never a step out of place, I notice his tug goes slack though now and then, he is still developing a work ethic. He would probably do best on a super fast team, running with a lot of dogs. I will have to develop a way to challenge him with a small team.

Strider, is just a big ungainly brute. at 75 lbs he is way bigger than my other dogs. He has a fat fluffy bubble butt, narrow shoulders and kind of a long neck. He is kind of wedge shaped like a polar bear. He has all he can do to keep up when the team is going fast, but when things slow down a bit he pulls like a little trooper.

Jack is my Star so far. He is just a bundle of energy, almost impossible to hook up he is so hyper. But once in harness he just wants to go. He is just a natural. The mental pressure of learning how to be a lead dog doesn't seem to phase him. He is so hard headed I can correct him and he learns without getting his feelings hurt. He is a very hard headed dog. For some reason he is fast too. He is built like a little tank but is smooth and fast. Pumpkin and he seem to be a good pair in lead. Despite their similar wolf grey markings they are total opposites.

Pumpkin is just a very shy dog. Some alaskan huskies are just like that. But a harsh word will put her into a sulk and worse cause her to freeze up. So she needs positive reinforcement only.
She is also not very assertive toward other dogs, so I can't use her to straighten out disobediant JJ. But it seems to be going well with her and Jack. She also is pulling again, especially on the way back. I take advantage of this and stand on the runners without peddaling too much, giving all the dogs a chance to really pull.

There is a nice loop inside the wildlife management area to turn around in. That went well, the whole run back went well.

So that was wednesday.

Today, there were two disasters where I didn't leave the yard. There was a bad tangle where Doppler got all tangled up in the gangline and I feard he would strangle, so I unhooked all the dogs and Jack , Strider and Doppler took off down the trail loose. I was able to find them up the trail a ways eating the gut pile. Its all gone now, so shouldn't be a distraction any longer.

The problem is this first stupid turn at my barn where the trail leading to the dog yard connects to my driveway. Pumpkin for the life of her cannot fathom to turn "haw" and head down the driveway. She balks and everything gets all tangled up. I had five dogs hooked up, and it became an enormous knotted mess. Then there is JJ pulling the Knotted mess toward my fenced in back yard, for all she is worth. Picture an optical illusion, where a person is walking a little lap dog down the street only the person is acting like they are being drug down the street by a St. Bernard. That will give you an idea of JJ's power.

So then after gathering up all the loose dogs, I hook them up again, and JJ keeps jerking the entire sled back to her house while I am hooking the dogs up. The sled is tied to the truck at this point, facing down the trail. So she pulls it all the way back around and partiall under the truck, back toward her house yanking Pumpkin along with her. She had decided that she is done for the day I guess.

So then a third time, I try hooking the dogs up today, minus JJ. I hooked up Pumpkin, Jack, Doppler and Strider. Same problem with that first turn. For some reason once again Pumpkin won't haw, but instead drags the team out into my front yard. Then wraps the gangline around a bush. Again in frutration I try to fix this snarled mess, and never am able to leave the driveway.

So I get an idea. I park my car right by the barn, cutting off the way out into my yard, Then I move an old washing machine, my broken bike, a roto tiller, and my lawn mower., building a barrier, to hopefully steer the dogs in the right direction, away from the house and out onto my driveway.
I take a break, eat some Pumpkin pie, and watch a "Charlie Brown" Christmas special with my wife.

So, then, I do some serious praying, and hook up, just Strider, Jack and Pumpkin, hoping for the best. So wouldn't you know it, Pumpkin sees this crude barrier there, haws, and then tries to make a haripin 180 degree turn after the lawn mower and into the yard. These dogs are anything but stupid. "Nice try." I said.
Luckily I was able to get the three dogs back onto the trail.

The run was much like the run yesturday. We came across a truck heading toward us out in the Wildlife preserve, But the dogs got over to the side and let it pass. I was actuall at that point wondering where to turn around without making it too long of a run just with the three dogs.

Jack solved the problem for me and tuned the whole team around to chase the truck. The truck soon hung a right, but I gave an "on bye" command and they listened. I would say over all we went 7 miles.

Back to two dog two milers

2004-12-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

On my second run of the day I decided to try Fir up front. I figured I really need to give these leaders a chance to lead or else I'm screwed this winter. I can train the yearlings to lead from scratch but they can't lead a six dog team. If I train them it will have to be two at a time,on short runs until I feel they have built up enough confidence and skill to have dogs running behind them. If they don't have the confidence they balk and create a tangle. There is a certian amount of pressure in being a lead dog and I don't want to push them to do more than they are ready for.

Well, I hooked up Ruger in wheel, first, because he lives in my backyard and I had to walk him down to the dog yard. Normally you hook the lead dog up first and his job is to hold the line out while you hook up the other dogs. Next I hooked up Fir. He would not hold the line out. Ten times he pulled the whole rig over to his house, knocking over the sled which was tied to the truck. Ten times I dragged him back. I knew he knew what I wanted, this is a former iditarod leader for crying out loud! But he would not listen. The tenth time Ruger got sick of him jerking him around and decided he needed a severe ass kicking. Some times dogs will do this. They will get aggravated at a dog in the team that keeps screwing up and try to discipline him. I can't have dogs disciplining each other, that's my job, besides they can get hurt. I broke up the fight but not after Ruger got some puncture marks in his face and Fir was limping. I looked around for a bite mark on Fir's leg. I can't find one. He also lets me handle it so it must not be too tender. Maybe it is bruised or maybe Fir is being melodramatic. That might sound far fetched but its not, sled dogs can actually learn to fake injuries in order to get attention. They learn to do it when they have a real injury and see how much attention they get. Simple Pavlovian conditioning.

So Fir's run was over before it started. I tried to run just Ruger and Doppler, but Ruger looked all befuddled. He is not a leader, never been a leader was not sold to me as a leader. At seven years old, I can't expect him to start now. It's not his fault. Some dogs just don't have what it takes. So I put him back. I feel bad that I haven't run him yet because I really like him. As soon as I get my leader situation worked out I will.

Next I tried Strider and Jack. It weant well. Both dogs are eager to run, listen to me, and seem to be slowly picking up commands. On the way up they hit the gut pile, but on the way back I convinced them to keep going. It's almost all eaten up by now so either they will learn "on bye" really well or eat the whole thing in the next few days, one or the other. It's kind of annoying to have there, but a good training opportunity, nonetheless. A two mile run is a two mile run. Not the greatest most exciting thing, but it went as good as expected. The way back is fun because it is almost all down hill and the dogs get a chance to open up. Strider is astrong puller but not the natural athlete these other racing dogs are. He works for me though, but if I had a serious racing team he probably wouldn't make it. I am gald to have him though.

I took a short break, watered Strider and Jack, went back to the house, checked my e-mail and had a glass of milk. I pondered who to run next.
JJ, with Doppler? What if she kept turning around? That would teach Doppler bad habits or ruin his confidence.
I walked back out to the dog yard after a half hour and there was Jack, banging out to the end of the chain, eager to go again. I figured, why not? It's not like two back to back two mile runs pulling an empty sled will kill him. He was up to five mile runs back in November with his previous owner anyhow. If anything he has gotten out of shape.
So I ran him with Doppler. Here is the difference between Doppler and Strider: Doppler is a very fast naturally athletic dog, but likes to look around a lot and doesn't pull as much. He did better than last time though. On the way down was when he really shined. He is a super fast super smooth runner, just like a grey hound. For a while there I think he and Jack were racing each other, for all his stockiness, Jack is pretty fast, but not quite Dopplers equal in sheer speed.

Jack started losing focus on commands toward the end of the run but I can't ask too much of him at this point. All in all he did really well. Doppler got a chance to run loose for a while as I hooked up Jack. It's fun to watch him zip around the dog yard, he really is poetry in motion. He came when I called him too, which is a plus.

I am thinking my biggest mistake was buying all these dogs my first year. I only need four dogs this winter and that is all I will probably end up running, at least for a while. I need to pick four dogs and just work with them. Having eight dogs is too many to choose from. It screws me up because I want to exercise them all and so I keep trying all these combinations and none of them are logging serious miles yet. I don't have time to always run two different teams even if I had two combinations that worked. I need to find my four best dogs and find homes for the rest.
I want to have a micro, micro, and I mean micro, kennel.

another disasterous run.

2004-12-14T11:14:00.000-08:00

Linda had to work all day today. She is really a big help so I knew she would be missed. I really wanted to work either JJ or Fir back into the team, so I decided to run Pumpkin and Jack out front and Ruger and JJ in wheel.
I basically have NO leaders. zero, zip, nada.
Pumpkin tried to climb into a hole in the side of my barn. Pumpkin does not want to lead and she doesn't pull. I can't discipline her because she is so shy to begin with she barely lets me pet her. I have been bringing her around trying to gain her trust, she has become a little more affectionate.
Basically she ads nothing to the team but a mouth to feed. She is my best leader.
JJ has the turning around problem, so she can't lead for me at all unless she is heading home and knows the way back. The added disadvantage to her besides not leading is that she is so strong that even when she is in wheel, when she wants to go off the trail she leads all of the other dogs in the team with her, jerking them all sideways and backwards.
Then there is Fir. He is very similar to JJ in that he doesn't listen to commands at all and is stronger than all my yearlings, so that there is lots of potential for him to screw up the team.

Those are my leaders.
I really can't tell how good Ruger is because without a leader, its hard to evaluate a team dog. But he seems to be a good team dog but has no team to be in with no leaders.
I like Jack the best out of my yearlings, but it really is too early to turn him into a leader, plus having no role model to learn from, makes it even harder.

I guess I am back to two- dog teams. If I knew I would be running only two to four dog teams all winter, I sure would not have bought eight dogs. It's not like I could have two runs a day with four dogs at a time. I can't. Pumpkin and Jack up front and Strider and Doppler behind seems to work only because it is three yearlings that don't have a lot of power yet. So Pumpkin doesn't mind leading somewhat and Jack just wants to run. Put two serious dogs behind her and she falls apart.
No other four dog combination seems to work so far.
If I ran two teams a day the other team would be composed of Fir and JJ up front with Ruger and Cruiser in wheel. That won't work because JJ and Fir don't listen. Cruiser is too thin to run so I haven't tried him yet. I need to figure out what the problem is. I am ordering another wormer. I think he may have tapeworms. He paces all day too so that keeps the weight off.

I plan to run again today. Not sure on the combo yet. Maybe Jack and Doppler up front and Ruger and Cruiser in wheel. Of course Doppler balked last time in lead.

4 dog run

2004-12-11T16:56:00.000-08:00

We we took yesturday off. Linda and I were both tired and sore. I felt like I did back in highshcool and college after the first week of wrestling practice. I once heard wrestling practice described as "running a marathon with the flu and then bashing yourself into a wall five times."
Well, maybe not quite that bad, but I have been doing a lot of running along side the dogs to correct them, wrestling a weighted sled around, carrying 5 gallon water buckests out to the dog yard. Riding on the back of the sled involves some skill also, it takes a good amount of co-ordination and balance, plus we have a tobbogan sled that doesn't steer well.
Most of the best mushers are physically fit and stay in shape in the off season to be ready to mush. There are a few chain smokers like famous sprint racer George Attla, but he seems to be one of these people that is just tough as nails anyway, having grown up on a trapline out in bush Alaska.
Reading interviews with top mushers one often finds that they often had an athletic background and excelled in other sports. Iditarod contender Ken Anderson was a college wrestler and even has a little bit of couliflower ear. Former iditarod winners Susan Butcher and Joe Runyan used to run, and if you read profiles of mushers on the iditarod website you often see running listed as a hobby.
We wanted to move up to 4 dogs and keep working with Pumpkin and Jack up front today, but we didn't want to ad too much speed and power as to make things uncontrollable again. So We decided to put two yearlings in wheel. We headed out of the yard with Strider and Doppler.

Pumpkin screwed up at the first turn again to go onto the driveway. That seems to be a real problem for some reason, maybe because it is 90 degrees. We were able to quickly correct that and were soon heading down the trail. Strider pulled like a little trooper again. He is really surprising me in harness. He was a house pet that is kind of pain in the rear end to have in the house, because he is a chewer and wrestles with our other dog all the time. We were hoping he would turn out to be a sled dog. He really is proving himself. He doesn't seem to have the speed and natural athleticism of the other dogs but makes up for it in power and heart.
Doppler is just a yearling, has tons of natural speed and athleticism, but isn't a consistent puller yet. He seems to just ned more time on the trail. He improved markedly from his last run though.
Jack continued to impress, he is learning the "on by" command really well and I was able to discourage him from verring off toward the gut pile (I'll have to go up there on foot someday and remove those) Pumpkin seems to be getting better too. I hape she comes out of her shell a little with us as we run her. She is just a very shy dog. Linda has taken up the challenge of spending time praising her and petting her to get he more socialized.
We gave all the dogs lots of praise after the run.
In the future we hope to either add some more dogs or up the mileage.
We may ad some power on out next run monday by putting Ruger on the team.

Jack comes through in lead.

2004-12-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

Well, we tried Ruger and Jack in wheel, and Pumpkin and Doppler up front. Pumpkin and Doppler didn't seem confident in lead so they didn't keep the line stretched out. The wheel dogs over took them and everything got all bunched up. I wanted it to be a positive experience for Doppler so I took them out of lead. The thing with Pumpkin is that even though, she is not being overtly rebellious like my other two leaders, she is very tentative and timid. She also doesn't pull much.

So I put Ruger and Doppler away and we tried just Pumpkin and Jack alone pulling the weighted sled. Pumpkin isn't assertive enough to really correct a rebellious leader, But I was hoping that she would run along side Jack, who seemed willing, take commands, and at least nudge Jack in the right direction.
It went great! This was the best run all season so far even though it was just out and back 2 miles total. Jack pulled the whole way. We think the sled weighs at least 100 lbs with the 6 car tires on it and he did most of the pulling which on the way up is uphill. Doppler and Strider pulled pretty good on an earlier two dog run but would slack off a little , needing encouragemant., But Jack pulled steadily the whole time. Pumpkin did well too. She knows all the Comands, did nothing to screw up or teach bad habits to Jack and even bagan to pull a little.

Overall a good run. Tomorrow will be Ruger and Criuser in Wheel, Doppler and Jack up front or maybe Pumpkin and either Doppler or Jack up front.
Got my fingers crossed.

Jack

2004-12-09T05:57:00.000-08:00

I walked Jack back to get the truck yesturday. I really like Jack. He is one of my favorite dogs. I regret that I haven't been able to run him. I can tell he wants to. He is one of these dogs you can't really walk on a leash. All he knows how to do is pull. JJ is the worst this way. She pulls on the leash so hard she wrenches her head sideways.
So anyway, I wanted to spend some time with him so I walked him the 2 miles back to the truck. The leash was taught as a piano wire the whole time. He kind of reminds me of a siberian husky on steroids. I like northern breed dogs. Alaskan huskies are a mixed breed dog but they are predominantly some type of husky for the most part. In mushing parlance, the non-northen breeds that are crossed in to breeding programs are reffered to as "hounds" whether it be pointer, saluki, greyhound, coonhound, irish setter, or whatever. There are different theories as to what the hound blood ads to the mix. Generally the idea is to ad speed and athleticism. Most alaskan huskies are not a first generation cross breed, but are from two parents that are sled dogs that each may have some of various type of hound in the background some where. The idea is not so much to work out some perfect formula of percentages of various breeds but to prove all breeding stock in harnesses.
So, there is a lot of variablity in appearance with alaskan huskies, but the consistant factor is performance.
Well anyway in the genetic primordial soup, Jack came out with a big malamutish head, wolf like markings, a thick warm coat, floppy ears, and a build kind of like Arnold Shwarzenegger.
Dogs will get muscled up as they get more and more miles in harness on them. Jack had been run pulling an ATV this fall by Karen Land, I think he had gotten up to 5 miles a day.
But Jack's muscles are a result of good genetics at this point. it is early in the season and he is only a yearling. This will be his first season pulling a sled.
I have seen him run, the day I bought him and he is fast and smooth. He is a bit of a wildman though, and needs to learn some discipline. He has been a "line chewer" and unruly on runs with Karen, so she advised me to keep him in Wheel to keep an eye on him. "Wheel" is the position closest to the sled.
Around the dog yard he is so affectionate and curious about me that it is hard to do any work near him, like pick up poop or put straw in his house, becausse he overwhelms me with affection. I am not thinking he is a potential leader at this point, but I really feel I have somthing valuable in Jack.

Leader training

2004-12-08T14:08:00.000-08:00

On the advice of some experienced mushers at Sled dog Central posting to me about my problem, we decided to drive out with Fir, JJ and the sled and mush back, to avoid reinforcing the turn around behavior.
We loaded JJ and Fir in the Cab, put the sled in the truck , and drove out to the 2 mile point on our trail where it crosses a gravel road and continues into state forest land. The sled was weighted down with tires and Linda would be riding on the back. I would be jogging along behind ready to run up front to correct them.
Right off the bat Fir veered off into the woods. So I drug them both back onto the trail and gave them a firm "No". I had had their neckline off to see if it was one dog turning around more than the other, not wanting to have to correct the dog that was trying to do the right thing.
We went OK for a while then JJ tried to turn around, Fir following Suit. I was able to drag them and put them back in the right direction. JJ did this three or four times. Then it looked like they got the message and forged ahead for about 250 yards or so and I fell back to behind the sled jogging along with hand on the handle bar along side my wife.
Once again JJ and Fir turned around and I ran up to grab them, and missed, they turned the sled around quickly with a lot of force knocking Linda off the back of the sled and sped down the hill toward the truck. They took off fast.
We walked back dejectedly, thinking they would be there at the truck waiting for us.
When we got to the truck they were no where to be seen. I began to really worry at thet point thinking JJ had run back home along the road where we had done bike training.
My wife then noticed a set of runner tracks going off into a farmer's feild. We ran down the trail as fast as we could fearing the worst.
Luckily they were only a short ways a way laying down on the trail with the sled turned over. Linda was so relived she showered them with affection. I told her to ignore them they are being bad.
I righted the sled attatched a dog leash to their neckline and had Linda ride the brake, slowing them down to Jogging pace.
I said "Nice try guy's. Now, we get to go all the way back up the hill where we came from." That's what we did. With me running along side JJ, holding the leash, neither could mutiny and turn around. Linda was in the back peddaling and running, riding when the grade flattened out. We took a little rest at the top of the Hill right before the turn home. the rest of the way would be another mile, this time all down hill. They dipped some snow, and then began harness banging wanting to go. Then I unhooked the leash and grabbed the handle bars as the sled went by, it was a fast run all the way down.
I admired their form on the short fast run home. There was no chance of mutiny now as they knew where they were going. They both have excellent form and were well matched. They really are valuable dogs and incredible athletes. Leaders are a very impotant part of the team. Without them there is no team. All control of the sled is based on verbal comands and the trust that your leaders will obey them. Not just any dog can be a leader, most of the other dogs on my team are just as athletic and strong but don't have the mental make up. There is a lot of psychological pressure on lead dogs and not all dogs can handle it. If I had more lead dogs to choose from I would give these two a break and run them in "swing" position which is the next position down.
My plan for tomorrow is to try my other Leader, Pumpkin, a shy dog, that lacks the strength and speed of these other two race leaders, with Doppler in lead.
I am hoping Doppler has what it takes. I am also hoping that Pumpkin will be a good match with less experienced Doppler. On the few Bike runs with Pumpkin she seemed to take commands well. Bringing up the rear will be Ruger, the steady seven year old team dog and his wildman protege' Jack.
I have been feeling like I have been neglecting Jack as I have been running these small teams working on leadership. He always howels in protest as we leave the dog yard without him.
Tomorrow will be his day to shine.

What they don't know helps them.

2004-12-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

Ok here is the run down of todays two runs:
I started our with four dogs today to have more control. Doppler and Ruger in Wheel and Pumpkin and Fir up front.
No Go. They "Geed" instead of "Hawing" tried to run into the Garage and then wrapped the gangline around a bush. Ruger got turned around and got tangled with Doppler, had a small scuffle. No bloodshed thank goodness.

So I took Pumpkin out of lead, she actually was looking the right direction when I gave commamds but let Fir, who was testing me, overpower her. So I gave her a break and put Ruger and Doppler away and Tried Just Fir and JJ in lead.

JJ turned around five times before we went a half a mile. I got rope burn from grabbing the gangline. She is a very strong determined dog, hard to hold back. But I tried to be more stubborn than she and kept turning her back around.

We went OK for the second half of the mile, then at the place I had planned to turn around, she turned around with out me giving a command. I let her do it but shouldn't have. Her bad habit started with bike training when I let her turn around on me. I let her do it because I was concerned that I was running her too far and this was her way of letting me know it was time to go back. But after that she started to turn around sooner and sooner, untill she began to turn around at the end of the driveway. That is how the bad habit got established.

Well anyway the one mile run back went well and they either obeyed my commands or just wanted to get back, hard to tell which, there are only two turns.

So I posted a question on SDC on how to solve this, watered and snacked all the dogs and took a break.

I tried Fir and Pumpkin in lead again, hoping to just run those two by themselves, but they kept screwing around, wouldn't hold the line out, so I got fed up and put them back.

Then I got an idea. Doppler, one of my yearling, seems to really like me. He looks at me like he thinks I am God(little does he know what a newbie I am.) He has a really responsive eager to please personality. Then there is Strider, my pet German shepherd husky mix. Super strong, even though he is slower than my other dogs. I did try him one time before on the Bike with Fir but he couldn't keep up with the sheer speed of Fir and necklined the whole way. So I ran him loose along side us. He is a pretty obedient dog.

I went and pused the sled up to my shed and loaded 5 old car tires on there. Two feild mice scurried out of them looking confused.
Sorry Guys

I then hooked up Doppler and Strider by themselves on a shortened Gangline. After some coaxing running up front they got the hang of it and passed me, I jumped on the sled as it went by and we were off! What little Doppler knew of the Haw command, he obeyed better than my three trained lead dogs. I run up front to guide Strider in the right direction. Strider ran with his head down, a natural puller. When they got distracted and pulled to the side of the trail, I yelled "On by!" in a firm yet positive tone. No doubt Doppler had heard that before and it registered. Strider followed his example.

I was pumping most of the way or running behind the sled, but it was loaded with tires so they were pulling weight. They weren't used to it though so when the friction increased a bit they would stop, then I would run out front and coax them along until they would pass me and then I would jump on as the sled went by.

We did that off and on till we got to the top of the hill at the one mile point. I did not use any kind of "Come Gee or "Come haw" command, but guided them around.
The down hill went well,

On the way up and on the way back we did run into two gut piles but that just gave me an opportunity to work on the "on by command" and for some reason these two guys have this idea that they are supposed to listen to me. Kind of nice for a change.

I just might run these two dogs in lead for a while with the loaded sled working the vetrans into wheel untill I am confident enugh to run all six again, then finally, eightafter I add a section.

Hopefully if I run every day all the dogs will get run at least every other day.

Goal for today

2004-12-07T02:01:00.000-08:00

OK. I was tempted not to post my first disasterous run...but I am striving for realism with this sled dog blog and that's how it really went. I am thinking lack of atv training(that's how most mushers train in the fall with the dogs pulling an ATV) this fall is why the team has not come together yet . I was training my leaders with the bike but that was only working out so well and then it got destroyed.
So the goal is two runs today. First with four dogs: Ruger and JJ in Wheel, Pumpkin and Fir up front. Pumpkin was the sharpest with commands on the bike training but never really pulls.
Fir and JJ seem to be very similar in that they pull really hard and seem not to be listening to commands well. Out and Back on the two track is four miles but will play it by ear. This is fall training milage still untill we build up.

Then I want to run the young dogs. Two older dogs with two younger dogs in wheel. Whatever two of the three leaders look the best, up front.

I am sticking to four dogs at a time untill a semblence of control is achieved.

I really don't want to neglect these two yearlings. They are actually very well bred dogs, that I got a good deal on.
They were bred by Clint Warnke, who won the Canadian Challenge last season with their parents.

Overall a good run...considering.

2004-12-06T13:34:00.000-08:00

Snow-check. (not really enough though)
Harenesses-check
dogs-check
sled-check
handler(wife)-check
sled dog team-not quite.
Well, on the surface, I would say our first run on snow with the sled was a disaster. But a few things did happen that I think would bring the run slightly over into the plus column.
The problem started when Fir and Pumpkin forgot what "haw" means (it means "left")
The dog yard is about a hunderd yards or so from the house. then we need to hang a rather sharp left onto our drive way at the shed. So far this has been the tricky part.
Ruger's house is actually right there at the turn in front of the shed. Ruger was in wheel position so the house was empty. So after about five "haw" commands, Pumpkin decided to get away from all the stress and noise and go inside Rugers house, bringing the team behind her.

Bad tangle....Bad tangle. Well I corrected that, my wife standing on the break, Then Fir and Pumpkin decided to try to climb under a hole I used to have in my backyard fence., where they often exercise. Bad tangle. So, I had to think fast. I reduced the team by a dog. Tossing Jack over the fence. He was an easy choice since having been hooked up last, he had time to chew his harness and began the run in a "Y-back "harness instead of an "x-back. "

Slightly less power now in the team and slightly less excitement. Jack is a very "high attitude" dog. But he got to play in the back yard with my big German shepherd mix, so he still got to have some fun.

200 yards..down the driveway finally, now all we had to do was hang another sharp left onto the two track into the woods.

"Haw." I said.
"Haw!"
"Haw!!"
"Haw!!!"

There was no haw.
"Linda, Lay on the Break as hard as you can!"
I ran up and brough the leaders onto the trail. We began to run for about 50 yards, then Fir takes a dogleg left right into a thicket. Bad tangle, some growling. Get the team all straightened out.

"Hike!" Team takes off. Runners slip out of my hand, my wife goes up the trail without me at about 18 mph.
For a second there I had to say, they looked good. I wished I had my camera.

Fortunately, Fir executes a "come gee" which is kind of like an about face maneuver. miraculously, no tangle, totally on Fir's initiative (I am being sarcastic this is not what I want him to do).
But it worked out. I grab onto the handle bar standing on the right runer, my wife on the left. The way back, (we had gone a whopping 300 yards) Consisted of two "Gee" commands, which Fir executed perfectly.

So I untie everyone and and water them. I let Doppler know that he did a god job. I want this to be fun for him even though everything basically went wrong. I don't praise Fir though, but I don't yell at him either. The run is over.
Ruger did a good job. JJ did a god job.

So, very dissapointed. I thought for a while.

OK. We are going to have a good run today. We'll try three dogs.

Ruger in wheel, Fir and Pumpkin up front.

Big no go. Still no "Haw" command. We dropped Ruger off at his house and I ran Pumpkin back to her house. Linda stayed and held Fir. I ran back.

I decided that I needed to build better rapport with my leaders. They haven't forgotten the English language, they just need to get used to hearing it from me. So I said "Fir, it's just you today, buddy. Me and you are going the be the lead dogs. With linda, on the runners, pumping with her foot and running behind when need be, me, jogging alongside Fir, neckline in hand, we took off down the driveway.
"Haw." I said, firmly, at the end of the driveway.
Fir seemed to get it. His head was down, and he was pulling. We jogged a mile up to the top of the Hill, Not fast, I eventually ended up becoming drenched with sweat, but it was progress.
Linda got a work out too. She peddled most of the way, but took rests where Fir was doing some pretty good pulling. Then at the top of the Hill at the one mile point we executed a "come Gee." Took a short rest. Then we both rode a runner cruising down the hill at a moderate clip.

Fir, executed two excellent "gees" (he seems to have no problem with his gees, especially on the way back)
I gave him a big chunk of venison and a nice rub down. He seemed pretty affectionate, I think we are getting to know each other, better.

As I walked Jack back to the house, I was struck with how well developed his back legs were and how smooth his movement was. The though occured to me that I have way better dogs than I deserve. I want to do well with these dogs. We are not a team yet. I decided that I want to use the same determination with these dogs that I use with my Art when I bring a peice to completion. I erase a lot. All my erasers wear out before my pencils get very short. I keep trying, knowing what the picture is going to look like at the end not giving up untill it does, or gets really close.

I am determined to do that with these dogs. I know what a good team looks like, I can see it in these dogs, They have all sucessfully run before. It will all come together.

Doppler, athlete

2004-12-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

Doppler got loose today. I have these "quick links" with which I attach the dogs snap to their chains. They look like a chain link with an open part that screws shut. One day while the dogs were exercising in my back yard, I went around and tightened them all with a pair of vise grips.

All except one, now that remember....I was rotating the young males into the yard without having more than one young intact male in the yard at a time, to keep the testosterone level down a little, and I remember Dopplers never got tightened.
Luckily, he must like the dog yard because he never ran off but merely stole Jack's bone and ran around the yard teasing all the other dogs. I put him in the back yard untill I could locate another quick link and went back to do chores.
He jumped the fence and came out to see me. I got to see him free running toward me on this long straight away. I thought "Hmm..nice verticle leap, nice 40 yard dash." My JV football coach always said those too go together and are a sign of a good athlete.

Well things are kind of slow now, No snow, even though the harnesses came in. First,I had four inches of snow and no harnesses, then the snow melted in the rain and the harnesses came in the next day. That's all for now. Pray for snow.

Inspiration.

2004-12-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

I posted a discussion on www.sleddogcentral.com about "old school dogs". Someone e-mailed me a link to photos of Canadian musher, Frank Turner's Yukon Quest team: http://www.muktuk.com/quest2004/QuestDogs2004.html

I was inspired by a perticularly handsome dog named Kirby, to compose this sketch:

"Old School dogs"

2004-12-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Here is my dog Ruger. He is seven years old and was bred by Can AM 250 winning musher Keith Aili. He sold this dog and his littermates (They are all named after guns) to the musher I got them from, Pat Faherty. He was trying to get some faster dogs. Since then he has apparently intoduced some newer faster bloodlines yet again.
I kind of like the older style of dog like Ruger.

Here is Ruger if he were racier:

Here is the non-distorted photo, I was just screwing around because the first photo makes him look really blocky.

No more Bikejoring for the year

2004-11-25T13:07:00.000-08:00

Broke the bike. Rear tire is frozen in place, destroyed in other various areas. My wife has a new mountian bike and thought she would like bikejoring but not now that she has found out how it destroys bikes. I told her: "This is not somthing to do if you like your bike. "
Bikejoring is having one or two sled dogs pull you on your bike. Easier than it sounds. I have had two really good runs, but that was when I had only two dogs. Now I have eight. I was trying to rotate the dogs around so that every dog would get run at least every other day.

Now all I can do is hope for snow or go into debt for an ATV. Oh well. I hope we get snow.

The team

2004-11-23T23:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally have my own sled dog team. It has been a long time in coming. First I needed to move to a place where there was lots of snow. Then last April my wife and I purchased a house on 40 acres near lots of trails, here in Bagley, MN.
I plan to train mostly in the Buckboard State Forest, inside the White Earth Indian Reservation. It is some beautiful country with rolling hills, many lakes and towering pines. It is only about six or seven miles from my house. There is also a short trail leading right from my property to a wildlife management area.
I was originally planning to buy some registered siberian huskies, but after counting the cost of all the equiptment I had to buy like a sled, harnesses, dog trailer, and other gear, I decided to choose from the various kennels of alaskan huskies, unregistered, mixed breed sled dogs. These are the type of dogs most serious mushers and racers use and they are more available. Few people race with siberian huskies, there are a few competitive lines but they are not cheap and leaders are almost totally unavailable. Fast siberian husky lead dogs are as good as gold to siberian husky mushers and they hang onto them for life.
On the other hand, at any given time there are several alaskan huskies availbale from the many mushers that use them. Often race experienced dogs can be had at a reasonable price. I have eight dogs now from three different mushers and the most I paid was 400 dollars and that was for a four year old who raced last year in the iditarod. I got one lead dog for free. I did however, in choosing dogs, look for the qualities I admire in the husky, tough feet, warm coat, good work ethic, mellow, low maintenance dogs.
The alaskan husky is a mixed breed sled dog, descended from native northen dogs and having over the years various other breeds crossed in like irish setter, labrador, pointer, and even saluki and grey hound in some lines. There is an art to this type of expirimentation and it takes many generations to perfect and quite a bit of money invested. Most alaskan huskies are not a cross between two different breeds but are descended from parents who are sled dogs.
There are various breeding trends, and this is usually driven by the top sprint racing kennels. Right now pointer crosses and greyhound crosses are very popular. Many sprint dogs are referred to as "hounds" and not huskies any longer. Distance racers, like racers in the iditarod, need longer coated dogs more designed for endurance. But the iditarod is after all a race and people want the fastest dogs they can find. One strategy is to incorporate sprint line dogs into the distance lines and provide extra care on the trail to keep the dogs warm and hapy. They require more food, and often special jackets to wear when the temperatures plummet well below zero.
Another factor to consider is that hound dogs have different temperaments than huskies and often crave more human contact than more independant minded husky dogs and also often bark more.
I decided to take a low tech approach and get old fashioned type dogs, dogs that are naturally happy out in the cold, doing what they have been bred to do for thousands of years.

Here are some profiles of my eight sled dogs.

Strider
This is a stray dog that followed me home one day when I was out taking a long walk with my eight year old collie mix, house dog , Abel. I got him in the summer. I haven't tried him in harness yet and He may not even turn out to be a sled dog but I have high hopes for him. He is some type of German shepherd husky mix. He may have some Blue Heeler in him too. He has dark liver points and a mottled white stipe down his nose and ice blue eyes. The rest of him is black and tan in a huge (75 lb) leggy body. He is quite striking. When I first got him he had obviously been wandering around for a long time with not much to eat. His bones jumped out at me. He ate three big bowls of food the first day and gained 15 lbs in a few weeks. He is a big goofball, but really strong and pretty fast for such a big dog. I hope to run him in wheel.

JJ
JJ is short for Joan Jet. This dog was bred by Mark Black, but I bought her from Pat Faherty, who is also a Beargrease Musher. She has a really nice pedigree, With Susan Butcher's famous lead dog Granite in the background, and also Rick Swenson's leader, Tag.
She is seven years old. Mostly black and a petite 45 lbs, she pulls like a little tractor. She has a nice warm coat too and is purported to have good feet and has been injury free. She is a Gee Haw leader. The thing I like most about her is her work ethic and affectionate, mellow personality.

Cruiser
Cruiser is an unregistered siberian husky that I purchased from a recreational musher that breeds siberians. He needed to be wormed and is a little thin right now, be he should go about 50 lbs. He is an unharness broken yearling. Very friendly. He has some seppala in his back ground which is a line of siberians known for being very racy, but he looks like a typical siberian husky with black and white "irish" markings and blue eyes. One interesting thing about him is that he is so active on his chain that he has worn a circular trench into his area in the dog yard. I hope that quality will translate into tough endurance on the trail.

Ruger
Ruger is what I consider an "old fashioned" alaskan husky. Not much hound blood there. He is about 55 lbs and built like a little tank. When you pet him you are immediately struch by his powerful shoulders. He has a Sandy colored coat that is thick and hard like a malamute coat. I think he looks like a miniature inuit dog. He has a wide head and big sweet brown eyes. He has a face kind of like a bear. I also got him from Pat Faherty. Pat called him a "dog's dog" He is a simple minded happy dog. He just wants to eat and pull. Nothing too complex about him. Very low maintenance, eats what ever I put in front of him. Tough feet. To me the perfect team dog, for what I want.

Pumpkin
I got Pumpkin for free. She was bred by veteran musher Lloyd Gilbertson, and at one time found her way onto Gary Paulsen's team but was cut. She was then given to a High school kid, Jake Robinson, who is starting a sprint team and then given to me. She is a shy dog. She looks like she has saluki or somthing in her. One thing she has to lend to her is that she is a command leader. I will see how she turns out, from our bikejoring sessions, she seems fast but not a hard puller. Can't argue with the price. Time will tell.

Fir

I got fir along with Jack and Doppler, from iditarod musher, Karen Land in Montana. Fir is a leader that ran 500 or so miles of the iditarod last year. There is an interesting story about why he didn't finish the race. Karen and her team fell through the ice at one point in 30 below temps. All the dogs made it out OK, but later on Fir fainted and Karen had to give him mouth to Mouth resucitation! He is on his second life now.
He is from Musher Terry Adkins Nayokpuk line of dogs crossed with, I think, Swingly lines. He is mostly Black with brown eyes. Kind of a Grizzled black the way balck wolves are colored. He is built very fine boned like a grey hound. Very Striking. He is probably the fastest dog I have now. He is a very vocal dog and likes to play around. I tried him on the Bike a couple times with mixed results. Not all dogs like Bikjoring until they get used to it. Having a team of excited dogs behind a lead dog motivates them more than running just by themselves or next to one other dog. I have seen him run at Karen's place with a big team pulling a four wheeler and I was impressed. I almost feel like Fir is a higher caliber dog than a newbie like me deserves. I hope I can bring out his potential. He is four years old.

Doppler
This is a yearling I got from Karen Land also. He is grey and white with light brown eyes. He looks like a seppala siberian to me, except with a little bit floppier ears. He has a nice build, rangy but not too light boned. Very affectionate dog and fast too. I have a good feeling about this dog. He has a real presence about him. There is definately a lot going on behind his beautiful eyes, could be a leader someday.

Jack

Jack is the other yearling I got from Karen Land. I thought at one time he was Dopplers brother, but Jack is from a litter where all the pups were named after various types of Cheese, and "doppler" as far as I know is an airplane navigation device. Karen having gotten, many of her dogs from Musher Terry Adkins, who is also a pilot, makes me wonder if Doppler is perhaps one of his dogs.
Well anyway, Jack is my favorite, I have to say, next to Ruger. Another "old school" alaskan husky. Except unlike Ruger, he is a yearling. Karen and Terry seem to think he is a kind of a throwback to the older style of alaskan. He has a big malamutish head and a nice coat with wolfy looking markings. He is still filling out but seems to have a powerful frame developing.
I have seen him run too and he is both fast and smooth. I have a lot of hope for this Guy. He is very affactionate and playful and wild acting, to the degree that he is hard to harness even.
I have heard about wild unrully dogs turning out to be great after all that energy is properly harnessed. I hope this is the case for Jack.

Well that is my team this year. The only thing that sucks right now is that there is no snow and I don't have an ATV. I can't hook up the whole team on my bike and Bikjoring has proven to be almost more trouble than it is worth so far, good for running two dogs at a time for short distances.
Once the snow flies though I have the sneaky suspicion that I will have a hell of a team!