A busy weekend

Two weeks into our "Name the Puppy" contest and we have received some great suggestions. We even have an entry from Texas! Thank you to all who have written in and to those who haven't yet, c'mon, what are you waiting for? We have decided that the prize will be a Nomad Kennel patch and the "Lone Trail" DVD which is produced by the CBC and follows the 2003 Yukon Quest. I've seen it and it is great. Even if you don't like dogsledding, the scenery is incredible. So, send your entries to: nameoursleddog@canada.com




Certainly a weekend that will require some rest afterwards. It is Rendezvous weekend here in Whitehorse and the town fills with people out enjoying the activities and events.

With the exception of today, I have been out with the dogs every day since my last post. Each time, I have taken a passenger which is great strength training for the dogs. On Thursday, Jenn's mother went out with me at night. It was an absolutely clear night with a bright full moon. Most of the run was done without the headlamp. We went about 12 miles and arrived back home twenty minutes faster than I had expected, even though Bluegrass, the new dog, didn't pull at all. To be honest, she was a complete bonehead. She was by herself in the position just ahead of the wheel dogs, which is the easiest position in the team. She looked around, she tried to turn around a few times, all the bad behaviour of a dog that didn't want to run. However, the temperature was only -13 or so; a really nice temperature to travel at because the dogs don't get as hot and yet it is comfortable for the passenger, too. Jenn's mother, Nancy, got to drive the sled across the lake which I think she enjoyed and I got to see the scenery from the bed of the sled for once.

On Friday, it was again too warm during the day to go out and because I had a big run planned for Saturday morning, Jenn and I just went out on a quick 6 mile run around 2200. We just went across the lake, through the bush and back down a laneway near our house... I don't even think the dogs knew we had gone out we went so fast. It is good for them to learn how to work hard, but they also have to enjoy what they are doing so a short, fast run is often benefitial to their mental well being. I took all seven dogs, even though I had reservations about Bluegrass. I thought that because it was such a short run, I'd give her another chance, so I put her in wheel with Ben. She was very good. She pulled the whole way; in fact, she loped the entire six miles.

First, in case the positions of dogs are not familiar to the reader, the order goes: Lead dogs, Swing (or Point) dogs, Team dogs and then Wheel dogs, which are the dogs just in front of the sled. Each dog has it's special task: Lead dogs are expected to keep the gangline strung out and tight, whether they are running or not. They are also supposed to take commands from the driver. They are not necessarily the strongest dog in the kennel, the most dominant or the one with the best relationship to the musher. Often, they are just like the other dogs. They are also not expected to pull the hardest, as long as they manage to keep the lines tight.

The Swing dogs are just behind the lead dogs and their job is to pull but also to help turn longer strings of dogs. A team of eight dogs is roughly 35 feet long and going around a corner takes practice, both on the part of the driver and the team. Basically, the swing dogs take the corner wider than normal so that the team stays on the trail.

The team dogs are the power. They are the ones who pull, pull, pull. That is all they are expected to do. Good team dogs can change gaits easily from a lope to a trot. Most distance mushers favour a trot because the dogs can cover a lot of ground without getting tired. It is the most energy efficient gait. As well, a good team dog knows how and when to rest when they are pulling. Most often the dog will stop pulling and just trot along with the team for a short distance and then they will lean into their harness again and resume pulling. There is a fine line between being a good, hardworking dog that knows how to rest and being lazy. Although the job of the team dog is to pull, there is one position on the gangline that is easier than the rest. Just in front of the wheel dogs is the 'resting position' and this is sometimes used for dogs that either need more than a few minutes break or dogs that are not as strong as the others but need the training to catch up.

Lastly, there are the wheel dogs. Their job is to pull and to help steer the sled. Because their lines come straight off the sled line, when they turn they pull the nose of the sled one way or the other. A wheel dog that is not pulling its' share is quickly noticed because it is more difficult to turn to that side. Also, the wheel dogs have to be tough both physically and mentally. Again, because their lines are attached almost directly to the sled, they get a lot of jerking on bumpy trails and downhill trails can see the sled creep up behind them. Some dogs cannot deal with this sort of pressure and they will not perform well in this position.

Fortunately, it was still cool on Saturday morning. I had plans of getting up at 0545 and feeding the dogs a broth before we were to leave. I like to give them water before we go so that I know they are not getting dehydrated and so that they don't 'dip' as much. 'Dipping' is when they grab at snow on the ground as they run. Some mushers completely discourage this behaviour, while others don't mind, their philosophy being any moisture the dog can get is welcomed. I don't mind the dogs doing this, as I share the above philosophy, but I find it can slow down a team if the behaviour becomes excessive so if I can meet their liquid needs with a pre-run broth I will. Anyway, I also like to give them about an hour between the run and the broth so they are not going on full stomachs, so I had set my alarm for 0545 with the hopes that we'd be able to get away by seven at the latest. I wanted to go early because of the temperatures, for one thing, and for another, we were going to Teslin -- a two hour drive -- after my run.

As it was, my alarm didn't go off and I ended up sleeping an extra hour so Nancy and I didn't get away until 0800. I was really eager to be underway, too, because we were going part way up the mountain and this was going to be the dogs longest and most difficult run to date. I have a lot of faith in our dogs, but I have not really pushed them too hard, so they have not really learned how to work hard and this run would require just that. I was going to put Bluegrass in the position just ahead of the wheel dogs because she would be going quite far, but I thought back to Thursday nights run and decided that I would put her in wheel to start and if she got tired, I'd move her later.

Nancy and I were gone for three hours. I would expect that we covered just over 35 miles -- 30 for sure -- and the dogs were great. Amber and Crystal were nearly flawless in lead -- even managing a head-on pass with a skier and their dog -- and I never did end up switching Bluegrass, who pulled solidly the entire run. I guess wheel is her position. I suspect that, being new to sledding, she is uncomfortable with a dog behind her and prefers the security of being the last dog.

I was very impressed -- and pleasantly surprised -- with our dogs. I wasn't sure how they would do on the long run, up a mountain, with a heavy sled. They were super tired when we got back, but they never quit. Of course they were given breaks on the way back, but we never stopped for more than thirty seconds and they were lunging at their harnesses to go again. I have to say, I think that the team has graduated to a new level. I was very proud of them.

The dogs get a day off now. It is +6 and lightly raining but they were going to get a break anyway. Hopefully tomorrow is a cooler day and we can go out again.

Moonlight mushing

Enter our contest. Name the puppy, win a prize. E-mail entries to: nameoursleddog@canada.com

Last night at about ten o'clock, I could hear our neighbours dogs barking and noticed that they had turned on the lights in the kennel. I wonder if they thought there was a wolf or a moose around at first. I'm sure it didn't take them long to figure out what was going on though; it was us. We were hooking up our dogs.

Jenn gets home from work at around 2140, so I have to wait until then to take the dogs out. Any sooner and the baby has to come with me. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem but I don't want to go on the trail with her in the backpack in the dark. It's one thing for me to get whacked with a branch, but for her, quite another. Lately, the temperature has been too mild for going out with any daylight, so last night found us getting ready to go at ten.

The baby was not even close to sleeping. She was not even tired and Jenn hasn't been out with the dogs at night before so we decided to make it a family trip. Jenn harnessed the dogs while I got the sled ready -- laid out the sleeping bag for Jenn and the baby, straightend out lines, that sort of thing. Once we were all hooked up, Jenn climbed into the sled with Hunter and we were off. We took all our dogs, except Ruby, Hudson and Bluegrass. Ruby and Hudson had good reasons to stay home, but Bluegrass was left behind because I don't have enough sections of gangline to take seven dogs out and because we were going for a twelve mile run and I wasn't sure if she was up to it yet. I have since made another gangline section and I will put her in the team next time I go out. It is easier to rest when there are more dogs.

Heading into the bush



The moon was out and almost full, so it was quite bright. In fact, for nearly a third of the run I didn't even use a headlamp. This proved to be fortunate, too, because even though I put new batteries in my headlamp before we left they were nearly completely drained by the time we came home. I think it is my halogen bulb that does it -- it draws a lot of juice. I really only used the headlamp when we were going through the bush sections in case there was a low hanging branch or an animal on the trail. Jenn was able to take some photos, and this is what it looked like without a light on:

Taking a break



On our way again



There was a south wind blowing, which we hardly noticed going through the bush but once we got to the lake, we could feel the warmth on our faces and when we arrived back home the temperature had climbed four degrees to -8C.

I have mentioned to Jenn on several occasions now that I would like to have a hand-held GPS unit so that we can better gauge our distances and our speed. For recreational mushers, I don't think that speed is that important, but since we want to get into racing it would be nice to know how we are doing. Regardless, we made pretty good time on the trail. We were on the trail for just under two hours, arriving home at 2355. Normally, it takes me an hour and twenty minutes to an hour and a half to do that trail with a moderately loaded sled. However, with Jenn, all my gear still and Hunter, the six dogs didn't slow down all that much. It was a very good run.

Day two at the NMI Dash for Cash

Our Name the Puppy contest is still running. Email your suggestions to nameoursleddog@canada.com and enter to win a prize.

It was another beautiful day today, although it was again too hot to run the dogs.

Instead, we went to the NMI Dash for Cash. These are sprint races, and they don't last long, so it was an okay temperature for the dogs that were competing. I think that the average time for the six mile race was nine minutes. Not a long run at all.

We had several friends that were competing, not to mention the kids of one of our friends, too. This is the friend that we loaned our sled to. Here are his son and daughter taking off from the start. I don't know if it is obvious in these pictures or not, but the start line was at the top of a fairly steep hill. It was amazing that every racer that we saw managed to stay on their sled.

Kim



Alex



It wasn't long before the racers rounded the corner to the finish line. Both of these kids were working as hard as the dogs and they take their racing quite seriously. The finished middle of the pack, which is pretty good, especially since this is their first year with dogs.





I was hoping to get out with the dogs tonight since it is a much better temperature. -14C. Unfortunately, my headlamp isn't strong enough, so I can't see much on the trail. I could take my chances, I guess, but I'd sure hate to run into a low hanging branch or the two moose that have been spotted around here.

So, for today, we had to get our dogsledding fix from the sidelines.

A better run

This will be a rather text-heavy post since I didn't have the camera with me today.

Also, the "Name the Puppy" contest is still on. We are not going to name the puppy officially until she is six weeks old, so you have another five weeks to come up with a name and email it to nameoursleddog@canada.com This 'contest' is open to anyone who reads this site, so if know us, hardly know us or just stumbled across our blog, please feel free to enter. The prizes have been chosen and we will have pictures for them once we have them here in the cabin.

Today was the start of the NMI Dash for Cash. It is a fairly well attended sprint race and one that offers quite a large purse for the 'serious' race. We had plans on going in the less competitive race a few weeks ago, but since Ruby is not able to be part of the team, we were unable to enter. So, instead, we have set our sights on the SilverSled race in Haines Junction. Along with the 100 mile race, there is a sportsmans race and we are planning on entering it.

As for our little run today, things were better than last time. We went around the same loop, which is 6 miles or so. Originally, I had Crystal and Bluegrass in lead, but we didn't make it much more than fifty yards down the trail and Bluegrass started to turn around and drag Crystal with her so I had to stop and put Amber in front with Crystal. I don't think that Bluegrass was comfortable with the dogs behind her, because when I took her out of lead and put her in wheel, she was much better.

I also found out that Bluegrass is a right-hand dog. She does not do well on the left and will try to run on the right side all the time. I hooked her on the right today and we had no problems with her tripping over the gangline. After I came back, Jenn took Bluegrass out for some one-on-one leader training. This she does with a harness and a leash; they walk around together and Jenn works on the basic 'line-out' command.

We were just on our way back from our neighbours place when a friend of ours and his two kids came up the laneway. His son was upset because he had placed last in the 4-dog sportsman race at the Dash for Cash and they were looking to borrow a sprint sled from our neighbours so that he may place better tomorrow. Our neighbours were not home so we loaned him ours. I hope that he does better tomorrow.

When we went to drop off the sled, we got talking about his dogs, and then we were invited in for a coffee and we talked more and by the time we noticed, it was well into the afternoon and we had not managed to get anything else done today. But, I suppose that is how it goes around here. They don't say you're on 'Yukon Time' for nothing.

They can't ALL be good runs, I guess.

Don't forget about our Name the Puppy Contest... email your suggestions to nameoursleddog@canada.com and win a prize if your name is chosen. Here's the puppy and her mom:



This was definitely not a run that I will want to look back on fondly. Even though it was the first run where I had Hunter with me, I would rather forget it, I think.

We got a new sled dog from one of Jenn's friends at work and her husband. The dog is very inexperienced and has never run with a team before. Since it was too warm for a long run and because I had Hunter, I thought it would be a great time to get the new dog out and see what she is like. Besides, not having run much this winter, she wouldn't be able to go far, anyway.

I packed Hunter up in her snowsuit and backpack and went out to the dogyard to start harnessing up the dogs. They were happy to see that we were going for a run and they all started to bark and howl. Harnessing wasn't a difficult job, but getting the dogs to the gangline and having them stay in one spot was. Ruby, my main leader, is busy with her puppy now so I don't have a dog that will hold the line tight while I bring other dogs to it. I had to put Amber up front because she has the most experience in lead, but she doesn't understand the command "line out" or "stay" so she kept turning back to see the dogs behind her.

That is when it happened. I had Ben in lead with Amber, in the hopes that his excitement would keep Amber looking down the trail, too. Behind him were Blitzi and Scroggy and behind them were Grizzly and I was on my way to get Bluegrass, the new dog. Amber decided to go visit the new dog and she turned back, which put Ben and Scroggy nose to nose. We had been warned that Ben and Scroggy don't like one another from the musher that loaned them to us. We had been careful and made sure not to run them side by side, but in this instance, facing each other was too much and they started to fight. So, with Hunter on my back, I had to seperate the fight, which didn't last long thankfully. I took each dog in turn and marched them back to their stakeouts where they will stay for the remainder of the year. Or at least until the musher comes back to town. We were considering buying Ben, but after today, he can go back. We will not tolerate fighters in our kennel.

Now I was down to four dogs. I decided to hook up Crystal, who is slow but willing to go. Now I had Amber in single lead, Crystal and Blitzi, Bluegrass and Grizzly. I pulled the hook and we were off down the trail. Things went okay for a while even though it was pretty evident that Bluegrass hasn't run in a team before. She kept going under the gangline, tripping on it, and running alongside Grizzly. This is nothing that can't be fixed with a little training though, and she did really well otherwise. Her line was tight the whole run and she was not as tired as I expected when we got back to the yard. I'll post a picture of her when I can better describe her personality.

It was a difficult run because Amber was getting distracted on the trail which is usually a sign that the job of lead -- and single lead at that -- is too stressful for her. I was glad that we were only on a short run. This is definitely a hint to work on leader training.

Here are some pictures of the run.

Sunset on McConnell Lake



Crossing the Field



I hope the next run is better.

A new arrival and the start of the 2005 Yukon Quest

This is what greeted me this morning when I went out to feed the dogs. Ruby was all curled up around her only puppy, came out quickly to eat and went back inside her house to take care of her newborn.

The puppy is not a day old in this photo. She -- it's a girl -- was born sometime last night and spent the first several hours of her life in temperatures that got down to -24 or so. Originally, we thought that Ruby would have more than one puppy, so it would not have been hard for them to huddle together against their mother for warmth, but since there was only one puppy in the litter, we decided that it would be best if we brought them inside.

This is Ruby's first litter and she is showing signs of being a very attentive mother. She had the puppy all licked clean when I went out in the morning and she nuzzles it to feed. Even though she is in the house, Ruby won't leave the little one and they both seem very comfortable.

We thought that it would be fun if you named the puppy, so we have come up with a contest of sorts. If you think that you have a good name for our newest addition then email us with your suggestion and we will collect all the entries, put them in a hat -- or dog dish -- whichever is closer to hand and we will draw out one name. If it is yours, then you will win a (possibly) fabulous prize, a photo of which will be posted here when we decide what the prize will be. If you are not sure that we have your mailing address, please include it with your email. Enter as often as you like. We just have one rule... No Native or Inuit names, please. Email us at nameoursleddog@canada.com.

One more photo...





The 2005 Yukon Quest

Yesterday we went to Whitehorse to watch the start of the Quest. I won't get into the specifics of the race here. If you are interested in the race, it's history, the trail, the standings and the mushers then go the Quest's website: www.yukonquest.org

It was a great day for a race start. The sun was shining, the temperature was around -28 and there were hundreds of people lining the start chute. We managed to arrive early, so we wandered around the staging area, talking to some mushers that we know and wishing them luck. Cathrine Pinard is using our dogbox and so far, this is as far as Nomad Kennels has come to being in the Quest.



William Kleedhan is wearing bib number six on the right and bent over, just about to undo the snap that holds the sled to the truck is our friend Didier Moggia -- a pretty respectable musher in his own right and one of Cathrines handlers for this race.

Here is another shot of our dog box and Cathrine being mobbed pre-race by her fans.



Just beside Cathrines truck was Williams truck. We wanted to see his well-known lead dog, "Dogmatic" because he is the brother to Blitzi, the female that we have just recently bought. Here he is, although the picture is a little fuzzy -- sorry.



The excitement level in the staging area was pretty high, as one could imagine, and the dogs were barking and howling their eagerness to get the race underway. Many of the mushers were going through their pre-race rituals, others were putting booties on their dogs and the more realaxed veterans were wandering from truck to truck talking to old friends and secretly sizing up this years competition. As we went from truck to truck we managed to capture the expression that sums up the mentality of someone who decides that a one thousand mile race in the middle of winter is just the thing. The wild-eyed and crazed look; the expression that says "you've got to be a little crazy to do this."



Although I can't remember the dogs name, it is one of Hugh Neff's dogs.

Martin Massicotte was a little further down the line and he was looking fairly calm. Our friends, Paul and Josee, were helping him get ready for the race and had put him up at their place for just under a month. Paul will follow Martin on the race and help out where he can. This is one of Martin's dogs and again, I don't know the name.



Amid all the noise, we heard the announcer declare the race officially underway, so we went to the starting chute to see the mushers take off. This is where it can be interesting; imagine 14 dogs attached to your sled and all riled up and ready to go. It usually two people to hold the sled, another on to stand on the brake and another six to hold the gangline. Each racer leaves in two minute intervals which may not seem like a long time, but believe me two minutes can seem like an eternity when all you want to do is get going. As well, imagine a path about five feet wide that is lined with several hundred people, some two or three deep in places. It takes a good lead dog, one that won't go and visit people, to navigate this barely contained mayhem. Now imagine being in your car with the brake pedal pressed all the way in and you're thinking "as long as I go straight, I will be fine. If I go left or right, I can't stop and who know what will happen." This is what it is like to start the race. Here are some shots of the mushers leaving the First and Main intersection:

Sam Perrino:



Martin Massicotte (and Ben, the handler):



Bruce Langmaid:



Once the majority of the mushers had started, we thought that we would go to the Takini River bridge, another great vantage for seeing the race go by. I guess it was such a good place to watch the race that most of Whitehorse turned out. There was close to three miles of cars parked along the side of the road and everyone was down on the river, close enought to reach out and touch the dogs as they went past. This is what the tail end of the race looked like, from down on the river:

Sebastian Schnulle:



The back of Gerry Willowmitzer and Sebastian as they head to Breaburn, 100 miles down the river.



And, with that, the race had passed us by. Now, we will have to rely on CBC Radio and the Quest site for updates.

Just as a little note of interest, we met a couple who were travelling through Whitehorse with a team of Malamutes. We stopped to see them and to talk for a few minutes and was I ever surprised. They had a dog that looked identical to Hudson. For those that know him, see for yourself:

Catching up.

I was able to take the dogs out for a short run yesterday. We go in the morning before Jenn has to leave for work. I had them all harnessed up and we were gone by about 0830 and although Jenn suggested I do an abbreviated run since they hadn't been out for a few days the trails were fast and hard so I took them on a 16 mile run. Things were great for about 14 miles and then, just after we had come off the lake, my dogs jumped off the trail and tried to follow some tracks in the snow. This isn't normal for them; usually, they will turn their heads at the new scent or animal trail and continue on past. Not so yesterday. I had a huge tangle, which is saying something because I only had six dogs. While I was trying to sort out the dogs, Scroggie chewed through his neckline, some of the gangline (I use coated aircraft cable in hollow braid rope for the gangline, so he wouldn't have been able to actually cut the gangline in two) and almost all of his partners neckline. Scroggie has some chewing issues that we are going to have to work on. I have to hook him up last so that he doesn't destroy the lines in his excitement to go. That is what he is all about -- "go! go! go!" He is so excited to go that he gets all worked up and unless we are running, he has nowhere to channel this energy.

Anyway, I got the team sorted out and I am still not sure what it was that made them go off the trail like that. I have seen caribou there, in much the same spot on previous runs this winter, but the dog were only twenty yards or so away from them and we passed by without so much as a head turn. Later, I found out that a musher from just down the road was out the evening before, in pretty much the same spot as I was, and was followed and then cut off by two skinny wolves. She had to yell at them to get them off the trail and they continued to follow her until she got to the road another two miles away.

Other than that and the breaking of my driving bow (the thing I hang on to when I am on the sled) when I was at the half-way point in my run, it was uneventful.

There is not much else to write about today. It was too warm to take the dogs out (+3C), so I used my time to catch up on some kennel chores. I fixed the driving bow, which was a fairly simple proceedure since I already had some UHMW plastic laying around. I then spent about an hour making new neck lines for the sled. I have made extras because I know that I will need them with Scroggie around.

I also took all the dog-yard scoopings over to the trench that our neighbour dug for his dog-yard waste. This would normally not really need to be commented on, but as I was walking over I noticed that there were four dog trucks parked near the neighbours kennel, a dozen or so people milling around and two reporters not knowing which way to point the camera. As it turns out, Lance Mackey had just arrived at Hugh Neff's place, which is a few miles down the road from us. They were at my neighbours because they were dropping off a dog for him. The reporters were on their way down to Carcross to William Kleedhan's place to interview him and just happened to spot Mackey and Neff so they followed them to maybe get a second story.

Since I have the pictures downloaded now, I thought that I would post a few that I had taken during our last cold snap.

I think that for most, the word "Yukon" is synonymous with "cold." During the winters here in the early parts of the last century, it was not uncommon for the temperatures to fall below -30 Celcius in December and never rise above that until mid-February. Now, however, it seems that there is only about a two week period that sees these sorts of temperature drops. Ours this year was during Christmas where it was -50 or better for several days. I don't know exactly how much below -50 it got because, as we found out, our thermometer bottoms out at -50.0.



This next picture is what a morning at -50 looks like. Normally the sun isn't this bright at this time of the year, especially when it is early and behind trees. What made it so much more noticable was the ice fog in the air. When the temperature gets cold enough, the moisture in the air freezes and these frozen particles of ice just hover, much like regular fog. In Whitehorse, the city proper, it was nearly impossible to see much more than ten to fifteen feet in front of you because of the ice fog. It was much worse there, I expect, because of the river; which, incidentally, hasn't completely frozen over yet.

Our dogs

I have finally downloaded the pictures of the dogs. They do not, with the exception of two, look like the typical image of a sled dog and ironically the two that may fit the stereotype of a sled dog do not go out with us anymore.

Jack London wrote much about the treatment of sled dogs in his day. Whether or not his depictions were true, even then, is a matter of debate. However, today's sled dog is recognized for what it is: a highly trainable athlete. No musher has to go out to their team of dogs and kick them to get them motivated. No musher uses a whip to discipline their dogs and there is no such thing a "leader of the pack." The dogs are treated well and fed a highly nutritious diet of meat, fat, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. To what degree the musher chooses to supplement their dogs kibble is up to them as an individual. For us, we use kibble as a base, to ensure that all the requirements are met in the off season. During the winter, however, we will adjust their diet according to training, weather and general condition of the dog. We feed mostly meat with kibble. It could be moose meat or chicken or pork. Even horse in some cases. Horse is a great meat to feed to dogs that are in heavy training because it allows for the dogs muscles to rebuild themselves much quicker than any other meat. We have also fed fish. A lot of the time, what we feed depends on availability.

All of our dogs that make up the actual team are Alaskan Huskies, which shouldn't be confused with Alaskan Malamutes. Essentially, an alaskan husky is a mutt. They are mixes of siberian huskies, malamutes, 'village' dogs and basically anything that would pull a sled in the early part of dog-powered transportation. They were bred on the basis of a certain mushers wants and needs. Some alaskans have very thick coats, long legs and are large in stature while others are lighter, shorter coated and smaller. Often, alaskan huskies will have very detailed pedigrees, going back many generations but despite this, they are not a recognized breed.

Anyway, I said that I would post some pictures of the dogs, so here they are:

Hudson



Hudson has been with me for ten years now. I got him from a friend who bred Alaskan Malamutes when he was just 6 weeks old. Originally, I just wanted a dog. But, once I started to read more about dogsledding and Alaskan Malamutes, I just couldn't resist. I bought a harness and tried him out. We didn't know what we were doing, but it was fun nonetheless. So I blame him for what has followed. He is now retired -- did he ever really work? -- and has managed to become a house dog and the team mascot. Although he is a great dog around people, he is aggressive and prone to fight around other dogs -- an unfortunate trait of many Malamutes. He is kept seperate from the other dogs for this reason.

Crystal



Crystal has been a funny dog since we got her. She came from a kennel just south of Temagami, Ontario. We were new to the aquisition of dogs and we believed everything the kennel owner told us. We were told that she was from a well-known musher from Quebec which has since been proven in many ways to be not entirely true. She is a 35 pound Siberian Husky and although she loves to run, her legs are too short and she is too small to keep up with the rest of the team. She is now the comic relief for the team. When the summer comes, we will have her spayed and she will become a pet for Hunter (and us) and she will be able to keep Hudson company. Crystal is a very strong minded dog and I wish that she could keep up with the team because she is very good at breaking trail through deep snow and when she does work, she throws all she has at the task.

These two dogs are the two that do not run with us anymore. The following is the real team.

Ruby



Ruby is a sister to Amber (see below) and came from a musher in St. Charles, Ontario. She is three years old and about 40 lbs. Her personality is fantastic. She gets along with every dog she meets and is always wagging her tail and happy to see people. She has been my lead dog all winter and I have seen a lot of progress with her. She is starting to know her commands, like 'line-out', 'gee' and 'haw' and she is obviously proud to be given the responsibility of guiding our team. She has always been a good eater and drinker and although she takes her job very seriously, she can be a goof when she isn't working. This year, so far, I guess she would have run about 200 miles for training.

Amber



Amber is the sister to Ruby. Their mother was 100% siberian husky and the father was an alaskan husky. Amber is the bigger of the two, weighing in at between 55 and 60 lbs. She is definitely the more serious of the two and welcomes a challenge. She is a non-stop puller and very responsive to both Jenn and I. For discipline, often just saying "Amber!" in a scolding tone is enough to correct her behaviour. When she was not quite a year, we think that something spooked her and now Amber is not a very trusting dog of new people. She is suspicious and wary of people when they come too close to her. She was also a very dominant dog up until recently. Amber would usually take any opportunity to re-enforce her status with our other dogs when they would be loose together, but since she has made friends with Ben, she has mellowed quite a bit and has become a much friendlier dog.

Blitzi



I apologize for the poor quality of the picture, but it is difficult to focus a lens on a dog with this much energy. Normally quiet in the yard, Blitzi loves attention. She is a very hard worker and it is evident that she has had much training prior to coming to us because her muscles bulge like an over-stuffed shirt. She is 5 years old and has had two litters of puppies. Two of her puppies have already completed the Yukon Quest and another three will be competing in it this year. She comes from Gerry Willowmitzer's kennel. She is soft tempered and loving -- we can tell already -- and she gets along well with our other dogs. We hope that Blitzi will be the founding bloodline for our racing kennel.

Ben



Ben is most likely three years old and weighs about 40 lbs. He came to us from the Northwest Territories via another musher, Kyla Boivan. She is a Quest veteran and was looking for homes for some of her dogs this winter. She said that she didn't have much of a chance to run Ben before she had to leave for the winter, but she was certain he'd be a good dog. Well, he hasn't disappointed. He is an extremely hard working dog and he is super friendly. What more could one ask for? He has this habit of biting snow and throwing chunks of it up in the air when we are about to go for a run. He is quiet, loving and obedient. An all-round honest dog.

Scroggie



Scroggie is an odd dog. He is about 3 or 4 years old and roughly 40 lbs. He came to us from Kyla Boivan, too, but our friend Paul had him first. Paul didn't want Scroggie anymore because he didn't think that he could keep up with his team and because he wouldn't shut up. Scroggie doesn't bark or howl. He screams. Well, he used to. Now that he is with us, he isn't as loud as he used to be but we wondered if he'd ever be quiet in the beginning, too. As for keeping up with our dogs, ever since he passed the garbage bag pieces that were in his stomach, he has done really well for us. I don't know where the garbage bag came from, but it was in him for a long time, I'm sure. Scroggie always looks like he just got in trouble for something perhaps because he is a somewhat shy dog. Scroggie doesn't really get along well with Ben, which is a shame, because if it were not for this sometime-aggressive behaviour, he'd be a great dog. As it is, he's a good dog, but he will never run beside Ben.

Grizzly



Grizzly is another dog from Kyla. He's also around 3 or 4 years old and he's in the 37 to 40 lb. range. He is a dog with a lot of personality and he is a funny dog to watch because he is still very puppy-like. He loves to play and he likes to work but play is definitely the priority. Regardless, he still comes out with me because he works more than he slacks off and his contribution is definitely positive.

So there you have it. That is our team. I will try and take some pictures of the trails for my next installment.

The Kennel

Our kennel is set amongst the trees, about 50 feet from our front door. We have cleared most of the trees from the inside of the kennel, so that the dogs will have sun exposure in the winter and there is more of a breeze in the summer months, which will hopefully cut down on blackflies and mosquitoes. The kennel itself is a fenced enclosure with a gate at the front and a gate at the back. This allows us to harness the dogs and hook them up to the sled in the kennel itself, and when we come back from a run, we can close both gates and let the dogs loose as we unharness and them and put them back at their house.

Each of our dogs has a house, which is full of straw in the winter and wood shavings in the summer. They have a chain that is 6' long which is attached to a post with a swivel. This gives them roughly 113 square feet of 'territory.' Each post is 11.5 feet apart and the posts are in rows, so the dogs can socialize with their neighbours, but they can't breed. Having rows makes kennel chores easier; up one side to feed, down the other. Up one side to scoop poop, down the other. Up one side to harness ... and so on. I'd like to take this time to discuss the issues involved with chains and free-running dogs.

When we first got involved with dogs, we thought that we'd like to have them all loose in a large pen. While it was nice to see them playing, we had some dogs that didn't like each other, which necessitated the building of a second and then a third pen, just to accomodate the grumpier dogs. At the outset, it would seem the ideal way to keep dogs, but the longer we used this system, the less impressed we were with it. We encountered several problems with it that we thought needed to be addressed. We noticed that our dogs were developing a pecking order, and when it came time to feed them, the lower dogs were chased off their food by the more assertive dogs. We also found it difficult to clean. Since the run was through the trees and undergrowth, it was difficult to find and remove all their waste. Even if all of it could be found, it was impossible to identify whose was whose. While this may seem trivial to some, it is important to us because their feces is a good indicator of their health. Not knowing whose is whose does not let us diagnose the dogs properly and we may miss a health issue. A good example of this is one of our new aquisitions had a fairly large infestation of worms. Since he has his own spot, we were able to notice and treat the problem rather quickly and we have seen a great improvement in his personality and his performance. This would not have been possible in a free-run system where we would have had to deworm all the dogs and this is hard on their systems, not to mention costly to us.

When we first moved to the Yukon and set our dogs up, we did not have a fence around our dogs. That didn't last long as the neighbour dogs were loose and they would come over and harass and try to fight with ours. The fence was not long in going up. Since moving we have put up a fence again not so much to keep the dogs in but, rather, to keep things out. We have porqupines here and other small mammals, but more importantly, we have wolves. Last year, a friend of ours had a dog killed and partially eaten by a wolf and this was not an isolated incident. Many local dog owners lost dogs or had dogs maimed as a result of wolf attacks.

The dogs get fed twice a day. I feed them a broth in the morning, which is just warm water mixed with some sort of meat. Last week, it was ground moose that a co-worker gave to me, since it was freezer burned. This week, it is pork that I managed to salvage from work as well. When it was -50 a few weeks ago, we fed them pure pork fat, which is like putting coal on a fire: their internal furnace converts the fat to almost pure heat, so it was not unusual to see the dogs laying out in the sun, even though the temperature was -50 or lower. In the evening, they get a scoop of kibble and a scoop of water in their dish. It is important to keep them well-hydrated, so we try and give them lots of water. Some old-school dog owners are of the opinion that the dogs can eat snow for their daily water intake but this is a difficult way to get water since snow is converted to water at roughly the rate of 20:1. Plus, to melt the snow into water, the dog needs to use its body heat and when the temperatures are cold, it is dangerous to take away body heat.

Once the dogs are fed, I make the rounds again, picking up after each dog. This means that to just feed and clean up after the dogs, I am in the kennel about 730 times a year.

To store our food, both kibble and meat products, we use an old decomissioned freezer that was given to us by a local appliance store. We store most of our dog-related things in the kennel, and we are hoping to build a better shed and covered structure when the weather permits so that we can keep our straw dry and better organize everything.

Hopefully, this has explained a little bit about our kennel set up.

An Introduction

For those that don't know, Nomad Kennels is a sled dog kennel that is interested in and training for mid- and long distance racing. We are also looking into the possibilities of providing hour, day and overnight dogsled trips for the public.

We are a relatively small kennel, as far as dogsledding goes. We have eight dogs right now, although one of them doesn't run with us anymore. He's more of a mascot, I suppose, and the one I blame for starting all this.

When there are pictures available of our dogs they will be published here, along with a little background on each member of our team.

Thanks for visiting and stay tuned.