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.