That's nice, but I don't live in Alaska...
mushing 101 according to Iditarod musher Pete Kaiser, click the pic
You don't have to live in the frozen north to enjoy the fun art of mushing! You probably already have a dog (or two) and a set of wheels (a bike, a skateboard, roller blades, a scooter). If you cross country ski, you can "ski-jor", skiing behind one or two dogs. "Bike-joring" is you biking behind one or two dogs. You can skateboard (if you're competent) behind a dog, or rollerblade. all you need is a path suitable for your "rig" (bike, blades, scooter or skateboard), a sledding harness for your dog(s) and some rope (gangline). Ski-joring also requires a padded belt for you. A helmet is always a good idea. Maybe some knee pads. Training is simple: a "wait" (or stay) command... "on-by" or "leave-it!" to keep your dog running straight ahead and not after the squirrel... "whoa!" to stop. You can train the commands with your dog on a leash. If you run on a trail where you will have to make turns, teach your dog "gee" (right) and "haw" (left). More advanced mushers can teach "gee-over" and "haw-over" to tell your dog to move to the left or right side of the trail to avoid a car or bike. Having a friend on a bike for your dog to follow is fun for the dog (they love to chase), and will help keep them focused on pulling straight ahead. And you'll have trail help when you stop, or have to pass a dozen chickens on the trail.
And I have toy poodles... Any dog can mush. ANY dog who wants to trot down a trail. You can scooter or bike-jor or skate behind even small toy breeds (you can help them by pedaling). Maddie the Weight Pulling Poodle weighs about 8 pounds (look for her on youtube). My Schipperke, Max learned to mush at age 11 when I hooked him up with the huskies (he showed that he loved to run and pull when on a leash), we kept the speed down, but he trotted right out with the Big Dogs. High energy breeds like working or herding types will love a good long run. Short haired breeds like Pit Bulls or Labs may do better in warmer climates than furry huskies, and they're more biddable (obedient). Racing is not necessary; you may want to simply trot down a trail for a few miles and enjoy the scenery. Going outside and playing will surely cure any Nature Deficit Disorder you and your dog may be suffering. If you decide you and your dog like the sport, you can get a dog rig (three wheeled dryland "sled", there's one in the pic above), a scooter designed especially for dog-scootering, or a real dogsled!
Follow that team: You can learn about mushing from sleddogcentral, or the Yukon Quest or Iditarod sites. You can pick a team and follow them on facebook, their websites, or the official sites for various races. You can find sleds, scooters, rigs, harness, and other gear at sleddogcentral. The race sites have teaching tools for classrooms, and pages just for kids. You can find a book, a video or a musher to help you learn how to train your own dog to pull a scooter or mountain bike. You can find lots of videos on youtube of people doing "urban mushing" or "dryland mushing" (dogs of all breeds pulling mushers on skateboards, rollerblades, bikes, scooters or rigs). You can follow that dog with GPS trackers on satellite maps on the race sites, or do a virtual flyover of the Yukon Quest or Iditarod. Have fun exploring!
It's not Call of the Wild anymore: If you read that classic of the gold rush days, you met some colorful, caring, and cruel, characters of the North. Modern mushing is different, it's all about the dogs; are they fed the best food? Vet checked? Hydrated? Rested? Happy? Afraid of the speed of the more experienced members of the team: they ride in the basket. Did they get their foot (shoulder, wrist) massage? Does the x-back work better or the H-back? Do they need a blankie? Booties? Leggings? Sunscreen blankets?
Mushing breeds run and pull because that's their nature, a Force of Nature harnessed. A couch husky is not a happy husky (unless he's run 30 miles earlier). Modern mushers use positive reinforcement, and choose dogs who want to run.
And I have toy poodles... Any dog can mush. ANY dog who wants to trot down a trail. You can scooter or bike-jor or skate behind even small toy breeds (you can help them by pedaling). Maddie the Weight Pulling Poodle weighs about 8 pounds (look for her on youtube). My Schipperke, Max learned to mush at age 11 when I hooked him up with the huskies (he showed that he loved to run and pull when on a leash), we kept the speed down, but he trotted right out with the Big Dogs. High energy breeds like working or herding types will love a good long run. Short haired breeds like Pit Bulls or Labs may do better in warmer climates than furry huskies, and they're more biddable (obedient). Racing is not necessary; you may want to simply trot down a trail for a few miles and enjoy the scenery. Going outside and playing will surely cure any Nature Deficit Disorder you and your dog may be suffering. If you decide you and your dog like the sport, you can get a dog rig (three wheeled dryland "sled", there's one in the pic above), a scooter designed especially for dog-scootering, or a real dogsled!
Follow that team: You can learn about mushing from sleddogcentral, or the Yukon Quest or Iditarod sites. You can pick a team and follow them on facebook, their websites, or the official sites for various races. You can find sleds, scooters, rigs, harness, and other gear at sleddogcentral. The race sites have teaching tools for classrooms, and pages just for kids. You can find a book, a video or a musher to help you learn how to train your own dog to pull a scooter or mountain bike. You can find lots of videos on youtube of people doing "urban mushing" or "dryland mushing" (dogs of all breeds pulling mushers on skateboards, rollerblades, bikes, scooters or rigs). You can follow that dog with GPS trackers on satellite maps on the race sites, or do a virtual flyover of the Yukon Quest or Iditarod. Have fun exploring!
It's not Call of the Wild anymore: If you read that classic of the gold rush days, you met some colorful, caring, and cruel, characters of the North. Modern mushing is different, it's all about the dogs; are they fed the best food? Vet checked? Hydrated? Rested? Happy? Afraid of the speed of the more experienced members of the team: they ride in the basket. Did they get their foot (shoulder, wrist) massage? Does the x-back work better or the H-back? Do they need a blankie? Booties? Leggings? Sunscreen blankets?
Mushing breeds run and pull because that's their nature, a Force of Nature harnessed. A couch husky is not a happy husky (unless he's run 30 miles earlier). Modern mushers use positive reinforcement, and choose dogs who want to run.
Iditarod
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Training
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Team Swordwhale: Legolas: Siberian/Shepard X
Do You really Want a Husky???
Northern breeds like Siberians and Malamutes are attractive: wolflike, those piercing blue eyes (on some Siberians), fluffy.
You really want a Golden Retriever instead. Or a Bichon Friese. Or a Pomeranian. Or a pit bull. Or a Newfoundland. A poodle. Really.
Oh just adopt a greyhound, they mostly lie around on the couch (they fold up into nice neat small packages) and look elegant.
I love my Siberians, but they are not for everyone. There are two kinds of Siberian "owners": those who understand the True Nature of Northern Dogs and work with it... and those who try to turn them into some other kind of dog. The last kind suffer Epic Fail.
They are: highly intelligent, high energy, have a high prey drive (if it looks like it's edible, it is: and that is your cat, your hamster, your yard squirrels, rabbits, deer, moose, and possibly your wailing baby). Northern dogs of all breeds are domestic dogs, domestication happened (near as we can tell right now) over 33,000 years ago. They are not crossed with wolves. But they are closer to the original model, Wolf, than other breeds. They have very low obedience, independent minded, they are a primitive breed; Siberians were bred by the Chukchi, who did not have livestock (no need to breed out the hunting instincts, in fact, it was an asset for your dogs to be able to hunt their own dinner). They have the whole hunting instinct intact: search, track, chase, kill, share the prey, or bring it back to the pups. People who had livestock bred out the kill part of the hunting instinct (the chase part is still there in herding breeds and sight hounds, the tracking part in dogs like bloodhounds or beagles, the bring-it-back-to-the-den part in retrievers). They are not aggressive (great watch dogs: watch the burglar come in, watch him go back out with all your stuff...). They are quite people friendly (but no baby or toddler should ever be left alone with any dog). They play well with others (not dog aggressive) but have a fine tuned sense of pack order and will discuss it loudly and toothily with other dogs. They do not shed; they blow coat, twice a year. you will have, not dust bunnies, but dust tyrannosaurs.
Invisible fences are invisible. So are four foot fences. And higher ones can be dug under, or you can shove the dogloo over and use it to escape. Or MacGyver an escape ladder out of tree limbs, a canoe and lawn furniture.
And you can never, ever trust them off a leash.
(That shot of Nikki, in the lake edge, below, has the Flexi leash Photoshopped out).
(That shot of Nikki, in the lake edge, below, has the Flexi leash Photoshopped out).
If you understand the Siberian Rules, they are fine dogs. As with any breed, do your research, then get them from a responsible breeder or better yet, a rescue. All of mine came from rescues as adults, and have been wonderful.
One More Thing...
"I just got a Siberian puppy and he's not anything like that! He's so good, he listens so well..."
Because he's a puppy!
My friend Heather has had Siberians since she was eleven. Her favorite was a dark faced agouti (wolf color) with blue eyes, named Strider. As a pup, he could be let out the door, and he would run to the van and jump in. Somewhere, about a year and a half old, Heather opened the door, let him out, and he ran to the van... then past it, down Willow Street, across the entire island of Chincoteague Virginia, onto Assateague Island, and into the wild. Frantic calls to various Park Service employees ensued (My dog escaped, no he's not a wolf, no he's not killing deer!!!). A search was organized. Strider was ultimately corralled... and never ever let offlead again. Though he did manage to escape a few more times in various places.
Most Siberians who end up in rescues arrive there at 1 or 2 years old... when they finally grow up and stop listening to the humans. When they squinch their eyes shut and blow through that underground electronic fence, when they squeak through the front door, opened by an inattentive family member, or climb the four foot "fence".
I've worked with various wild animals: hawks, owls, vomiting vultures, obnoxious otters, one very small Lion King, and a four month old Siberian tiger (about the size of your average husky). All of these were easy to handle when they were juveniles! Then they grow up. They become adults, need their own territory, mates, need to feed their families (which may involve killing small furry things), fend off adversaries and generally survive. Domestic animals are bred for pedomorphosis, juvenile characteristics. Your Golden Retriever's floppy ears and short muzzle are puppy characteristics. So is his brain which wants desperately to please you and do whatever you say.
Siberians... not so much. This is a domestic dog, yes, but it is closer to the original model: wolf. Between a year and two years, they grow up. They stop being puppies. It becomes more of a challenge to train them. Yes, you can train them, but not quite the same way you train a Golden Retriever. Y ou cannot ever expect a Siberian to act like a Lab, or a Bichon Friese. You may have a great recall in your fenced yard, or even the dog park. You may have a perfect sit/stay in the kitchen, waiting for dinner... but when your Siberian hauls the leash out of your hands in the state park during hunting season, and goes down the trail at warp eleven, he will forget every command you ever taught him. The deer whose trail he's on is far more important right now. I know, it's happened to me multiple times!
See that big black dog there, below? That's B'loo (a Sibe/Lab/gawdknowsbutmaybebordercollie cross). Mixes are sometimes more obedient than pure northern breeds... or not. B'loo hauled the flexi out of my hands in Pinchot Park during hunting season, raced down the trail... turned around somewhere and came blasting back toward me, took a left turn and blasted down another trail without even looking at me... I ran around into the depths of night looking for him. Finally found him, the flexi wrapped neatly around a tree. I immediately made a dog walking belt: the leashes are hooked into the belt and can't be pulled loose.
Siberian Rules:
- Expect your Siberian (or other northern breed) to be independent minded. It's rather like training a fifty pound cat. He might be a cute puppy, but he WILL GROW UP.
- Never, ever trust them off a leash. Ever. Really. Seriously. People running well trained huskies in the Iditarod have lost dogs on the trail (usually finding them a week later, when they follow the trail into the next checkpoint) because there was a tangle and someone got loose. That's the wilds of Alaska, where the biggest danger is moose and cold. Your neighborhood is worse: it has cars and perhaps evil people.
- Use real serious fence; 6' tall. A foot underground, or otherwise made undiggable. A secure kennel is undiggable and has a wire ceiling. You dog may stay in a lesser fence... until he sees a squirrel or the neighbor's cat.
- Have airlocks. Your yard fence, your kennel fence, your house doors...should all have an "airlock", a space between gates or doors, so you can't open a door and have the dog blow through into the wilds of suburbia.
- Never leave them alone with small children or other animals (like cats). Sibes are very kid friendly, but small kids or babies can make prey item noises and trigger the prey drive. Some Sibes are good with cats... but ALWAYS under supervision.
- Keep a really good grip on that leash. Or hook it into a dog-walking belt.
- Haltis or Gentle Leaders fit around the dog's head like a horse halter. They make it easier to lead your gung-ho Siberian. Make it a game (with treats) when you introduce the halter to the dog (they will try to rub it off at first).
- Never tie your dog with something she can chew through: use chain or cable. (we're talking a temporary tieout, as in, to a dogtruck on a mushing run, or in your yard for a short time). Let me tell you about the time B'loo broke a rope tie at the truck and ran through Carlisle's 250th Anniversary parade... chains, use chains. And don't use those breakaway buckles on collars you are tying a dog with.
- Never underestimate the power of a high value treat. Some Sibes are boooooored by balls and toys, though furry ones that squeak resemble dying rabbits and are fun.
- Get a good set of shedding tools: rakes and such. You'll need them.
- Use positive reinforcement. Make learning fun. Think from the Siberian viewpoint, which is: "what's in it for me?" Being fun and consistent, setting solid boundaries, being dependable, makes you the pack leader, not being aggressive.
- Give your dog a job. None of my Siberians like to chase balls or fetch or play frisbee. Booooooooring! They do like to run for miles on a new trail. Hook them up to a bike or scooter, and go for a run. If you run (in sneakers) they'll like that too. They might enjoy agility, or dancing with your dog (freestyle), or even swimming. If you want to do obedience and win, get a Golden Retriever.
Here's some links to great sites to learn more about sled dogs, follow your favorite team, or teach your Pit Bull, Lab or Boxer to mush. Click on the pics of my dogs to go to the sites. The address and site name will appear at bottom left of page.
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click on the pic for more on dogsleds
Team Swordwhale: "Makenuk's Other Fin"
...blue eyed dogs can see the wind...
(ancient Eskimo saying: from Karen Ramstead video, Karen is a well-known breeder of Siberians, and has run the Iditarod many times)
Women Who Run with the Wolves
What did you do on 10-10-10? We hitched up our sled dogs in Micheaux State Forest, southcentral PA, and had a blast. The colors are just coming out on the trees, the air has cooled enough to make the dogs madly enthusiastic to run.
"Women Who Run With the Wolves" is a terrific book by Clarrissa Pinkola Estes PhD, this psychologist/storyteller looks at myths, folk tales and faerie tales and shows how they still have meaning. Living with any northern breed, training and running them requires us to step back in time, to think from a different point of view, where dog and human helped each other survive one of the world's toughest environments.
"Women Who Run With the Wolves" is a terrific book by Clarrissa Pinkola Estes PhD, this psychologist/storyteller looks at myths, folk tales and faerie tales and shows how they still have meaning. Living with any northern breed, training and running them requires us to step back in time, to think from a different point of view, where dog and human helped each other survive one of the world's toughest environments.
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Above: Nikki and Agliuk go to Bible School for "Arctic Edge Adventure" at a friend's church. Nikki, lake's edge.
Below: My team: Legolas, Denali, Chasseur, and Max the Hobbit Husky (Schipperke). And a couple of shots of B'loo and the squeaky toy.
"Nope!" is what happens when you try to be clever and take pics of yourself and your dogs.
Below: My team: Legolas, Denali, Chasseur, and Max the Hobbit Husky (Schipperke). And a couple of shots of B'loo and the squeaky toy.
"Nope!" is what happens when you try to be clever and take pics of yourself and your dogs.
