| What
is a bootie? |
Depending
on the temperature and snow conditions the dogs are running with little
"shoes" made from Fleece or Cordura, which are fastened with
stretch Velcro on the dogs feet before the run. Unfortunately the do not
last too long, usually no more than 30 km for Fleece and 80 km for
Cordura booties.
|
| What
is an Alaskan Husky? |
An
Alaskan Husky is a mixed breed and which has been used in the Alaskan
Villages for many decades. They often do not resemble the typical Husky
look. With their long sleek bodies and the influence of hound breeding
becomes more obvious. The goal is to concentrate the good traits from
different breeds into a fast, yet very tireless runner, with good eating
and drinking habits and of course, good feet. |
| Harnessing
the dogs |
You
will learn how to harness you team of dogs, we will not do that for you.
At the beginning it might seem a bit confusing, which line goes where,
but practice will cure that fast. The dogs are pulling on the TUGLINE
which is fastened to the MAINLINE ( nylon coated cable ) and the
NECKLINES ensure that the dogs cannot wander off to the side. The dogs
are running in pairs of 2 . |
| Leaddogs |
The
LEAD dogs are the head of your team and run out front, followed by the
TEAM dogs and just in front of your sled will run the wheel dogs. The
lead dogs are your brain, wherever they go, you and the other dogs will
have to follow, so you better hope they’ll listen to you. |
| Stake
out |
Before
harnessing the dogs, we will bring them from their house to a stake out
cable, which is a long cable with short neckline sections. This way the
dogs are all close in one area. Here you put the harnesses on, and once
that is done, the dogs become more impatient to run. The same when
we return home, the dogs go on the stake out cable, here they are
watered and the harness is taken off, before they return to their
houses. |
| Commands |
It
is very helpful if the dogs are listening to you. Lead dogs have to
listen to their commands in all situations, good lead dogs are rare and
there is a big difference in a lead dog or a trail leader. Lead dogs
take the commands even if there is no trail. The dogs in you team are
most likely trail leaders, which are used to follow a team in front.
Still you have to reassure them in what they are doing.
The command to start is:
READY.. than you watch if all is ready, than a few seconds later
followed by LET’S GO. To Stop you say a long “ WHOOOOHOOOOOOO
e same time. To turn right, when the team in front of you turns right,
it is GEE, left is HAW. Please never use own commands as our dogs are
not used to them, and if you are not sure of a command, rather say
nothing. Consistency is very important with saying the commands, always
the Let’s go when you leave, always whoho when you stop, so the
dogs learn to trust you. |
| Dogbox |
If
we have to travel somewhere the dogs ride in a dog box. There are two
different systems, one being a large camper style box with open
compartments from the inside. The other being a box, where each dog has
one little compartment in which they are loaded from the outside. The
box rides on the back of the pickup truck or on a separate trailer. |
| What
type of sled? |
We
use mostly Toboggan sleds, which have 8 ft long runners. Some of them
have raised beds for deeper snow conditions. The advantage of toboggan
sleds is, that they take a lot of hard use and pack heavy loads and they
are not as fragile as Basket Sleds. When you pack your provisions in the
sled, the heavy weights go to the bottom and towards the back of the
sled. Depending on weight of yourself and the load, we determine the
number of dogs, usually between 4 and 6, on our long trips up to 8 or
10. |
| Training
the dogs |
Sleddogs
are athletes and need constant training all year. While summer is
generally their time off, they still need some practice and work out in
training runs, several times a week, but also fun stuff, like running
loose behind a bike , 4 wheeler or swimming in a lake. The real training
starts in early fall an the running time gets gradually increased till
winter. The distances can last to over 100 km per run for the racing
team. |
| Clothing
and Equipment |
Mushing
is not a fashion show, and we encourage you to bring older clothes,
where it does not matter, if the dogs leave their paw prints on them.
Please look on our clothing list for what you need.
The
real cold weather stuff, which you most likely will not have at home,
you can rent from us. We supply warm Northern Outfitter ( www.northernoutfitters.com
)clothes, jackets, pants and boots. We also can supply you with sleeping
bags.
|
| Is
winter camping dangerous? |
During
all our tours we spend a few nights out in the bush, in preset wall
tents, which are heated by a wood stove, nobody has do dig out a snow
cave. Still we have to be cautious about our environment and make sure
we always stay warm. It is no shame to admit you are cold. Proper
clothing will cure that. We do not overnight in the wall tent, if the
temperature dips to minus 30 or below, in those temperatures we stay in
the comfort of our cabins. All tents are located in a way, that we can
reach home in a days mushing. The tent nights will be the highlight of
your trip. |
| Dehydration |
It
is very important to stay properly hydrated, not only for the dogs,
which are watered and fed several time a day, but also for yourself. You
always will carry a full thermos of juice or tea with you. You should
try to drink at least 2 liters per day. |
| Kennel |
Our
dogs are kept on long swivel chains which each dog having their own
house. We do not keep dogs in large pens. All dogs are frequently turned
loose and get exercise in a big free run. If a dog turns loose on you ,
no panic, after some peeing and sniffing it always will come back, as
they are well socialized. |
| Puppies |
Usually
we have a litter of two in the spring as the bitches get bred around
March. We try to avoid winter litters, as with tours in full swing, we
could not devote the puppies the time they need. It is very important to
remember, that each playing, each walk, each interaction with the
puppies is very important for their further lives and all experiences
should be positive. |
| My
dog does not pull.... |
Well
that is quite possible. Dogs love to run, their are born to pull, but
same as us, they do not always have good days. A dog is not a machine
and we cannot ask constant performance of them. For one they might take
a little time to adjust to you, the Musher ,and they will start working
after getting to know you. Slight injuries might also be the reason for
not pulling, so it is very important for us that you let us know, if a
dog is not working. NEVER discipline one of our dogs, and also please do
not constantly talk to them, because they will start to ignore you. Just
watch the dogs and be patient and enjoy watching them. |
| First
Aid |
All
our guides are trained in first aid and CPR, not only for humans but
also the dogs. It is not very likely that you will hurt yourselves on
the tour, you might fall over with the sled, specially on the first day,
but the snow and warm puffy cloths will protect you.
The
dogs though cannot tell us, when they hurt somewhere and we have to
observe them constantly. Reasons for limping dogs can be various, from
stepping in a foot hole from a moose or a crack in the ice, from
sore muscles ( Musher leaving too fast in the morning ), dogs dehydrated
( Musher mistake of not watering often enough or driving the dog team
too long), or cuts and cracks in the feet ( Musher should have used
booties ).
Our Musher
guides always carry first aid kids, for dogs and humans with them. |