Fall in full swing

Fall is in full swing, and unfortunately, blogging about it has been the last thing on my mind!

October is always my favorite month, and it's a time of real conditioning for the dogs. In the beginning of the month, our focus is on muscle-building, and slow, shorter runs are key. We start out the season with 2-4 mile training runs to get the dogs back in the swing of things, but by mid-October, we're running 10 miles.

Every year for the past seven seasons, I drive up to my friends Bob and Jan Shaw's home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for their annual fall sled dog training session. They live right next door to the cabin I lived in last season. My oldest daughter, Sophie, has grown up knowing them as sort of surrogate grandparents. It was with Jan that Sophie had her first solo ride on a dog sled when she was seven. Hard to believe that was seven years ago!

Sophie is a teenager now and has taken an interest in other things besides hanging out with her mom and a bunch of dogs. It's been awhile since she joined me up north, but this season was extra special as she decided she wanted to return to the great north woods with her sister and me for a weekend of running dogs!

Sophie hugs a dog at Nature's Kennel

We had a great weekend running dogs and catching up with all of our mushing friends ... after a slight mishap. On the desolate stretch of M-123 between Trout Lake and Moran, where it's almost impossible to even reach a cell signal, the dog trailer got a flat. It was just after dark, and I had no way to change the tire, for, you see, this is not just any dog trailer. This is my dog trailer: which the previous owner had conveniently rigged to make it impossible to change a tire by bolting the wheel to the axle. A normal tire iron will not work; one needs socket wrenches and tools.

Luckily, I was traveling within 30 minutes of friends I've known but had only just met that day: Sandy and Karyn, who were en route to Shaw's training session, too. I had just enough signal to put out an S.O.S. to them, and they came to find the girls, dogs and me stranded there by the side of the tiny state road.

For the sake of brevity, the cliff's notes version of the story is we managed to double-box some of Sandy and Karyn's dogs two-to-a-box - enough to make room for mine...with some improvising. Four of mine had to ride in the car with the girls and me. I picked the four who I knew would get along splendidly and we finally made it to Bob and Jan's!

It was bittersweet being back on these same beautiful trails that were our backyard last season.

Stopped along the trail, Tosh (right) gets a turn at lead with Big Brown (laying down)

The dogs knew exactly where we were. The trails are so good for the dogs because they're all sand. Great for feet, joints and muscle-building.

The team running in the morning sun

I miss living up in the Upper Peninsula, and it was awesome to spend time with the girls in these old stomping grounds. They're such good helpers and always so good with the dogs. 

Elise hugs Dove aka Dover - a dog I'd known years ago who now runs tours at Nature's Kennel

Here are some pictures taken of the team taking off, thanks to mushing fans and supporters, Claudia and Lee Nowak.

My crazy dogs, amped and ready to roll

And we're off!

Saturday night, we all gathered inside to eat some great food and listen to Bruce Magnusson talk about the Copper Dog 150

And catch up with good friends. My friend, Stan, sits next to me. I was focused on listening to Bruce

Now it's November, and the fun short training runs will give way to longer, colder, and often wetter training runs. We have a lot of work ahead of us in the next two months before our first race. Stay tuned and as always...

Brake

Brake: A device for slowing or stopping motion, as of a vehicle, especially by contact friction. 2. Something that slows or stops action. v. braked, brak·ing, brakes. v.tr.

It's difficult to believe as I sit in the cabin typing that a winter storm is coming. The days have been mild and spring-like with unseasonably warm temperatures - around mid-50s most days this week.

The dogs and I have resorted to running only at night under the cooling shroud of darkness because of the warmth. This can make for quite an adventure without a means of stopping.

Yes, it's true: I have been training all this fall without much of a brake to speak of on my four wheeler.

Some commands are more concrete to sled dogs. Like, for example, gee. Two nights ago, about five miles into our run in the quiet night, we came to an intersection in the trail. I called "Gee," and Yeti immediately perked up his head and turned sharply right down the connecting trail. No problem.

Other commands are more ... fluid in meaning to sled dogs. Like, for example, whoa.

Behind every sled dog is perhaps hundreds of years of breeding churning them forward. Their momentum is not to stop; their very DNA says go! Stopping is, therefore, counter-intuitive to their core.

Mushers in the area joke about my braking system. I carry a large piece of triangular firewood on my four wheeler and throw it under the front tire when we stop. Occasionally my "brake" flies out of the basket on the front of my four wheeler.

My "brake"

I bought new pads for my four wheeler, but before I left Ohio, found out that the drum was worn down so the new pads didn't even make a difference in stopping. And by that time, I didn't have time to do full repairs on the four wheeler. So I have winged it. Good practice for a sled, right?

During a 15 mile training run the other night, I stopped on a hill to water the dogs. It was still humid and warm - about 42 degrees - and when it's that warm, I carry water and stop along the trail to cool the dogs down with a fresh drink. Like clockwork, I chucked the "brake" under my front wheel which was also turned sharply to the left. I walked up the line of 10 dogs, patting heads and giving praise for a job well done, and threw the bowls down to begin watering, starting with my leaders.

Ruffian is my most intense dog, and young leader-in-training, Dirk, is close behind her.

By the time I set the bowls down in front of my wheel dogs, Ruffian and Dirk decided they were ready to go. They began hammering in their harnesses and barking intensely.

Before I knew what had happened, they pulled the quad over the "brake" and were hauling it up hill. Instinctively, I grabbed the gangline and yelled "whoa!" several times. I even called out Ruffian's name and told her "no!" sharply.

To no avail.

Don't worry. This story has a happy (but painful) ending. I ended up stopping the four wheeler ... with my body. I have a large, black painful welted bruise on my right hip to show for it. But I managed to hop on the seat, aggravated, but no worse for the wear.

my right hip. Ouch!

I saw Bob Shaw today. He stopped at the end of the driveway and asked how my adventures are going. I told him this little story.

He chuckled and said, "always an adventure with you!"

Yup. Always an adventure with these crazy dogs!

Promo Video for Diamond Dogs

I recorded some of our training run this morning to use for a promotional video for the kennel. I am actively seeking out sponsorships for the 2011/2012 season. If you want to be a part of Diamond Dogs, please contact me, or make a donation directly through paypal at http://www.diamonddogsracing.com!

Happy Birthday, Yeti: Lead Dog Lingo, and What It Takes to be a Leader, Part II

Fall is really the most wonderful time of year. It bombards the senses with the colors, the smells, and the cool crisp morning air. I love fall!

Fall training in the Upper Peninsula outside Nature's Kennel in McMillan, Michigan is especially beautiful.

I recently returned from another trip up north for some training time with the amazing canine athletes I call Team Diamond Dogs. We have logged many miles toward conditioning goals so far this season, and are looking forward to the time when we head back up north.

My team of amazing canine athletes all muscled up on a training run. Oh, how I love and admire them!

See that dark dog up in front of my team? On the right in the photo above?

Here. This is a close up shot of him.

Look at those eyes. Such intelligent, expressive eyes.

These eyes belong to my main squeeze dogger, Yeti. He has been my main leader since he was 10 months old.

Today, Yeti turns four. This blog post is for Yeti, the backbone of my kennel and my main dude.

I wrote last winter about what it takes to be a lead dog. That post is here if you are interested in reading further. 

Yeti began leading long strings of dogs almost as soon as he was in harness. There are several "types" or levels of lead dogs. At that time, Yeti was a natural trail leader - a dog who naturally is comfortable being out in front and getting a team down the trail. He or she doesn't necessarily know commands, but has a knack for leadership and command.

Then there are gee/haw leaders - dogs who mature into knowing commands and following a musher's directions down the trail. This involves high intelligence levels and a keen sense of direction. Gee, in mushing lingo, tells a dog to turn right; haw, subsequently, communicates a left hand turn. There are more commands, but for the purposes of this post, I will focus on these two simple commands.

Yeti has finally graduated into what I would technically call a "gee/haw" leader. He has logged hundreds of miles on the trail in his four short years - enough to confidently follow my commands, even on unfamiliar trails he's never been on before.

Finally, there are crack leaders - dogs who are like power steering to a musher. They will turn on a dime the second a command is called, without hesitation, even if it means driving into an area that looks like there's no trail. Their command and understanding of words is so precise and finely tuned, that some mushers recount tails of driving large teams of dogs through a slalom-type course with crack leaders.

In just a little over three short years in harness, Yeti has mastered many skills. He passes through large areas of standing water without pause, as is illustrated in the video below.



He's raced through crowds of strange people without hesitation. He's learned how to navigate felled logs and unfamiliar trails. And this past summer, he fathered his first litter of future athletes, and, hopefully, lead dogs.

I couldn't put a price on Yeti. He is such a special boy to me. And what's ironic is, he was given to me.

Indeed, Yeti is the best "free" dog I've ever gotten! Happy Birthday, Yeti!

A word about conditioning
Conditioning with the dogs is a lot like people training for a marathon. It takes months to build up the muscle, stamina and endurance needed to compete in races when the snow flies. The beginning part of the fall is spent primarily on muscle-building. We do this through training with a four wheeler.

There are varied training methods and theories. For me, I generally train my dogs in 2nd or 3rd gear on the four wheeler, allowing them to alternate between slower, harder-pulling training runs to faster, easier-pulling training runs. I may alternate between training slower and in gear on the quad one day to training with the quad completely off and in neutral the next and allowing the dogs to lope more to build up their speed.

Anyone who has ever been a runner knows this routine. And like runners training for a marathon, the dogs have their good days and not-so-good days.

Mostly, we have had great days lately. The mistakes made have primarily been made by me, not the dogs!

My little canine carnivores resting during a 10 mile training run. Yeti (left) and Ruffian (right, standing)

Stay tuned as we up the mileage heading into November!

Some belated photos from our first training session out of Nature's Kennel

In the midst of fall training, I fall behind posting updates to this site. Fall is such a very busy time for me and the kennel.

On September 27, the dogs and I left for the first of several training trips up north. Because dog sledding is like marathon running for dogs, the dogs have to train for it much like a marathon runner has to train. We start with short runs of about two miles with the dogs hooked up to my four wheeler, gradually building up to 40 - 50 miles. It takes a lot of conditioning, time and discipline, and getting the miles that we need to race the type of races we do is difficult to do from our home in NE Ohio.

We are super excited for the opportunity to train out of Nature's Kennel this season! For those of you who aren't familiar with Nature's Kennel, it is the home of Ed, Tasha and Nate Stielstra and over one hundred or so Alaskan huskies. Ed has successfully run the Iditarod, the annual dog sledding marathon across Alaska's interior, six times since 2004, and Tasha has competed in some serious sled dog races such as Michigan's own UP 200 and France's sled dog marathon, La Grande Odyssee. Their kennel is located in the heart of the eastern UP with a labyrinth of trails connecting them to many other mushers in the area.

My nine core dogs on a training run on the beautiful trails outside of Nature's Kennel

I was super happy to see Big Brown taking charge in lead with Yeti on one of our training runs. Big Brown led for me some last season, but this season she is following commands well.

Team Diamond Dogs, with tiny Big Brown co-leading with Yeti along Michigan 422

Here are some of Team Diamond Dogs at Nature's Kennel

Aspen

Big Brown

Freya "freight train"

Gwennie

Yearling Miles

Tak

When I wasn't catching up on miles with the dogs on these beautiful trails, I was able to attend my first Midwest Sled Dog Symposium and see tons of good friends who are dear to me.

My good friend and first sponsor, Dennis Waite, with me at the Symposium.

My other good friend and mentor, Jodi Bailey, who is the first woman and rookie to successfully run both the Yukon Quest and Iditarod back-to-back on her first attempt

Ed Stielstra (left) moderates a panel regarding sled dog legislation

My Iowa buddy, Tim Looney, and I at the Symposium. Tim has Kerouac's sister, Maggie, from our first litter

My good friend, RJ

And my good friend and fan of Nature's Kennel, Cici

 Here are more scenes from the Symposium

People "talking dog"

and, of course, dogs

I am returning to Nature's Kennel this coming weekend for more miles. Stay tuned!

Lazy huskies will NOT be lazy this turkey day!

Some of the dogs on one of the beautiful trails near the Ranch

Fall training has been going well here at the Ranch, although I have not run the dogs during daylight hours in weeks. I'm learning how to function as a nocturnal animal. This will be good preparation for the Midnight Run, and gives me a chance to really put my vast collection of headlamps to the test. :)


Some of the dogs on what we call "The Creepy Trail."

We are stepping up the mileage now in preparation for our first race which will happen on January 8. This race, The Tahquamenon Country Sled Dog Classic, contains an extensive ribbon of pristine trails winding throughout the beautiful Two Hearted River country of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan along Lake Superior. It is prime winter country, and the kick off of racing season for many mushers in the Midwest.

My racing plans, which were originally to compete in the 8-dog classes, were mildly set back with the birth of Aspen's puppies. But the dogs are running like a well-oiled machine at this point in the season, and I don't think it will take much to get Aspen back in the team after she weans her pups.

Besides, we are going to be extremely busy at the Ranch starting in just a couple of days.

We are honored to have been invited to partake in several big events in the city of Akron starting this coming weekend on Friday, November 26 with the annual tree lighting ceremony at Lock 3 park in downtown Akron.

I have been asked to "mush" a keg of beer from Akron's own Thirsty Dog Brewing Company, makers of Siberian Night beer, into Lock 3 for the keg tapping which kicks off the Holiday season in downtown Akron.

Sled dogs and beer. How cool is that?

And the next morning, we will help usher in Saint Nick himself as he rides my sled with part of my team during the Welcome Santa parade downtown starting at 11 a.m.


Jack waiting for Santa beneath the Christmas tree

I've told the dogs they have to be on their best behavior because Santa will be not only watching, but riding with them! ;-)

Please join us if you are able. We will be available both days after the festivities for questions and belly rubs.

Happy Thanksgiving and, as always....

It ain't always easy: a word about discipline

"Discipline is remembering what you want." David Campbell

Okay, I admit it: some days, I don't want to run dogs.

Some days, I would rather curl up with a book and a cup of coffee and just watch the sun set like any normal person.

There's a cavernous ocean of space between the romantic image of a team of huskies gliding effortlessly across a frozen white landscape and the discipline and determination it takes to get to that point. Many, many people do not realize what it takes to get to that beautiful image of a team of huskies.

It takes countless hours of conditioning the dogs, a lot of not-so-beautiful training runs, potential balls of huskies tangled, bleary eyed mushers desperate for sleep, and hours of training beginning as early as late summer.

And it ain't always easy.

To have the discipline to go out in the cold, often in the dark, for hours on end takes a huge amount of motivation. Most people I know spend easily three hours or more straddling a four-wheeler at this time of year to gain the kind of mileage needed to compete in races - races that aren't even happening until January.

It's not just the dogs who must have endurance.


Tak after a 12 mile run, still ready for more

From the outside, it's probably not immediately clear the amount of time, sacrifice and determination that goes into this sport. You have to remember what you want, and remember it often.


Some of my dogs on a training run. Because of my schedule and temps, we train in the pitch black more times than not

It's hours and hours behind dog butts, watching each tug line to make sure it's tight, watching to ensure each dog is on its side of the centerline, watching to make sure no one is being grumpy or goofing off. Someone said to me once, it's like hooking a bunch of second graders to a line and taking them out to the zoo, hoping for the best. Some days, that sums it up!

And, add to that, the preparation that goes into this sport. I spent four hours yesterday with my good friend and fellow musher, Amanda, hacking up and grinding hundreds of pounds of deer, beef and beef tripe for the dogs. I spent an hour tonight before my run making new tug lines. The feeding, harnessing, hooking up, running, unhooking, unharnessing, feeding ...

This sport has a way of taking over your life. Because at the end of the day, it's not just a sport; it really is a way of life. A lifestyle.

Here is a snippet (just a snippet!) of a 12 mile run I did tonight with the dogs. Enjoy, and mush love!

What is the sound of over 100 huskies howling at a full moon in the Upper Peninsula?

Click here to find out!


Mush love!

Fall, friends, and fires: Shaw's Rig Session 2010

Dawn is barely breaking when I hear the quick, light steps of Jan Shaw making coffee. The warm, small home of the Shaws is soon filled with the inviting aroma of homemade bread and coffee. The sound of a gentle, steady falling rain makes me want to stay in the safe cocoon of my sleeping bag, but I know better.

There are dogs who need miles.


My team ready to go on a training run this past weekend

It is here, in the Upper Peninsula, that my love of mushing really gained a foothold - here in this stark wilderness. Here in the rain, snow, and ice storms. Here in negative temperatures. Here, in this unforgiving landscape.


Taking a break along one of the gorgeous trails outside the Shaw kennel in the Upper Peninsula

The dogs did great this weekend! It was a first rabies clinic and camp out for yearlings Kerouac and Aspen.


Ten month old, Kerouac, holds the line tight while resting along a ten mile run


New kennel member Tak (far) and two-year old Big Brown (closest) stand ready during a run


My young leader, Ruffian, being silly while resting along the trail

I am fortunate to have the best trail helpers ever on my training runs: Emily Curtice and my own daughter, Sophie.


Emily Curtice (left) and Sophie stopped along the trail. They bonded this past weekend over dogs and dirt :)

As I come in from my run, Bob Shaw asks the perfunctory, "how'd they do?" in his gruff Yooper accent, long O's made even longer.

It's a common courtesy to ask this question, and we all hope for clean, uneventful training runs.

"Good," I answer. "I didn't get lost," I say with a wink.

I will miss these people when I leave. I always do.

As all the teams begin to pack up on Sunday, the rain begins to fall steadily. With good company, standing in the rain with hundreds of dogs on Saturday was lulling and jovial. But as we leave, the rain takes on a different tone and makes me cry. Weather is only a reflection of ones heart.

Soon the wind comes to strip the trees of what remains of their colorful clothes. The leaves fall in a haphazard flutter scattering sullenly behind my truck as I make my way along Lake Michigan on Route 2. A hawk soars effortlessly on the winds, and the waves make a raucous on the shoreline.

Now that I'm home, it's happening. It always happens.

With a good night's sleep and the 10 hour drive behind me, the flood gates have opened and I cannot write enough. I am a ball of emotion and it's all flooding out of me in words.

How is it the U.P. always has this effect on me? Wyoming was the same. I wrote almost my entire master's thesis while living in a tiny, one-room cabin with no running water in Teton National Forest with 180 sled dogs. That was over ten years ago. It's like the dogs, the lifestyle, opens up a faucet in my heart and so much pours out of me. It's like being home - not only in the landscape and with the people, but also, home - finally - in myself. Comfortable in my own skin.

When I leave, I always, always cry, because I know where my heart is. And I leave a little piece of it in the woods every time I leave the U.P.

Apparently I have passed this trait down to my off spring: I came home to two notes taped to the back door, both from Elise. One was for me, and the other, for Sophie.

They were love notes, written in her first-grader's scrawl, expressing how much she missed us and loved us. Sophie came back out to the kennels at 2:30 a.m. as I was finishing putting the dogs away last night to tell me how happy the notes made her - that she smiled the whole time she was in the house.

Then, this morning, I found a poem written in Chris's scrawl, but which had been dictated, he told me, from Elise while he gave her a bath.

Dogs

Our dogs are big and strong,
They pull the sled
All day long,
And after they run
At night they rest
Our sled dog huskies
are the best.

They bark, bark, bark
And mush, mush, mush
Yeti's the leader
of the pack.
The other huskies
run in the back.

Packed and headed to the great north woods

M 123, a road that literally leads to Paradise: Paradise, Michigan that is

This coming weekend marks the kick off to another season. It is a weekend typically low on sleep but big on hope for the upcoming winter. Friends and hundreds of dogs converge in the woods not far from Hemingway's Big Two Hearted River, just outside of the tiny town of Newberry, Michigan and the home of Bob and Jan Shaw and Arctic Wind Sled Dog Kennel.

If you are not familiar with the U.P. - Michigan's Upper Peninsula - it is the farthest northern point of the mid-west you can drive to without falling into Lake Superior and then Canada. It is where I spend much of my time in the fall and winter - where I train and race, an absolutely gorgeous place of stark beauty, where wolves roam and bears grimace.


A Shaw dog sits regally at his house last fall

The season is in full swing already. But somehow this annual party is a cornerstone and official marker for the season for mushers in the mid-west. It is a bittersweet weekend of seeing people I consider an extended family long enough to laugh, catch up, talk dog, and say good bye returning to "real life." That is, until we see each other again when the snow flies.


My young leader, Ruffian, as a yearling at last year's annual rig session

I should be sleeping, but I'm still up packing in the wee hours, too excited to sleep like a kid at Christmas eve awaiting Santa's arrival. The dog box is securely attached to the Toyota, and all the dog supplies are loaded.

Stay tuned for scenes from this year's annual Shaw Rig Session and Rabies Clinic! Mush love!

Birthday, Kennel Open House, and the Green Goblin

We moved into our new Ranch and this very small community in late June. Across from the new Ranch is over 100 acres of soybeans; across from us on the other side, cattle "Moo" in the distance.



Largely agricultural, I worried how our 13 dog kennel would be received by the surrounding farmers and cattle rancher.

So, I decided to have a kennel open house. This would give our neighbors a chance to check us out ("what is up with that? why do they need so many dogs?") and would also serve as an opportunity to meet some of our neighbors.


Enter here for kennel updates!

Last Saturday, we opened the kennels up for visitors. Several people came out in support of the open house, including our families and friends. We also connected with some locals, including one local reporter, Heather Braddock, who writes for the The Telegraph, a very small paper in nearby Newton Falls, Ohio.


Visitors meet with Jack and Lucy at the open house

Heather was intrigued. She came to the kennels, tape recorder and camera in hand, and started asking questions. She asked, finally, if she could go on a training run with me and the dogs.

Luckily, the open house was also a day after my birthday, and a day after I received the best birthday gift ever: the Green Goblin!


The Green Goblin: a 2000 Yamaha Bear Tracker ATV. Little rough around the edges, but PERFECT for training the dogs!

So, Sunday evening, I spent over an hour with Heather, who accompanied me on a seven-mile training run.

Her story is due out Thursday, October 21. I'll keep ya posted! ;)

In other news, the puppies are now 10 months old, and have definitely discovered the joys of using their canine teeth!


Kerouac guards a portion of deer from his sister, Lucy

Kerouac made off with this portion of deer spine at our party and would notsurrender it!



It was a great weekend of talkin' dog under a beautiful moon.



Stay tuned for Wednesday, October 20, I head up north for the annual Shaw Rig Session at the home of Bob and Jan Shaw and Arctic Wind Sled Dog Kennel!

Mush love!