Mushing Journal

We did our first 12 mile run yesterday, and half way through the run we decided to undo all the dogs necklines, something we have never done before on a whole 12 dog team.  It was very interesting as the dogs had all this freedom they were not used to.  We gave Linc & Tracker the gee command down the hill and the team went that way - well everyone but Glass who was in wheel, she tried to go straight.  She got dragged backwards and almost ended up under the ATV.  Of course we hit the brakes before she got too close to us.  She quickly turned around and got back into position.  Off we go again, this time  we took a right, well Glass doesn't seem to be the brightest bulb on the tree because she again tried to take the straight trail while the rest of the team went right.  Again she came backwards towards the ATV and we had to stop and get her pointed back in the right direction. After those two times she decided it would be best to follow the team.  We were moving along well when Linc tried to grab something on the trail but he missed it, then Dodge & Quest missed it, but Sahara grabbed it.  All we could see was a huge ball of feathers in her mouth.  The back 6 team dogs all dug in hard and tried their hardest to catch Sahara who was carrying this pheasant carcass in front of them.  We are now heading towards a short, small drop off in the trail, the leaders disappear then the point dogs stop.  There is a HUGE tree laying down in the trail. I get off and look at it, I think the ATV can fit by.  While I am up there though I decide it's time for Sahara to let go of her prize so I got a stick out of the woods and got it out of her mouth and tossed the bird off the side of the trail.  Now it's time to get the dogs past the tree so the dogs all go by, but guess what, I was wrong the ATV does not fit. The only thing we could do was back up our 12 dog team. Meanwhile Dodge & Quest had found the bird carcass and ripped it in half.  Quest pretty much ate his half and he had a slew of feathers sticking out of his mouth.  Dodge was crunching his piece and chewing as hard and fast as he could, the more I tried to get the bird out of his mouth the faster he tried to eat it. At this point I could only see the birds cold, gray, stiff feet sticking out.  Kelly came up and we got the feet out of his mouth, YUCK!  So now we back up our team and turn them around - which is very interesting with no necklines. We always tell ourselves those experiences teach dogs patience and how to deal with something 'different'.  We are off again the dogs running fast and hard on their bird high.

 

We decide to do some more hill work.  With no necklines you can really see who is just along for the ride and who is really working.  Glass & Holly decided with all this new freedom they could sniff on the up hills, a quick yell of Holly's name and she jumps forward in harness, Glass kept walking along so she got 'bumped' (Boot Camp method).  We had another issue when we would stop - Godzilla was obviously really enjoying all this new freedom as he would come back and pee on the front of the ATV tires, which he quickly learned that is not what we want him to do.  Off again to shove him back forward into his harness.  After about 3 times of that he finally started thinking about what he should be doing... which was pointing forward down the trail, not running back next to us and lifting his leg on the ATV.  All in all it was quite an interesting run and we think we might try no necklines again sometime. 

That's our first "Journal" Entry for the season, more to come later!

 

About The Dogs In Our 2005/2006Training Pool -

Dodge	3.5 yr old male	MAIN leader, most reliable leader. Fast, focused, 100% command leader, hard driving, never seems to get tired. He is a definite on our 'top 6' race team this season.
Lincoln	3.5 yr old male	Has been our main race leader last 2 years, probably will be this year too.  He can be unfocused if there is something 'interesting' on the trail, but in the woods he is extremely fast and hard driving.  Starting to do his commands this year.  Another dog that will for sure be on our top 6 team.
Tracker	2 yr old male	Leader, could for sure be a main race leader.  Fast, focused and hard driving.  One of our very favorite upcoming dogs.  Will be on our top 6 race team.
Sahara	4 yr old female	Leader.  She is a very good fall training leader, drives hard, works hard.  She is slightly behind some of our other dogs in top speed once we get on sleds.  Was on our top 6 race team last season.
Darka	4 yr old female	Team dog, can lead.  Working harder than ever this year.  She is slightly behind some of our other dogs in top speed once we get on sleds.  Was on our top 6 race team last season.
Holly	7 yr old female	Team dog, can lead.  Works hard all fall.  Our first Siberian, and mother of our best leader, Dodge. She is slightly behind some of our other dogs in top speed once we get on sleds.
Decal	2 yr old female	Team dog, leader in training.  Kind of an invisible dog in the team, just goes and does her job.  Good candidate for our top 6 race team this year.
Storm	6 yr old male	Team dog, can lead.  Works hard, focused.  He is slightly behind some of our other dogs in top speed once we get on sleds.
Quest	1.5 yr old male	Team dog, but has already spent some time in lead.  Hard working, hard driving, fast.  Even though he is young he is working his way up to being one of our top dogs.  A very cool dog!  Another good candidate for our top 6 race team.
Buzz	2 yr old male	Team dog.  Just goes along, focused, never wants to stop.  Last year as a yearling he was not confident with speed once we got on sleds, so he sat out the last part of the year.  We hope he is up to it this year!
Godzilla	3.5 yr old male	Team Dog.  Focused, harder working than Glass. This is his first real race season with us.
Glass	3.5 yr old female	Team dog, might be a leader in training.  Focused, faster than Godzilla, but doesn't pull as hard. This is her first real race season with us too.