The Journey Continues
September 1, 2006
"The right to be heard does not automatically include the right
to be taken seriously." Hubert H. Humphrey

Although it threatened rain all day, the fund raiser was dry and a good time was had by all. We had about 40 people share the excellent BBQ put on by Trish and Dale Keefe, professional caterers. The Alaska Star ran a story on me this week and included the BBQ with pictures. Check it out at www.alaskastar.com/. Trish and Dale, Northern Restaurant Group, LLC, are new corporate sponsors of R Northbound Dogs. Dale has volunteered to prepare my meals for the trail (Marti is very grateful). If you missed the BBQ Trish and Dale would like to hold additional fund raisers in the future. We will keep you posted. They also run the restaurant at the Golden Lion motel in Anchorage.

In fall training we go through the kennel asking every dog if they would like to run lead. You never know who will step up to the plate and you can be pleasantly surprised. Mocha ran lead occasionally last year, but she was so immature that I didn’t push the issue. When I asked her on Sunday if she would like to join Lycos up front she jumped at the chance (literally)! She was so funny. She ran hard but danced along the trail the whole way, diving into the brush at the side of the trail and jumping over Lycos in full stride, but never distracting the team or letting her tug line go slack I told her that if she had that much energy it was obvious that I wasn’t running them hard enough. ;-) On Tuesday she was much more focused on the trail. She is still immature (she just turned two August 18th) but I see real potential. If nothing else she is fun to watch.

On Wednesday I asked Mocha’s sister, Rosemary, if she would like to run up front with Lycos and it was a totally different response. Rosemary ran lead a little last year with Bryan Bearss. She has no idea what the commands mean, but she sure knows about going down the trail. Normally I hook up a new leader last so they don’t have the pressure of holding the team out. Rosemary looked so good Wednesday that on Thursday I put her and Lycos out front first and then hooked up the rest of the team. Bonnie has been bringing her 4-wheeler and 6 dogs to make a total of 27 (26 this week with Balu on sick leave). Thursday her husband Jim joined us and we hooked up both teams side by side. That drove poor Rosemary nuts. We had Bass and Throttle in lead for Bonnie and Rosemary just had to go visit. Poor Lycos knew he shouldn’t and he and Rosemary played tug-of-war until she over powered him and off they went. It was Eve and the apple all over again. She is such a sweetheart, but she can be a determined powerhouse when she wants something.

We had everybody hooked up. Bonnie and Jim pulled the snub line to leave and the gangline broke in front of the last 4 dogs. The front 9 dogs took off running strong, but poor Worf lost his footing and was being drug on his side by his collar. This is a musher’s worst nightmare. All I could think was that Worf would probably be killed if we couldn’t stop them. Leslie and I were off like a shot trying to save Worf, but there was no way we could catch the charging team. Just as I feared the worst, Worf’s collar slipped off. He lay there for less than a second and popped to his feet only a little subdued. These animals are incredible. If that had been me, I would have been shaking for hours.

Bonnie quickly released the remaining gangline from the 4-wheeler, tied it off to a post, and took off after the runaway dogs. I tied Worf off by his harness, and Leslie and I unhitched my team. Then I chased after Jim and Bonnie while Leslie watched the dogs left behind. When I got there Bonnie had things well under control. She said somehow the dogs had turned around, gotten into a massive tangle, and were dragging Abby (one of Bonnie’s dogs) by the rear legs. I imagine that Abby and Worf are both a little sore, but neither dog would admit it. Bonnie and Jim drove the 9 dogs back to the truck none the worse for wear.
I’ve got a policy that if the dogs take off and run without me it doesn’t count. So we put everything back together, excused Abby, and ran the two teams the 3.5 miles we had planned. After an adventure like that I think it is important for both the people and the dogs to go right back out and do it again. It re-establishes the routine and everything ends on a positive note. Nobody seemed hurt and all we have are stories to tell.

This week was the first time the dogs had run three days in a row and I could see the difference. When I unloaded them back at the dog lot Thursday everyone curled up and took a nap. Thursday evening they started getting antsy expecting to load and run again Friday morning. When I watered them instead I don’t know if I heard a sigh of disappointment or one of relief. But Friday morning they were all ready for some action. Balu was playing with Dijon and Jewels. Mocha and Rosemary were talking, and Platinum was telling me he was either bored or hungry or both. Characters!

Balu seems to be doing fine with no complications and he will resume running with us this Sunday. Worf is still adjusting to the new thyroid medication, having good days and not so good days, but in general he is a much happier dog. Quark is off to a good year. While I couldn’t find a reason, Quark never really wanted to be a sled dog and never made the team. This year I guess he heard I had him up for adoption because he is working much harder and seems to be enjoying it more. I told both him and Worf they could try out for the team and if they make it I’ll take them off the adoption list.

I can’t remember if I told everyone, but we have a new person, Leslie Gillis, helping us this fall. Leslie just moved up from Mississippi on her husband’s job and wanted to learn more about sled dogs. I failed to warn the poor lady how addictive this sport was. Last Wednesday Leslie and Lexi took the first team out (Bonnie works on Wednesdays so it was only 10 dogs). Lexi let Leslie drive. It was the first time she had driven a 4-wheeler. Now that is kind of fun, but put 10 screaming maniacal huskies that have got to run NOW in front of you, and then make it an old ’87 4-wheeler that is a little temperamental and it becomes more interesting. Now add a momma moose and calf on the trail as you come around the corner and poor Leslie had more excitement than she really bargained for. Lexi chased momma off the trail and everyone was fine, but think of the stories Leslie can tell her friends down south.


Keep ‘em Northbound
Eric
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