FALL TRAINING HAS BEGUN!

IS THAT FOR TRAINING THE DOGS OR THE MUSHER?

Finally, after 6 months of waiting, and several weeks of teasing weather, we have a cool morning and all my gear is in place. Oh, those words I've longed to say:
"Time to run the dogs!!!!"


Staging

Last season, I had four dogs and a puppy. With two additional dogs, plus the pup being a year-and-a-half, I am ready to run seven dogs. Should be interesting!


Hooked up and looking good!

After the usual hijinks of harnessing and hooking up, the team appeared to be ready to go. Alice was already standing backwards with her harness half-over her head, and the new boys were getting hopelessly tangled, but all of that was expected. Usually we get moving and then stop for a quick untangle.

"Usually"

After I unhooked the leaders, Ellen and Nick, from the "line-out tire", mayhem ensued. They turned and ran the other way, around the trailer towards the garage. This pulled the rest of the team sideways, across the fire pit and under the rear of the trailer. I pulled them back to the front of the team, commanded "Line out!" and ran back to the quad. Same issue.


My Ride

"Now what?" I wondered. It is true we were running out of our yard on a new trail, and in the past, we ran off the opposite side of the farm, so it could be they were thinking they needed to go over there. Or, it could be that Nick wanted to check out the kitties in the garage, as he does when allowed to run free in our yard.

"Line out!" Hmm, this is getting ridiculous! And dangerous - the new brothers, Logan and Nucky, had shown me at the CopperDog race last year that they were adept at tangling themselves - up and over like the Russian tumblers on Ed Sullivan! (Yes - I really AM that old!) In fact, they were so incredibly tangled with Maggie and Browning in wheel, that the four of them were basically hooked together side-by-side. Oh, now Alice is chewing at her harness.


Alice

So, I unravel as best as I can (in other words, enough to at least get them in line), and try once more. This time, Nick decides maybe he should toss in the towel, and he pulls the entire team through the gate into the dogyard! Poor Biscuit, who was the only one left in the yard, was surrounded by the team! Over him and around him, lines a twisting! As I untangled and attempted to get them back in front of the quad, I realized he was actually hooked in to a line!

Time for a New Plan.

Alice was done. She has always exhibited this behavior and indeed, that's the reason for seven dogs when intending to race six. And now she was attempting to free herself by eating the gangline. No brainer, she's sitting this one out. That brought the stress level down a bit. Now, what to do about the "leaders"? Ellen was starting to balk, most likely from my swearing at Nick, and she was backing out of her harness. Join your friend Alice back in the yard, E! Now for Mr. Nick. He was out of his head, bouncing around and dragging the team back and forth. Timeout for you, Mister!


Maggie and Browning in Lead

I had noticed that Maggie and Browning both leaned in their harnesses and tried to pull in the right direction every time I called it. And the young brothers seemed to be attempting to do the same. What was there to lose?


Logan and Nucky in Wheel

I tied off Browning to a tree, and untangled the rest of them (by now, they had rolled through weeds, which were woven into the lines). I removed one section of tugs, so we were down to a six-dog line. I put the brothers in the back in wheel position, and hooked Maggie and Browning in lead. "Line out!" Well what do you know? They DID! Untie from the tree, unhook the quad, give the command, "Hike!" and we started moving in the right direction!

Maggie seemed to understand "Gee" and "Haw". Browning would look around and try each way until he was pointed the right way and I could yell,"Yep!" We were off like a shot!

Across the yard, through some trees and onto the edge of the field. The leaders seemed to know what they were looking for. Across the waterway to the edge of the timber. Point of no return - we were either heading into the woods and down a steep hill, or turning back. The dogs were still fresh, we had barely started. I know I'll have to run and help push the quad back up the hill - so what??? "Hike!" and away we go!

Nice and easy down the big hill. Up and down, and around corners. Smart puppy looking back for guidance. We stop at the bottom. It's the first run, we're staying under two miles, they seem good but I know its uphill all the way back. "Oh, please, Daddy!" they implore. OK, let's go farther.

At the next stop, I know we need to turn back. Turning around by hand on a narrow trail is never easy, and these are my (so-called) "B Team", so it could get rough. Or, they would just do it easily, with a minimal amount of tangles. Hooray! Line out, turn the quad around, only minor difficulties. As we head back, the leaders take the wrong trail. "Gee!" I command. "Maggie! Bruno! GEEEE!!!" They look at me like I'm stupid. I lock down and get off and start to run up front, I'll have to pull them over to the correct trail. Huh, look at that - what I "thought" was the correct trail is just some tire tracks - my leaders were right the whole time! Um, never mind, here we go.

The hill was tough - I walked, we stopped several times, but we made it. Across the waterway to the edge of the muddy field. Uphill, muddy and not much of a "trail". With several stops, and much running by me, we eventually returned home.

Wow! I don't know about the dogs, but the MUSHER sure learned a few things!


Happy little team after the run

Yukon Quest Update #14

What a Race!

What a day on the trail! First, the Yukon Quest - Official Site reported on an area of severe overflow about 20 miles from Central. Hans Gatt was struggling in waist-deep water, trying to get his dogs and sled out, when Sebastian came upon him. Seb helped Hans get his sled out of the water, then get to some shelter and dry off. Eventually, both mushers made it to Central, where Hans eventually scratched, due to severe frostbite. Dallas came in so covered in ice, he couldn’t get his boots off.

Hugh seems to have been struggling up Eagle summit – we won’t know for sure until his tracker updates or he makes it in to the Mile 101 checkpoint.

Dan Kaduce is the next musher out of Central, having great runs put him into this position. Sebastian will likely be close behind. If there’s trouble on the mountain, this thing is FAR from being decided!

Complete Standings

1. Hugh Neff (8)
2. Dan Kaduce (10)

In Central

3. Sebastian Schnuelle (11)
4. Dallas Seavey (3)
5. Ken Anderson (18)
6. Brent Sass (22)

On the trail to Central

7. Allen Moore (24)
8. Kelley Griffin (1)

On the Way to Circle

9. Jodi Bailey (17)
10. David Dalton (23)
11. Mike Ellis (5)

Out of Eagle

12. Kyla Durham (14)
13. Tamara Rose (12)
14. Jerry Joinson (21)
15. Johannes Rygh (6)
16. Hank DeBruin (19)

Scratched

Denis Tremblay (2)

Allen Dennis (20)

Michelle Phillips (4)

Wade Marrs (15)

Clint Warnke (25)

Didier Moggia (7)

Joshua Cadzow (16)

Hans Gatt (13)

Withdrawn

Christine Roalofs (9)

Iditarod Update #11 - The King Moves

Leaders taking mandatory Yukon River 8 hours of rest at Ruby

Jeff King is moving out of Ruby, after taking 8 hours of rest there. That allows him to take as much or as little rest as he wishes the rest of the race. And that gives him an 8-hour lead over all the teams that have yet to take their 8! Lance and Hugh are nearly an hour and a half behind him and will give chase as soon as they can. There's still a lot of racing left to do, so anything can happen!

Tom Thurston scratched at Ophir, citing "team performance" as the reason.

Rookie Justin Savidis lost a dog, "Whitey" between Nikolai and McGrath on Thursday,and Justin and others are still searching for him.

Iditarod Update #8 - Scratch Report

Here are the stories of the 5 scratches so far this year. Information gleaned from iditarodblogs.com, alaskadispatch.com, and.com and Jon Little at drtims.com/blog, among others.

Kirk Barnum left Finger Lake with 12 dogs so he could scratch at Rainy Pass, where he had enough food to hold out until the weather cleared. He didn’t want to push his team too hard attempting to get to Nome with so few dogs this early in the race.

Rookie Pat Moon hit a tree in the infamous Dalzell Gorge and was knocked unconscious. Moon was airlifted to the hospital and later released. He was running a team for Ed & Tasha Stielstra’s Nature’s Kennel, and had postponed cancer treatments to make the race.

Michael Suprenant scratched at the Rainy Pass Checkpoint for medical reasons. No other information available at this time.

Zoya DeNure developed a breast infection that spread to her left arm and required antibiotics, according to husband John Schandelmeier. She had been nursing her daughter until the race.

Karin Hendrickson also scratched at the Rainy Pass Checkpoint, because of broken runners on her sled.

I’m a REAL musher now.

"When the cop asked if I knew what I was doing, I didn’t have an answer."

It was a nice, sunny, 27 degree day. I was replacing some chains on the new dogs’ pickets. I figured that I would do stuff with them on Saturday as a bonding exercise, then Sunday run them if I thought they were ready. I hooked Ellen and Browning to the drop chains on the truck, and they thought we were going for a run. OK, if they want to, then we’re going.

Browning, Nick and Ellen waiting to go

I got Mr. Nick hooked up to the truck as well, and loaded the sled and lines. Then I put Nick in the cab of the truck, and Ellen and Browning into the dog box. We drove to my usual put-in spot a few miles from home. The plan was to run about two miles out and then back, for an easy little jaunt.

I put Ellen and Nick in lead, with Browning in wheel. We were a little messed up, as Nick had learned some bad behavior from his sister. But I got them turned around and the lines untangled, pulled the hook and we took off. Like a rocket!

My friend Ed had warned me that I had ‘turbo-charged’ my team and that the extra power would be unexpected. Having only run Nick with Alice balking, and sometimes the little farm dog Biscuit along, I knew it would feel different with three dogs that all wanted to run. But the moment I said “All right!” the sled popped a wheelie and we flew down the trail.

It was going smoothly, I was finally experiencing a ‘magic-carpet ride’. The wind was in my face and I had under-dressed, because I was overheating back at the farm. I crouched down behind the sled to eliminate the resistance. Hey, this IS fun!

Photo op seconds before disaster

We had gone about a mile and a half, about a half-mile from the turn-around, to a waterway at the bottom of a hill. I stopped to take a couple of photos. As I was putting the camera back in my pocket, I asked them if they were “Ready?” Bam! The sled popped a wheelie and I fell off, losing my grip. “Whoa, whoa!” I screamed, but it was having no effect. They raced up the hill and out of sight. I took off running, but my heavy boots in the soft, snow-machine trail were making it impossible. I gave up and could only walk.

I knew not to panic, so I got out my cell phone, as Angie had told me many times to be sure and bring with me. She had offered to come along and drive the truck, but in typical fashion, I wanted to be able to do it alone. I called her but she was at a hair appointment, so I left a message saying I lost the team and where I thought they were headed.

I was hoping they would stop when the trail came out of the field to the road, but I knew the snow machine trail went on west, where it would come to a major highway. There, they would have to choose between going straight across it, or turning and crossing a paved road to follow that trail into town. If they crossed the highway, there were three directions they could have taken. I couldn’t tell for sure if they had even turned that way, or had headed in the other direction, but I knew that if they went towards the highway, I had to go get them before they got hurt. If they went the other way, there would be way less traffic to worry about. I hoped for snow-machines to come from behind and pick me up, but I feared if they were to meet them head on.

I had walked about .7 of a mile when a car came racing up to me. “I got them” he said so I jumped in. As he took me to get them, he told me he had seen them running down the highway towards town, and he grabbed them and someone else was holding them. They had passed underneath the overpass of a four-lane, divided highway! A nice young couple was holding them. No one looked hurt, and they were only tangled a bit, possibly from being held. I thanked everyone profusely, turned the rig around and got the lines straightened out. Ellen took us back along the trail, under the overpass. There was large gravel and it was very uneven, so I was walking and pulling the sled over it when a police officer pulled up, with lights flashing. “Are those all of them?” he asked me. I assured him that they were, and he then asked the most profound question of the day: “Do you know what you are doing?” I didn't have an answer. I told him that I had just got the two dogs and it was our first run. He went on his way, and I went on mine.

Running back to the truck

We had to cross the on-ramp and then the paved road before getting back on good snow. Ellen and Nick did a great job leading us back. There were extremely tired, and we stopped several times on the way back for short breaks.

Riding back with a combination of stress and relief

We got back to the truck without any further incidents.

Taking a well-deserved water break


A little tired out


Time to go home

At home, I checked the mileage on Google Earth and it appears that they had gone about a mile and a half without me. They ran about six miles total.

Rule #1 of mushing: Never let go of the sled. Words to live by…

Under the Hood of a Dog Team

or "What do you do when half the team won't go?"

What would it be like if 8 of your 16-dog team all refused to run simultaneously?

Or if you had a 6-dog team and 3 wouldn't stay on the trail?

Well, it happened to me. I have a 2-dog team and half of them balked.

Oh, did I mention I'm a rookie?


She doesn't LOOK like trouble...

Alice, my female, has always been nervous and skittish. She's fine while running, but anytime we stop, she acts scared of the quad. Last weekend, she just didn't want to go. She turned sideways, put her head against her brother's side, and pushed him off the trail. Repeatedly. Even when he wanted to go, we couldn't move. I left her behind, but after a single loop, Nick was ready to go hang out with her.

This went on for two days.

What's a musher to do? Look at the problem and come up with a solution.

I've been working them fairly hard, especially considering we're a 2-dog team. We have over 200 miles behind us, usually running 12 - 16 miles on the weekend, and maybe a couple of 8-mile runs during the week. Even though I don't have an actual race in front of me, I am trying to learn how to train for when I have a full team and want to run a 30 miler. So I gave them the week off.

I drove the quad every time I went to the dog lot, so they would associate it with good feelings. I parked it where they could sniff it and check it out. I left it there for hours some days.

I drove it around the farm, grooming trails, letting them get excited. I also lengthened the rope from the quad to the gangline to get them a little farther away from the noise.

My trail started at their houses, twisted around the farm and headed down a cornfield waterway, where it looped at .8 miles, and ran back. I straightened out part of it, avoiding the stretch where it ended right at their houses. I gave it a new half-mile stretch, and put the loops so that there isn't a true beginning or end, it is actually an endless loop for 2 miles.

I also decided to do some basic obedience work, so I taught them to "stay down". Alice is doing pretty good, she still wants to put her paw on my leg at first, when she is excited. After watching me work with Alice, Nick learned in 5 minutes!

After a week, it was time to put the plan into action. And once we got moving, it seemed to work. The new stretches are great, we are running fast when we pass near the houses, and we don't stop on the loops. There are still a couple of moments when we argue, at the new turns that they are learning, and I still have to stop and pull them on the new path. I'd say we are 80% improved.

But I know that in mushing, it is "2 steps forward, one step back" so a setback is expected.

Who knew that mushing would be so mentally taxing?

Iditarod Update #43 - Lance Out of Koyuk

Leader on the Move - Rest of the front shut down

Lance is on his way to Elim.
John Baker made it in to Koyuk, to join Sebastian Sebastian Schnuelle.
The rest of the front pack is still shut down and not moving.
Hugh Neff and Jeff King both returned to the Shaktoolik checkpoint several hours in the elements. Hugh has severe frostbite, Jeff had lead dogs who refused to move into the wind.
Mitch Seavey and Aaron Burmeister are still on the edge of the Norton Sound, unable or unwilling to head out on the ice into the wind.

Iditarod Update #42 - Tragedy on Trail

Rookie Rescued with Deceased Dogs
Two Other Rookies Scratch as Well

The Iditarod Air Force was sent to find the last three rookies on the trail Monday afternoon, after they were extremely overdue into the Shageluk checkpoint. They spotted Lou Packer, who signaled he was in distress. Upon reaching him, it was discovered that he had two deceased dogs. The cause is yet unknown.
The two other rookies, Blake Matray and Kim Darst, were found by snowmachines. Deep snow and high winds had closed the trail, making movement extremely difficult.

Iditarod Update #31

*UPDATED*

Bjornar Scratches!

According to the race standings, Bjornar Andersen scratched in Takotna, after being injured in a wreck on the trail after Rohn.

Below is a prior report from an internet poster:

Just got of the phone with Bjornar's wife, and she told me Bjornar has had an accident just after Rhon.
The sled tipped over, and Bjornar fell off, just hanging after the sled in his security line.
He has been pulled over some distance, laying on his stomack on a wery icy surface.

He was an hour with the doctor in Takotna, trowhing up and peeing blood.
The doctor suspect some kidny damage, but not so critical that he has to withdraw.
He is currently still on his "24", and has one more appointment with the doctor.
The norwegian tv crew following Bjornar, talked to him in Takotna, and he was in good spirit.
He could report on the strongest pack of dogs in years!
"It's almost scary at times, they really are on fire", he told them.

He want's to continue, as long as the doctor gives him the OK!!

Iditarod Update #27

Cause of dog's death remains unknown after necropsy

By CRAIG MEDRED Anchorage Daily News

A necropsy -- the canine version of an autopsy -- done on a dog that died Tuesday in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race found no obvious cause of death, according to Iditarod race marshall Mark Nordman.

Further tests are under way, officials said today. Veterinarians say it is not unusual for a gross necropsy to fail to determine the cause of death. They note dogs die across the country every day due to unexplained heart arrhythmias and other reasons.

The Iditarod screens all the sled dogs for unseen heart irregularities prior to the race, but problems are not always detectable.

A study of 23 dogs that died in the race between 1994 and 2006 found that though 16 of the deaths were eventually explained after extensive study, the reasons for seven of the deaths were never determined.

Sometimes, veterinarians note, dogs just die without a clear cause.

The dog that perished Tuesday was a 6-year-old male named Victor. He was in the team of Jeff Holt from North Pole.

Holt, who is running a team made up largely of family pets, was on the trail between Rainy Pass and Rohn when Victor faltered. Holt was unable to revive the dog. He carried Victor in the sled to the Rohn checkpoint, where veterinarians pronounced the dog dead. Holt's team was the 50th of 65 teams to arrive in Rohn.

Given that Victor's death is unexplained and there is nothing obvious Holt could have done to prevent it, race officials said he was allowed to continue toward Nome.

Iditarod Update #18

Reports are coming in that a dog in Jeff Holt's team died today between the Rainy Pass and Rohn checkpoints, according to a press release from the Iditarod Trail Committee. A necropsy will be conducted by a board-certified pathologist to try to determine why he died, the press release said

While that is the same section of the trail that rookie musher Nancy Yoshida had trouble, it is not clear if the two incidents are related.

A rescue attempt was made, as it was reported that Yoshida had lost both of her sled runners and her team blocked the narrow trail, causing wrecks behind her.

More information as it comes available.

Iditarod Update #7

Lance Mackey is leading out of the Steps, heading towards Rainy Pass!

Sebastian Schnuelle, Paul Gebhardt, Ed Iten and Cim Smyth seemed to be stopped together and now others are joining them...
Is there an obstruction or other problem on the trail?