Muddy Paw Sled Dog Kennel

1 The SLED DOGGER MAGAZINE Vol. 5 - No. 2 Summer 2018

In This Issue: Feature Stories: Regulars: • One Blue Eye Pg 7 • From The Publisher • Winterdance Tours Pg 12 Pg 3 • Shout Out To Female Mushers Pg 25 Jr Mushers • Muddy Paw Interview PG 31 •Jr Musher Spotlight • My First Sled PG 44 Christina Gibson pg 83 Columns: •Dryland Mushing UK pg: 57 •Mushing down under pg: 61 •training pg: 64 •Power Dog Sports pg: 72 •gear addict pg: 74

COVER INFO:

Musher: Mary Wolf and her team of Samoyeds.

Race: Fair Hill Challenge near Elkton MD. Presented by Pennsylvania Sled Dog Club.

Photographer: Donna Quante/Husky Productions.

2 The SLED DOGGER MAGAZINE Vol. 5 - No. 2 Summer 2018

The SLED DOGGER Magazine Vol. 5 - No. 2 - Summer 2018 FROM THE PUBLISHER: *************** This has been a really off couple of months. Mom Editor/Publisher: went into the hospital with pneumonia and then they Bob Donovan transferred her to Rehab and she’s been there since Easter Sunday. So, for the last 2 months, I kinda Design/Layout & Website: haven’t know what to do with myself. So, I focused SledWebs.com on the magazine! Between donations and me taking some of my disability check, not that I could afford it, I negotiated a sweet deal for the latest version of the Writers: software I’ve been trying to get for a couple years. I’m Bob Donovan, Ashton Horn, so excited. Ayanna Cavera, Dylan Kilby, Jason Rupp, Jessica Richter, Paula Whitworth, Most likely it will be used a little in this (Summer) issue, but I’m still playing with it and figuring it all out. Richard Meldrum, Stacy Spencer So, more than likely it won’t fully kick in until the Fall Issue. Things should look a little better, be more user Columnists: friendly, be able to read online or download for almost Gina Hinter, Meredith Mapes, Siobhan Burrell, all kinds of devices and more! Kristi Benson, Kelsy Gibos, Nany Cylkova In addition to all the above-mentioned positives with Contributing Staff: the new software, we will be working on Paid Sub- scriptions for those who want to receive each issue (4 Della Severtson, Kaitlyn Tidewell, a year) on disc. So, to accomplish that, we got into Purple Haze, Michelle Jackson our Subscription Database that contains our subscriber list. It’s been down for a long time. But, I think we Staff Photographers : have it fixed, and not only do we have all the older Bob Donovan subscribers e-mail addresses, but new subscribers And, A Special Thanks To Alaska Bob! can sign up FREE too! So, things are looking up! R.I.P. ALASKA BOB! Best of all, I think Mom is coming home from 2 months in Rehab on Monday! Jr Staff: Julia Cross Thank You Everyone! William Shade Bob Donovan Publisher The Sled Dogger

The Sled Dogger and TheSledDogger.com is (c) 2014 We Want Your Comments: - 2018 by Maine Busy Bee Publishing. All Rights Re- served except where otherwise stated. All commen- [email protected] tary, reporting and content within the publication is the responsibility of the writer. Content may or may This Is A Reader Supported Publication not agree with the thoughts, feelings and ideas of Your Donations Play A Huge Part the publisher and Maine Busy Bee Publishing. Of Making It Available Free! Writers are liable for their submissions. PLEASE DONATE 3 4 5 6 ONE BLUE EYE

Fiction By: Lori Windows Photos Submitted By Readers Of Various Huskies. She wasn’t all husky, but rather a mixture of northern breed. She had one blue eye and a zig-zag white line on her muzzle. It didn’t look like a natural marking, but rather an old scar that spoke of a past trauma. We didn’t know anything about her history, only that she chose us. Mum said, “No dog,” but that didn’t matter. Dad said, “Yes.” There wasn’t much that Dad would deny me. I was the youngest of three sisters, the quintessential tomboy, his favorite, and the only one he understood. We shared everything: the love of the out-of- doors; sports; good movies; good food. And books! He introduced me to fiction beyond my years. Nero Wolfe mysteries. Robert Rourke tales of Africa. Grey’s and Brand’s yarns of the Old West. But of all of those, my favorite was Jack London. Growing up in Minnesota, you either hated the cold and left for warmer climes as soon as you could, learned to live with cold, or you learned to embrace it. Dad and I loved our winter adventures, and read Jack London’s novels with envy, often around a January fire wrapped up in down sleeping bags under a star-lit frigid sky. Not to be forgotten was his love of photography and his prize possession, a Nikon single lens reflex. I didn’t have an eye for the camera as he did, but I was his favorite subject. My albums were filled with our exploits in black and white format, pictures he developed himself in the little dark room he built in our basement. From the time I was twelve and the stray husky cross joined our family, Dad found a new subject for his lens. We named her Riddle after the first woman to win the Iditarod three years prior. She loved me, but she worshipped Dad. How she would pose for him. He would capture her splashing in creeks or scaling a rocky crag at our favorite camp spots. He’d freeze her tremendous stride forev- er as she raced after me on my bicycle. He’d preserve her undying affection and protection as she and I slept curled together after a hard day’s play. The most glorious photos of all were of Riddle in a homemade harness pulling me on a homemade sled. We didn’t have to teach her to do it; it came as second nature to her. And as I flew through the Minnesota snow, I dreamed that someday I, too, would race a team of sled dogs. 7 We were never sure of Riddle’s age, but as I progressed through High School, she began to slow down. Her stride shortened, her runs behind the bike or on the sled shortened as well. More of Dad’s photos became portraits of her noble look, intelligence and native wisdom so prominent in her blue-eyed stare. She remained the dependable “character ba- rometer” that she always had been. She ignored my sisters, as did I. She met the boys who came to pick me up for dates. If she liked them, fine. If she didn’t, there was no good-night kiss or second date. She lay by my feet as I poured over the choices for college. Then one night, as I read to her my final decision for further education, as I said to her, “Rid- dle, how would you like to go live in Ely?” she made a sound I had never heard before. It wasn’t a sound of pain or fear. It was just a soft sigh. And then she breathed no more. Dad and I buried her that next day at a spot where we used to camp. In her grave I placed a photo Dad had taken of her when she was in her prime, and a copy of Libby Riddle’s book. That Fall, I moved to Ely and attended classed at Vermilion College. I wanted to turn my love of the out-of-doors into a profession. I loved my classes, I loved the area. I canoed the Boundary Waters in the warmer months and snow-shoed the trails in the winter. I thought my only regret was not having Riddle with me. How she would have loved the freedom. A year had passed and I still missed her badly, but I was soon to learn an even deeper sorrow. I had spent the summer in Ely, working as a wilderness guide and volunteering at Ely’s Internation- al Wolf Center. My parents had come to visit for a week, and while Mum enjoyed the unique shops and art boutiques Ely had to offer, I introduced Dad to a panorama of photo opportunities. Oddly, he declined my invitation to spend several days on the Boundary Waters, saying he felt bad leaving Mum alone at the lodge. Then, as my second year of classes was just beginning, I got the phone call. Dad was sick. Very sick. The cancer was progressing faster than the Doctors had predicted and he had a short time left. Could I come home? I spent the last few weeks of my Dad’s life at his side. I read to him at night when the pain wouldn’t allow him to sleep. I started with CALL OF THE WILD. We never tired of Buck’s adventures. Then I surprised him with a fairly-new novel by Gary Paulsen. WINTERDANC: The Fine Madness of Run- ning The Iditarod. After I closed the book on it’s final page, he said to me in a quiet voice, “You’d like to do that, wouldn’t you?” “You bet I would, Dad,” I answered. “You do it. Riddle and I will be there to watch you.” Then there was that sound again, that soft sigh of reconciliation. And the man who had shaped me, who had been there for me every second of my life, was gone. All this was flowing through my mind as I stood on my sled runners, waiting the starting countdown. It wasn’t Iditarod, not yet. But it was a beginning. It had taken a dozen years and several concus- 8 sions, some frost bite and lots of bruises. With a rag-tag team of rescues and rejects, I was running my first real sled dog race. Salary as a back-country wilderness guide wasn’t extravagant and feeding a kennel full of dogs required sacrifice. I had been willing to make that sacrifice. I knew what was important in life, and what was important was right in front of me. Twelve excited northern breed crosses, leaping in the air and voicing their impatience to go. Happy, healthy dogs who were it not for me would have been euthanized or abandoned to a worse fate. Dogs that had been deemed useless and worthless finding a purpose in the pure joy of running. And in the lead, the second greatest dog I had ever had the blessing of knowing. Her name was Zirkle, named after the first woman to have ever won the Yukon Quest. She wasn’t as big as Riddle, maybe not even as strong. Both her eyes were amber, although they displayed the same intelligence. She reminded me so much of my childhood companion. Her favorite command was “On By.” She had total and complete mental domination of the entire team. They’d follow her anywhere. Good thing, for them and me too, she never made a wrong decision. If anyone or anything could get me through this race, it would be this fine dog. And there was something else that was important, also in front of me. His name was Isaac. He was sort of a nerd, sort of a tree-hugger, and the love of my life. He owned a small art shop in Ely. He emulated that great master of black and white photography, Ansel Adams, and he treated his beloved Boundary Waters with the same reverence as Adams treated Yosemite. I had met him three years prior at a photo shoot at the Wolf Center. Zirkle liked him right away, so there was a good night kiss, and further dates. I told him about by Dad and his love of the lens. Two years ago, we drove to my childhood home and packed up all of Dad’s camera and developing equipment. How happy I was to know someone else was seeing the world through Dad’s lens, and how happy I was that my dogs and I were once more the center of that world. Now before me he stood, Dad’s precious Nikon in hand loaded with real film. This was not the time or place for digital. My team was insane. The volunteer handlers were holding them back and I had both feet on the brake. Suddenly, above the cacophony of anticipation, I heard Isaac’s voice. “Zirkle,” he yelled. For just one second, Zirkle planted all four bootied feet on the ground. She swiveled her wolfish head his

9 way and fixed him with an amber-eyed stare. 3---2---1---HIKE! We were off. I didn’t win my first race, but I didn’t embar- rass myself, either. My dogs finished sound and happy and ready to move on to greater things. I made the local newspaper. There were photos of the race and several of me afterwards, hugging my lead dog and grin- ning from ear to ear. But the photos I was waiting for were those Isaac had taken. He spent a few days developing them, and when he showed up at my cabin, manila envelope in hand, I couldn’t wait to see them. There were several shots of pre-race, har- nessing and hooking up. In the black and white format, they could have been photos from a century ago. I was dressed in muk- luks and fur – so much warmer than anything synthetic. My dogs all had that lean, wolfish look. They could have been part of John Thornton’s team and followed Buck across the Alaskan Tundra. Then there were the pandemonium photos. The dogs somehow knew this was no conditioning run, but something special. It was their moment. All four feet in the air, mouths wide open, tongues lolling. How my Dad would have loved these pictures. My mind went back to the countdown. “Where is that one photo of Zirkle?” I asked Isaac. “The one where you called her name and she looked right at you.” Isaac shrugged. “It didn’t turn out right,” he said. “I thought there was a flaw on the negative, but I can’t see one. I developed it a couple of times, but it still has a goofy reflec- tion.” “Do you have it with you?” I asked. Isaac fished the one remaining print out of the envelope and handed it to me. “I can try to fix it if you’d like.” I looked at the photo and my heart came close to stopping. Yes, it was Zirkle – lean and strong. She stared right into the camera, her total concentration on the lens. But one of her eyes was clear, and zig-zagging across her muzzle was a white scar. It was no flaw in the negative. Isaac was talking, but not a word registered. His mouth was moving, but all I heard was the sound of childish laughter as a big dog pulled a homemade sled through the snow. All I felt were the strong hands of a father picking up his little girl and dusting snowflakes from her face. All I knew was that my father’s final words were true. “Don’t bother,” I whispered to Isaac. “It is perfect the way it is.” [END] 10 11 12 KENNEL PROFILE:

WINTERDANCE DOG SLED TOURS

13 Winterdance Dogsled Tours Kennel - a profile By Richard Meldrum

It was my great pleasure for this edition of Sled Dogger magazine to speak to Hank DeBruin and Tanya McCready-DeBruin, who together with their children, run Winterdance Dogsled Tours Kennel in Halibuton, Ontario, Canada. Winterdance is a very well-known name, not just in Ontario and Canada, but across the globe. Hank, Tanya and their four dog sledding children, Logan, Dustyn, Michaela and Jessica, have a very busy life; not only do they run a dog sledding tour company, they also participate in some of the most famous long-distance races in North America and, if that wasn’t enough, they also organize and manage their own sled dog race event in Ontario. We started with their history and how they got into the sport. They told me they started dog sledding 18 years ago in Guelph, Ontario as a hobby and as a chance to get out in the winter with their two huskies for some fun while working in the engineering & millwrighting fields. Soon, however, they found themselves totally addicted to the sport of dog sledding and the size of their husky family steadily grew. They also found that many people had a great interest in dog sledding, but no practical way to try it, so they decided to make dog sledding a full-time business and relocated to the Haliburton Highlands, near Algonquin Park, 18 years ago, where snow conditions were more predictable, and the mostly untouched wilderness made for a stunning location to welcome tourists. Since then they have successfully run a business, taking guests from around the world. We discussed the dog sledding tour company. Winterdance is located near Algonquin Park, about 15 minutes north of Haliburton, Ontario and is situated on 80 acres of wilderness land overlooking Drag 14 Lake. They told me that their dogsled tours are run on their private property (over 2000 acres) east of Haliburton Lake on the doorstep of Algonquin Park. They told me that this is a unique opportunity for members of the public to experience the solitude, remoteness and picturesque beauty of a part of Ontario that few people will ever see. Their original indoor sled dog kennel was designed to house approximately 60 Siberian Huskies, but has had two additions since 1999 for their growing canine family. They currently have 150 purebred Siberian Huskies in their kennel. They told me that this is the type of dog most people visiting their kennel expect to see when they think of Canadian dog sledding. This is the only breed of dog they own. They told me that their sled dogs are part of their family and each one is a special love. They don’t sell puppies or dogs, when one comes to them that dog has a home and family for life. Their kennel has a radiant heating system through the cement floor and is maintained at around 5° Celsius in the winter, so that the dogs are comfortable, but not hot enough to lose their winter coats. The dogs share their inside kennels with a friend or brother or sister. The kennel also has three large fenced outside play yards so that everyone gets to go out and have free running fun every day. These yards have lots of places for dogs to dig, jump over trees and obstacles, have a good old race, interact with each other and just plain do what dogs love to do when they aren’t out dog sledding. The front of the kennel is kept around 20° Celsius and has a kitchen/feed room, grooming room, washroom and a large open reception area which our elder dogs have their beds and wander around.

We briefly touched on training and nutrition, since clearly this is such a large part of Winterdance’s success. Hank and Tanya told me that because of the summer heat the dogs are unable to do much work, their coats are simply too dense to allow heat to escape quickly enough. So, summer time means summer holidays! Once fall rolls around though, it’s a different story. The first cool night will find the dogs howling at 6am anxious to get running! The general rule of thumb is that once the temperature reaches 10° C or below, it is cool enough for the dogs to start training. When they do fall training, they run just like we would if there were snow on the ground except that they use an 15 16 17 ATV 4-wheeler instead of the sled. At first short 2-mile runs are more than enough to keep everyone happy, but by Christmas time 15 km is an easy workout. Fall training is a great time to work with promising young lead dogs, to get puppies (1-year olds) used to running in a team, and just generally get everyone back into shape. Like any athlete the dogs are only as good as the fuel that goes into their bodies. Winterdance have had great success and are very happy with feeding Redpaw Dog Food for the last 8 years, specially made for working breeds. Of course, as most people reading this article will be aware, Winterdance kennel is not just a commercial kennel. Hank and Tanya and the rest of the family are very well known for regularly participating in a variety of long distance races, including the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. Hank and Tanya told me that their team has run Iditarod 2010 and 2012 and the Yukon Quest in 2011, 2014, 2016 & 2017. The team also ran the Defi Taiga in 2014 and placed second. The team have also run the Hudson Bay Quest, the Seney 300, Beargrease and the Can AM 250, and with their oldest son Logan the 2017 Junior Iditarod. 18 19 And, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, as if organizing and running these long-distance races wasn’t enough, Hank, Tanya and the family also organize the Haliburton Highlands Dogsled Derby, an annual even that takes place at the Pinestone Resort near Haliburton Village. Speaking from personal experience, this is my favorite event of the year. The trail is perfect and facilities excellent. I’ve participated in this event for three years and it’s on my ‘must-do’ event list. It’s also a great event for the public, who get to see multiple teams from across Canada and the US participate in the skijor, novice, 4-dog and 6-dog races. There is also a kid & mutt event which is always a delight to watch. I also get to see Hank and Tanya’s children race, something that always leaves me in complete awe of how talented these youngsters are. To end our conversation, we started to talk about the pressures on businesses such as Winterdance. As well as the normal pressures of any small business, we discussed issues such as climate change and the recent variation in snow accumulation that can affect the tours. As the effects of climate change bite deeper, snow fall will definitely become 20 more unpredictable, affecting both events and businesses alike. A more unexpected pressure was the recent “Sled Dogs” film, by documentary film-maker Fern Levitt.This highly controversial film gave a very negative and critical portrayal of sled dog kennels, and while it was widely perceived by members of the sled dog community to be a wildly inaccurate and extremely biased portrayal, the film did garner some limited support and interest from outside the world of sled dogs. The film and the personal efforts of Fern Levitt did lead to some schools in Toronto canceling long-standing contracts with Winterdance, affecting the income for their business. As Tanya told me, this film has had an unseen, direct negative effect on sled dog tour businesses across Ontario, including Winterdance. As I’m sure you can agree, all members of the sled dog community support animal welfare and take great effort to both care for our own dogs, as well as supporting efforts to root out and expose the ‘bad apples’, but having such biased reporting, with such a negative spin does no-one any good. Such are the unseen pitfalls of running a sled dog touring business. It was a great pleasure to speak to Hank and Tanya about their amazing adventures in dog sledding. I think most people in the dog sledding community would love to live that lifestyle. I’d like to thank them for taking the time to speak to me and wish nothing but the very best for the future! [END]

21 22 23 24 A SHOUT OUT TO ALL FEMALE MUSHERS

By: Geri Jeardeau Minard

When I first fell in love with dog mushing it was the combination of my love of animals, the outdoors and enjoying being physically active that drew me in. Over the years the list of what I love about the sport has only grown longer. It is an absolutely wonderful sport for women. How many sports allow men and women to compete in the same class??? Women ARE not considered the weaker sex in dog mushing! I have never met 66-year-old Roxy Wright, who won a couple of major races last year, or multiple Iditarod winner Susan Butcher. I have a feeling though anyone who questioned the capa- bility of a woman musher would have been kindly shown the door! It does not matter if you race sled dogs, help train and care for the dogs of your significant other or husband or just run dogs recreationally, women Mushers are tough! We can be dragging behind the team on a plowed road one minute and the next minute we have managed to pull ourselves up, right the sled, brush snow off ourselves all while the team continued to travel on at a nice pace like nothing happened. We can wipe out so hard, coming off an extremely large snow bank with a fresh 14 dog team, that the wind gets knocked out us. We get up, finish the 50-mile run, camp in a one room mouse infested cabin with four snoring men. And then, we can get four hours of “sleep”, run the team 50 miles back home and Monday morning you think of what a fun weekend you had! You’re able to carry full food buckets twice a day every day, lift 60-pound dogs into the boxes on the dog trailer, lift 50-pound blocks of meat and chop them up with an axe. Lift 45-pound dogs over the correct side of the gang line like you’re picking up a gallon of milk. Pull back 70 pounds of crazy, just want to run dog to hook him to the gangline. You develop muscles where you didn’t know muscles 25 existed. Your arm and leg muscles become rock hard and you develop ab muscles from balancing on the sled. You look 10-15 years younger than you are from all the physical activity that has you in better physical shape than most 18-year olds. One second you can have a huge smile on your face as you’re leaving the kennel with a fresh team and the next have every curse word you can think of fly out of your mouth as your flipping off the two snowmobilers who ignored the no trespassing signs and decided to explore the nicely groomed narrow trail in the woods. These snowmobilers immediately get stuck as they are trying to get out of the way of a fast-moving dog team with a crazy person screaming at them. Then at the end of that same run you’re talking to your dogs in your baby voice, kissing each dog on the head, telling them that Momma loves them, asking them to kiss you so they lick your face as you tell them they’re the sweetest, cutest, best dog. Yes, be forewarned, you don’t mess with our dogs or do anything that can harm them, or the big smile will quickly leave and the crazy whoop ass side comes out! Our version of exfoliation is running a team of dogs during the rainy fall and coming back with your face looking as muddy as the dogs. The only nails we work on are our dogs. We spend more money on “dog clothes” than we do on everyday clothing. We’re inde- pendent, hardworking, and our fellow mushing female friends are our idols or “girl crushes”. We root each other on and love on each other’s dogs. Here’s a shout out to all the female Mush- er’s out there!!! You rock!!!! [END]

26 27 28 29 30 31 MUDDY PAW SLED DOG KENNEL Jefferson, New Hampshire Interview With Kennel Manager: Brianna Boisselle Interview & Pictures By: Bob Donovan [The Sled Dogger Magazine] As publisher and on behalf of The Sled Dogger Magazine, I’d like to thank you for your invite here to the kennel you manage. So, for starters, please introduce yourself and the kennel. [Brianna Boisselle] My name is Brianna Boisselle and I work here at Muddy Paw Sled Dog Kennel here in Jefferson, NH. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] I’d like to start out with asking how you got involved in mushing, and for how long have you be involved? [Brianna Boisselle] When I was 16 years old, I had a lot of anxiety. I couldn’t even eat lunch in the cafeteria at school- I’d have a panic attack. So, when my mom told me to find a job, I applied at Muddy Paw Sled Dog Kennel. The dogs became everything to me, they’ve helped me overcome some of the biggest challenges I’ve faced. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. 5 years later, I manage the kennel. I’ve put everything into these dogs, I’d do anything for them, and they’d do anything for me. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] You’re lucky to live in such a beautiful area of New Hampshire. How did you manage to add to that by getting an awesome job like this? [Brianna Boisselle] When I applied 5 years ago, they just needed an extra kennel hand. Someone to feed and water the dogs over the summer. When I first started, no one took me seriously. A 16-year- 32 33 old girl who couldn’t lift a bucket of water, was terrified to talk to anyone. I’m sure the first few days, they weren’t really sure if I’d be able to do the job. The longer I was here, the more responsibility I’ve taken on. I’ve raised over half of the kennel, I have very high expectations for the dogs, and our staff. I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like without these dogs. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] The People’s Home here at the kennel is beautiful. It looks like an old train depot. If it is, are there old track beds in the area for you to run the dogs on in the summer and winter? [Brianna Boisselle] Yes, we do some of our running on the rail trail! They pulled up the old tracks, so now it’s wide and flat- very easy for the dogs in the summer months. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] How many miles of trails do you figure you have access to and actually use here? [Brianna Boisselle] With optimum trail conditions, A LOT! The rail trail goes on and on, to all the local towns. We utilize probably 100 different miles of the nearby trails. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] How many dogs do you have here at Muddy Paw? [Brianna Boisselle] Right now we currently have 71 dogs here. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] How many of them are actually dogs you use for your tours and rides? [Brianna Boisselle] Oh, we have 62 dogs that we run and the other guys are retired and up for adoption. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] Do you do rides only or are you involved in racing at all? [Brianna Boisselle] Well, just rides as, unfortunately, when the races are going on it is actually our busiest season. This doesn’t leave any time for racing. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] Yea, it seems winter is always a busy time for mushers. [Brianna Boisselle] Yea, very busy. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] 71 dogs you say? Is it just you taking care of all these dogs or do you have other handlers? [Brianna Boisselle] Well, my boyfriend Wess also works here so it’s mainly the two of us here full time. However, in the winter season we get pretty busy with more tours going out 34 URGENT!

NEEDS JR MUSHERS TO SPOTLIGHT! We Know They Are Out There! We Want To Support And Encourage THE FUTURE OF MUSHING Be We Need Your Help!

If Your Son Or Daughter Is A Jr Musher Contact Us For The Jr Musher Forms It’s a Simple Questionnaire We Make Into An Interview And Include Your Images. THIS IS FREE!! For Info Or The Jr Forms, Contact: [email protected] 35 36 37 6 Snow Sleds In Storage After A Long Winter Tour Season At Muddy Paws Sled Dog Kennel

which enables us to staff more people to help us. But it’s typically the two of here full time. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] Wow, that must keep you quite busy? [Brianna Boisselle] Ahh it does, we typically work 6 to 7 days a week. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] So what time do you get here in the Morning? [Brianna Boisselle] We get here at 7 AM. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] And what do you call the end of your day? [Brianna Boisselle] It depends on the day and the season for sure. Typically, in the summer we leave by six but in the winter we’re lucky to leave by 7:30. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] Is there a specific breed of dog you prefer here? [Brianna Boisselle] Most of these guys are all mixes, Alaskan Huskies. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] Did you choose them for any specific reason? [Brianna Boisselle] Umm, we are a rescue; we have a registered 501c Non- Profit, so a lot of these guys come from other mushers. Now-a-days many have Alaskan Huskies, so it’s mainly what we 38 take in for rescues. But also, the Alaskan Huskies are able to run year-round whereas the Siberians, the temperature restrictions are a little more stringent because of their heavy coat. So, the Alaskan huskies have a little more of a temperature range they are capable to running in in the summer. But there still are restrictions and we run early in the Summer and below certain temps. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] In the winter, how many tours do/can you do in a day? [Brianna Boisselle] In the winter we have 4 sled tours per musher going out per day and 3 mushers totaling 12 tours in a day when we are busy. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] How about the dryland tours you do with the wheeled rigs? How many of them can you do in a day in the dry, non-snow seasons? [Brianna Boisselle] Really, in the spring, summer and fall, typically we can only do 1 a day that runs at 8 AM due to the temperatures. Sometimes we can’t even do that depending on the weather. Typically, we do about 4 a week in the pring and fall. It’s pretty quiet here in the summer. We actually do more kennel tours in the summer months. People come and see the dogs and the kennel and learn about the dogs and gear. PHOTO ON RIGHT: A 4 wheeled cart for 2 passengers for trail rides in the non-snow seasons. URGENT MESSAGE To Our Readers From The Publisher Of The Sled Dogger Magazine:

The Sled Dogger Magazine is very proud to support the Future of Mushing with our Jr Musher Feature Area. In this area there are often stories or information form our Jr Staff as well as Jr Musher Spotlights. However...

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!! We Need To Hear From More Jr Mushers To Spotlight!

If you are a Jr Musher (Dryland, Sled, Skijor), know any Jr Mushers or have a Jr Musher in your family, PLEASE contact us! We are always looking for Jr Mushers to spotlight. Sometimes we have several Jr Spotlights in a issue and other times we only have 1. It all depends on if anyone submits the completed Jr Musher Spotlight information and submits it with their images! This is the first issue wehre we don’t have a Jr Musher Spotlight because no one responded to our ads and posts for Jr Mushers. This is very sad because the Jrs are the Future of Mushing. If people dont respond to our call for Jr.s, we’ll have to eliminate the Jr Musher Feature.

To Have Your Son/Daughter Spotlighted, Contact us at: [email protected] Subject: Jr Musher Spotlight

39 [The Sled Dogger Magazine] So, how far in advance to people have to book for rides or kennel tours? [Brianna Boisselle] This time of the year only a few days in advance. In the winter, a few weeks. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] How long are the rides here, how far do you go and is it different between the snow and no snow seasons (as far as distance and time is concerned)? [Brianna Boisselle] We do rides from small 2-mile loops, to 20-mile runs. We use the short loops in the summer, where it’s too A Pallet Of Food For The Dogs warm for the dogs to go any further. In the fall/ winter, we go further as temperature [The Sled Dogger Magazine] The wheeled permit. We have tours from 1 hour to 3 hours. carts look fairly comfy! They appear to have [The Sled Dogger Magazine] I see your shock absorbers and nice knobby tires. Do wheeled carts here for rides hold several you find them more or less comfortable than, people. How many dogs does it take to pull a say, sledding? cart with, say, 4 people? [Brianna Boisselle] For guests, carts are more [Brianna Boisselle] It depends on the specific comfortable to sit in, but the ride is more bumpy. cart and the weight of the guests, but typically 14- The sleds are a nice smooth ride, but two adults 16. have fairly limited room. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] Are the wheeled carts easier to handle or control than a sled? [Brianna Boisselle] The carts are way easier to steer and control. Unlike a sled, they have handle bars and hydraulic brakes. When driving a sled, with 400lbs in the basket, you really have to muscle your sled around turns. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] Do you prefer the dryland tours or the snow tours and why? [Brianna Boisselle] I love them both, but I prefer running a sled. They are a lot more fun and peaceful. [The Sled Dogger Magazine] Do you have any final comments or anything else you’d like to mention? [Brianna Boisselle] Thank you so much for coming to visit me and the dogs! They love extra attention. [END]

40 41 42 43 44 MY FIRST SLED And How It Came to Be

By: Bob Donovan, Publisher of The Sled Dogger Magazine Photos By: Nancy Molburg of Arctic Star Dog Sleds

It was only about 5 or 5 ½ years ago that I fell head over heels in love with Dog Sledding. Prior to that I had hated every aspect of winter for many years. Why did I hate winter? Because I didn’t ski, skate, sled, use snowmobiles, and I hated the cold. Now, I like dogs, outdoor dogs, and had, what in North America is known as a Great Pyrenees, known in all other areas of the world as The Pyrenean Mountain Dog. These dogs live outside and would have it no other way! TRY to get a Great Pyrenees to live in the house; it ain’t happening! They are great for livestock protection. But other than that, I was a cat person. I’d seen movies and documentaries with dog sled expeditions and the like and I thought it was really cool. In fact, those pro- grams even got me to really like Huskies and Malamutes. Whenever I say someone with one of these types of dogs I chatted with them and patted their dogs. But, as I would find out later, seeing something “cool” on television WAS NOT the same as experiencing it for real right in front of you as a spectator or being involved in some way.

A load of Kiln Dried PA White Ash is brought back to Arctic Star Sleds for the construction on my sled and others.

It was about 5 years ago that a woman I was dating had a daughter who was dating a musher. They asked if we wanted to go see a race one day. Well, I was interested, but hated the cold… But, I WAS interested. So, I mumbled bad 45 this race and, if I wasn’t hooked at that point, I was eyeing the hook and getting ready to swallow it hook line and sinker pretty soon! After the races that day we hopped in the car and started the long drive home. We cranked the heat and warmed up a bit. It was then that I realized I didn’t feel my feet because they were FROZEN and not because “it wasn’t that cold out.” OMG I was afraid to move my feet because I swore if I bumped my feet my toes would break right off! Even if they didn’t, they sure hurt like heck if I bumped them! That is when I was reminded how stubborn I was. “I told you that you have to dress right for the weather.” I guess dressing for summer and putting on a coat wasn’t going to cut it in Maine. So, after following instructions she finally got me to dress in layers for the cold. Once I had that down I was good to go.

Johnn Making Parts Needed For The Sled words about the weather under my breath and then blurted out, sure, we’d love to go. So, a few days later we headed to Bridgton, ME to a place called 5 Fields Farm which was apple orchards and more. There were a lot of spectators there and quite a few mushers too. Everyone was quite friendly and the dogs…. OMG the dogs! They were so full of energy and, well, crazy! Cra- zy, yet friendly, dogs are right up my alley! And.., they were outdoor dogs. It was cold, and I felt it, but the longer we were there the more fun I was having watching and interacting with the dogs. In fact, I kinda forgot about the cold. My feet were Pile of runners and sub-runners for Rising no longer cold either! I truly enjoyed myself at Star Model Sleds.

Dressed in layers if I got to hot, I could peel off a layer or 3. So, I was getting to think winter didn’t have to be several months in deep depression hiding by the wood stove in the house. I could actually do things; namely, attending dog sled events! My next event was in Farmington, Maine for the Farmington Frolic Sprint Sled Dog Races. These races were for the State Championships and there were quite a few mushers. Unfortunately, there weren’t as many spectators as I thought there would be, but there was a decent amount. Best of all, I enjoyed the races dress properly and had a great time!! I watched the races, talked to the mushers and enjoyed the dogs. I didn’t really think I needed my face washed THAT MANY Johnn on planer planing runners for the sled. times, but the dogs insisted that I did, so face 46 More Sled Parts! licking I got again and again and again….. I was never really into having slobbering dogs licking me, but this was different for some reason. I was having a blast with the dog and even enjoyed the face lickings! These dogs were NUTS and I fell totally in love! It was then that I started thinking “Someday I’ll have a sled!” Now fast forward to the fall of that same year. I had just sold a music magazine I had been

Brake and Drag Mat Parts running for 14 years. Not a profit-making magazine but a hobby and something that kept me busy. We were at my girlfriend’s (at that time) daughter’s house in Raymond, Maine. We were sitting around a campfire talking about mushing and how much I had fallen in love with it. I

Johnn putting brush bow in laminating form. 47 aspects of mushing. But I guess it was meant to be! Volunteers started coming out of the wood- work to support the idea and get involved. Two of my first volunteers to write for the magazine to help get it off the ground was (ready for this) Lance Mackey, four-time winner of the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest and four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and his, then, kennel manager Della Severtson. My next volunteer writers

Gluing 4 layers of runners together said I wanted to learn more. It was then that my girlfriend’s daughter and her boyfriend suggest- ed I start a dog sledding magazine. I told them I knew absolutely nothing about it, so I didn’t think I could. However, my girlfriend’s daughter’s boyfriend promised “I’ve been mushing for years and have a lot of connections. I’ll be glad to help to get it all going.” So, I took him at his word and went home and came up with the name “The Sled Dogger.” I started a Facebook page Nancy doing the belt and hand sanding included Andre and Natalie Van der Mere, own- ers of CTC Dog Gear. More writers came; some stayed for an issue or two and some are still with me to this day, 4 years later. With all that going for me, I was learning like a machine! Now, about 4 years after that campfire talk about starting The Sled Dogger we are in our 4th year (5th year of production schedule) and the official sponsor of The Copper Basin 300, The Yukon Quest, Apostle Islands Sled Dog Race, The Can-Am Crown, The Wilderness Race, The Yu-Can Quest (Ireland), and the Great North Woods Sled Dog Challenge. We also are a strong supporter of the Northern New England Sled Dog Trade Fair and Seminars. This brings me to my 1st Sled! At the Fall 2017 Northern New England Sled Dog Trade Fair I won a used sled that needed work. Being my first sled I have no knowledge as to how to fix it up so it was trail worthy even as a recreational sled. Lucky for me, Johnn and Nancy Molburg of Arctic Star Sleds was a vendor at the Trade Runners for my sled in laminating forms. Fair. I strolled over and asked Johnn if he’d

and began building a website for the new maga- Photo on Page to the Right: zine. I put out call for volunteer writers and The All the wooden parts needed to build my sled Sled Dogger Magazine was born. Unfortunately, are right on the table saw ready and await- after committing myself and getting things roll- ing for belt sanding! Wooden parts for other ing, the person who promised to help bailed and sleds on the shelves and holding tubes on the stopped talking to me leaving me high and dry right and in the background. with no knowledge about the sport or recreational 48 49 URGENT MESSAGE To Our Readers From The Publisher Of The Sled Dogger Magazine:

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!! We Need To Hear From More Jr Mushers To Spotlight!

To Have Your Son/Daughter Spotlighted, Contact us at: [email protected] Subject: Jr Musher Spotlight

50 sled and I knew nothing. Whoever I asked could have raked me over the coals. John was very honest and more than fair with a price for fixing up the used sled. So, I asked his if I was willing to put an additional $100 - $300 into it, how much better could I make it? Johnn said, “Well, if you are willing to do that, I’ll take this sled in trade and build you a custom sled that is fit for you for $300. I said let me thing for a few minutes and I’ll get back to you. So, I asked several people who I trusted and thought very highly of their opinion and I was told that was a great price. So, I went back to Johnn and shook his hand and ordered what was actually my 2nd sled counting the used one I won. But, since I never even took that sled from the spot it was in when I won it, I considered the Arctic Star sled to be my actual First Sled! So, the pictures within this article are of Johnn Assembling My Rising Star Sled! and Nancy building my sled. This includes some of the supplies he used to make it and actually look at the sled and give me an idea of a cost to making it along with the final outcome of the sled fix it up. It needed repairs, re-fabricating of the and its delivery to my home in Lynn, MA. handle bar, needed new brakes and more. Ev- eryone there pretty much knew this was my first [END]

Nancy delivering my new Arctic Star - Rising Star Sled to my home in Lynn, MA just outside of Boston. She brought it up from PA on a delivery run! 51 52 53 54 COLUMNS

55 56 Adrian and His winning 4 Dog Team running in the SHCGB Rally at Aviemore in Scotland: Earlier this week I caught up with Musher Adrian Tilsed of Valuiki Sled Dogs who are based in Glen- rinnes, Scotland. I asked Adrian to tell us a bit about Himself, His Wife Lynn and their Kennel. Apart from being a bit long in the tooth (Adrian’s words not mine LOL) He is a Senior Project Manager in the Nuclear Industry and currently based at Sellafield. Together with His Wife Lynn they admit to having far too many Siberian Huskies, 4 Scandinavian Hounds, 2 working Collies as well as 7 Romanian Rescue Dogs. Adrian and Lynns Kennel Ethos includes never rehoming their older, retired or non running dogs and being Responsible Ethical Breeders they will always take back any dogs they have Bred. The Kennel Name Valuiki was granted to Lynn before they even met. As most Kennels run Dryland here in the U.K. And Ireland except of course on the rare occasion we are fortunate enough to run our dog teams on snow I asked Adrian how long they have been involved in Dryland Mushing. Adrian has been running dogs for over 25 years now, his love for working dogs and in particular Siberian Huskies was His reason for wanting to partake in Dryland Mushing. Adrian and Lynn are currently Members of The Siberian Husky Club of Great Britain (SHCGB) The Scottish Siberian Husky Club (SSHC) and The Sled Dog Association of Scotland (SDAS). I asked Adrian what He likes about the Siberians He runs and if they have a fondness for a Specific Line of Siberians. Adrian and Lynn chose to run Siberians from the Zero Lineage early in their working career. Their original Siberians included some first Generation Zero offspring and were the Founda- tion Dogs of the Valuiki Kennel. Adrian and Lynns reason for wanting to run this Line of Sibe- rians is their amazing working attitude and working ability. Adrian and Lynn compete with their Teams mainly in Scotland although sometimes they travel back to England for the odd race. They run under the Main Breed Clubs and Sled Dog Racing Organisations SHCGB, SSHC, SDAS and BSSF. The Number of events they attend is variable each year although on average they would attend around 10 or 12 Events in a year. 57 Adrian and His 4 Dog Team of Siberians at the ABSA New Forest Rally, some of the Special Dogs worth a mention over the years are Mr Patch, Freckles, Jimi and Harry I asked Adrian how often they Train their Teams, how many Dogs in each Team as well as Mileage ran during Training Runs. Adrian and Lynn aim to Train their Teams 3 or 4 Times per week depending on work Commitments. This varies with Holidays etc, they would never Train more than 5 times in 7 days. They have a pool of 20 Dogs for the Race Season but also have older Dogs who are run for their enjoyment, team sizes vary at different times of the year/season, but they will run from 2 dog leader training through to 8 or 10 Dog Teams usually running 4-6 Teams each time they Train. They generally cover about 20 Miles each week in Training, although in warmer weather they might only run 4 or 5 Miles over 4 days. Adrian and Lynn choose not to take a lengthy period of time off during the warmer months but of course take into account the Temperature and Humidity each time they plan to run, there are days when they can’t run because weather conditions are just not suitable. Summer Training for them is more about Leader Training and getting Yearlings into Harness over very short distances. Adrian and Lynn train with Quads (ATVs) or a heavy rig they Race with 2 identical Charlie Ralph Rigs and a Rotter Sled for Snow. Adri- an feels that the Sport of Dryland Mushing is moving more towards the Bikejor, Scooter and Cani- cross Classes and believes there Adrian and His winning 6 Dog Team of Siberians at will be less rig Classes in Races SHCGB Aviemore Rally in Scotland 58 in the future. He adds it appears to be harder to find good Training Areas nowadays so therefore it’s easier for people to use bikes etc and run in areas where rigs are not necessarily acceptable, I would like to add if I may at this point I tend to agree with Adrian on this point as we need special permits from the Forestry Commission to run rigs in Forests here which cost a fair bit, Public Liability Insurance must be in place as well as Administrative Charges and a comprehensive Health and Safety/Management Plan submitted to the FC. I asked Adrian if He has any Advice for newcom- ers to the Sport. The Best Advice Adrian can offer is don’t fall into the trap of thinking that if you have the best working Line of dogs that you will automatically have the best Team. It takes an awful lot of work and heart ache to win Rac- es consistently. Also don’t ever give young dogs a bad experience when Training and start pups slow, don’t rush them! Valuable Advice indeed Adrian! Many Thanks for giving us an insight into your Kennel and sharing your experiences with us, happy trails to you, Lynn and All your charges and All the Best for your upcoming Race Season. [END]

59 60 Publisher’s Note: “Mushing Down Under” returns with a new writer and expanded coverage area. Now covering Australia and New Zealand! Wel- come Ian Luke to our columnist staff! Mushing Down Under As the Northern Hemisphere winds down its sledding activities, the Southern Hemisphere winds up. It’s still too warm for racing, but training has began. Sled- ding in Australia is mainly short distance sprinting dryland mushing, with the most popular classes being 1 and 2 dog scooter classes. Canicross and bikejoring are growing in popularity, and several Club’s across the country are offering a mixture of beginners training days and more intense sledding boot camps. Photo By: Happy Flying Dog Photography Photo By: Happy Flying

61 The Western Australian Sleddog Sports Association held a beginner training day, introducing the sport to new people, and had a large turn out. The Northern Victorian Sled Dog Club held a boot camp weekend aimed at smaller teams, including canicross and bikejoring. The weekend started out warm and windy, and teams had to deal with distractions from kangaroos and koalas, while they worked through everything from scooter and rig maintenance, command training, pull training and passing training. It finished off with a practice race for the beginners, including the “peewee” mushers. NVSDC are also planning a new event, mushing combined with orienteering, which promises to be challenging and interesting. Sixteen hundred kilometres away, in tropical Queensland, Curt & Fleur Perano from Underdog Rac- ing New Zealand were hosted by Northern Exposure Gig Racing Club as they presented an intensive bootcamp to 11 teams ranging in size from a 2 dog team, up to a 12 twelve dog Malamute team. Idi- tarod and Yukon Quest finisher Curt and Fleur took mushers through dog care, nutrition, equipment, before moving on to line outs, focus training, and passing. The Perano’s will be visiting Melbourne in May to run the same camp, this time hosted by the Alaskan Malamute Club, Victoria Inc. Sledding Try Out/Training days were also being offered by the Siberian Husky Club of Victoria, The Alaskan Malamute Club, Victoria Inc, the Tasmanian Association of Sleddog Sports, the South Aus- tralian Sleddog Club, and the NSW Siberian Express All Breed Running Club. These are great ways to introduce new people to the sport, and every year they see new faces come to the start chutes. The SHCV held their training day in, of all places, a cidery. All reports are it was a well attended event enjoyed by all. The AMCV event drew a large number of interested newbies. Before the season kicks off, we received news that our very Tim Huntley placed first and second in the IFSS World Cup 6 Dog Rig class for Oceania and Global respectively for the 2016-2017 compe- 62 tition. Tim and his partner Annie Jackson raise some impressive Siberian Husky and Eurohound teams and have enjoyed success over a long period. Racing in Australia will kick off in the last weeks of April/first weeks of May. It’s a busy race calen- dar, so we have plenty of news to come!

[END]

63 64 65 For this issue Meredith is doing a review of a great Book that is right up her Training Column’s Alley! Everything I Know About Training and Racing Sled Dogs Book By: George Attla with Bella Levorsen Note: All Photos Except The Book Cover Im- age are Stock Photos we used in a Previous Article about George. Review By: Meredith Mapes The somewhat infamous book by George Attla, Everything I Know About Train- ing and Racing Sled Dogs, is one that I’ve been trying to get my hands on for years. I finally saw a battered old copy of it advertised on Facebook, and jumped at the opportunity to own a copy for my very own. It’s sat in my pile of “books to read” alongside many others including Debbie Moderow’s Fast into the Night, Jeff King’s Cold Hands Warm Heart, and Mitch Seavey’s Lead Follow or Get Out of the Way (the latter two of which I have read before, but it never hurts to re-read them!). Finally I decided to read George’s book, and man am I glad I did. Even the preface is full of sled dog (or even just dog) wisdom, such as “the dog is never wrong” (Everything I Know 20). George Attla is perhaps one of the winningest musher’s in sled dog history (perhaps eclipsed these days by the likes of Egil Ellis and the Streeper’s, but even then some of George’s records still hold), and still today many of the top racing sled dogs in the world trace their pedigrees to his dogs from many years ago. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a sled dog out there that doesn’t have Lingo or one of George’s other past champions in their pedigree somewhere, and some dogs have them just a few generations back. Obviously his book is a good read if you’re at all interested in dog mushing, especially the history of racing sled dogs.

Photo On Right: 2011-George with Ste- ven Bergman at KRC by K. Turco 66 Photo: 2014-George competing in Old Man’s race at KRC By: Leona Starr

The book is arranged in such a way as to be picked up and ready at any point in the book at any day, depending on what you want to read about. The first third of the book is dedicated to George sharing wisdom that he thinks ought to be shared, the second third is all questions from other mushers and various other people that George answered, and the final third is all about the first Iditarod, in George’s words. Accompanying all of these fantastic tidbits of wisdom are historical photos relevant to the subject. Perhaps my favorite section of the book is the question and answer part, though close- ly followed by the recap of the first Iditarod (having finished the Iditarod for the first time myself less than two months ago it’s eye opening how difficult and crazy that first race was compared to the race today, and this year’s race was called one of the toughest in recent memory!). George answer’s literally everything you could think of, from how to do fall training, winter training, puppy raising, dealing with bad habits in dogs, the ideal conformation of a competitive sled dog, and so much more. Of course, the book shows it’s age also. Printed in 1974 at the height of George Attla’s racing career, the book also talks of many outdated practices, such as using a whip on a dog team (something I’ve never even heard of a musher Photo: 2012-George teaching middle school about pup health by Peggy Bruno 67 In the book George also mentions the practice of culling dogs. Nowadays, that means finding a dog a pet home, but 40+ years ago it usually meant putting them down. It was harder to make a living in those days, and there weren’t so many rescues or people willing to adopt rescued sled dogs – The August Fund has been a wonderful advocate for adopting out retired sled dogs the past few years, and people love knowing that they’ve got the sibling/parent/son of a famous sled dog, even if they couldn’t make it as a sled dog themselves. Active pet homes are great for those dogs that don’t make it in the racing world. So I say, take the book with a grain of salt. Read it cover to cover, and do as you would Photo: 2012-George at start of Norvik race by K. Turco do with any musher’s advice – use the stuff that’s interesting to you, and forget the rest. doing – the last one I know of that tried to use a whip Adapt George’s ideas to fit your kennel, and you’re crack to cue his team to run faster to the finish line bound to improve at least some part of your dog team! managed to snag a chair and sling it in front of his team (read Jeff King’s book Cold Hands, Warm Heart [END] for the full story!). Nowadays we have more of a rela- tionship with our dogs in my mind, one where we don’t have to resort to tools such as a whip to get 110% from them all the time. Personally, I enjoy asking my dogs for more speed, and being amazed when they give it to me because they trust me and know that I’m not going to push them too hard.

68 69 From point shoes to a World Championship My Introduction To DogSports

Last weekend when I took one of my dogs for a canicross at the beach, a man stopped me and asked me what a nice harness I have. This man was just a stranger walking his golden retriever when I passed him running between other people. I stopped, introduced myself and we let the pups play together as my morning run changed into morning walk. I told him about power dog sports and how it works and as he saw my dog so excited, he decided to try it too. I was so impressed how curious and excited Mike and his dog Moana were. Meeting Mike and Moana got me really thinking about my first introduction to power dog sports. I realized that it has been already three years since I discovered running with my dog. I was fifteen back then and I remember how I decided I need to get in shape, so I started running. But running was never my favorite sport. I used to dance since I could walk, but imagine a ballerina trying to run as an athlete: total disaster.. At that time, my first dog, a Vizsla named Airy, had her first birthday. She is the best puppy I could ever ask for. When Airy was ten months old, we completed our first Airy in her harness exam in obedience and for a long time, it looked like we would never go beyond the obedience ring. At one point, I thought about hunting with Airy. However, that didn’t work because she is afraid of gun shots and loud noises. One day, Airy and I went for a long walk on our favorite trail, through the forest to the top of a small mountain. We both love that place, so we stayed until the sun set. Then I somehow realized it getting dark- er and I didn’t have a flashlight with me. I didn’t want to let Airy off her leash because I couldn’t see her in the dark forest. So, I tied the leash around my waist and we ran home. I have never felt the same way before. We became like one, helping each other get home fast as we could. Since that day, I felt a connection between me and my dog in a way I have never felt before. We became a team. Although we didn’t really know yet. A week later, my mom told me that she found a website 70 Nany and Airy Racing in Czech Republic last April

71 Nany and Airy after their first scooter race.

about running with dogs. I was surprised that something like that existed. Since the first moment I checked the website, I knew this, canicross, was the sport for us. On our first practice in September 2015, Airy was marvelous. That was the day when I realized this is the sport which makes both of us happy. In October on my birthday, my biggest wish was to get a harness, running belt and a bungee lane so I could start practicing in order to get ready for next racing season. When I woke up on my sixteenth birthday, I came downstairs and there was a big box. I knew it! It was the running equipment for me and Airy. We trained through the winter and we attended our first race in March of 2016. My goal was to try it and do not finish last and we didn’t. We placed 8th out of 17 girls. For the first time, I think we did not too bad. I was impressed by Airy and how fast and willing to run as hard as she can. I have never seen her like that before and I realized how much closer we had become after all the training. I broke into tears as I crossed the finish line. The feeling after the race was indescribable; there was so much happiness, excitement, adrenaline and love between me and Airy. In March of 2017, I decided to become an AFS exchange student and spend a year in the U.S. It was really hard decision because I was worried what would happened with my training and that I would have to be away from my partner for a year. But what I realized on the Saturday morning standing on the beach with Mike and Moana was that my fears were untrue. I have not spent this year “away” from canicross, but rather canicross has come with me to America. I have been sharing the knowledge of this amazing sport with my running friends and see my enthusiasm reflected in their eyes. I have got the opportunity to spread out my passion for individual sled dog sports with people like Mike and show him that even he and Moana can become a team of two professional athletes in this sport. 72 The one thing I believe that we have all in common in this kind of sport is the happiness and the adrenalin when you see the excited dogs whining and screaming before the race starts. I hope to experience the same level of excitement and happiness on the start of ICF World Championship in Poland 2018 where I am going to race in the scooter category with Airy and reach one of our biggest goal.

Publisher’s Note: This is the first of many from our new writer Nany. This is a new column and will appear regularly with Nany’s schedule permitting. We’d like to welcome Nany to the staff! [END]

73 74 75 GeGEAR ADDICT with Kelsy Gibos Dogbooties.com Denier Cordura© Booties Review

Welcome to my second gear review. Let’s start with something basic—dog boots! This a mess of a market with multiple options from fleece slippers all the way up to Vibram soled hiking shoes. In this review, I’m going to look in depth at the Denier Cordura Booties offered by Dogbooties.com. Dogbooties.com offers a range of bootie products which range from simple fleece to thicker, tougher Cordura© and Toughtek© options. Fleece booties are great for keeping cold toes warm but tend to collect snowballs under stickier conditions. The Toughtek© product is designed more for traction, especially for folks looking to help out inside mutts who struggle with slippery floors. So that leaves Dogbootie.com’s Cordura© range which I feel are the best suited to mushing activities. They offer a range of fabric thicknesses, starting at the thin- 76 nest 330 and topping out at the thickest 1000. You can also choose your preferred color and closure mechanism (three options). Booties start at $3 USD each (so a set of 4 is $12). There is a substan- tial discount if you buy in bulk ($315-$425 for 250 booties). I have definitely put these booties to the test for the last 3 years and have used them in: wet snow, dry snow, crusty snow, ice, mud, ice floe, gravel road, forest trail and pavement. I have used them specifically for dog sledding to keep snow from building up between my pup’s foot pads and I have used them to protect feet from sometimes sharp and pointy skijor conditions. I also found them useful on urban winter adventures as defense against the copious amounts of sidewalk salt the neighbors insist on using. I have tried all three fabric thicknesses and closure options- I told you I was a gear junkie, right?

Okay, time for the down and dirty- how well did the Denier Cordura© Booties by Dogbooties.com perform? Here’s what I liked and why: - The middle thickness (500) Cordura© was still quite light, breathable and flexible - The VELSTRETCH Brand Fastener has added elasticity so that you get a good fit. I lost the least amount of booties using the VELSTRETCH - The booties are compact and it’s easy to carry extras in your skijor belt, your pack or your dog first aid kit (great item to have on hand in the event of a foot injury) - They performed well on nice soft snow- they prevented any kind of snow build-up either on my pup’s pads or the fabric 77 - My dogs did not try to immediately remove them. Other booties I have tried seem to rub or feel unnatural. The dogs adapted to them instantly and only tried to remove them if they were slipping or I had fitted them poorly from the start. - The sizing guide was simple to follow and the size I ordered was a good fit for my dogs (size M). - You can customize or mix and match sizes if your dogs have variations in foot size (some dogs have larger rear paws). - These fit my dog’s pads without a lot of extra loose fabric which is sometimes present on other brands of booties. - The opening of the bootie is large enough that it makes it fairly easy to get them on your dog when they are super excited about running

Here’s what wasn’t as great and why: - The fabric wears out eventually especially if you use them on more abrasive surfaces like asphalt or ice. Mine usually last one season between skijoring, winter walking and spring melt. - They are not waterproof and become saturated when wet. In particularly nasty conditions the fabric can freeze and become uncomfortable for your dog. The 1000 Cordura© thickness is listed as water resistant on their website; I would say this is true under ‘standard’ conditions, but obviously if you are out skijoring the last dregs of the summer snow expect the booties to get wet. - They are easily destructible by dogs. The lightweight fabric and fastener can be chewed very quickly so if you’ve got naughty dogs make sure you are always watching! 78 - The smooth surface of the Cordura© makes it pretty slick on ice. By covering up your dog’s nails you remove their built- in ice cleat so bootie up wisely. - They will accumulate snow inside them if not cinched up properly in the deep stuff - On my one dog the boot is just long enough that if it slips it ends up right under his dew claw will rub if I don’t catch it right away. For this reason I sometimes skip boots on his front feet and only do the rear. - I wish the fastener was a bit wider so that I could grip it better with frozen fingers or gloved hands In summary, the Denier Cordura© Bootie from Dogbooties.com provides protection from snow build-up in a lightweight, easy to put on and stay on package. They perform best on snow (rather than asphalt, gravel roads or ice) and offer a range of thicknesses to meet your performance needs. They will absorb water in wet conditions which may be uncomfortable for your dog, especially if they freeze. The fit is true to their guide and they are simple to put on, cinch up and remove. They will wear out fairly quickly if used regularly but are reasonably inexpensive to replace. To wrap up, here’s a couple of pro-user tips for Dogbooties.com’s Denier Cordura© Bootie. It takes a bit of practice to sort out the best fit for your dog. I was hesitant to really tighten up the fastener for fear of cutting off the circulation to the foot, but after using them a few times you can actually cinch them up quite tight without causing any discomfort to the dog. The VELSTRETCH option makes it easier as the extra elasticity allows for a bit more security without tightness. I would recommend bringing fresh booties for each day of a multi-day trip. Because they absorb water, the boots can freeze and be a real pain to try and thaw and get back on the following day. Keep a couple extra of these booties in your dog first-aid kit. They are great to hold on a bandage on a damaged or protect a ripped nail. Choose the brightest colors because they are easier to find when they flip off in the snow! [END]

79 80 81 URGENT MESSAGE To Our Readers From The Publisher Of The Sled Dogger Magazine:

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!! We Need To Hear From More Jr Mushers To Spotlight!

If you are a Jr Musher (Dryland, Sled, Skijor), know any Jr Mushers or have a Jr Musher in your family, PLEASE contact us! We are always looking for Jr Mushers to spotlight. Sometimes we have several Jr Spotlights in a issue and other times we only have 1. It all depends on if anyone submits the completed Jr Musher Spotlight information and submits it with their images! We have even had a couple issues with no Jr Musher Spotlight simply because no-one responded to the call. This is very sad because the Jr’s are the Future of Mushing. If people don’t respond to our call for Jr’s, we’ll have to eliminate the Jr Musher Feature.

To Have Your Son/Daughter/Niece/Nephew Spotlighted, Contact us at: [email protected] Subject: Jr Musher Spotlight

82 Christina Gibson Age: 17 Methow Valley, Washington Kennel: Whiteout Racing Kennel whiteoutracingkennel.com Years Mushing: 4

Hi, my name is Christina Gibson. I’m seventeen years old and I run Whiteout Racing Kennel, located 83 Photo By: Julia Redington

in the Methow Valley in Washington state.

When I was four, I watched the movie ‘Balto’ and decided I wanted to run the Iditarod! My mom thought that I would move on to something else, but as the person who pestered her for eight years, I can tell you she was wrong!

I got to run a dog for the first time at the age of twelve, and was hooked. I got my first dogs when I was thirteen, and my team Photo By: Christina Gibson has continued to grow from there!

[The Sled Dogger] How long have you been mushing? Do your parents mush, or just you?

[Christina Gibson] I have been training and racing dogs for about four years. I’m the only Musher in the 84 family, but they all put up with it pretty well!

[The Sled Dogger] Do you have a specific breed of Dogs you run or Mixed Breed and why did you choose them?

[Christina Gibson] I run a team of Alaskan Hus- kys, a type of dog bred specifically for Sled Dog racing. Originally I got into the breed because that’s what other people I knew ran, but I stuck with them because there are all types of breeds that can do well at racing, but statistically speaking, Alaskans are mostly dominating the racing scene of Mid-Distance and Distance racing. I also really love their personalities, and the history that the breed has.

[The Sled Dogger] Do you prefer recreational mushing, or the competitiveness of sprint mushing or distance/mid-distance Racing and why??

[Christina Gibson] I’m naturally a competitive person, so I love to race, but how much my dogs enjoy racing makes all the work worth it!

[The Sled Dogger] Who are your main lead dogs, and what made you choose them?

[Christina Gibson] Everyone on my team has the ability to lead, but my two best leaders are Freckles and Steampunk.

I’d say it’s more of a matter of ‘who’s got it’ than choosing them. Freckles is the most experienced dog on my team, and she gets her job done and gets us down the trail safely.

With Steampunk, I think some dogs just have it, you know? He’s actually really soft headed, or in other words, not mentally tough. At least he hasn’t been. Ten miles into Jr, Iditarod he became the best leader I’ve ever had. I can’t tell you why those things happen but he’s been a different dog ever since. In a good way.

[The Sled Dogger] What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from dog mushing?

85 86 Photo By: Christina Gibson

87 Photo By: Emily Gibson

[Christina Gibson] One thing I’ve learned, is that these dogs always have something to teach you. It’s a never ending learning process, I’m constantly learning from them and they are constantly teaching me.

But a big one would have to be self confidence. Mine’s not perfect, I don’t think anyone’s is, but training a race team and running races is constantly pushing my limits, and teaching me to be better. These things that we experience in the middle of nowhere help me gain confidence.

[The Sled Dogger] Do you have any advice for kids who want to start mushing, but don’t know how?

[Christina Gibson] Find a Club in your area, and then through them, you can hopefully find a mentor

Photo By: Julia Redington 88 Photo By: Christina Gibson

Photo By: Christina Gibson [The Sled Dogger] Thank you so much for taking that lives close to you, or keep learning through the time today for this interview. The entire staff the club. Having a mentor and teachers is key! of The Sled Dogger wishes you the best in your future of Mushing! [The Sled Dogger] What›s the most exciting race you›ve run? Christina Gibson] Thank you!

[Christina Gibson] Definitely the Jr. Iditarod! Learn more about Whiteout Racing I had never been to Alaska before hand, and Kennel LLC at the following link: whiteoutracingkennel.com everything that happened during the race and the challenges we faced taught me so much. [END]

89 Watch for the Fall 2018 Issue Due Out: 1st Week of December 2018

NOTE: This Is A Rough Draft Of The Next Issue Cover The Text or Image Could Change

COVER INFO:

Rider - Sophie Leduc Photo By: Andre Rozon Event: Pontiac International Dog Sled Race in Bristol QC, Jan. 6-7 2018

90 CHANGE IS COMING!

Some Changes are coming for The Sled Dogger; some of these changes I think you’ll enjoy while others, behind the scenes, you may not notice. As I mentioned on Facebook and in the From the Editor feature at the beginning of the issue we were able to get the new software. With your donations and topping it off with my money, we were finally able to get the new software we’ve been trying to get for over 2 years! So, I’m pretty excited to say the least. What are the changes? A lot of the changes that are coming are behind the scenes; processes that make the conversion to a magazine faster, rarely crashing if ever (keeping us on schedule). Also, being HTML5 rather than all “Flash,” it will load faster, download faster and use less bandwidth. Also, the process that caused the most grief over the last few years with the conversion was turning on the advertiser and e-mail links throughout the magazine that used to cause all kinds of problems and crashes will be done completely different!! With the new software, all the links are created and ac- tivated before the conversion making it clean, far less time consuming and a lot less stressful an no conversion crashes! Along with the new software we are also working with our subscription mail service to try to rectify the problems we are having with out subscription database. Not only would it not let new subscribers sign up, much of the time it wouldn’t send to everyone on the list leaving out 2/3s of our subscribers. So, the mailings are working to subscribers now, but it seems not every new subscriber gets the conformation link that they need to click on to activate their Free Subscription. So, we are still working on that. PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS ON DISC: Coming soon is Paid Subscriptions on disc. These will be mailed to your home 4 times a year (Win- ter, Spring, Summer and Fall issues). This way you won’t need the Internet to be able to read each copy of The Sled Dogger. SIGN UP FOR THE FREE SUBSCRIPTION! If you like to sign-up for the Free Subscription to be notified and given a link to get each of the 4 issues a year as they are released, that is simple, and you can do that here today!

- CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION – Once you fill out the Subscription form with your name, e-mail address, state or country, click enter and you will be redirected to a “Further Instructions Page.” You don’t have to do anything there. It’s just a message telling you to look in your e-mail box for a conformation e-mail. You’ll need to open that e-mail and click the link to confirm. If you don’t click the link, you won’t be added to the list. If you don’t get the Conformation E-Mail, look in your Junk and Spam folders. If still nothing within an hour, let us know and we will manually add you to the list. Just contact us at: Subscriptions@TheSledDogger. com.

ON A FINAL NOTE: The Sled Dogger is an all-volunteer run, FREE publication that is made possible by limited advertising, for the most part, reader donations. We love what we do because we actually support and love mushing! We HATE to ask for donations, but we really want to keep supporting mushing in a positive light. To do so, we need your advertising and donation support. For low cost, high visibility Display Advertis- ing information and Website Advertising: [email protected] Or, for READER DONATIONS, please CLICK HERE. 91 92