Sled Dog Sports Magazine Issue, #2

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voLUME \ #2 - OCTOBER2OO4

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Welcometo issue #2.

WORLDWIDEMAGAZINE

THE MAGAZINE OF COMPETITIVE DISTANCE - DRYLAND

SLED DOG RACING AND - SPRTflI - SKIJOR

CARE

Sled Dog SportsWorldwideMagazineisamonthly publicationdedicatedto the sport of sled dog racingas well as the care and well being of the dogs that provideus with so much love, enthusiasmand enjoyment. Our goal with this publicationis to enhanceparticipationin the sport by presentingit as the exciting' adventurous,and high-levelendeavorthat it is.

encourandhighly Editorial Submissiolls arewelcome aged. We cannot,however,be responsiblefor the damageor loss of unsolicitedmaterials.The best way to submitarticlesor photosfor consideration,or to inquireabout specificsand guidelinesis to do so via email at the addressbelow.

please Advertising Submissions ureevenmorewelcome, to downloada rate email,call or visit vwvw.sleddogsportsmag.com packet. Reachyour target marketin an economical,efiicientway.

Sled Dog SportsMagazinereservesthe right to rejectadvertisingthat is not appropriate. for ads and editorialcopy are the 15th of the month DeadlineS priorto the monthof publication.ie: deadlinefor the November2O04 issue is October1sth 2004 SUbSCfiptiOflS are availablefor $30 yearlyin the U.s., $38 yearlyin Canada,and $50 yearlyin Europevia airmail.Subscriptions are mailedout via PresortStandardMailand arrivein about7-10 arrivein 1-3 daysfrom date of mailing.1st ClassMailsubscriptions days from date of mailingand are an additional$10 per yearlysubscription.

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COMPANY: PUBLISHING

GSP EDITOR & PUBLISHER: GR EGS E L LE N T IN 635 Route94 Newton,NJ 07860 T:917-929-6118 F: 973-300-0455 e: greg@sleddogsPortsmag.com w: sleddogsportsmag.com Cover:HansGatton lditarodTrailtoRainyPassCheckpoint Photo:@2004JeffSchultzlAlaskaStock.com

Vof ume Lt #2 October 2OO4

I hope the excitement,passionand respectfor our sport and our animalsis passedalongthroughthe pagesherein every issue - not only to those of us who alreadyenjoy this wonderful sport, but to those out there who are just gettingstarted and are gettingtheir first look at it.

I would like to apologizefor all the typos in the last issue.

Findingthose little buggersin the text has provento be the most difficultpart of puttingtogetherthis magazine. I also have to clarifythat in the descriptionof TerryStreeper's accomplishments,I incorrectlylistedTerryas winner of the ONAC, Rondy,and Yellowknife.Actuallyit was Buddywho pilotedthose teams to victory.I also listedTerryas having won The Pas,which is incorrect.

In this issuewe presentto you: Hans Gatt - 3 time consecutive winnerof the YukonQuest.HelenLundbergvisitedwith Martin Buser - multitime lditarodwinnerand outrightrecord holder. I spoke with Jerry Scdoris - organizerof one of the most succesfulnew stage races in the world, and this year's mid distanceWC event - the AttaBoy3O0.

Helenalso concludesher pieceon the European"challengers"makingthe trip acrossthe pond for the IFSS World Championshipsthis season.

We also try to throw a little light on the subjectof traveling with your team to Alaska. We talk with Ken Chezik and Rob Downey about their experienceswith the trip, how they care for,and keeptheirsprintdogs happyalongthe way,and what it's like racingin the sled dog capitalof the world.

Harris Dunlap pastwinnerof ONAC and Rondy,now retired from racing,well sort of retired, relayssome of his experience with the trip from years gone by.

All this plus our monthlycolumns:Gear Guide,Vet Check, and Glub Reports.

As I learnedin the last issue,28 pages fill up prettyquickly,so we are going to publishlettersto the editoron our web site: sleddogsportsmag.com Futureplans for the web site includevideodownloads,and extra photosthat we want to show,but can'tfit in the magvia azine.Onlinesubscription cc paymentis alreadyavailable ;a 'r on the site,and hats,patches and bumperstickerswill be availableshortly.Staytuned for our bumperstickercontest.

And lastlyfor all those that emailedme asking,the photoabove is of my lead dog Wanda and myselftaken at OntarioCanadasprintraces. the 2002 Kemptville,

Greg<Sollnnfi'w P ubl i sher

Letters to the Editor: (oia e-mail) Creg, Receiztcd rlour nngnzirrcnnd it is thcfirst tinrc irt n long tinrc n sled dog ntagnzitrc lrrs irtterastcd nrc ertouglt to readfron couer to crul. Tlrc nngnzine zt,as z)erllinfornntiT,e,educationnl,ntd focusedon sletl dogs.

Your ltnssiott in crentirtg Sletl Dog S1tortsWorldzoideMngnzine surely came through. lan Kieslittg Hi Greg, Great Mngazine! Orrhl orteTtroblent.Icouldn't sto1trending,so It'inished it irt one nigltt. Poor Me. Nozt,I lnz,c to zttoitnttothertnottth. Very good interpiettt zt,itlt tlrc Streepcrs.Hns us lookittg at our traitittg n little differcnt. Takecore, goocljob, ntd lrc1tetlour trairirrg is going zocll.

Lirr I Iint Helhter

Hi Greg...

I hnaestrccessfttlhl receiaedtlourfirst nngazinc...still readirrgit, but turtil rtozu, aerll aertl nice! Toptquality irr the content - uthich is ztthstmatters!

C r ist oztdo Min eiro, Por t u gnl Greg- Loae tlrcfirst issue. Receiztedit on Morday nnd read it coaer to cozter. Crent interaiettt roith Terry Streeper. lt contnined sll the infornntion thnt I zttntttto knottt. I toill sclmit to nltering nty training scherlule for thisfall hasedon that article.

Keep up tlrc grent zttorknrtd I lookforzoordto future issues. You'ae estnblisheda high stntdord for both content nnd qunlity.

SteueFox Fox RacitrgKennels Enst Creenttille,PA

International SledDoERacing Association 22702RebelRd Merrifield, MN 56465 218/765-4297 www.isdra.org

CHATMAC S L ED D O G SU PP L IER

C ollar s , Leas hes H ar nes s es Sk ijor belt s & lines D og t r aining c ar ts D og s leds D og s led bags .

SI ed ac c es s or r e s R ope G anglines Fi ds Ti m W hit e Q CR Sled plas t ic H ound B ox es D og T r uc k B ox e s D og T r ailer s & B ox es Truc k & Tr ailer ac c es s o ri e s "Ouer zt yrs. of experience"

, Introducinq Chatmac's

/ntuNDtR/

Aftermanyyearsof sled fesflngdeslgns and prototypes, lhiss/edwas

raced byLou SerreWorldCupChampion and multipleISDRA medalist

Stayingwithourtraditional look.Featuresof lhis sled: Frameconstruction is aluminum.lf neededup to 45%racking.

Canberedski- wetested31shapes,Seethrough Windshield - Iesfresu/fs-ke epswindoff handsanddeflectssnowandice pel/ets. Canseethrough if downbehindsled.ComeswithJ-Peghandgripsfor stability whenpeddling oryoucansteerwiththem.

Quickflip bagJoaded70lb. dogfastwithlittleeffort.Nozippersor velcroto getin yourway..Bagdesignfromsinilardesignused 17yearsago. Veryinportant- sledstill handleswhilecarryinga dog. Chatmac's quickflip brakeanddragmatcomhination destgnusedwithgreatresults onourCheetah andCommander sledsforover5 yearsnow.Fortraveling coneswithrunnersleeves and extta bagto put sledbagin to protectyour sledbagandwindshield whiletraveling.

ONEOFNORT}I AMERICASLEADINGSUPPUERS,OURDOGBO)GSAI\D SLEDSARE I.EGENDARY visif us on thewebat chatmac.com(tel: 519-291-4738) Doug& CarolMcNeil

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Martin Buser

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challenging again at the Last Great Race

by Helen Lundberg

It is the 13th of Septemberand after a cold night there is still a little frost on the gfOUnd.

I am in my car,on my

way to visit with 4 time Iditarod Champion Martin Buser.He lives in Big Lake, just a 40 minute drive from our house in Willow Frorn my car I can view a fantastic Fall larrdscape with the Chuga ch Mo urrta irrsin t he bac k gr or r r r d.

After a week with colder night temperatures the mountains now have. a white hat of new snow.

Martin Buser was born in Switzerland 48 years ago aud when he was 23 yeals old, 1979,he decided that he wanted to learn more about s'led dogs. He came to Alaska and stayed with Earl and Natalie Norris at their kerrnel in Willow. He had absolutely no plans for any longer stay, just to spend one year and work with the clogs. But his life turned out a little different; it is not always that things turn out the way you plan. But I know that Martin never. regretted that he clecided to come to Alaska. He told me that he r.row lives "the American Dream" and his life is as good as it can be. Martin is fortunate; he lives and works with what he loves most in the world - his farnily and his dogs at Hoppy Trail Kennels. Martin has been married to Kathy for 20 years and together they have two sons, Nikolai and Rohn. Both Nikolai and Rohn have raced funior Iditarod Race and both are signed up for the race 2005. Martin himself has run the Iditarod Sled Dog Race 21 times ancl won it four tirnes. He has an impressive long string of 16 finishes in the top 10, including 10 in the top five.

In addition to his four wins, he's been the runner-trp twice, in 7997 and 7999.

Martin also has the current record; the fastest time any one ever raced the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, 8 days 22 hours 46 minutes and 2 seconds. He set the record when he won in 2002. Martin was also selected to the Anchorage Daily News Iditarod Hall of Fame in 1998. "The first two years, 1980 and 7981, I used dogs from Earl and Natalie Norris' kennel. Then I decided that I wanted my own dogs to race with so I took four years off and started to build up my own team.

1986 was the first year I started with my own dogs and since then I have raced the Iditarod Sled Dog Race every year and I will keep on doing it as long as I am healthy and can run my sled."

When I drive up to Martins house, that he built himself, it's already getting warmer and soon the sun will heat up and all the frost will be gone. Martin is on the phone but opens a window and tells me to come on inside. He has just finished training for today, even though it's only 10.30in the morning. "First team is in harness and ready to start around 6 in the morning and I am done with training around 10," Martin tells me. "I am just making coffee,do you want some?"

Martin serves me a black, strong cup of coffee. Perfect, just the way I like it. I sit down and we start to talk about dogs, training and of course the Iditarod race.

Martin started 4-wheeler training a w e e k a g o , t h e b e g i n n i ng o f Se p te m b e r .

"I used to start 4-wheeler trainins a l r e a d y b y t h e l s t o f A u g u st i r r e l - r l i e r years, br-rtnow I wait a little longer because I want to get into the training program without having to stand off any days because of too warm temperatures." And I can fully understand what he means. This summer we have had record high temperatures here in Alaska even in August and to harness and train dogs in front of a 4-wheeler was not even to be considered. But Martin has not been sitting around letting the dogs just rest in their houses.

No way, all summer long Martin free nrns his dogs. "I have divided all my dogs into different groups and every day I take 2 or 3 groups for free running. If you look out in my dog yard you can se that I have painted different colors on the top of each dog's post.

That's the marking of each group."

This makes it so much easier when he goes free running. Martin lets all the dogs in each group loose and they all run up to the dog truck. He loads them into the boxes, one dog in each box and trucks them 2.5 miles (4 km) away from the house. "I have a perfect spot for free

and there isarso ah"rf" iliilil?;T,ff,":9t#.T"',:?x"LtTll,

but tons of benefits from the free running. "The dogs get lots of social training, they get trucking experience and they have lots of fun. Sometimes I bring a bike and sometimes the 4-wheeler so that the dogs can chase me," Martin says. He also tells me that )ntiflued

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he adapteri a CPS to fit on the dogs collars, just to bc able to nrL.asureexactly horv far: that dog has been running. "Each eroup gets up to 1.5 hours of ft-rnatrd free rutrtlitrg evcry other clav. Tht'1, are rea11venjoving tlremselves; n'iih the lrelp of GPS I know, th.rt thcv ruu as fast ;-ts20 b 25 r-nph." Everv clay Martin trrinss tr,r,obuckc.ts ot fresh r,vaterr.r,ithhim for ihe dogs ancl thev often iirrish all oi it I ask Martin hor.vtnartryclogshe h.rs in his training program ihis fall. "Right t'tow I have 80 Llogs in training n'ith the 4u'heeler antl half of the group, ,l0, are the clogs that I r'vill tr:ain for my Iclitarotl team." So 40 are younp; dogs antl out of this group Martin will pick out a 16-dog team that will be starting either on the Selum Rum or on the lditalocl. "M-v handler, John Hessert will take this young team, without any presstlre to Nome." T wonder if he uses older leader"swith race expet ience fol the yearling team? "No, out of the yearling group I also find leaders."

I look aror-rndMartin's clog yar:d and I see his trailring wheels. "Do you use the tr:aining wheels for your .rclr-rltdogs?

"No it's only yearlings that exercise at the rvheel ancl thcy do it without any pressure, it is totally self-motivated training'"

of Marvin Koklir-res dogs this slrmmer."

Do vor-rtlrink the tirpe of dog usecl in lditalod lras changecl much over the ye;rrs? "We are luntring Idiiarod faster and faster. I think palt of it is due to gcnctic improvcment of tlrr.' dogs. Br-rtsevelal other factors arlsot-ttadebig improvemetrts in the clog's pclformancc, Iike bettcr nr-ttritiotr ar-rtlbetter care'" I w,ondcl if he looks at cottfortnatiotrrvhen choosing dogs for the racr., or is it nrole ;rttitucic anrl ability? "I aiwal's look lrow eaclr clog has performed dr-rring the season. It is also important to factor irr lror,vthe1,clid in the ear:ly races in ]anuary. It is also a great help to have all rnv inforrlation that I collected in the database for each dog."

Most mushers have one or several key dogs on their team; elo you have any key dogs I ask Martin? He seems tcl think for jtrst a few seconds and than he atrswers me - "Logan and his brother Hnnter. Logan will probably be oue of my main leaders for lditarod 2005." But Martin has several more candidates u'hcr aspire to become race leaders. "Half of n:ry dogs go in lead anel on the lditar:od ieatrr I had in 2004, nine were leadels. I am not hr-rngup on breeding leadels. I train my dogs to become leadels.

Bccause thc trr-reieercleron the team has trt'o legs," he says and smiles.

FalI training Martin starts right out of his yard with the 4-whee1er.

The trail is lroth Llp and dolvn, open fielcls and in the woods' Each team is made up u'itlr 13 to 14 dogs antl since Martin is a big believer of "slow builcl up" he siarts out r.t'ith only a few miles per training rur"r."Depending on temperatures in the beg;inning of the Fall training I take the teams ollt for 2 to 3 rniles. It was quite cold this moruing so today we did 4 rniles. To be flexible and adjust the mileage after current cor-rditions is important." The training miles add up and before the start of 2200 - 2500 miles in htrrIditarocl all Martir.ts ciogs ha.,,ebetr'^"'een ness.Hc'cloes trot count the fre'erutrnit-tg.All thc dogs ihat Martin trains neecl to kttttlv r'r'hat it mealrs to pr-rll.Ht'ttet'er trics to truild up speecl."l ah.vavs trtrin r'vith rvcight. For examplc rvhen I start to train rviih the sled, it is never lightel tlran m1' Martin usc's sled cluring the Iclitarod race." Ttr load r-rpthe slec-1, tu,o bags of dog foocl,approximatelv a weight of 80 por-rnds.

When Martin h'ains his rlogs he alrvays tries to sit-uttlateracing conditions. "The n:rorethe Lrettet he savs and snriles. Ouce ;r r,r'eekI simulaie ovelrright cantpir-rgatrd try ttt nrake it as real as possiLrle.Making c-vervthing vott do at the checkpoint into a routinc. is the key to strcccss."

Er.'erydog that Maltin has in his tlair.ringprogram has its own file on his complltel'. l'here is lots of irlfonn.rtiot-t to be found whenever he needs it in this database. "lt is a big lrclp for me whc-n I have to pick out my tc.am of 16 dogs for the Icliiarocl.

I can check hon, cach dog has perfolmecl t>r1e.1chtrainine lun, horv lnanv rrriles ir"rhartress, and if there has been any problerrrs with that specific clog."

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Gear Another impoltarrt factor to becorne a sttccessftll sled dog racer is, of course, to have the best equipment. Wlrat clothing do you

Dogs I ask Martin rvhat bloocllines lris clogs are out oi? "After 20 years in this sport I consider the dogs I have trow as my owl1 bloodline," he says. "The dogs tirat I started or"rtlviih and that I usecl as foundation dogs in my breeding program catlre from Geolge Attla, Jim Welsh and Gareth Wright." After havir"rgbeer-rsuccessful for so long, I woncler if he ever buys clogs, or pays for breeclings to re-fresh his bloodlines? "Absolutel\i cvery other year I either buy clogs, or Lrreedto other kennels' dogs. lt is very important that vor-rrlorr't go "kennel blind". You have to be operr eyed ancl try olrt r-rewgenetic options. For example I bred to one 1

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wear'? "Northerrr Or-rtfitterssponsors me and their proclr-rctsale just phenonenal. They are built on the laws of physics ancl 1'611 have to trnderstand hor.r' they rvork, but when you do that there's nothing better."

To fincl thc perfect sled can be a problenr, but Mar:tin has solved that nor'r'."l usc au OMS," he says and laughs. What is an OMS, I have never hearcl of that brand before? "lt's tu'rOlcl Marr's Slecl anel it's verv cottrfortable; he explains and keeps on smiling. "l saw ]eff King using this new type of sled and ir.nme-

backqround:MartinBuser on the trail in the Rainy Pass area photo:O 2OO4JefISchultz/Alaskastock.com

diatell',nrade one for my self." Do 1'e11think this ne'rv tvpe of sled is here to stav? -Alrsolutely, ifis hele to stay for sure. I r'vill Lrsemy sletl asain on Iditarocl 2005. You have to re-lealr.rhorv to drive this tvpe of sled. You have to ntn and kick on the outsicle of the rtnners. But when you have figured it out this slec{is scl mr'tch fun to run'" I ask Martin if he thirrks there shor.rldbe other gea{, or improvetnents to the Iditarod rules to nrake it safer for tlre clogs, and the drivers? "No I c-lonot think so, the lace' as it is non' is pretty safe ancl so far no musher has been lost." Hou, about outside help, sholr ltl that be allclwed? "No, no ontside help," Martin answers tluickll'. "Br-tt it would Lreok to use the CPS, as the rules are 11t]14' 1'\'ecannot use GPS on Iditarod."

Racing

competitive.Thereare more musherr t.";;;;t";:#tH:;t:

where yousurprised withyourri.ishthispastyearor

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I know that most Iciitaroci mushers ha'e a plan for the race, I ar.r.r pretty sur:ethat Mtrrtil also has a pla', but l better check r,r,ithhlm. -t have a plan ancl I try to follow it as good as I can. Actuallv I n,as only one'minute off the scheclulehalfway this vcar. But sorletinrcs it car:rbe a frustratic-rnu,hen vou sti.ck to the plan and other teams pass vcrtr.I rernember:2002 when I had stoppecl, as plannecl, at Sahnon River. 21 teams passed me; I .nrld l.r"or.one team after another passing. But I tr.stecl myself, followecl my plan and that provecl to be ii,art at the encl,,,he says with a Lg smite. "When you are in a positive spiral, with faster runs vor-l can allow your team to tarkelonser rest ar-rdstill follow the plan. But of cou.se you have to be flexible, ar.rdthis is rvhen years of race experience comes in hand.y." Has the Iditarod become more competitive over the years? ,,Oh yes, much more

actually the two past years, after winning in record tinre 2002? the way the race fumed out, but it is T::,ll*,:surprised not to win." When did you make :Jylf:: Itjl!.disappointirg call not to push for a top finish spot and to iust j::l::g:i:lt "Too early," Martin answerswith a big ":'"1tit,,'i:T,Tme"? I am not as "hot" on it now as I used to be. I illit^".^^lillnow plove. To be optional secondis much better than T:"^1?lTlg_lt t do understand that it is hard to find motiva1ili1:1?t:,Iito." the same race for so mally years but I am not ::: Itj::"9:::t me he looks super focttsedand of course llt:"X?()^1t.Y,",ttt"..To n" will go for another victory again.

vated' morededXf,f,t"rljlfi:11;11,i1',1iljil,l1"J'ofiil;;"of sleep durilg the race. ilow does he tackle that? What do y;; do to ensure that you make the least amount of sleep cleprivation inducectmistakes?"As I said Lrefore,I try ro make everything I do at every checkpoint a rourine,i Martin quickty allswers *y q.r"riior',. Do you have a personal or merltai training regimen to help you n irh conditioning and being able to withstand the rigor.sof the race?',Actuallyil do. I talliectto a sleep professoru i"- y"um ago ar-rdthat has helped lne a krt. you inow, it's not possiblet.-ostore sleep,btrt you can ctosome things that minimize the effect of less sleep-.For example I try to eat biancedfood, a'd before and during'the race I stay away from drinking coffee.The professortolJ me that there are two tvpes of people, either you can har:rdlegetting just a few hours of sieep per day or you can't. I arn the kind that can handle lesssleep."

So maybe this is a really important factor if you want to bec-ome

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few hoursof sleepor rlot.I find this veiy interesting.

Sinceit's , lot possible to store sleep lt4artin tries to be well rested before ',, the Iditarod starts.

"Yes, this is very important. For example I have my sled packedand leady to go a weekaheadof the siart.I want tt havJsome good nights of sleepbefore the race starts so I start out as restecl

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ut otttttolinu, isyourplanforthisyear,sracingscheclule?

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T ^ ,-r-rtr^ -!:-:rr^ --^-,,- do r well ,, o. so to ^! the " , - rback - ^^L+ L ^dogs, r^ ,-- I ask Martin if dogs can . their first trip to Nome, or do the veteransalways do better?,,It ctependson the dog; somectoreally good the fiist time. But I

tancemushing,Iotsof rookicssigrrup for lditarodcveryyear.

What would you tell up and coming mushersthat wani to start to take their teamslonger distancesin competitionand training?

"You have to be self-criticaland ask yotrrself:Do I love the dois otdol j ustw anttobefamous?B uti f youdeci clet odoit you will find that this is the ultimat", ofporruruty sport.It challengesyou to the outmost u"a"qrri it iu;,r!t fantasticto seehow

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.,"t".u.,. o,., myteain and rorexampre r r.rad 10- il:H":fi:::#:ffi :;#tJ:,j,:,:Jffi:trJt"'J":l$ :i:".:"r* :i,,',;1y"1"""Lr year-olcldogs on my winning team." Do you ever take yearlings

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even 2-year-olddogs,o. y,or. team?"Vearlingsare on the :t team that travelsto Nome either in the SerurnRun or on the Iditarod with my handlel,John,who will drive this tearnof young dogs in 2005."

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yard. As always it has beennice to visit with Martin at Happy TrailsKennel ind now, even more than before,I am convi'cecl; good guys are winners in the long run!

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Ken and Rob both agreethat keeping,thedogs u)ell_Wdratedduring the long driae to Alaska is a key elementto"their optimal performaficeand heslth.

Ken Chezikracingin the 2004ADMAGold nun t OOogclaSs. Ken has bebnsuccesful in the last ferivyearsat top leibt competitiion w![h 4_mixof Eurohoundsfrom manydifierentstrains,bredto'his stock 6i Atasta.nhuskiesfrom Munfordsprint lines, -base

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Racing in Alaska is the dream of many a musher. Sted Dog Sports takessometime to talk zoith2 current sprint racerswln hioe been making the annual trip rrTttuitlt tlrcir dogsto race in the sled dog capi_ tal of the utorld. TIrc lessonslearned from tl.retrip, and the traiiing techni.questhey'ae acquired to keep the dogshealthy and happy are" usefulfor all of us. We alsospeakzaith Harris Dunlap, forinei ONAC â&#x201A;Źt Rondy chantpion, zulrcis one of the few teamsf-rom the lower 4g to zuin open class racesin Alaska.

Ken Chezik 8 & 10 dog sprint East Fife Lake, Michigan

SDS: Kery can you give me a bit of your background in the sport?

KC: I started in 7978, a neighbor of mine had sled dogs and invited_me to go handle with him, eventually I started iunning one of his teams. That was Ron Seifert. We siayed at the same races as Barb and Dale Munford, and Lori Thtmpson, who eventually became my wife, and I really looked at what they were doing as they were doing real well at the time. I weni to a training session at their house, and they invited me to come there and live at their home with them. So in 19g0 I moved from lower Michigan up to the Tiaverse City area and iust kind of moved into their house. They had jusl built a log home, from scratch and basically we all shared the dogs, livJ to support the kennel and looked forward every year to iacing.

SDS: Like a sled dog commune.

KC: Yes, Barb and Dale were real generous people, they always invited people into their home and shared the dogs and their ' sport with them. At one time we probably had g ieams living at the house and running teams out of the kennel. It was like a team, we all struggled and worked for one cause, one good team. We did that all through the gO,s& 90,s then Bart contract_ ed cancer and passed away in 1.997,and at that time Dale decid_ ed to get out of the sport. And he said, ,,Here,s the kennel, do what you tlrint r9 right with it.,, Over all those years of racing we always had that goal to take the team to Alaska. It was orie of those goals that we always thought would be a spectacular thing to do-together. ln 1.999I had in opportunity to go to Alaska with Christian Taveau who was leasing a team out of our kennel. The next year Lori and I went with orir team and we brought Dale up with us. We raced Mackinaw then went uo.

We got there and it was really cold. It was 2 wks before the iim_ ited North American. We raced and placed 7th or gth, maybe 5 minutes out of first place, which was kind of a shock. WhLn you drive up and back you talk about what you did and what you can do better next time.

SDS: Can you describe the drive up, how long is it for you?

KC: It is about 4500 miles.

SDS: Do you break it up, or drive straight through?

KC: Well we tried a few different methods, the first couple of years we drove 12 hrs. per day, averaged about 700_g00miles per day. One year we went up, raced Winnipeg, then went on to Alaska. The next year we went up and trained it Terry Streeper's place then went on to Alaska. I learned a few things, well the first year we went to Winnipeg, they were racing onlhe river and it was really flat out fast. By the time the race was done, we picked up some little injuries which hurt us the whole season. We did good but it was something we learned about.

The next time, when we trained at Terry's]thev had awesome trails and were gracious as heck. He invited us to train there, marked all the trails with flags so I wouldn,t get lost - that was really nice. We hooked up 8 dog teams and the dogs took off

out of there and went crazy fast. Then afterwards when we got to Alaska after three more days in the truck I realized we haJ injured a lot of young dogs. My lesson was that after 3 days in the truck you can't take them out and run 3 days real fast. Thev need time to adjust, time to make the transition to the faster trail, plus they were in the truck without much activity and a bit stiff and cold. Now if I do that I run them slow with some load on them and ease them around the trail, ease them into it.

The last few years I,ve been driving straight through.

When I get there, I let them rest for a day, do a shJrt .,i., "ury with a small team, let them rest another day, run them a bit longe4, rest another day, then go into our normal training pattern. We start extending the miles that we don,t get dow., here.

So basically what I've learned is patience. The first two years we'd get up there with the LNAC in less than two weeki. We would run the dogs, and run the dogs and find out that they would do good at first, then go slower and slower with each run. They didn't have enough recovery time from the trip, and the faster trails and longer distan""s. Up there you,re running g dogs 12 miles, down here you are lucky to get Z or g.

SDS: When you drive straight through, ,"riing 12 hrs a night, how long does it take you to get there?

KC:- 6 days. Really what happens is that once you get up into northern BC, before Fort Nelson and there o.r, ih".Jur" only u few places to stop to stay the night. you really have to make those jumps or else you end up sleeping in thl truck. We had one year where it was 20 below and every hotel was filled. It was like another 4 hrs into the next town, and it was like put the seat back and get some sleep - trucker style!

SDS: Where do you stay in Alaska?

KC: My friend Kourosh and Deana partow live in Anchorage, and we stay at their house.

SDS: What time of year is this typically?

KC: Last year we left the first week of January.

SDS: What is your training plan when you arrive?

KC: We loosen them up by loose dropping and playing with them, then we take them out to the traik. We usually sLrt with a short run with the mat down to keep some load on ihem. I,ll do this at the Tozier track, then I'll go a-boutan hour out to Big Lake, run there, then go over to Chugiak and run that traci also.

But that is another thing - Chugiak is a hilly course and I like to have the dogs back in top condition before i run them on that trail. It is hilly and the down hills are tough, the uphills are pretty severe too. They are pretty steep - I,ve had dogs stop because they think you are on the brake. I always trv to break it up a little bit.

SDS: Now are any of those tr.ails as hard and fast as Fairbanks?

KC: No, not at all.

SDS: How many miles are usually on your team, before vou pack the truck to go up?

KC: I'd have to say about the 300 mile range. By the LNAC, last year we had around 700 miles on them, so we put over double the miles on the dogs in Alaska.

SDS: When you are on the road, do you make any special efforts to to keep the dogs healthy and warm?

KC:. The first year we thought the dogs would be fat from living on the truclg so we had them at race weight when we started.

Tle- dogg ended up losing some weight b-ecausethey were a bit cold in their boxes. One time we were at a hotel u.,i Eaay Streeper was across the parking lot from me, I watched him and at night he would put cardboard on the sides of the dog box and close the lock bars on it, so the cardboard blocked a lot of the heat loss. We went to the hardware store and bought some masonite, and built our own to use. The next year we put some plexiglass in the openings before we left Michigan, leaving ontinued on next page.

r,

about a quarter of the original opening. That is what I do every year now since then. The dogs are more comfortable. I've also made a new dog hauler with an inch of styrofoam sandwiched in the floor and ceiling. As far as keeping them healthy, we found out the biggest thing is the hydration. Before we leave I purposely put the pounds on them. We also make sure they are in the habit of drinking on the truck before we hit the road.

SDS: How many times do you water each day on the road?

KC: In the morning, at night with their food, and once more in the evening. We bait with ground live4, ground tripe, cat food, whatever it takes. We also stuff so much straw in the box, there is hardly any room for the dogs to get in at first!

SDS: Tell me a little bit about the lines of dogs you have and how you evolved to this kind of dog?

KC: Our starting dogs are basically Munford dogs. The bloodlines go back to Edingeq, Rowdy lines, a greyhound cross we got from Tim White, some Canadian hounds, and some Saluki crosses out of Minnesota, but they were all Alaskan Huskies. Then when we started racing in Alaska, we saw the beginning of the hounds in the more limited classes. Egil had just started coming over. We were still placing 9th & 10th, even with our improved care and training methods. We bought our first crosses from Mari Raitto, and Arleigh Reynolds in 2000. They were Red Viking x Blondie. We also got some of Jan Svenson's line through a dog named Paps. At the 2001 IFSS WC in Fairbanks, it really opened up our eyes, and we tried to do a lot of research, and breed more dogs. We bought a dog from Ole Peter Engli.

At the same time Kourosh and Diana were buying dogs also.

We tried to pool our resources with them to have the best teams we could have. We ended up with a Labben son, a dog out of Grim, and a dog out of Birgitte Naess' kennel also. When we were done, we had a total of 8 different hound blood lines in our kennel. With that gene pool we acquired, we were pretty excited at that point. We had an Alaskan male that was proven and we knew what kind of dog that he consistently produced, so we bred him into the various hound lines in order to find the characteristics that each line would throw. Then basically in 2002 we started to notice that the Alaskans were coming back from training runs pretty spent, and the hound crosses still had a lot more in them. The younger crosses were really pushing our Alaskans at that time. We knew that it had the potential to come together then. The team really made a big jump in performance that year. We took third in the LNAC, which was the race we hold as our benchmark. We had to take a serious look at what dogs could and couldn't do that race. In a three year period, we made a L00/o change in the dog yard. We ended up replacing all the Alaskans in the yard. It was a really hard thing to do, because some of them had done a good job for me, some were really young too.

SDS: What races do you consider major accomplishments in Alaska?

KC: Well last year we won all the 8 or 10 dog races except for the LNAC. We ran the Exxon limited race and the Limited Rondy, in Anchorage. Then we went up to the Gold Run in Fairbanks. The Gold run has been a hard race for me. Last year was the first year I won it. It's a ten dog race and they run 12 miles. Then we went to North Pole #1, which is also ten dog, 12 miles and won it. After that our dogs were getting the usual viruses they get in Alaska. I skipped the next two races to try to get the dogs healthy for the Limited. At the LNAC just out of the chute, I had to load a dog that fractured a foot, then Friday night some of the dogs were sick, Saturday night, well some more were sick. The six dog team was healthy and did well.

SDS: I noticed that you haven't raced in the lower 48 since you started going up.

KC: No I haven't, we leave early because I set a goal that I need to get a certain mileage on the dogs, and if I stay and race here, I won't get that mileage.

The Alaska races the last 6 years have really been a highlight of our racing career.

Rob Downey 8 & 10 dog sprint Sellersville, PA SDS: Hi Rob, how long have you been making the trip up to Alaska?

RD: 16 years!

SDS: When you first started going did you spend a lot of time there, or did you just go for a couple of races?

RD: It was always set up pretty nice, because I could do the Gold Ruru North Pole, the Limited North Americary then watch the ONAC, then hit Tok and come home. The problem at first was that I kept putting off the initial trip up. I kept waiting for the right dog team. Finally Harvey Drake said to me "if you're going to wait for the right dog team, you're never going to come up." And that was truly the case.

SDS: How long have you been in dogs?

RD: For about 30 years with sled dogs, I've actually been in dogs all my life growing up we had field trial bird dogs.

SDS: So before the Alaska trips you raced in the lower 48 ?

RD: We used to spend winters in the mid-west. I'd go out there to race. And often times we would race in New England and Canada - Winnipeg.

SDS: When was your last race in the the lower 48? I know the last time I saw you down here racing was in Lake Placid for the 1995 IFSS WC. RD: I think it was, I believe you're right.

SDS: You live in the Philadelphia area. How long does it take you to drive up?

RD: It is a 4500 mile drive, and it takes us depending on weathe4, and how much of a hurry we are iru 6-10 days to get there.

SDS: Do you try to drive straight through, I don't mean without sleep, but do you stop to train dogs along the way?

RD: If I can I like to train so the dogs don't lose any conditioning. I also try to stay in a motel every night, because I think it is imperative that the dogs be allowed to fully rest on the way up.

The first year we went up, we hustled up there. We left on Sunday, got there on Friday, and raced on Saturday, and the dogs did well on the first day, but faded on the second day.

SDS: So your theory is that if you are resting, the truck is stopped, and the dogs are resting better and handling the trip better.

RD: Yes, I'm not convinced that the dogs rest while you're driving. I think they bounce around a lot. I do think it is good to get them out and train some along the way, but there are very few places that you can train along the way.

SDS: Is it hard to find places to stay, especially in those Northern stretches of highway?

RD: I've done it enough times and I know where I should be each night. I also try to maintain a list of places to stay and try to stay in the same places. What I've also been trying to do is make the trip a little less hurried. If you can find a place to train along the way, you're not in such a hurry to get up there.

SDS: When you are traveling long distances like that, do you do anything different in the way of care for the dogs, than if you just had them on the truck for a long weekend race?

RD: Yes, I think I feed them less and water them more.

SDS: The subject of hydration has come up quite often when

scenesfro mthe Alask aHighway inM ar c h2004, c loc k w i s e f r o m t o p lle. lfef a v i n g L i a r d H o t s p r i n g s , B . c . , z . t c e c o v e r e d r o a d j u stb e fo r e w a tso n Lake,Yukon,3 Highwaysign in StoneMountainProvincral Park,B.c., 4. Viewoi Northernnocr/vountains, with MunchoLakein foreground. photos:MaryJo Downey concerning traveling r,r,iththe cloesin thc trr-rck.What do you think car-rsesthc.nt to treeclrnore water?

RD: I think it is the c.'sta't air r-r-rovenrent, ir cor-rju'ctio. with the roaci salt that gets throw' trp alo'g the truck, that I,. sure the dogs ir-rhaleto some clegree. Ar-rc1 Jor-neclf the clogs are nerv_ ons and tend to par.rtso thev are losiug r-noistr-rre there too.

SDS: How many times clo yorr w.rter thertr irr a typical traveling day?

RD: I water twice a day, and also their iood is soakecl,so there is water in that too.

SDS: I know your dogs pr.e.ttywell, they are typical sprir.rtrac_ ing clogs - hound crosses. Do they have arry ipecial rieeds for. heat retentior-rin the boxes, have you designecl.smallerbox opcrrirrg s,o r .rrrytlrirrglik c t lr . r t ?

RD: Well we insulate the top of the box ancl the bottorn. Btrt as fa_ras restricting the airflow, I,ve not golle to smaller oper-rings.

What I tend to do when it gets real colct is double the dogs in the boxes.

SDS: What do you do when you get to Alaska for training?

Your"situatio. is a bit differert than Ker's ir that you cl.n;t trai' on snow befor.eyou get up there. How do tl.reyhandle the jtrmp from slower harder w.rk or.rthe ATV to the legerrdary fast irairi r-rpthere?

RD: One of the things that I foturd interestir.rqis that when I used to have more of a HLrsky type dog, it clijn,t take as long to stretch them o't rrp there. r thi'k withthe crosses,becausethey

rnuscleup more, it takes longer to stretch tlter-nout and get them accustomed to faster .r''ing.

I also fou'd that i' trairrine down here with the htrskies,I would let ther.npull the ATV through the sancl withotrt thr. nrotor.olt, ver.vhard wor.k. Now with. these dogs, I tried training th.rt w.ry, t Lrtthev bulked up too much rnuscle. WE would get up there, tire dogs wor-rldlook goocl in r-'y esti'ratio'ancl I wotrlrl [i'ish .rhnost last! Thev rarr fine but didn't havc tl-respe.ec-l becauseof the heavy ,n'scle. So I l-relp-them th.o'glr the l-re.avysa'cl, ancl they clorr't rnrscle 'ow np so m,ch, the' whetr I get o' the faster trails, tliev ca. adapt faster. But whe' I get r-rptlrere-I hook srnall teams a'c1 I'rn harcl on the rnat. If we train down here 4 miles on the dirt, my first sllow rLnl up there is never uuder B ntiles. The wheel trainine helps. sDS: Ca' yor-rexplai' briefly how you use the-trai.ir.rg wrreel i. yotrl Fall tr.rirrirrg?

RD: I thi.k what the wl.reeldoes is allow to get trai'i'g o. 're them wl.re'it is too hot to load ther.ni' the trr-rckto go diritr.ai'ing. It takes me 2.5 hrs to get to where I train, and bv the time we are done it would be too hot. The wheel allows ihe.rnto build r-rptheir wir.rd. It also allows tl.remto be comfortable working past a given time lirnit. They get nse.dto working, not at maximal output, for longer clur.ations- 7 or 2 if:l."tn SDS: That is what allows you to jump to B rniles on snow imme_ diately? continuul on lrage'14

WORLD GHAMPIONSHIPS 2005 lFss

PART 2

by HelenLundberg WhenUschiLiebhardwonthe 8-dog classat the 2004LimitedNorthAmerican therewas in Fairbanks, Championship morethanone personwho was surprised.

Uschi came as a total "under dog" and won the championship several of ahead favorites."Who is she"?

"How can her team run so fast"? "Her dogs were just flying around the trail."

Questions like these were heard around the races, and waiting to get answered.lf Uschi's victory was a surprise I am sure that there will be lots of more surprises after this coming season, because there are several fast, competitive teams from Europeplanningto race in Alaska and at the World IFSS in C ham pions hip Dawson City.

Agneta H6gberg, sweden - dogs working

But let's start with Uschi Liebhardbecause she will for sure be back with her dogs, racing in Alaska again. So, who is she? Uschi Liebhard lives in Austriatogetherwith her husband,EwaldVolk.They have a team that consists of dogs out of their own kennel, a mix between Alaskan Huskies and ScandinavianHounds. When I checkedthe resultsfrom IFSS WC 2003 in Todtmoos,Germany, I could not find Uschis name, why? "ActuallyI had signed up to start, but on the way from Austriato Todtmoosthe engine in our new truck broke down, so I never made it to the race,"Uschitells me. But thingsworkedout betterfor Uschi lastwinterand she had a fantastic season when she came to Alaska, first winning the LimitedNorth AmericanChampionship8 dog class, and just two weeks later she raced to victory at the Tok Race of Champions also in the 8 dog class. Have you made any changesin your winning dog team from last winter? "No, my team was very young last season so there is no reason for any changes.They all got more race experienceso they will all improvefor this comingwinter."How many dogs will you bringwith you to Alaska?"As it looks now, before we have even started to train, lwill bring 16 to 18 dogswith me." lf everythingworks out as planned,Uschi will come

and stay for up to eight weeks in Alaska and competein both LimitedNorthAmericanChampionshipsand Tok Race of Champions."l also want to start in some other races,if they fit into my schedule,"Uschi said.

Uschi is of course one of the top favoritesfor a gold medal at the IFSS WC in the 8-dog class.And I ask her what her goal is? "To have three days of clean runs and hopefullybe a winner!"So, who do you thinkwill be your toughestcompetitor? "lf you start Helen, I think you would be the team to beat,"Uschi quicklyanswers my question.The answer makes me actuallyprettyflattered.But lam not planningto race in Dawson so we will not see Uschiand me race each other, not there anyway.

But I am sure that there will other very competitive teams racingfor medalsat the WC. ActuallyUcshi mightget the toughestcompetition from another well and driving hard uphill to the finish line Austrianmusher, Helmut Peer.

Helmut Peer has raced in five previousWorld -winninggoldtwice,1992in Austriaand Championships 1994 in Germany."l finishedsecondafter Lena Westas Havimiikiof Sweden,two years ago in Todtmoosand finishedthird 1993at the IFSSWC in Fairbanks."Helmutalso races with dogs out of a mix betweenhuskiesand pointers.

"The dogs I work with in my breedingprogramcome from Roger Leegaard,Egil Ellis and Terry Streeper,"Helmuttells '14 me. "When I come to Alaskathis winter I will bring to 16 dogs with me, but before I leave Europe I will participatein the Pirenaracein Spain." So, who does Helmutthinkwill be the teams for him to beat at the WC in DawsonCity?

"You Helen and Uschi Liebhard." Ok, so since I am not racing, this might be a race betweentwo mushersfrom Austria?Or maybe not, becauseI know of at least one more very fast team in the 8-dog class that I am sure will have somethingto do with the medals.

Hege Ingebriktsenfrom Norwayhas always had a team and now she is well preparedto go for a top fast dog positionat the IFSS WC 2005. "l have just startedfall training with 24 reallygood dogs, 15 from last season and nine

new younggood dogs and they all look very promising,,, Hege tells me. Hege is not a newcomerat international sled dog racing; she has competedfour timesat WorldChampionships, so she knowswhat it takesto win a medal. "l have not made any big changesin my team from last year and hopeto get goodfall training.To be able to keepthe dogs free from injuriesso they stay healthyis my main goal.

Wherewe live in northernNorway,closeto the ocean,the weathersome timesis your worstenemyduringfall training.', Hegetells me she had a team of youngdogs last winterso she will have a more raceexperiencedgroupof dogs to work with this season. "The main part of my dogs is half crossesbetween Germanshorthairedpointer,Englishpointerand Alaskan huskies.For Hege and her dogs it will be a very long travelfrom NorthernNorwayto DawsonCity."Rightnow we are planningto fly from Evenesstraightto Anchoragein Alaska.Evenesis an airportlocatedonly one hoursdrivefrom our home.Hopefully this worksout. That wouldsave us a lot of time and money.

When we arrivein Anchoragewe will haveto renta car or truck for the dogs and us." lf Hege'splan worksout she will bringat least 12 dogs with her and be racingfor one monthin Alaska- startingin all the big racesand her goal is prettyhigh."l am alwaysracingfor a victory,that is my goalfor the WC as w e l l, "s he s ay s .

And I believe her. I have seen her racing b a ck in S c andinav i a a n d s he is a v ery competitiveand very focusedmusher.Look o u t for Hege!

very youngteam from last year so we will probablynot make manychangesin the set up. We havetwo new dogsthat we triedout duringtraininglast springand they will probablybe good enoughto go intothe team.So basicallywe feel very confidentthat we will havea reallyhighqualitygroupof maybel0 dogs that we can choosebetweenduringthe seasonand B of them will followus over seasto DawsonCity and the World Championship race."This will be Kickisfirsttime ever racing over seas and she tells me that it is a hugeeffortjust to do all the planning."lf I did not believethat I had a team good enough to win with,I probablywouldnot havethe motivation to do all the work requiredto makethe trip possible.I am awarethat it is hardto predictthe outcomeof any race,so a reasonableresult wouldbe in the top flve, but my goal is definitelyto win.,,Who do you considerto be your toughestcompetitorat the IFSS WC? "l have beencheckingaroundfor results,but it is hardto guess which mushersare the best in US or Canadasincewe never have racedeach otherin a competition.But guys like Ken Chezik,Lou Serre,John Perryand ChristianTaveauseem to have greatteamsand will probablyprovidestiffcompetition,' "As for the EuropeansI wouldsay that Jiri Krejcifrom the Czech Republicprobably wouldbe one of the toughguysto beat sincehe won the E uropeCup t his year.But it is hardto know how the standard of the European teamsare sincethe European C ham pionships wer e cancelledlastwinter due to lack of snow."

As a "warmup" Kicki lf t her e wi l l plansto racethe b e s uper t ough c om Li m it edNor t h petitionin the 8-dog American class I don'tthinkthat C ham pionship in it will be less interestFai r banks.

But she i n g i n t he 6- dogc las s . will havea pretty photo:K arlH ei nzR aubuch i nset:per S verreS i monsen R a cing f or t op pos i ti gh tschedule. tion in the 6 dog we Hege lngebrigtsen blasts into the first turn with eight dogs at the Jeff Studdert track "We will arriveon will probablyse ltalian Wednesdayjust two mu sh er G ius eppe Bo mb a rd i e ri ,g o l d m e d a l w i nner f rom days beforethe startof LNAC.Priorto that we will havespent Todtmoos2003 but severalothermusherswill also be competing tw o days i n the car travel l i ng fromour vi l l agei n nor t her n for medals.I would not be surprisedif after the race we find a Swedento the airportin Gothenburg,in southernSweden.The Swedishmusher,KickiAstromin the top 3. KickiAstromdid not flightfrom Gothenburgto Fairbankswill take at leastB hours. starttwo years ago at the WC in Germany,why? ,,No,we strugAnd I realizethat travellingwith dogs for such a longtime is not gled with both injureddogs and kennelcoughat that time so we the best preparation for a majorraceas the World decidednot to go," Kickiquicklyanswersmy question.But Kjcki Championship, but we haveto save moneyand that meansthat made a come back this last winter."yes, last seasonwas defi_ we needto cut some cornersto keepthe budgetdown for this nitelymy best seasonever,I startedin five big eventsin which I project." won three,got secondin one of them and placednumberthreein On the same flightfrom Swedento Alaskatherewill also be o n e . I won t he S wed i s hC h a m p i o n s h i pasn d g o t 2 n d pl acei n the anothermusherthat I thi nkw i l l be one of the to p 3 in t he 4- dog Sca ndinav ian Champ i o n s h i p s2,n d p l a c e i n th e Eu ropeanC up crass. a n d won our r egionin th e IF SSW o rl dC u p s e ri e s .,' AgnetaHogbergstartedout racingwith sled dogs in '1987 and has a lot of experience.She has To be competitivein the 6-dogclassyou need reallyfast dogs. also participated in 3 What kind of dogs do you racewith I askedKicki?,We raceand WorldChampionships.

Two yearsago at the WC in Todtmoos, breedthe "EuroHound"type of dog whichmeansdifferentporGermany,Agnetahad a fast 6-dogteam but now she has decidti o n so f E nglis hpointe r,Ge rma nS h o rth a i repdo i n te ra ndA l aska ed to havefewerdogs and she will race in the 4-dogclass.

H u sk yc om binedin on e d o g .Ou r d o g sa re q u i teb i g and I guess Agnetatells me that she has been runningfrequenflywith her they averageis 27 kg (59 pound)and 67 cm (26 to 27 inch)of dogsal l summerand she al sotakesthem sw i m m ing.

All her height."SinceKickihad such a successfulseasonthis winter,I dogs are crossbreedsbetweenEnglishand GermanShorthaired ask her if she has made any changesin her team?,,Wehavea pointersand AlaskanHuskies."l will start4-wheelertrainingnow continucd ptgt'21...

.,.North to Alaska, continued from page 11

RD: Right, last year I think I went up with 12 hookups on them.

SDS: What time of year did you go up last year?

RD: I probably left Nov 6th.

SDS: I know that you train a lot from your house on the excellent trail system in Salcha, but do you ever train at the ADMA track?

RD: Yes, I train at the track, every time we move up the distance in the preliminaries, I take them there and train the new distance at least one time before we race.

SDS: Getting back to the trip up, are there any spots along the road, that you would caution people about?

RD: I always say the worst part of my trip is route 80, somewhere in Pennsylvania! I used to hear Doc Lombard, and Harris Dunlao tell stories of how bad it used to be. Even in the time I've been driving it, it has changed a lot. It is a lot straighter, wider and easier to drive than it used to be. 16 years ago, there would be 200 mile stretches of dirt road and that kind of thing, but that is not the case anymore. The prairies can be boring, if you get wind on that part of the trip, especially with snow and ice, that can get nasty, but as long as you are not in too much of a hurry, it can be a safe trip.

SDS: I guess you should heed the road warning signs though?

RD: When you see a sign that says slow, dangerous curve, or ice warnings, you better believe them.

SDS: Thanks for the time Rob, good luck this year.

RD: Thanks.

Harris Dunlap Semi-retired musher Bakers Mills, NY

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SDS: Hi Harris, How are you? What are you up to these days, anything to do with dogs, or just gardening?

HD: I'm great. In terms of dogs, I've been hanging around with a fellow that you well know: Jerry Mulvey, who lives 10 miles from the house. We go out and train his dogs and my daughter Kriya's dogs Brahma and Oban. She uses them for skijoring in Alaska, but she is at Tufts University for school through December. She also has a young dog named fingle, who is out of Loyd Gilbertson lines. I'm really interested in this dog, she is young and turning out to be a fine leader. The last time I've really worked with my own dogs seriously was in 1991, so this gives me a different perspective.

SDS: Does Kriya plan on racing those dogs in Alaska and the WC this year?

HD: Right, she will go up in January, we'II drive up together.

She is really focusing on the IFSS WC, in skijoring this year.

These dogs will be as fit as they've ever been in their life because we were doing a lot of free running and non-structured swimming over the summe4 and have been able to put a lot of harness training on them early.

SDS: The trails up there are going to be fast, as usual, at least in Fairbanks, and probably in Dawson for the WC. How do you see progressing these skijor dogs to the trails up there?

HD: Wetl I can tell you that we used to train principally in the hills here in the Adirondacks. Before faster races in the past, I used to go to Clyde Risdon's. At the time he lived in Iron River, MI. I put at least 4 runs on them on a pretty fast railroad bed trail. Then I would do the Bemidji and Ely races and those were fast trails also. The team got faster and faster as we changed their mindset and their muscle structure. They adapted and stretched out surprisingly fast. We didn't leave for Alaska from the mid-west, though. We would then come back East, and I

would usually just do one or two more runs on hilly trails. But mostly I would just wheel them. I didn't want them to lose any conditioning, but I didn't want them to build up bulky, hill running muscles either. I was able to hold their conditioning using the wheel. The fast trails in Bemidji and Ely were pretty brutal on them, and the wheel work was somewhat recuperative also.

SDS: How long were these sessions on the training wheel?

HD: Three hours. But they could do it forever. The loved it, contrary to what one would think. It was Kronfeld's idea: long duratiory low intensity, non-jarring exercise.

SDS: That is a very modern philosophy in sports training today, even with human athletes. I've read Lance Armstrong's books and he uses a lot of periodization techniques like this.

HD: Yes, Kronfeld was ahead of his time.

SDS: Getting back to the trip up North. Would you drive it one stint, or break it up and train along the way?

HD: Well I did it a lot of different ways. One time I did it with Joe Dickinson and Terri Killam, the three of us splitting driving, just shutting down to take care of dogs, and to put gas in. We did that trip in 4 days! We drove 24 hrs a day, at night when I opened the hood, the headers were glowing red hot! The advantage of going up there fast is that you have more time to acclimatize them once you are there. What I liked to do the best, if there was training on the way up, was to stoP and train some, but only if the conditions were good. Of course you had the Streepers and the Saundersons to stop at also. I also stopped at Watson Lake and ran 6 miles just to stretch them out, on a road going back to the airport. I don't think it is a major problem to lay them off for 5 days. I did it that way also, and when I discovered that, it made it a lot easier. I always, always trained when I hit Tok, no matter what happened. And in Tok, the trail was so perfect, they didn't allow you to use your brake. If you had to stop, you used your foot, or slammed your snow hook in, which damaged the trail less. They had a 20 mile trail most of the time, but sometimes they only had the 16 groomed. Well that allowed me to spend the rest of the week worrying if the dogs could do the 3 days,25 miles per day we would see in a few days at the Rondy. I raced the Rondy 4 times, came in 1st, 2nd,3rd, & 4th, but not in that order.

SDS: How many times did you make the trip up to Alaska?

HD: Wow I'll have to do the math. I don't know '1972 was rny first yea4,and my last year was'1997, and I maybe missed 3 years.

SDS: Did you see the trip as a necessary evil to endure in order to get up there, or did you try to enjoy the journey, so to speak, with all of it's adventures and mishaps?

HD: After I did it once, I got back and asked Lombard, "how did you do that every year?" I think he had the same thoughts, because two of the years he hired planes to fly him up. I looked into that right away. I wanted to be able to drive my truck onto a plane, and fly up, but that never happened! Bottom line is I iust wasn't used to it. I mean the drive was hard back then. I remember having to clean out the carburetors of snow from the blizzards we drove through. My wife Ginger loved the trips though, of course, she wasn't driving! It's surprising because I drove like a maniac. I scared people with my driving. The only guy who was crazier with their driving than me was Eddy Streeper. Eddy could scare ME with his driving.

SDS: Thanks Harris, nice talking with you.

HD: Sure thing.

SDS: Jerry, congratulations on the WC bid, it's exciting. Can you give me a bit of your background with mushing. jS: I read an article in the early 70's about the first lditarod, and it completely captivated me. In 7977 an Oregon mushel, Jim Tofflemire, ran the Iditarod. We lived pretty close at the time, so I went and saw him when he came home. And I went home with two sled dogs, Siberian Huskies. When Rachel became interested in dogs in 1990 when she was about 5 yrs old, then the focused switched to building a totally controlled dog team for her. Now she is on the verge of her first Iditarod.

SDS: I thought I read that you also run a touring business?

JS: Right, that is my business. I've been doing it for 14 yrs. In December we'll take our 15,000thperson for a ride! We've introduced 14,000plus people to sled dog racing.

SDS: Where do you do that out of? |S: Mt. Bacheloq, Oregon. Location, Location, Location - our customers come from all over the world.

SDS: Are Rachel's dogs part of that?

IS' Yes, unfortunately they are. Especially over Christmas break, over a22 day period, we do 21 trips a day. Even though

an interview with Jerry Scdoris A11these groups are now instrumental natural partnerships for our race. So when I had the idea for the race, I went to those groups and they became co-sponsors.

SDS: The community is really behind this race, and provides tremendous amounts of support in the way of volunteers, pub-

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View from the sled of MagaliPhilipduringthe Attaboy30ostage race Mt. Bachelorin the background. photo:MagaliPhilip

Jerryand daughterRachelduringthe openingceremonies for the race. photo:BeckiTimson

we have 90 dogs, we have to have every dog working. After Thanksgiving, it gets pretty hectic, and stays hectic until the day after New Years. Then we have the race.

SDS: The Attaboy30O has quickly grown from a startup race to one of the premier mid distance races on the circuit. Did you race mid-distance before you started the race?

JS: Actually, I did. I won every mid distance race I started in Oregon for almost 17 yrs.

SDS: How did you get the idea for the race, and how did you settle on 300 miles in Oregon?

JS: All the trails the race uses are trails I used to run on. They are amazing mountain trails. There is 60,000 feet of elevation gain and loss in the 300 race. But the thing that makes it do-able is they are all groomed. We get 200-300 inches of snow a year.

This is the snow belt of North America. All the training I ever did was on these trails. One thing I did early on is I joined all the local snowmobile clubs and became supportive of their activities. I've never owned a snowmobile, but you can't have a sled dog race without these kind of partnerships. I also hauled backcountry Nordic skiiers out of the woods all the time, so I became friends with some key people in that community also.

licity and manpowet how did you get their backing? fS: Our volunteer group for the race is entirely made up of nonmushers. We have a core group of 10 or 15, and about 700 other individuals who all work towards our triple mission which is to: 1. Put on a world class race that will attract media attention for our sponsors, 2. To increase tourism during the slowest week of the entire year in a tourist based economy, 3. To increase the awareness of the need for early detection of vision problems in children. That is why it is called the race for vision. Rachel's vision foundation gives away $40,000 worth of free eye care every year.

SDS: Did you have a history with Attaboy foods before the race?

JS: Yes, Attaboy dog food has been our touring business dog food sponsor for about 10 yrs. they provide us with food in exchange for exposure to about 600,000 skiers a year on Mt. Bachelor where we have our business. If you have something to offer a sponsor it helps.

SDS: Do any TV stations cover the race?

JS: Yes, there is tons of local media coverage - before, during and after the race in print and on TV. tinued on page 20...

15

Yukon Gluest & lditarod 2005

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For thoseft* who don't know the details, the Yukon Quest is a 1000mile ultra endurancesled dog race,It coversincrediblyharsh topographybetweenWhitehorse,Yukon Territory and Fairbanks,Alaska in the middle of February eachyear.The Yukon Quest is billed as the "ToughestSled Dog Racein the World".

With fewer checkpoints (ten total, some as far as 200 miles in between) than the famed Iditarod, the Quest ensures that it's competitors experience the harsh reality of the journey mostly on their own. Mushers must carry mandatory equipment such as food and supplies during the entire trip, they cannot replace their sleds, and are not permitted to accept any help, except in Dawson City which is the halfway point. Both the dogs and the mushers must rely on a combination of toughness, wilderness experience and skill.

The race route runs on frozen rivers, climbs four mountain ranges, and passes through isolated, northern villages. With temperatures hitting 50 below, 100 mph winds, open water and bad ice all working against the teams, the Yukon Quest is a true test of the capacity of humans and canines, and a tribute to the strength of the ancient bond that unites them.

The allure of the Quest can be understood through a quote from John Schandelmeir, a longtime veteran of the race and author of the rookies' guidelines on he Quest web site, "When you are out alone with your dogs, pitted against the elements, time ceasesto be relevant." The toughness of the race can also be summed up through another quote by John "be prepared to camp out at 50 below with no outside heat source". Okay I get it now.

When you look at the dogs as high caliber athletes, and in my opinion they are the highest caliber of all, it doesn't make any sense to have them sit all summer. What I do is loose running all summer long 4-5 times a week. (editor's note see story in first edition of this magazine for more details of Hans' summer conditioning methods.) This morning was the first time I hooked up the team in harness (Sept 2), it was cold enough, but there is no real rush. In the last 3 yrs I didn't even start hooking up dogs in harness until the middle of October. I'm not in a real rush because they are in such good shape from this loose running.

Their muscles don't have to build up from scratch. I can go 8 miles in harness with teams anytime I want really, as long as it cools off.

SDS: How far are you running them in harness?

HG: Today I ran a 5 mile loop.

SDS: How did they handle it?

HG: Oh, great, I mean they had a blast and they looked like they already had 300 miles on them. When I used to start training, without the summer running, the dogs would really be panting, and hot, but that's not the case any more. I know it helps and I wish everyone would do that because it is so much better for the dogs. The mental benefits of the summer training are almost better than the physical aspects. My dogs are well balanced and well behaved because of it.

SDS: How many dogs are you training for the Quest this year?

HG: Well, I'm in a little bit of a dilemna now I'm trying to put two teams together - one for the Quest and one for the Iditarod. I cancelled my entry into the French Race, the Grand Odysee. I'm a little short on dogs, and probably the team that I take into the Iditarod will be a very young team, I'll try to train 1 and 2 yr olds for the Iditarod, and might just run a non-competitive race to build that team for next year, and put my best dogs in the Quest again.

SDS: What do you look for in a dog that will go on the Quest with you?

HG: Well obviously for the Quest you look for a dog with a little bit better coat, the temperatures can be really extreme - it seems to get down to 40 or 50 below every year. You can run short coated dogs, but it is so much more work to take care of them. You want a very maintenance free dog basically, good eaters, good feet good coat, but the size of the dog really doesn't matter. A lot of people think that you need really big dogs for the Quest, because of the hills and the heavy sled load. Thomas Tetz, over the last few years, not last year, but the previous few years ran it with really small dogs, they were 35-40 Ib females and he came in 2nd and 3rd with those teams. Obviouslv if vou don't have as much power in the team you have to work yourself that much more going up the hiIls. Big dogs sometimes tend not to see the finish line.

SDS: The dogs - how many do you start with each year?

HG: You can start with 14 on the Quest, I always try to take it pretty easy in the first part of the race and that helps me to really have a pretty good number of dogs left towards the end of the race. People who start the race to fast, usually end up with 6 or 7 dogs at the end of the race.

SDS: How many have you finished with?

HG: I've finished with 10 and 11 the last two vears. I think that is pretty good.

"When you get out there, about 300or 400miles into the trail, it is so oo)erwhelming that somepeoplejust can't handlethat"

Having said all that, there is one man with a group of his outstanding canine partners that has dominated the race the past 3 seasonsin a row. As you know from the last issue of this magazine, Hans has a training program for himself and his dogs year round. We spoke with him again in early September, to get an idea of his preparation and racing plans for this season.

SDS: Hi Hans,How is the weatherup therethis time of year?

Are you training on the atv yet?

HG: Well I'm a true believerin training dogs year round

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continued from prc!iorts psge

SDS: Can you Lrsea GPS during the race to gauge your speed what is the average actual running speed during the race?

HG: Well CPS are illegal, but some people use it. I don't use any of that stuff because I think it just distracts your focus from the team, from the dogs. The average speed is around 9-10 mph If you can maintain that you are doing fine. However 2 yrs ago my speed at the end of the race was over 11 mph. That was when I won with 14 hrs lead. That was an outstanding dog team. It was incredible, they were loping at the end of the race.

I've never seen that before.

SDS: What do you do to prepare the dogs to be able to maintain that kind of pace?

HG: First of all I think it is breeding, you have to have good dogs. That's the biggest part of it. Good dogs, good dog food, then it comes to training and that is a year round process with me. I try to train them at 1012 mph all winter long and of course on a hard fast trail, I let them go faster, like 1415mph. All their fast running is done during the summer when they run loose, they go 30-35 mph along side of the 4-wheeler. I know they are fast and I know they can go that type of speed.

SDS: Which gait ale they using at this speed, and which gait do you think they use the most throughout the race?

HG: Well the Quest is obviously mostly trotting, however there ale dogs that tend to lope. One of my leaders she prefers to lope. She probably loped 801, of the race, some of the dogs dorr't like to go into a trot unless you are really down to 4-5mph, and your crawling up the side of a mourrtain. I don't really care which gait they are using, it looks great if it's uniform and everybody is using the same gait, like if they are all trotting, but that rarely happens. I don't really focus on that when I pick my team.

SDS: So what do you focus on, is it only a tight tugline, and not the gait?

HG: Just if the tug line is tight and that they can do it, I have to make sure that all the dogs I have in the team can run for 8 hrs, then rest for 6, and then go again 8hrs, and do that for 10 consecutive days.

SDS: Do you try and set up a race situation scenario in training, as it pertains to run/rest schedulesand camping?

HG: No not all that much. I probably do a lot less camping in my training than people would think. Most of my runs are 50-60 mile runs out and back from the yard into the yard. I probably do 5 or 6 camping trips in training anywhere between 80-120 miles, but that's about it. But then we go to the Copper Basin race, mostly for training. Most of the time I drop out anyway, if something doesn't look right. That is a very good training race for me, that's when they learr-rhow to camp.

SDS: When you go out on these training runs at home, do you weigh down the sled to simulate Quest conditions?

HG: I always have weight in the sled when training for the Quest. There is never an empty sled - anywhere from 80-100lbs I have in the sled all the time. You don't want to train for a race like the Quest, which l almost consider a freight race, with an empty sled and expect the team to do well.

SDS: Do you think that the dogs know it when they are on the Quest trail, do the veterans remember it from other years, and

can you see any change in their attitude because of it?

HG: Yeah, they know. There is no doubt in my mind that they know exactly what is going on at the start of the Quest. When I'm out on the trail, I've had some experieuces where the trail from one year to another had changed just a little bit, and my leaders wanted to follow the trail that was in a year agol So you know that they really know where they are.

SDS: What are your racing plans for the winter?

HG: For this winter I will run the Quest one more time, and I also signed up for the Iditarod - that was my plan to begin with - to run Iditarod this year. The only thing that changed from my original plan is that now my focus is shifted to the Quest again and not on the Iditarod. I want to build an Iditarod team for the next 2 or 3 years and see what happens SDS: Why have you chose to focus on the Quest the last few years, rather than other mid-distarrce or distance races?

HG: It is funny how that happened. I ran my first Quest in 1993, and I really didn't like it back then. I said to myself that I would never run that race again. I rarr Wyorning 6 times, ancl I kind of got tired of it, I just war.rtedto do something different, so I decided to run the Quest agair.r. It was funny I now liked it so much that I decided to run it again and agairr. It wasn't sornething I planr.red,now it is hard to miss it.

SDS: You have run the Iditarod and the Quest in the same year before, how did that go?

HG: Yes, I did, tl'rat was ar1experiment more or less, I just wanted to see first of all how I would handle it. I ran it with exactly the sarne dog team and that was quite a challenge. It worked out - the dogs did great, but unfortunately that year in the Iditarod it was a really fast trail, and that was not good for my team obviously.

They had been paced down for the Quest.

What I know now is that the dogs can do

"I definitely would like to utin the Iditarod someday"

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SDS: What is your typicalrun/rest schedule in the Quest? Do you often stop between regular scheduled rest stops?

HG: Yes, I thirrk you really have to be flexible. While running I roughly stop every two hottrs to snack or water the dogs. It depends on the weather conditions. In cold weather you definitely have to snack them every two hours. They are burning an amazing amount of calories and you really have to make sure you keep the weight on them. I always use a schedule at the beginning where I rest more than I run. I make sure the dogs get a lot of rest in the beginning of the race. A lot of people do the opposite, because the dogs are fresh, and they think of course they're ready to go after 4 hrs of rest, but if you keep doing that you're wearing your team out early in the race. I always do the opposite, more rest than run at the beginning.

Usually at the end of the race that reverses,but by then they don't have a problem doing it, they don't need that much rest anymore.

SDS: So they kind of run themselves into a higher state of conditioning?

HG: Exactly.

SDS: Are there any specific areas that you try to gain time on

your other competitors, areas that you think you are stronger in, or are better suited for? Up hills, flats, deep snow?

HG: Well I always try to run an even pace. If you push the dogs for a burst of speed in the middle of the race, that really can hurt your team later on. So I try to run an even pace. I know that I can always crank out some more speed, by ski-poling or helping a lot, or just by simply telling the dogs that we need to go faster.

SDS: What is the key to winning the Quest?

HG: Well that is a big question.

SDS: Well it is, but, ok, what is one of the major things?

HG: I think a lot of it has to do with your own mind set. When you see a lot of people out there who scratch, they don,t really have a reason to scratch. They just give up in their heads for whatever reason.This race is tough. When you get out there, about 300 or 400 miles into the trail, it is so overwhelming that some people just can't handle that. The cold, the wildness of the land is pretty intense. I think my strength is in my own mind. I really like it out there, I feel really at home out there and it makes a big difference.

SDS: Now to the gear you use: what is in your sled at the start of the race?

HG: Well it is minimnal. I take the absolute minimum. I know it is riskv. and some say I'm crazy, but I think I calculate very clearly what I need and what I don't need out there. I run very light. I have the mandatory gear, but no spare clothing for myself. I look at it in that in training I don't put a whole bunch of spare stuff in the sled eithe4, that's how I look at it in the Quest as well.

SDS: What kind of clothing do you wear?

HG: For shoes, I've been using those NEOS overboots, if the weather is warm I just wear running shoes underneath, if it is cold I wear the Norwegian felt boots underneath. With those I,ve been fine down to 50 below. However they don't keep you warm if you are just standing around. You have to get off the sled and run a little bit to warm yourself up. That is why I get away with so little clothing - I keep myself warm by running. But that,s a very fine line, because if you start to sweat your are in big trouble. That is why you see most people with big parkas and big pants and they don't move, they can't even move. I'm just the opposite, I dress very, very lightly and keep myself warm by moving a lot.

SDS: What would happen if you had to hunker down in a storm?

HG: I make sure I have a very good sleeping bag. you have to have some sort of insurance if that kind of thing happens. you need to crawl into a sleeping bag.

SDS: What kind of sled do you use?

HG: I use my own brand of sled, the long distance model. A 5ft sled. I'm using a smaller sled than most, but I can fit everything in it that I need. I can even load 1 or 2 doqs if I had to.

SDS: Can anyone buy this model?

HG: It is a standard sled, anyone can buy it. you can see it on my web site, www.gattsled.com SDS: What do you feed the dogs along the way?

HG: The main diet is Eagle Ultra Power. It works exceptionally well and it changed my feeding completely from years ago when we were feeding and mixing a lot of meat in with the food. The rneat has disappeared, my main diet is the Eagle Ultra Power.

SDS: So you don't use any meat?

HG: For water baiting I use meat, because it is just simple. I feed the Eagle completely dry out on the trail, just the same way I,feed it all year long out here in the kennel. Usually I just drop the dry food in the snow, and if they eat that, then I know they are ready to go in 6 or 8 hours. Of course they need a lot of water also, but if they eat that dry food, I know they will drink a couple of hours later.

SDS: How many booties, and what type do you use during a Quest race?

HG: I ship out about 1200 booties, but I don't use them all. I use the Kipmik booties. They are amazing, you can run 100 miles and they don't show any wear. They are cordura of some sort.

SDS: With all those booties being used, you probably don,t have a lot of foot problems, but if you do get them, what do you use on their feet, I mean for fissures, or for swelling?

HG: Oh boy, there are so many foot ointments out there. I use zinc oxide ointment, basically diaper rash creme - Desitin. It works really good for me, but the main thing is prevention. You don't want to get to the point where you have to use that stuff.

SDS: Do you use massage liniments and/or wraps?

HG: We use Algyval out on the trail, at every checkpoint. We use it even if the dogs don't really need it. The dogs don't necessarily have to show a sore wrist for me to use it on them. I use it anyway, as a prevention and it makes them feel better.

SDS: And it smells so good.

HG: Yes it smells good too.

SDS: Any plans to go back to stage racing?

HG: I'm at a point in my career where I don't really make long term plans anymore. I don't even know how much longer I,ll be doing this. I just go year by year. As long as I have fun doing it I will run dogs. If I don't have fun anymore I will quit. I still would like to win the Iditarod, and that could be my focus for the next few years, but that might change next year again. If I don't feel like it, I won't do it. I feel I've achieved enough in my career that I don't have to prove anything anymore to myself or anybody else.

SDS: Do you think the dogs used in long distance and mid distance racing are still evolving and getting better suited to that type of racing and getting better, or have they plateaued out as a breed?

HG: The breeding has evolved a little bit from the past, but the biggest thing is just that there are a bigger number of super dogs than there were in the past. I don't think that those super dogs got any better than they were in the near past, there are just more of them - a bigger concentration of them in the team.

Obviously there has been a lot of development in food and equipment that is why times are getting iasteq, it's not iust the dog teams. It is a combination of everything.

SDS: What are the lines of your dogs, what is their origin?

HG: I started out about 17 years ago with dogs that went back to Harris Dunlap lines - that is still there. I got some really good lines from Gary Edinger also. Those were my main lines I started out with, then later on I got dogs from Lester Erhart mixed in and that really improved my breeding.

SDS: Hans thanks for the time, good luck this season.

HG: Thank you.

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trail groomin5i team, or do you empioy SDS: Where do most of the teams come diffelent groomers for each segment? from in a normal year? jS: We have 5 clifferent staging areas, 2001 The filst year |S: From a1l over. with 5 different groomers. 100%,of the we had 10 teams from Alaska, 6 or 8 trail is groomed with these big fror-nCanada, and some from Motrtana, r n a c h i r r e s .T h e y j r r s t ke e p g r o o m i r r g . and Minnesota. Last year thev came SDS: How is the trail marked? You from Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, hear a lot of times about teams going Califomia, Wisconsin a1l over Nolth off trail in Iclitarod, or Quest, do you America really. Right now for the ever have teams get lost, or whiteout World Championships we have letters conditions? of intent to race from mushers on every except Asia, and Antarctica of JS: It is marked, well, it is marked so that Rachel can't/shouldn't get lost! So ::::'r::", there is an abnndance of markers. "host famiSDS: Can you desclibe the SDS: Can you describe anv challeng\y" program for mushers? ing parts of the trail? in this sport it's been aronnd Well |S: for ages really. Br"rtwe've taken it to a f S: Well if it were rapids, 150 of the 300 miles would be class 4 to class 5, but reallv nice level. We have a long waitbecause it is groomed so well, it is a ing list of families that want to irost couple of notches easier. It is just mushers. We have everything from mountainous terrain. There is very lithomes with humble dwe'llirrgs to rniltle flat terrain in 300 miles. lt winds, A lot the nrushers of lionaire estates. up and dowr.r through old growth stav with their previor-rs lrost family forests and lava flows -wirich are under' year after year and form friendships. snow of course.

SDS: Do you always have plenty of Do you have any favorite stages?

SDS: for especially snow in the Cascades, this lace which is prettl' early in the fS: All of the Mt. Bachelor stages are bear-rtiful. Then there is a spot on the year? jS: Oh yes, last yeal it snowed 7ft, in the Doug Swingley,4 time lditarodChampioncompetesin a LaPine day where you are up on top of photo:RobertAgli snowy stage o1the Attaboy30O a 8000ft ridge looking down into two two days before the iirst heat. It was lakes. It is absolutely spectacttlar.. unbelievable. The big Bombardier t,roomers ctid 300 miles of trail 3 days in a row. to be continuedin the next issuezttithmorephotos nnd moreft'ont lety' SDS: With so many stages, and a lot of rniles, do you have ot-re

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and hope to get early snow so I can get a lot of sled training beforethe racingseason starts.',When I ask Agneta who she thinkswill be the toughestcompetitionfor her she answersme rapidly. "Teamsfrom either Norwayor the Czech Republic. And I thinkher answeris totallycorrect.CzechRepublicwill have three very competitivesled dog teams startingat the IFSS

type of dog is very fast in the 4 and 6-dog classes.lvana Nolke, originallyfrom CzechRepublicnow livesin Salcha,Alaska, whereshe has a sled dog kennelbuiltup out of pointercrosses. lvanais usedto the conditionsand the trailsin Alaskaand that might work to her advantageat the WC-racein DawsonCity.

AnotherEuropeanmusherto look out for is ChristianTaveau from France.In the summerChristianlivesoutsideparis but he moveshis wholekennelto Alaskain the winter.He will havetwo very competitiveteams, a super fast 6-dog team and a very strongand fast 8-dogteam.Christianhas been racingin Aiaska for manyyearsand he knowswhat it takesto win onihe trails here.Counton Christianas one of the top finishersat the World Championship in DawsonCity.

So, if the weathercooperatesand providesus with a decent amountof snow,we can look forwardto a very interesting upcomingsprint-racing seasonhere in Alaska.lt alwaysadds an extraflavorto racingwhen mushersfrom all overthe world come togetherand havefun racingeach other.

Egil Ellis'dogsreadyto fly to Alaskaon Lufthansacargo.Thisis the standardwayEuropeanmushershaveto transporttheir dogswhenthey are leavingtheircontinent.photo:HetenLundberg WorldChampionship, lvana Nolkein the g-dog,Jiri Krejciin the 6-dogand Jiri Trnkain the 4-dogclass.BothJiris racewith crossbreeddogs,a mix of pointers,AlaskanHuskiesand Greyhounds.Some of the dogs from NorwegianWorld ChampionracerLena BoysenHillestadhavefoundnew homes with theseCzechmushers.Lena has alreadyproventhat this

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Regional Club Reports

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lf you would like your product displayed in gear guide, please contact the editor: greg@sleddogspoftsmag.com Gear displayed is not necessarily endorsed by this magazine,and is only meant as a non judgemental review of theproducis.

New England Sled Dog Ctub (NESDC) Vince Buoniello President: .I{ -r-.

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We are excitedabout anotherfull year of sprint racingfor the club. All raceswill featureISDRAsanctionedunlimited, limited,jr, and skijorclasses,and 4 & 6 dog sportsmannon sanctioned.Our eventschedulefor 2005 is as folIOWS :

WheelDogHarness Fromthe manufacturer: Wheel positionis, in the eyes of many mushersthe toughestposittonfor a dog. That'swhereour harnesscomes in to playl Our Wheel Dog Harness is basicallyre-designedX-backharness.lt is slighllylongerthan your regular harness.lt rideslower,thus reducesthe pressureon a dog,sback.

Relievingpressureof a dog's back will also make the dog run straighter.

Specialatlachmentpointson the sides of the harnessmake the back end of the harnessflexible(it can move up and down dependingon the dogs movement).This harnessfeaturesfull-lengthpadding(solt foam material coveredin a rip-stopshell)and a speciallydesignedbreastplate.

HillVlllageTrainingClinic& Rig Race 11/15,11/14/O4 EdenVT 118,119 l sl andP ond,V T 1/15,1116 Tamworth,NH 1122,1/23 Malone,NY 1/29,1/30 HillVillage,NH 2/5, 2/6 (new race) Laconi a,N H 2/11,2112,2119 (LakesR egi onSledDog Club) Meredith,NH 2/19,2/20 We are recommending that all sanctionedclassdrivers microchip theirdogs for the upcomingseason. We will be offeringa microchip clinicat the HillVillagerig raceweekend. Microchipping will be voluntaryfor the 2004-2005race season,and will be mandatoryfor 2005-2006.This applies to sanctionedpro classesonly. Pleasesee www.nesdc.org for more information.

Two RiversDog MushersAssoc. (TRDMA) TammiRego,Secretary TRDMAhas been an established club sincethe early 1980's,althoughlocalresidentshave been holdingcommunityeventspriorto officialestablishment of the club.

We are locatedin Two Rivers,AK. A junior divisionwas addedlast year with huge enthusiasm.

We welcomeanyone from anywhereto come and be a part of our club. For more information, pleasevisitwww.trdma.org.

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Eventschedulefor 2004-2005:

RisdonEuroMid DistanceSled Fromthemanufacturer: Cablesteeringdistancesled. Demandfor a better steeringdistancesled led to this design.These sleds were usedthe lastfew yearswith positive feedbackin the UP 200 and racesof that type.

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11/2012004 Two Riverstune up + jr. div.

1211812004 Solstice100 + jr. div. 31 miles 1/22/2OO5HamburgerRun + jr div.31 miles 3/10-3/13/05ChatanikaChattenge100/200 3/19-3/2O/OS Junior100mile race 3/26/05ValleyFunale+ jr. div.

We had recordturnoutsin 2004, and expect more of the same for this upcomingseason.TRDMAalso providesa "kennelaled rosted'whichis a list of kennelswho can provide assistancein the form of dog trucks and pickets/houses for dogs displacedbecauseof the ragingwildfiresin the area. contacttamirego@alaska.net or gO7-4gg-4679 for more information.

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It's the third day of the most of the important race of the year and as you take your best leader out of the dog box at 6 am, he grunts as he hits the ground, head bobs the first few steps out, shakes himself off, and trots away soundly. '. or does nea Evaluating lameness in sled dogs starts by knowing what is normal for every dog that you run. Some dogs have such rough gaits that they would really appear sore to a Person at an angle to the towline), shorten their stride length and not familiar with that dog. Some dogs favor a certain lead leg increase their cadence, hold their head higher than usual, or when they are running in the team and will exhibit some pretty back off on downhills. One common gait change that many ugly gait changes when put in a position where they forced to folks miss is a tendency to change leads. Dogs moving at lope use to opposite lead (see photo). Some dogs have normal will "lead" with one forelimb during the gait cycle (either a behaviors that can be misread as pain or lameness. One of my diagonal canter, used typically at speeds 15mph or less, or the best dogs has a soft, submissive temPerament and will often double suspension gallop, used at higher speeds. Lead favoring tuck either forelimb in front of his chest when he wants my is one big reason why some dogs are very "sided" on the gangattention (in a puppy-like, appeasing sort of way). A friend line; it allows them to use the favored lead more effectively' All walking through the kennel picked it out instantly and asked if dogs will change leads from time to time, espehe was lame. The point is, you can't recognize an abnormality if cially on twisty trails. Lame dogs often you haven't taken the time to study what is normal! change leads every 3 or 4 steps while From there, it is important that every single day you running down a straightaway to try to closely observe all of your critters for any difrelieve sorenessor fatigue. There is ferences,however subtle, that may be presnoticeable hesitation while the dog is ent. Many dog mushers juggling full in midair during a lead change. time jobs, a family, long road trips Behavioral changes might also be and a kennel miss a lot of problems seen, such as getting uglY with because they don't stop moving for their neighbor or dipping snow the 10 minutes necessary to reallY more frequently. Most dogs will take a focused look at all of the not manifest sourness, reluctance to dogs. A teacher of mine once go, or quitting unless the problem is made the remark, "You will miss really, really severe. more diagnoses by not looking than "J When you're on the road, it's very by not knowing." Dogs are Senetiimportant to make a greater effort to look cally programmed to mask weakness for problems. You will have a hard time t.\ and pain, so you must make time in tpottltlg a sore dog standing on a drop l your day to just LOOK, closely, chain. As tempting as it is to let your around the dog yard for all changes, handler/spouse/child do that first or last and follow up on what you see. drop, drag yourself out there so you don't rightlegs' What are you looking for? The Lead dogs in unison"leading"with to identify the problem

Vet Gheck Dawn Brown DVM

short answer is, anything that particular dog doesn't do normally. You may see changes in behavior such as ieluctance to leave (or enter) the doghouse, not jumping on the house, or hesitance to jump off. Watch for strange head, tail or limb carriage, or plain old limping. Observe the dog's stance: is he standing squarely with his weight balanced on all four limbs?

Is there any tendency to reposition a limb consistently when the dog stops moving? Do all the muscles look symmetrical? When moving at a walk or trot, watch closely for any asymmetry. Lame dogs will often bob their heads to lift their center of gravity while bearing weight on the sore leg. Remember "the head goes down on the limb that's sound." Are the transitions between gaits (walk to trot to lope) smooth, or is there a consistent hesitation?

When training, you should do your best to examine every foot of every dog after every run. The poorer your training conditions are, the more important this is. Most dogs will not limp on cracked nails, split webs and small punctures and gauges in pads, but they will definitely get worse if not addressed' Hard working, heavy males, especially those with heavy pounding gaits, will often wear the nails on their rear feet down to bleeding if run on hard packed sand or gravel trails. You won't see the blood until you have really damaged the soft tissue in the nail, so address it with boots and possible a cut back in training before it reaches that point.

When running in a team, there are some signs an injured dog may show before it starts slacking off oq, worse yet, refusing to go. Dogs who formerly ran smoothly may crab (run

mlss the ilu.,."

BEFOREthe startersaysgo! Observeeach

dog very closely as they come out of the box. Did he hesitate to come out? Any stiff movement? Those first few steps are the most critical: look for head bobbing, limping or tendencies to stretch repeatedly. Ideally, you should train your dogs to loose drop so you can continue to watch them. If not, snap a retractable lead on every dog and let them move around a bit.

Any time a dog is not performing well, ALWAYS rule out injury or illness first before you declare the dog stubborn, lazy, ot not fast enough! While this seems obvious, many folks initial assumption about a dog's poor performance is that it's a training problem or a poor work ethic. Imagine for a moment how demoralizing it would be to be pushed harder, or worse yet, punished, when you are already trying to tough it out through a painful injury. There are many, many injuries that don't generate an obvious limp, are too subtle to detect with routine palpation techniques, and won't show up on radiographs or bloodwork, and therein lies the problem... dogs can't tell us, "It only hurts when I do this." If the dog has a history of good performance and suddenly or gradually deteriorates, and neither you or your veterinarian can nail down a specific problem, give him the benefit of the doubt and lay him off for a couple of weeks before you declare it a discipline or training problem. ln the next issue of Vet Check, we wiII look at how to check your dog for specific lameness problems with a step by step procedure,

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