Team Ineka

Mushin Down a Dream

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Fall Training is Underway!

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It is the first Monday of September and what that means around here is that fall training is underway at Team Ineka. Our goal over the next few months is to run small teams of eight to ten dogs on our ATV starting at three or four miles a day and increasing as the dogs get in shape.

The plan is to build muscle, condition the team, work on leader training and see who works well together. This is time for the new dogs to shine and the older guys to teach the pups. fall training 2014

This is our favorite time of year. The leaves are changing, the air is getting cooler and the dogs are excited to do what they love.

Each training run that we do we track on an iPhone app called MapMyRide. Our plan is to run each team at least 100 miles a month until it is cold enough and we have adequate snow to run on the sleds.

We hope that you will follow us on the trail as we prepare for our 2013-2014 season.

 

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Run to Yentna Station

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It was my first 100 mile run the weather was warm and raining. As always the start to any run is quite difficult, instead of going through the correct trail my leader Ringo decided to stay left and miss the turn so, I had to dip under a metal rope and ride through at least two feet deep snow to get onto the correct trail. After that it was smooth “sledding” until my dad thought we had missed the turn, we had ended up having to turn around two different times just to have it be that his leader Denali was right all along.

Subsequently, we hit the Yetna river and were on the right track. With my eight dog team trailing close behind my dad’s 9dog team he allowed me to pass him and I was out on my own the rest of the way. My team; Ringo-Vela, O’dale-Sidney, Casper-Shifter, and Ragnar-Zero were running great there butts moving quickly and their faces huge with smiles. We soon reached our turn off for Yetna station we then pulled up the hill parked the teams and got to unpacking our gear. Little did we know our cookers wouldn’t work so we had to get hot water from the station and sit and wait.

Well, while we waited Dandy on my dads team chewed through his tug line and shortly after O’dale on my team chewed through both my leader tug lines. As of result we couldn’t eat at the station we had to feed, create make shift tug lines out of neck lines and head on home. Furthermore my dad let me lead again but Ringo had taken a wrong turn and we had to cut across very deep snow. Poor Ringo got attacked by Shifter in the process. So once we go through the huge patch of thick snow my dad switched Ringo with one of his leaders Ty-Ty and gave her to me. Now finally that everything was running smoothly we were home bound for the long journey of six straight hours in cold weather and pouring rain without stopping except for a couple minutes of rest here and there.

Ty-Ty was doing pretty well for her first 100 mile run, her only issues was on open trail she weaved to much otherwise she was doing pretty well. Finally we got to the big hill my dogs trucked on and non-stop pulled me up the hill and were very happy to know they were close to being home. We were back at Deshka Landing and began unhooking in rain and ice. We packed everything up got all the dogs in the truck and headed home on the even icier roads. Shivering and wet we unpacked put the dogs back on there poles so they could go to bed. We were finally home; exhausted, hungry, thirsty, wet, and cold I stepped into the warm laundry room and pealed off all the wet clothes and headed up to my room. As to say my first 100 mile run wasn’t as bad as I had thought I had loads of fun and enjoyed my deep bounding with my dogs. I know now that for Willow 100 it’ll just be a great time.

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Nicole is a junior musher at Team Ineka and is going to run her first 100 mile race, the Willow Junior 100 in February.

Profile: ISDRA

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Profile: The International Sled Dog Racing Association (ISDRA)

Lead Dog RevengeThe International Sled Dog Racing Association (ISDRA) was formed in 1966 by Canadian and American mushers to organize and unify the sport of dog sled racing. Beginning in the New England Sates and lower Canadian provinces, ISDRA sought to standardize the rules for “Nome style sprint racing”.

Today, ISDRA annually represents over 100 days of dog sled racing and thousands of individual race performances. Traditional sleds, wheeled rigs, ski-joring and most recently bike-joring competitions are held for Adult and Junior Divisions from “unlimited” to 1 dog. The racing action begins in mid-October and ends in late March with multiple ISDRA events occurring on any given weekend during the moths of January and February.

ISRDA gives the highest priority to the welfare of the the canine athletes that are our partners in the wonderful world of sled dog sports. To underscore that commitment, each sanctioned event is provided with its animal welfare policy as an important component of ISDRA’s sanctioning materials. No abuse is tolerated and all injuries are documented and investigated.

ISDRA medals are awarded in a points base program that ranks on average over 1500 race performances each season. National, State/Province and Club rankings are also calculated and maintained on it’s website http://www.isdra.org

ISDRA publishes a renowned magazine, Dog and Driver, six times a year and covers sled dog activities around the world and includes ISDRA medalist interviews and much more!

For more information on the International Sled Dog Racing Association please visit http://www.isdra.org

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Dr. Robert Forto is the Dog Sledding Examiner, a musher training for his first Iditarod under the Team Ineka banner and the host of Mush! You Huskies radio show.

Achieving Success Using Mental Performance Training Part 1

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Achieving Success Using Mental Performance Training Part 1

By Robert Forto, PhD

Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

Japanese Proverb

Many competitive human/canine teams, whether in the ring, on the trail, or on the field, are so busy preparing and being busy that they have no idea where their busy-ness is taking them. In contrast, some teams have expressed their visions, but do not appear to be directing much of their activity to achieving them.

After a human/canine team (hereafter just referred to as ‘team’), has a well defined vision, they need to move on to making that vision happen.

Ask yourself these questions:

  1. What needs t happen for [vision]?
  1. Is there anything else that needs to happen for [vision]?

Repeat the second question until no further actions emerge, and then ask:

  1. What is the first thing that needs to happen?

After you answer this question the seeds are sown, and your team’s attention is on the vision and the steps you need to take to start to move towards it.

This is just the first installment in a series that I am working on for my first book, Run With Poodles. The book is about creating success in your business and personal life through the eyes of a dog team. I am a professional musher and I am training for my first Iditarod in 2013. I am also a practitioner of Neuro-Linguistics (NLP) and I am using my training to harness the power of my team and teaching others leadership through empowerment.

If you would like to learn more about leadership through empowerment please feel free to contact me a leaddog@teamineka.com

Tags: NLP | Denver Dog Training Examiner | Robert Forto | Michele Forto | Iditarod | Team Ineka | Dog Training Denver | Dog Doctor Radio | Denver Dog Works | Mushing Radio | Duluth Dog Works | Minnesota Dog Works

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Dr. Robert Forto is a professional musher training for his first Iditarod racing under the Team Ineka banner. Dr. Forto can be reached through his website at https://teamineka.com