Dog Sledding Legends

Fox and Goose

May 9, 2010 by teamineka

Fox and Goose

By Al Magaw

One winter evening, my family and I watched seven, four-month old puppies play under the yard light in the snowy field in front of our house. The seven puppies followed each other around in a circle making a packed trail about 60 feet in diameter. Then they followed one another, single file, to make several paths that intersected the circle. The pattern made in the snow was indistinguishable from the circle that children make when they play the game, “Fox and Goose”. We were all crowded at the window, the lights in the house turned off so we could see better. We watched, at first in amazed silence, then with peals of laughter, and finally with disbelief of what we were seeing.

One puppy would take his place at the intersection of the crossed trails and the other six puppies evenly spaced themselves around the circumference of the circle. As if at a signal, the puppy in the centre dashed out the spoke of the wheel, turned onto the circle and grabbed a madly fleeing puppy by the tail. After a brief scuffle, the puppy that had been caught went to the centre of the circle. All of the puppies on the circle sat down facing the pup in the middle. They waited until the pup in the centre bolted to the outside circle. Again there was a mad dash around the circumference until another pup was caught. To our amazement, they played this game for about 3/4 hour, sticking rigidly to their self-imposed rules. I had never seen or heard of such behavior at the time we watched the puppies play Fox and Goose, but a few years laterI read in the National Geographic Magazine of a scientist observing the same behavior in a group of wolf pups.

We would love to hear your comments regarding this article. Please let us know at live@dogdoctorradio.com

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Al Magaw is a musher from Salmo, BC. Al keeps a medium sized kennel of 20 – 45 alaskan huskies as well as several pet dogs of various breeds. Al has been training and racing for the last 33 years. Before becoming involved with sled dogs, Al, along with his family, kept and competed with horses for many years. Al can be reached through his website at http://www.spiritofthenorthkennels.com Al is a guest blogger for Denver Dog Works and can be reached through our website at http://www.denverdogworks.com

K-9 Communication by Al Magaw

May 2, 2010 by teamineka

K-9 Communication 2

By Al Magaw

I’ve had so many comments on last week’s blog, all positive – I really expected some controversy about animals, and us, to a lesser degree, being able to communicate wordlessly, and without motion, to indicate thoughts – I’ve received stories that told about dogs being able to inform their owners when there was a sick lamb, stories about dogs that just “know” when there is something that’s going to happen that involves them without any obvious indication from the owners, to the story of the siberian husky that wakes it’s owners every morning from Monday to Friday so they aren’t late for work, but lets them sleep in on Saturday and Sunday – obviously, the siberian can read the calendar? – no, I didn’t think so – I’d like to share part of a letter from an old friend that I received a number of years ago – a letter that started me wondering a bit more and observing more closely, how animals communicate without words – In part, the letter reads —-

“Kuma, my Rottie, is an angel in the shape of a dog. He made his way through three bullets to reach my door. He has taught me much about play, about lightening up (in training), and visualization. He has led the way for me (to) learn deep mind/body/spirit communication from him”. ——– “Kuma has showed me what my next pathway will be as an animal communicator. I am seriously looking into that field as I would truly like to be able to “speak” with dogs and horses and learn what they really have to say about issues in their lives.” She goes on to say, “Rottweilers are pretty intensive dogs, different from any I have owned before. Kuma is teaching me to “send” pictures to him as a way of communicating”.

My friend goes on to describe how she found Kuma on her porch one morning, badly wounded with three bullet holes in him. She nursed him back to health and on one of the first walks with him.

“He started to chase some deer that went flying off in front of him.” “I immediately sent off a picture of him in the stage of a stock horse doing a sliding stop.” — “He looked just like a stock horse as he slid to a stop. He immediately came right to me, the first time he had done so off leash.” “I felt like I had just won a championship!” “it was an awesome moment. He is one powerful dog who displayed a fine line between play and aggression when he first came into my life.”

The letter goes on to talk about mutual friends and interests — I’ve read this letter from my friend many times over the years since I received it and it still sends shivers up my spine, shivers of recognition of what is what is real and possible, if only we could learn.

We would love to hear your comments regarding this article. Please let us know at live@dogdoctorradio.com

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Al Magaw is a musher from Salmo, BC. Al keeps a medium sized kennel of 20 – 45 alaskan huskies as well as several pet dogs of various breeds. Al has been training and racing for the last 33 years. Before becoming involved with sled dogs, Al, along with his family, kept and competed with horses for many years. Al can be reached through his website at http://www.spiritofthenorthkennels.com Al is a guest blogger for Denver Dog Works and can be reached through our website at http://www.denverdogworks.com

Who Are These Dogs That Pull Sleds? Special Sled Dog Breeds

April 28, 2010 by teamineka

Who Are These Dogs That Pull Sleds? The Alaskan Husky and Village Dog

By Robert Forto, PhD

Are they purebreds or mongrels? What sets them apart from other dogs and enables them to work with man under brutal weather conditions? What sort of strange dog is it that yammers and yowls to be a part of a team, preferring to work or race than rest in a warm kennel?

Written pedigrees are not required to enter a sled dog race, nor does the dog have to be a northern breed, although a majority of dogs on the racing trail are related to working dogs of the North. These dogs have a strong instinct to pull. These dogs can be everything from an American Kennel Club registered Siberian Husky, a “one-quarter husky” mixed breed, or any variety in between. These dogs can be Irish Setters, Walker Coonhounds or even a Border Collie. In search of an unbeatable dog team, dozens and dozens of cross-breedings, in-breedings and line breedings have been tried. Some breeders work within a recognized breed, seeking to refine that breed’s natural talents; others select the fastest and strongest or whatever dogs come to their attention, caring more about performance than good looks or a fancy pedigree.

Special Sled Dog Breeds

South of Alaska other dogs have been interbred to make up special sled dog breeds. Arthur Walden’s Chinooks, the Targhee Hounds of Idaho, and the Quebec Hounds of Canadian breeders are examples of these special racing dogs. The original Chinook’s ancestry is somewhat subdued in public relations mystery, but his offspring, many resulting in a breeding with a husky, served as credible sled dogs for Walden in eastern races during the 1920’s. Chinooks are still bred at a kennel in Maine, but most are sold to recreational mushers or strictly as pets.

The Targhee Hound was originally bred in Idaho, the result of a cross between a Stagehound and an Irish Setter. These were fast, sprint dogs who dominated the American Dog Derby held in Ashton, Idaho for years. They were also capable of hauling a sled full of mail after a blizzard. Targhee Hounds still appear on teams in the west, not only in their “pure” form but also as offspring of further cross-breedings.

The Quebec Hound, also called the Canadian Hound or the Canadian Greyhound is a name that describes the dogs resulting from the propensity of Canadians to breed a lot of sleek, racy-looking hounds into their northern sled dogs. These animals have short hair and long, strong legs. Their racing record is exceptional as evidenced by Emile St. Godard’s many victories in the 1920’s and through Emile Marlett’s top team of the 1930’s, to most of the Quebec teams of today. Quebec hounds race annually at the World Championships in Laconia, New Hampshire, placing well in the standings.

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Robert Forto is the training director of Denver Dog Works and a musher racing under the banner Team Ineka. Dr. Forto can be reached through his website at https://teamineka.com

Dog Sledding Legends: Arthur Walden

February 3, 2010 by teamineka

Dog Sledding Legends: Arthur Walden

By Robert Forto, PhD

When sled dog racing started to catch on as a winter sport in New England and Canada, the speedy little Siberian dogs with the great endurance had not yet been introduced outside of Alaska. These crossbred dogs still held the inside track. Arthur Walden and Emile St. Godard won many races in New England and Canada during the 1920’s; Walden’s dogs were the big golden Chinooks, a freighting dog, and St. Godard’s were hound-husky crosses, bred for speed.

For his part in the promotion of the sport in New England, Arthur Walden held the inevitable title, “Father of New England Sled Dog Racing.” For nearly twenty years he traveled all over the Northeast, including Canada, driving his teams in races and exhibitions, at schools and fairs. For much of that time his famous dog, Chinook, was on lead, and was a welcome companion at ball games, lectures, and promotional visits. With a breeding program that included not selling any dog that could not reproduce to Walden’s standards, he developed his unique dogs and sold them as sled dogs and pets.

In 1928, Walden, age fifty-six, and with his special breed of sled dog, ventured from New Hampshire and his New England Sled Dog Club, from the races and the farm where he taught dog driving, and joined Admiral Byrd’s Antarctic Expedition. His position was that of dog handler, his chief assistant was his faithful lead dog, Chinook. Chinook did not make it back to New England from his trip to Antarctica and the Manchester (New Hampshire) Union Leader newspaper carried a tribute story to this fine sled dog on January 24, 1929.

Walden returned to New Hampshire and remained a popular speaker on sled dogs. His life touched all the aspects, from dog punching to racing, from kennel manager to explorer. He brought the spirit of the gold rush dog team from Alaska and he instigated sport races a continent away from their original home.

Walden lived to be ninety-one years old, straddling the animated decades from the 1870’s into the 1960’s. Without Arthur Walden, the lore and the lure of the sled dog would be much less than it is.

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