January , 2012
Wishing all our friends, and fellow mushers a happy,
and healthy 2012 !
Fall is finally coming,
time to start the new training season !
Late summer or early fall when the weather cools down enough it's time to start training again.
Watch the temperatures! Either train at dawn or wait till sundown and don't train at all if the temperature is over 15° celsius
otherwise the dogs are in considerable danger of overheating and dehydration.
Start with very modest distances (especially if you train yearlings!)
The objective in fall training is not speed, but to get sleddogs in good physical condition
and to establish control over them.
When you first hook up the dogs, they are likely to be out of condition,
their muscles and ligaments are at their most vulnerable state and easily injured.
It is at this very same time that they are at their most eager and undisciplined.
You want to have total control, and you want to arrange things so that the dogs cannot run fast.
An All Terrain Vehicle (ATV), also known as a 'four-wheeler, or quad' is the most common training vehicle for fall training
because they have brakes that make it easy to slow the dogs down.
If you use a heavy rig (or training kart), carry a handler on the rig with you; this will slow the dogs down a bit
and and you have someone to hold the brakes while you slowly walk forward and sort out tangles or move dogs from one position to another.
Stop frequently to give the dogs a breather and to give them the idea that they are expected to stand quietly at stops.
If you don't convince them during fall training that stops during a run are a normal event and that good order is expected,
you aren't likely to manage it on snow.
The dogs are likely to be noisy and rowdy, but don't let them get you rattled ! Be quiet, confident and methodical.
The more order and good discipline you can establish at this stage, the better for everybody.
Switch your dogs around a lot and try out new lead prospects alongside an experienced leader.
Now's the best time for experimentation, while you have maximum control.
Frequent pack howls past night,
although that lunar chorus was short by one sharp voice, sadly.
As Ugor, our oldest furry friend gently crossed over the Rainbow Bridge
yesterday.
Ugor was a unique Siberian with a distinct personality, (like so many of these northern working dogs) never injured, never sick and in harness untill the age of 13.
Ugor - 13/05/1996 - 16/03/2011 - sincerely missed.
---
It is difficult for anybody who has not run dogs, has not been with them twenty hours a day seven days a week, for eight years and more to understand the dept and intesity of the bond that can build between the driver and his dogs. There is love, ofcourse, as many people love and are loved by their pets, an unassuming love that surely is the most dedicate and pure of any.
But with the driver and his (or her) dogs it goes beyond love, goes beyond meassurement by normal standards, it is a bond of survival, of live.
( quoted from Garry Paulsen's book - Puppies, dogs and Blue Northers )
---
As I 'm following the Finnmarksløpet, it was intense to read that Roger Dahl, who currently still leads the race lost one of his dogs during the race.
Living with dogs, Joy, Exitement, Grief and Sorrow.
Iditarod is underway and Finnmarkslopet starts tomorrow 12 March.
The startlist is updated and Edmond Schoemacher starts tomorrow at 12h09min in Finnmarksløpet 500. (startlist FL500)
Edmond is running
with the same team as last year. Good Luck !
In the F1000 i'm curious about Robert Sørlie (the breeder of 3 of my own dogs ) and his 'superteam'. He is running with 4 dogs out Bjørnar Andersens team and a few dogs from Ola Martinsen ( who was No. 5 on the VM F400). So that's going to be interesting.
Busy times online to follow all this for the Sofamusher.
Here is a list of all the links to keep track :
Iditarod:
iditablog - Eye on the Trail - Adn - AlaskaDispatch - Kyle Hopkins's videos
Finnmarksløpet:
Finnmarksløpet - Facebookpage
standings : FL-500 - FL-1000 - GPS-Tracking
Danny Bulens and Edmond Schoemacher start today
in the Femund 400.
The IFSS 2011 World Championship.
The
Long Distance | Sled 8 Dog Team class.
Danny just left
the starting chute as the first musher in F400!
live webcam at the Start
Edmond starts at 14h:05m
Good Luck and Happy Trails
!
Results WCh in Røros : F400
WSA European Championship 2011 in Schöneck
Congratulations Guy !
Guy won in the cat. D2/II
The 24th international sled dog race is coming up !
On 5 and 6 February 2011 in RODT/ST.VITH (Belgium)
Location : Skihütte
Gery Pollenus @ 2010 race | picture taken by Gert Ooms
Monday 21 December.
The trails are covered in a beautiful white layer of new snow. (about 15-20 cm ) Enough to sled on !
With below zero temperatures these are probably the best trail conditions we ever had at home.
picture by Bert
more pictures on Flickr album
Saturday 4 December/ We arrived early in the morning.
The pampa range in Helchteren was covered in a beautiful thin white layer of snow. ( just not enough to sled on )
But with below zero temperatures accompanied by a very strong wind it was perfect for mushing !!
Marc had bib nr 4 and I had bib nr 12, we both signed in for the TOUR (24 km).
There were about 100 sleddog teams signed up to participate in this years race/tour, and a lot of these teams where in the tour class.( 17-19-22 or 24 km).
This being the first time for my 'new' team of Alaskan husky's, and 0 experience in passing other teams, it was going to be exciting...
It was amazing to see how well the dogs passed other teams for the first time !
Only one tiny little problem with a loose neckline (my fault) when passing Tim's team of Alaskan Malamutes. Luckily Tim had the situation under control, unlike a few other mushers who do not seem to know the basic rules to overtake other teams.
When one team intends to pass another, the passing team driver may request the right of way when his lead dog(s) come within 15 meters of the overtaken team.
On the command “TRAIL”, the musher who is being overtaken must free the trail by leading his team to the side of the trail and slow down, he/she must "STOP" if the overtaking musher needs it.
Just a matter of common sense, and sportmanship.
It took us 1h and 39 min to complete the 24 km of magnificent pampa trails.
Average moving speed 14,3
(According to our garmin).
I was very satisfied about the dogs , great performance all the way!
picture by Natalie Dirckx
picture by Jan Van Parys - JaPar Photography
On Sunday the weather changed completely , temperatures above zero, icy rains and very heavy trails due to melting snow.
The race for the sprint teams was therefore canceled.
It was to dangerous for sprint teams to race in those circumstances and trail conditions.
Tour teams were allowed to train, so we decided to start and see how it went.
The trail was extremely heavy, but the dogs were up to it and again they completed the 24 km tour successfully ! I was impressed by their performance, and very content !
We had a great time both on and off the trail.
It was nice to meet Dries Jacobs at the diner, loved your Iditarod and Quest stories !
Thanks to all pampa crew members, for another great edition!
Bert
First week of December and already running on snow !
We have about 8 cm of snow currently, not enough to bring out the sled, but both dogs and musher are very excited.
Daytime temperatures around -5°C and -10°C at night combined with strong winds make it great weather for mushing and excellent conditions to prepare for the upcoming pampa sleddog race next weekend.
Average training distance is between 22 and 30 km a day and 3-5 times a week.
By the end of this week ( pampa tour included ) the dogs will have their first 100+ km on snow.
October ( 20-10/2010 ) we are in full swing, excited dogs,
still a lot of mud puddles on the trail but the temperatures are finally a bit cooler.
Even had the first overnight frost past week.
The first signs of winter :-)
The dogs are doing great, average training distance is around 10 km.
Yesterday the moon was almost full, the sky was clear and temperatures around 5°C late in the evening. Good fall training conditions ! We did a nice 11,5 km trip at a steady trot. Dogs working hard on muddy trails !!
Riga (and Nome) in lead all the way this time,
she's learning fast !
Some interesting videos of Lance Mackey & Tim Hunt at the 2010 Sled Dog Seminar in Harestua - Norway.
Lance Mackey at the Sled dog seminar in Norway 2010 ; Part 1, 2 and 3:
Veterinarian and dog musher Tim Hunt explains how to make an examination of a sled dog to identify possible injuries at the 2010 Sled Dog seminar in Norway.
Tim Hunt explains how to treat a shoulder injury :
Tim Hunt explains how to treat a sore wrist :
All eyes were on Riga past Saturday as she made here debut on the team.
I must say I was a bit nervous, I wanted her first run to be as smooth as possible.
I put her next to Willow (her playmate) in the middle of the team.
It was amazing to see ! It seemed as if she had done this a million times before.
We did a nice 4km run, stopped a few times to give the dogs a breather and some water. Everything went well, what a great way to start the season !
The other day I was at the local pharmacy picking up some tablets for a routine worming for my dogs.
(As fall training approaches I want to be ready for next season!)
When I was paying the cashier, she asked me if I wanted a free dog poop bag ?
I was smiling and already visualised myself stopping on a run to scoop poop and put it in a bag.
Do urban mushers use them I wondered ?
Up next on my fall training check list :
Check dogs vaccinations
Equipment check ( collars, harnesses, ganglines, bungee shock absorber )
Check the brakes of cart and quad !
Are you ready for fall training ?
Here's a complete pre- fall training checklist >> click here.
Akela's Den is looking for a handler for next season. Last year Marc Driessen went to Canada for about 5 months to handle for Bart and Stefaan. The brothers Stefaan De Marie and Bart De Marie, originally from Belgium, run Akela's Den Sleddog Supplies & Racing kennel in Christopher Lake - Canada.
Since Marc did a good job there, they are looking for another Belgian
to experience first class long distance mushing.
for more information :
Akela's Den Sled Dog Supplies & Racing Kennel
RR1 SITE1 COMP134
Christopher Lake, SK
Canada
info@sleddogsupplies.ca
www.sleddogsupplies.ca
Next fall Riga will make her first appearance in the team, so it's time for some harness fitting.
No, this one is already to small !
Since january Nikolai came over from the lowlandstrail kennel to join our team. Everything worked out great, and as of today he officially joined our kennel on Stamtavla.
