The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams Part 2

The Future of Iditarod Dreams Part 2

If you got a chance to listen to the latest episode of the Mush! You Huskies Radio show you will know by now that the future home of the Team Ineka mushing kennel will be in Willow, Alaska.

Listen to the show here: Team Ineka in Alaska

After almost six months of traveling across North America, searching out suitable properties in Minnesota (twice), California and Alaska, we have settled on the Alaska property. While we would have loved to stay here in the Lower-48 states, it was just not possible. The Minnesota kennels were either too expensive or the county would not allow us to have a sled dog kennel. The California property was very nice but you had to drive well over an hour to run dogs and it was just too hot!

The Willow property is not a mansion by any stretch of imagination. It is a true musher’s property but it does have running water, electricity and full speed internet. There is an outhouse on the four acres “just in case”.

It is every mushers dream of finding a place in Alaska, and many of us have hopes of running the Iditarod one day. Team Ineka is one step closer now with the purchase of this property.

There are many things that are appealing about this place but a couple to note are: 1. dogs are allowed and we will not need special permission from the county or our neighbors. In fact there are several mushers in the neighborhood. 2. There are already kennel runs on the property. They need repair but they are there. 3. You can run dogs right from your property. I can literally hook up my team and go with a trail-head leading right up to the kennel.

Our goal is to spend six months a year in Alaska and six months in Colorado. We will maintain our business, Denver Dog Works here and it will remain fully operational with our third partner taking over the day to day tasks in about a year. We love Colorado but this is a place that we could not pass up.

My goal is to run the Iditarod in 2013. I will begin building my team immediately after my arrival in Alaska and start to run races starting this winter. By 2012 I will be running my qualifiers for the Iditarod and enter the race the following year.

While I have thought about this dream since the day I purchased my first Siberian Husky in the fall of 1987, it will take a tremendous amount of work to make this dream a reality but this is the first step to make it happen.

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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 the Mush! You Huskies Radio show.

Who Are These Dogs That Pull Sleds? Racing with Poodles

Who Are These Dogs That Pull Sleds? Racing with Poodles
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.

Racing With Poodles

In 1988 John Sutter of Chugiak Alaska ran a group of Standard Poodles on his Iditarod team. Three of these dogs made it the 1,100-miles to Nome for a thirty-eighth finish out of fifty-two starters. Although the fifty-below weather did not bother them, the Poodles did have trouble with snowballing in their hair and several were dropped due to foot problems. In training Sutter discovered that while Poodles do not have the inherent desire to pull that huskies have, their intelligence and willingness overcome the drawback.

Tags: 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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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 http://www.teamineka.com

K-9 Communication by Al Magaw

K-9 Communication
by Al Magaw

I think every dog owner has experienced incidents when their dog seems to know, without being told, when the owner is going to be doing something that the pet will be involved in. Much of this recognition can be put down to clues like a break in routine, body language, verbalization, etc.  There are times, though, when none of the above apply. Times like a Saturday morning when the owner gets up at the same hour as normal, puts on the same clothes as normal, goes through the same routine as they do the rest of the week, yet the dog is filled with excitement because they "know" they are going too. There has been no verbalization, no change in routine, yet the dog knows. How is this possible?  I've always wondered about this phenomena. I didn't pursue this line of thought though, even when I was demonstrating how my dog would do tricks as I silently read a list of tricks scribbled on a scrap of paper. I did my best to not move my body, nor give any clue, even avoiding eye contact, but "Cylus" would reliably roll over, sit up, speak, etc., as I read what ever trick was written on the list. It made a great parlour trick to show off to friends and family, but it wasn't until I got my little border collie, "Quick" that it dawned on me that this phenomenon of silent communication went much further than a parlour trick.

       Many mushers have experienced having leaders that would go down the wrong trail, perhaps a dangerous one, no matter what command was being given. The common advice given is to keep your thoughts on the trail you want to be on, rather than the one you don't. I've heard mushers claim that all they have to do is to picture in their mind what trail they want to travel without giving a command, and that's where their "in tune" leader will go. Many obedience trainers will advise "picturing" the behavior you want from your dog, rather than fearing the behavior you don't want.

        To get back to "Quick". Quick was a rescue from the pound. I've always admired the intelligence of the border collie, the dedication to the job they have, their alertness and awareness of what's going on, but I had no expectations of what was going to happen with Quick. Quick assumed the job as caretaker of the kennel, a self imposed job that she has dutifully fulfilled for the past 13-years. She treats the kennel dogs as her charges, much as a dog like her would be expected to treat a herd of sheep. Not only does Quick do her best to keep order in the kennel, and does her best to help bring dogs from the kennel to the hook-up area,  she has brought loose dogs back to the truck when we were traveling. Quick never leaves the kennel to follow a team when we're training at home.  When we return from a run, she goes up the side of the team with me as I give each dog a pet and a "good dog" for a job well done. Quick will nuzzle an ear as I give each dog a pet, as if she too was saying "good dog". That is until we come to a dog that screwed up on the run. To me, once we are home, every dog is a "good dog" and they all get their pet, yet Quick will start to scold and nag that dog with a series of sharp yips and barks. How she knows what a dog did on the trail, I could only surmise. It took a friend of mine to point out the most remarkable thing about Quick and the sled dogs though. Occasionally, Quick will scold a dog on it's way from the kennel to the hook-up area, and sure enough THAT dog will screw up during the run! That's when I realized that dogs have a way of communicating well beyond mere words. Not only are they able to silently communicate complex things, they have an awareness of the future, and can make plans and follow through with those plans.

     Some humans have admirable intuitions about people or events. Watching my dogs for all these years has made me wonder if what is commonly called "intuition" is a vestige of what animals do all the time, much as our tail bone is a vestige of a tail.

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

Tags: Al Magaw | 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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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

Dogs Need Heroes Too

Dogs Need Heroes Too
By Michele Forto

"I had seven dogs who would go to the end of the earth for me, and nine more who would try," Lance Mackey, 4-time Iditarod Champion

When I was a kid superheroes were still popular. I remember being seven years old and not just dressing up as Wonder Woman for Halloween but wishing I had that invisible airplane of hers to travel around in.

My kids generation, being born in the nineties, I can’t recall them actually having superheroes to look up to. That was the time of sport heroes. We all know and can understand when we place the burden of being a superhero onto a regular person who just happens to be able to “fly” on the basketball court that it sets that person up to quite a bit of scrutiny.

It’s refreshing to read stories about the Iditarod in its 38th year and listen to the passion in the voices of the men and women as they talk about their dogs and the Last Great Race. I myself turn 38 years old this year and I’m always saddened to realize that I didn’t know that the Iditarod was even a race until about 18 years ago. Growing up in California it wasn’t taught in the schools. Sure I saw the movie Iron Will and read the stories about Balto. I knew of the Great Serum Run and the significance that it had on the State of Alaska, but other than that it seemed like fiction to me.

When I met my husband Robert, within four months he had my eight year old son Kyle, and myself on the back of a dog sled, the cool wind in our faces, holding on for dear life. I remember feeling very afraid, “where are these dogs going to take me!” After my first run and losing my team, I realized it wasn’t about the dogs it was about the musher. I had to learn to trust my dogs, especially my leader, and work with them as a team.

This realization came together for me on a very bad six mile run on Casper Mountain in Wyoming. I was running a new lead dog, her first race with me, a dog just 10-weeks postpartum, and four yearlings in their first race. There was a terrible snow storm that blew out the trails; visibility was zero in places and the other mushers where too far ahead of me to be of any guidance. At one point I stopped my team to adjust their harnesses, the snow on the trail was about 8 inches deep and there was a steep hill ahead of us. I got to my leaders, Moon, my newest dog, and Tamaya, a great dog who ran for my three year old daughter, I told my girls to take us home. I set us back on the trail and we headed out with me dredging through the thick wet snow with my girls digging in and tugging hard. We finally arrived at the finish line with my husband and two other people that were mushing our dogs and my three kids, everyone happy to see me. I was happy to see them too, but I was proudest of my dogs, the seven of us learned how to be a team.

You see the Iditarod and all the dog sled races out there are just there as a way for the musher to pay back to his team, it’s their reward for being heroes along the way. The dogs will let you yell, cry, laugh, and joke around, they won’t ever judge you and IF you can let yourself go you will find the hero within you.

I have a poster up in my training center of Iditarod champion Doug Swingley it simply says “Dog’s Need Heroes Too”. I know I was a hero to my dogs that day and they know they were my heroes.

Tags: Michele Forto | Iditarod | Team Ineka | Dog Training Denver | Dog Doctor Radio | Denver Dog Works | Mushing Radio | Duluth Dog Works
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Michele Forto is the business manager and lead trainer at Denver Dog Works. Michele can be reached through her website at http://www.denverdogworks.com

Candlelight and Books = 4-Peat for Iditarod Champion Mackey

Candlelight and Books=4-Peat for Mackey
By Robert Forto, PhD

Four-time Iditarod Champion, Lance Mackey, will go down in history as the only musher (to date) to do the unprecedented, win the Iditarod four times in a row. 

Mackey, 39, was born and raised in Alaska. The back-to-back-to-back-to-back Iditarod Champion and four-time Yukon Quest champion and current record holder says he began mushing "at birth."

"I grew up around racing and the Iditarod. I was at the finish lie in 1978 to see my father, Dick, win by one second. In 1993, my older brother, Rick, won. Both my father and brother won wearing bib #13 in their sixth Iditarod." says Mackey.

Mackey's finish today was like no other in history. Not only did he win the 'Last Great Race' for the fourth time in a row, he did it in typical Mackey style with little to no-rest and blowing past the competitors, King, Baker, Neff, and 2010 Yukon Quest champion, Hans Gatt. In an interview this year on the website http://www.mushing.tv Mackey explains how he prepares for racing the Iditrod with little to no sleep at all. He explains that he starts off by turning out all the lights and turning the heat on full blast and reads by candlelight. He increases the time each day until he has no problem staying up for extended periods of time. 

The winner of this year's Iditarod wins $50.400 and a new dodge truck. Does Mackey really need another truck? He has won the prize the last four years in a row! I think last year he claimed a new car for his wife Tonya. He does have three children: Amanda, Britney and Cain, all of driving age. Maybe they can start a Mackey convoy! 

Citation: The Official Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Guide 2010.

Tags: Lance Mackey | Iditarod | Team Ineka | Dog Training Denver | Dog Doctor Radio | Denver Dog Works | Mushing Radio | Duluth Dog Works

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Dr. Robert Forto is a musher training for his first Iditarod in 2013 mushing under the Team Ineka banner. Dr. Forto hosts a radio show, Mush! You Huskies that can be heard at http://www.mushingradio.com. Dr. Forto can be reached through his website at http://www.teamineka.com 

Dog Sledding Prehistory

Dog Sledding Prehistory
By Robert Forto, PhD

The art of dog driving started with early man. The area in northern Asia known as Siberia, is the location of some of the most brutal weather conditions on the face of the planet. The bone chilling temperatures produce almost frictionless snow and ice that covers everything for the majority of the year.

The next natural step from dogs pulling firewood along the beaches, or dragging home spoils from the hunt across the frozen, snow covered tundra, was to pulling toboggans and sleds. From ancient bone runners dug up at Savoonga on Saint Lawrence Island, we know that the sled was used between four and five thousand years ago. The dog sledding that these prehistoric people started became a crucial tool for the tribes of the north in the fight against Mother Nature for survival.

The Chukchi and Samoyed tribes of Siberia developed dog driving into an art over the centuries. The Chukchi, according to experts, are the first people that depended seriously on the dogs in order to survive. The Russian scholar, Dr. Robert Crane, wrote, “climatic changes and displacement of the Chukchi by a more powerful southern people combined to force the Chukchi to base their economy on sled dog transportation in order to survive.”

In the long winters of the northern region the sled dog’s contributions were the most prevalent. Time and time again the Chukchi people suffered from the scarcity of

food that continually threatened their very survival. This reality was the catalyst that drove the tribe to develop the sled dog. With this development, the Chukchi had trumped the other arctic tribes who competed fiercely for the limited resources. The native people of the north were able to extend their hunting ranges in direct correlation to the added mobility that their dogs enabled them to achieve by pulling sleds of supplies

The original canines that the Chukchi used were likely descended from the domesticated dogs of their competitors from the southern latitudes. The dog of the north scarcely resembled its southern ancestors a few generations later. They were larger, more rigorous, wolf–like and of course very furry. Their thick outer coats were supplemented with a life sustaining undercoat that helped the canine to retain heat, and fight off the bitter cold of the arctic regions.

These early dogs did more than pull sleds; they were hunters, protectors and companions. The sled dog was to become an important part of history, figuring predominantly in a plethora of history changing events. Most assuredly, without the sled dog many things would be different.