Hungry like a wolf

Wow. Ev and I had our first dog sledding/fall training experience with Nancy and her dogs on Sunday. It was unreal! First, the weather was about as perfect as a winter day in Saskatchewan gets - sunny and 2 above. We met Nancy just north of town and she immediately provided me with some authentic mushing gear. I must say, I rocked the "mushing look." Nancy gave us the rundown of the prep involved prior to running the dogs. I can't believe that Nancy does this regularly on her own. Kudos to her because it's not easy - it's a lot of work and needs to be done in a timely matter so that the dogs don't get too restless. And trust me, they let you know that they are ready to go! Initially, the dogs calmly waited in Nancy's trailer, peeking out of their "windows" to see what was going on. Every now and then, a few peeps were heard and I could just picture them saying (here I go giving the dogs human-like qualities...again), "Damn, it's the dumb blonde. This is going to take forever. C'mon, Nancy, push her out of the way and hook us up. Let's go!"

First, the quad was unloaded out of the back of Nancy's truck. Nancy showed me a snow hook. A snow hook is used as a break when you're using a dog sled. It's like an anchor that is "thrown overboard" when you need the team to stop, by hooking firmly in the snow. Nancy showed me how the snow hook is presently useless, given the light dusting of snow we currently have. This is the main reason why it's not safe, at this time, to use the sled behind the team. The quad is a safe alternative. Nancy then hauled out all the "rigging," which includes all the gear needed to attach the dogs to the quad. The gangline is the main line that keeps all the dogs together. Off of the gangline are the tugline and the neckline. The tugline attaches the dog's harness to the gangline and the neckline attaches to the dog's collar and keeps the dog in line. Still with me? Once we harnessed the dogs (each dog has a specific harness size), one at a time, we attached each dog to the gangline in the appropriate spot. Nancy has certain dogs that she puts in different positions along the gangline depending on their strengths and weaknesses. For example, she decided to put "General" and "Garlic" in the lead. They listen well to commands and are well behaved (for the most part). The next two dogs are placed behind the leads in the "post" position, followed by the "team", and then the "wheel" dogs, which are the two dogs directly in front of the sleigh/quad. I wondered if General and Garlic felt a sense of pride when they were lead to the front of the pack, "Looks like you'll be gettin' another view of our arses, boys! haha" Remember poor anxious "Cooper," the stressed-out dog who did circles around his house, food bowl in mouth? He was placed alone on the gangline. Apparently, a running buddy creates anxiety. Poor Cooper. Funny enough, he had a little performance anxiety prior to the run (resulting in a quick clean-up on aisle 4, if you catch my drift). It was interesting to see how each dog "prepared" for their run. Evan immediately hit it off with Cooper and assured Cooper that he had similar "issues" prior to big games.

The process of leading the dogs to their spots on the gangline was pure chaos. These dogs were raring to go and weren't in to dilly-dallying around. Nancy hooked the line to a tree and the tree actually began swaying as the dogs pulled, pleading with us to let them run. Check out this video - my eyes say it all. Chaos. What a rush!

Once we got going, the goal was to keep the quad around 12-15 km and ensure the gangline was tight at all times. The dogs instantly took over, doing what they love best and ran their hearts out. I was totally impressed by their focus and consistency. When I run (I HATE running), I slow down, speed up, contemplate throwing myself to the pavement in hopes that I might sustain an injury that would prevent me from continuing. Not these dogs. It's apparent that they are in their element. It's innate. Nose to the snow, ears perked for commands, legs entering a steady pace. Ev noticed immediately that, like people, each dog had a unique gait. Some dogs almost trotted, others galloped, and a few almost looked human-like barrelling down the trail.

Nancy showed us 3 commands that the dogs responded to: "Gee" - turn right, "Haw" - turn left, and "Hike!" or "Mush!" which means "Go!" Believe me, the dogs do not need to be told when to go! General and Garlic glanced back at Nancy a few times, anticipating her next command. It absolutely amazed me when we came to a fork in the path and Nancy hollered, "Haw!" resulting in a seamless left turn. Frick, I've been trying to teach Dundee, the little white dog, how to shake a paw (unsuccessfully) for a year now.

Nancy entrusted me with the quad for the last half of the run. I'm not gonna lie to you, I was nervous. Although Nancy was directly behind me in the "passenger" seat, the following thoughts ran through my mind, "What if I run over the dogs?" "What if I panic and gun it?" "What if the dogs sense my trepidation and refuse to run?" "What if I freak out and throw myself off the quad?" Everything was cool. I maintained an appropriate speed and the dogs even responded to my nervous, shaky command, "Gee!" I even relaxed enough to take in the unbelievable scenery. Words can't describe how beautiful it was on that trail. Winter scenery can be beautiful? I was under the impression that palm trees were necessary to constitute breathtaking scenery. I was wrong.

We did; however, run into a snag at about the 6 mile mark. Nancy instructed me to yell "Haw," indicating a left turn. It was a sharp left turn. I needed to take the quad wide and I hesitated. Poor General looked back and me, "What the hell?" The dog team stopped - a few ran right. A few ran left. Shit. Nancy immediately shut down the quad and attempted to straighten out the dogs. "Seika," one of the wheel dogs instantly became tangled in the gangline. While Nancy attempted to untangle Seika, Evan held General and Garlic steady in the front to keep the gangline from tangling further. Super helpful as I was, I sat on the quad and fretted, "oh shit. oh shit." Within minutes, all was fine and we were off. The dogs, including Seika, whose oxygen may have been depleted for a few seconds whilst tangled, weren't rattled. Off they went. No biggie. I couldn't help but imagine how stressful that would be if you were alone on the trail. Nancy did, in fact, sustain a significant injury 10 years ago in this exact situation. As she attempted to untangle the dogs, the gangline became wrapped around her knee and the dogs bolted, resulting in a dislocated knee. Those dogs are extremely powerful. You really need to know your stuff - it's not like skiing where you "give it a whirl" on the bunny slope. It's easy to see how you could endanger yourself and the dogs if you're not educated about the sport.

One of my favorite moments of the day (and there were many), was when we passed another team of dogs on the narrow, wooded trail. I gasped, held my breath, and hoped for the best. The fur on the dogs back did not even rustle. The team was "in the zone." Like top athletes, nothing was going to distract them from their run. The head-on pass was seamless. Amazing. I was impressed.

Overall, the day was fabulous. I learned so much and truly enjoyed seeing the dogs in action. Once we completed about 10 miles, we headed to the trailer and the dogs recovered with dog treats and slurps of snow. I swear they were grinning from ear to ear as they panted proudly, "What do you think, blondie. Bet you can't run like that. "