Good news in the sprint mushing circles

  The Anchorage Daily news reports on How the fur Rondy sprint races are bursting with prize money from businesses while the iditorod  has lost some money.  This means that for the first time in many many yrs. the sprint races are pursed high. The long distance race such as the iditorod usually sucks all the money up. I know here in the Yukon the businesses  money goes to the Yukon Quest. Why not it is an international race with lots of exposure for a sponsor. There doesn't seem to be much left for any other style of racing.  It is easy to understand as the Quest  races need a tremendous amount of revenue. 

   The Yukon doesn't have a sprint race to speak of. I mean as far as a open championship. It has happened but dies. I have been involved in the Rendezvous dog races starting again. The trouble is the interest, funding and people to put on a race of that magnitude doesn't exist with such a small population. Maybe a sprint race in the Yukon may be worth while sometime in the future.  

   Today we are getting some snow and the trail was groomed it is becoming very flat now. This week involves picking through the dogs. Putting the fastest for Six miles together and putting the fastest over four miles together. Then Ben and Rachel will put some faster runs on them to prepare for the races in the new year. It is coming soon. We start thinking of our first races sometime in July. It is crazy how much you can think about training dogs when you enjoy it so much. The dogs are looking good. runs have reached over 20 mph. The average is down. This is what is important is the average. You have to train the dogs to maintain a high average. This is what we work on now. Earlier would have been better. The trail just hasn't been great for more speed than what we have been training at now. The hope is to push the average up to eighteen to nineteen mph. Ben and Rachel will then see who cannot make that speed over a particular racing distance. 

  Try and find the link for the information on the fur Rondy from sled dog central. I tried to post the link but doesn't seem to work. It is a good article making me feel that there may be a small revival for sprint mushing in Alaska.  GREAT NEWS

Another training day

 Hi all. Ben and Rachel were out again with the dogs. Rachel ran one of Ben's teams while Ben ran his second team behind her on the training loop. These teams are the teams that spent yesterday off from training. Rachel then ran two of her teams for intravals training. This type of training is stop and go hard in nature. It helps to increase speed in a team. I don't think she will get the team much closer to being ready than they are now.  The teams are looking good. Ben may have a injured dog in his team. The injury comes from an injury that happened last year. Hopefully  that dog will be OK. We will take Christmas and Boxing day off. No training will happen then. Merry Christmas and will talk to you all on boxing day.

 

the cold weather broke

   Yesterday the cold weather gave us a break. Rachel trained two of her teams. They were ready to go I can tell you that. A little too much time off during the cold period. It was nice to see them run and they did excellent. Top speed is climbing up and the average speed throughout the run looks better all the time. Ben did not run as he was gone being social at a friends house. 

 It is getting so close to the racing season. The dog truck was back in the shop with some problems. I just wanted to add a by-pass filter.  The filter needed a return line into the oil pan. We all attempted to put the plug into the oil pan while the pan was still in the truck. I opted for this option because the cost related to pulling the engine out to get at removing the oil pan. The welder attempted the to weld the plug in but it leaked. Then he attempted to weld in further the heat from the welder burned out the oil pan gasket and we had to pull the engine anyway. IT was not low on the stress level. I just got the truck back yesterday. It has been put together beautifully by Bernie. It was also quit a bit quieter when I picked it up. After 200 clicks the noise is back. Oh well we will figure that out too down the road. 

  Rachel and Ben will train today again and we will take some time off for Christmas and will soon be on our way to the first races of the season. The worming needs to be done again and the nails clipped on the dogs well before the first race. Things are going pretty smoothly right now. 

  I will keep in touch with everyone.

Back at the kennel

  Hello everyone. I finally am back. I didn't get many reports while I was gone. I did write a couple more blogs but they did not publish proper.  Rachel and Ben have been running dogs up until last Thurs. The weather decided to drop to a point that is beyond our cut off of minus 25 Celsius These temperatures for a cut off are laughable for longer distance mushers. Their dogs have to get use to moving at these temperatures and beyond. For sprint dogs it is just too hard on them to take them out and run the speeds they go at temperatures this cold.

  We have found a Handler from Germany. I should say he found us through a friend. I haven't met him yet but have talked to him. This is a good thing for us. The help will be very much needed and appreciated  by us here. The plan is still to go race. What is needed now is to put the racing teams together for some runs to see who is fast enough for race speeds. It had snowed here more than a week ago and the trails are nice and flat. It will be good enough for some speed training. 

   I hope this cold weather breaks soon. It is nice when you can get some runs on the dogs prior to Christmas holidays. If you can then you can take Christmas off with no runs at all. The weather is cold enough to bring dogs in. We bring them in to travel kennels that are located in the feed shack. The "feed shack" is a small building that has a wood stove in it and is heated. We keep enough dog food in the building to mix food for a week at a time. The meat is brought in the "feed shack ' to thaw out so we can mix it easier. It saves bringing dog food into the house which we have done for many years.

    With weather like this there is nothing to do but feed the dogs and add straw to their houses. Everyone here did an excellent job while I was gone.  I am very happy to be back home and back near the kennel.  talk to you later

Training held over until Monday

  Hi The weather did n0t cooperate for Ben and Rachel on Sunday. It was too cold to train safely. Ben was home on Monday. Ben was able to train one of his six dog teams four miles and trained his second team an interval. Ben said that all the dogs ran good. Ben had a leader not want to lead early in the year. Ben laid him off by putting him farther back in the team for several runs. Ben put him back in lead and he did great. That was good news. 

  Rachel had no complaints about her run. Rachel is training a new female leader named Honey and she is doing very well. Rachel ran one team intervals today. Leanne ran Rachel's other team for a four mile run today. all training is up to date

  I got contacted by a friend that was wondering if we needed a handler this winter. A handler is someone that spends the winter with our family and helps handle dogs. I said sure as long as he will work out. We will need him to travel to races with us. He will also need to train dogs for us and help with what ever he can around the yard. I haven't met him but will when I arrive back home. Let's hope that he works out for the season. That would be great !   

  I will be talking to Ben and Rachel soon to see what their training plans are. I am not sure what we will plan yet. It will be up to how the dogs looked in the last training run. Talk to you all later

More on Saturday's training

  Hi. I got a call from Ben.  To ask what ski-doo he should  use. His bravo or my ski-doo. Ben and Rachel will use my ski-doo for training tonight.  Rachel and Ben are alone tonight and have to drive a ski-doo for each other. Just in case they come around a corner and run into someone. I asked how the run went. Rachel said her run was awesome and told me that they ran super fast today! I asked if they got tired and she said no. Ben was equally impressed by his run. Ben ran a leader that had been giving him trouble three weeks ago. Ben put him in lead and he did fantastic

  Ben and Rachel got one team each run today. Tomorrow they have to run a team each again. I will keep in touch from home and keep everyone informed

Saturday training

  Hi all. I have been Talking to Ben and Rachel over the phone. I am still away from the kennel. Ben and Rachel are going to do  intravels today. This can be quite grueling for the dogs. If it is done wrong it can have negative consequence's. I learned how to do intravels as an athlete my self. Over the years by trial and error we have learned how to apply this training to sled dogs.

  Rachel and Ben report a decent trail at home now. I think they received a couple of inches since I have been gone. The trail is fairly flat. This is a good time to start some intravel training. This kind of training is a benefit to the speed of the dogs. It allows them to open up in speed and stretch out while running. It works on anaerobic training. This is training the muscle without adequate oxygen. Continued training allows the muscle to perform better and longer with less than adequate oxygen. In Human training the human body does not have the ability to take in enough oxygen to provide the muscles at a high rate of use. Example is while the human body is sprinting.  The body learns how to cope and recover with the proper training. 

  This kind of training does wonders for speed and  response training in dogs. It helps the dogs to react to Q's that are giving while racing for asking for speed or increase of speed.  There are two ways to do it. You are able to do this training with a static rest or a moving rest. To start off we will be doing intravels with a static rest. The distance you run and the amount of rest is a formula that you will figure for your team at a given time of the year. The better shape the team is in the farther they will have the ability to run at high speed before a rest. Condition also results in a shorter rest. Or shorter recovery time. It really is up to the trainer to see how their team looks. This is why it can be detrimental to the team if you push them to fast and hard before they are ready. If you pay any attention to your dogs you will see if you did too much.  Dogs can also run faster, harder than a human can. Human training is just a guide line. 

  I will report back and see how the dogs did today after I talk to Ben and Rachel.  

Long distance coach

  Hi.  Yesterday Leanne thought that she would train Rachel's team for her. She asked Rachel if it would be okay. The answer was no!  Rachel would not let her touch her Leaders there was no way! Leanne quickly backed down and left the training up to Rachel.

   Rachel has a English short hair pointer cross as a leader (Slick). He has worked very well in the past and Rachel has raced him in her main team. We had a talk about that dog and thought he may be getting sour on lead and that switching him into the team would be a good idea. The problem that Rachel was having was who would replace as a leader. There were two girls that Rachel was thinking may lead. We got the dogs from Harris English in Fort Nelson last year (Honey and Sweaty). They have the right head set and are great workers in the team but are quite small. 

  Rachel has done very good with small dogs. I always say that her dogs are too small but she has great success with her smaller dogs. I think that she would do much better with bigger dogs in her team. I have not heard any more about what was going on back home.  When I hear I Will l notify everyone about what is going on.  bye 4 now

Some snow and some good runs

Today Ben and Rachel ran a team of six each after school. Ben ran Finder, Willow Team and Rachel ran the Nadie, Overtime team. The teams ran four miles each.  There were no problems reported from Ben or Rachel.  I asked them which comment would fit their team. HOLY SHIT ARE THEY EVER GOING FAST. or HOLY SHIT THIS TEAM IS RUNNING LIKE CRAP. Both Ben and Rachel said it was the first comment that fit the description of their team best. So both were happy with the teams performance.

  Leanne went out with the ski-doo and the drag to drag the training trail. The drag pushes snow while the snowmobile pulls it.  She said that she stopped to take the snow off the drag. When she started to pull the drag again she felt a tug and then it got easy to pull. She thought wow it is easy to pull with the snow is taken off. She went all the way around the trail and didn't realize that the drag wasn't even behind the ski-doo. She was driving along the trail and noticed something on the trail. She looked ahead and  wondered what the heck is that on the trail. IT was the drag sitting where it had broke off the ski-doo. LOL.  Oh well that is how you learn about draggin the trail. I think that the ski-doo needs a new rear view mirror.

  The trail will be flatter with less dips and holes in the surface. This means that Ben and Rachel can start to really speed their teams up and it isn't a moment too soon. The dogs have to be going much faster than they are if they want to be competitive in the early races.  The speed training on the flat trails help that allot to speed the dogs up.  Everyone did a great job today and if they keep it up the teams will be hard to beat.

  That's all 4 now.

long distance reporting

  Hello. I am unable to report on Ben and Rachel and their training . I am away from home for awhile for medical treatment. I will be in touch as I get reports from home. 

bye 4 now

TRAINING ON and ON

  Ben and Rachel have been very busy.  Two teams went on fri. One of Ben's teams and one of Rachel's teams. It is very difficult to run all four teams after school.  It works out that B + R can run two teams per night after school. The dogs all get run just not on the same night. Fri. was dance night for Ben and Rachel. After the dance they both had a sleep over at a friends house. Today they are both tired but just got finished running two teams each. 

  Rachel is having some leader trouble and is outside working on that issue. All the dogs are run watered and ready for food. 

   We are trying a new formula for watering this year. It is developed by a Vet and the dogs love the taste of it. I don't know what the physical benefits are if any. I just know that they like to drink it and getting water in the dogs can be half the battle. 

   I leave tomorrow so I will leave a long list of reminders for Ben and Rachel. Things that they can do to keep the training positive and to get it done. I won't be here to give orders. HA,ha.  I will do my best to keep everyone informed while I am gone.

  Talk to ya later 

more training

  The dogs had some more days off. We had a family meeting on Weds because we were in need to discuss up coming races.  This year the race in Fort. Nelson is held later. This means that the race after in Taylor is a week later. This brings us passed any holidays that the kids would have.

  Ben is in high school. He says it is too difficult for him to miss that much school. He would like to go but right now Ben  is struggling with his decision whether to go or stay. Or go and race Ft. Nelson and take the bus back home so he is home before his exams.Rachel on the other hand gets homework that she is able to do on the road. If she misses time it is not as difficult as when Ben misses it.

  Rachel has come up with a solution. Rachel would run all the dog teams! the four six and eight dog classes.  Rachel named her dog team out loud on the spot. I asked her if she would feel safe with eight. She said it is only two more dogs than six Dad. I asked her what would happen if she got them all tangled up in a race. She simply said that the girls all listen to her really good and she will carry two snow hooks. It is a goal to run eight dogs now.  I imagine that she will try and lwork her best toward that.

  SO far I  would have to say good for her. I  would be concerned with her safety. I also know how much control she has with the sled dogs. 

  I am unable to sit and blog for very long due to my back pain. Please check back again soon Thanks for checking in

Sunday training.

  Hi all. Rachel and Ben trained their teams of six today. Ben ran two teams with six dogs in each team and trained them for a distance of four miles today. Rachel ran two teams with six dogs in each team and trained them for a distance of four miles also.

 Rachel's teams                                            

     Team one                                      

    Slick   Dini            

  Honey  Slapshot                

  Junior  Sweety                     

  Team two

 Overtime   Nadie

  Sriker      Grenade

 Gypsy     Kelly

  Bens teams

 Team one

Finder Willow

Brownie Dan

Racket  Mac

 Team two

Outlaw  Butch

Geewhiz  Anna

 Rusty  Faceoff

  Today Ben and Rachel went a little too fast. What was discovered was so far there are two dogs that are not quite fast enough. Ben found that Mac was too slow and Rachel found out the Kelly was a little too slow.  

  Mac I felt as long as he was a puppy was a little slower than the rest of his litter mates. This is usually true for the rest of a dogs  life. He is a strong dog with great personality. He is very much into what he is doing. He is just not fast enough and shirley will never be. There are Kennels that would be happy with him and he will contribute to those kennels. Later he will be grouped with some of the slower dogs here. We will find him a good home until then he will continue to train with us.

   Kelly who ran in Rachel's team had some problems with speed in the later part of the run. She is a very nice dog. Real hound like with great bloodlines on both sides. She is very young and we have not had her long. I suspect she will be more comfortable in the future. She will come around I hope !!  This is my opinion and I have been proved to be wrong before. I am only taking an educated guess based on what Ben or Rachel have told me. Rachel suggested getting a helmet cam for me. This way Ben or Rachel could run the dogs while I see how the dogs are running. Great training tool.

  Today Rachel and Ben used different sleds. Ben was using an older style toboggan sled. This type of sled has two runners with a plastic sheet for a bed bolted to the runners. The uprights or stanchions are made of ash or oak. The sled also has bent Plastic Brush bow and Driving bow. The Brush bow is the half round bend in the front of the sled. Prevents trees, dogs and such from getting smashed into the middle of the sled and splitting the sled in half.  It just prevents dogs from being run over in case the sled were to lose control or in the event that the driver loses the sled and the dogs take off without the driver.  The wheel dogs (dogs closest to the sled) would then get bumped by the brush bow if the sled were to get to close to them

  The driving bow is a half round bent piece of plastic that is bent at the top of the wooden uprights that come up vertically where the musher stands on the sled. This is what the musher hangs onto, it's the handle bar.

  The difference in sleds from when I raced dogs till today is many. The biggest difference is the materials used to construct sleds. The materials such as composites and aircraft aluminum provides strength but also makes the sled much lighter. Sleds are getting lighter and much more maneuverable. 

  Hans Gatt is a local sled builder that has provided sleds for Ben, Rachel, Leanne and myself for many years. I have some sleds here that are all wood construction. The basket of the sled is  for tired dogs or equipment it is all wood construction. It is made with wood strips tied together to provide a flexible surface.  This style of sled was not that heavy and would move or stretch left or right when you apply pressure in one direction or the other at the driving handle. 

  Next Hans started to build sleds with one piece plastic baskets. Aluminum runners uprights (stanchions) and composite made these sleds. Added were steering cables that would run up the length of the sled to the line in which the dogs were tied to the sled. When you put pressure left or right on the driving bow it would pull on the cables leading the length of the sled to the line the dogs are attached to . This would pull the front of the sled over left or right giving the sled a steering effect. Not only were the sleds more flexible but as they flexed it also helped steer the front of the sled around corners. This made a huge difference in sprint racing. Hundredths of seconds can separate first from fifth. If you have a sled that would flex and steer it would make for very little sliding in the corners. Sliding in the corners causes friction and drag on the team. This in turn would slow the dog team down. It could push you down in the standings really quick. 

   For longer distance mushers Hans is building a sled with a caboose. The front is like any other  sled. If you were standing on the runners there is another piece of the sled that is behind you. It can haul equipment and you can sit on it as well.  A really good idea if you are traveling long distances. 

  There are many different sleds manufactures out there and all the sleds differ in one way or another. Today we run Danler sleds. These sleds have skis for runners and they come off the bottom of the sled. The sled then folds up for easy transport and storage. The advantage to this is that you can take the runners off the sled and wax them for even better performance. If you are at a hotel it makes it easy. The whole sled does not have to go into the hotel to be waxed. The Danler sled has a very aerodynamic design. The basket is covered with material that hold it's shape when the sled is ready to run. The basket and the sled are one piece. Other sled designs have sled basket bags that are held on to the structure of the sled with velcro. This leaves a bag that has air passing under the bag and the bag sags while in the wind. It just doesn't hold it's shape well and flaps in the wind. Is this better or worse ??? IT would appear that the Danler sled would be better than a bag added to the structure. It is merely an observation.

  The Danler sleds have different holders for your hook. The hook is used to keep the team stopped. The Danler also has handles you put your hand into as you push of pump with your leg while racing. These ideas are integrated into the design of the sled.

  Just a little bit on sleds. If you are interested you could look for sled builder sites to see the design differences. Goggle Gatt sleds, Danler and  Outlaw are all different sleds you could have a look at. 

 Bye 4 now

Fridays training

  Rachel and Ben trained their second teams after school. Rachel first and Ben behind her.  They both looked good leaving the yard. It was warm so I didn't expect that the teams would look that good coming home. I was right the dogs were tired and you could see the effects of the warmer weather on them. It is very important to never overheat a dog. If you do your dog will have problems for the rest of it's life exercising.  Overheating dogs damages their internal temp. regulators sort of speak. The dogs just do not seem the same again while exercising in warmer temp. Wide variates in Temp. also effect the dog worse than before.  I did it once by accident when I was just starting out and didn't recognize overheating in a dog.  The dog will have sunken eyes and pant so bad that it looks like the dog is smiling extra hard. It will be unsteady on its feet as well. It happens really fast. It is usually the dog that works really really hard when temps. are not just optimal that it happens to. You really have to watch the temps with those hard working dogs. 

  Ben and Rachel went around the training trail with no difficulties. Ben lost his snow hook while trying to stop. The hook is the emergency brake for dog sleds. It looks like a rams horn that sits upside down on the ground. The two ends of the horn go into the snow and the rope is attached to the other end which is tied to the sled. When you stop you stick the curved steel ends into the snow and that holds the dogs from taking off. I don't know how he managed to lose a hook but he had two hooks so he was okay with one for the rest of the run. Good day of training today! Ben and Rachel will run again tomorrow and do something shorter if the heat is still turned up here in the Yukon.  That is all 4 now.

 

POLITICS

  This information is not what I prefer as part of this blog.  As the Pres. of the Yukon Junior Association of Mushers and a parent to children that participate in local races. I feel that this is important information to get out to the public.

   We had some trouble within the Yukon Junior Association of Mushers involving a parent and his abusive behavior. The rules and the zero tolerance policy were also not followed. The form work that is provided when you join YJAM clearly states the rules and the zero tolerance policy. Any infractions to this set rules and policy would of course lead to suspension. Any new member is required to read and sign the form work. This is true for any club or association. 

  Michael Salvisberg signed up and began to break every rule and policy we had. He received repeat warnings about his abusive behavior and ways to remedy his actions. He chose not to take the actions available to him to remedy his abusive manner.  We received No conformation from him that he did anything wrong at all. 

  The behavior began to get so bad that I had to barr him from YJAM and suspend any coaching privileges at the Arctic Winter Games. This was not done without  a solution to get him reinstated. He chose not to follow any process we laid out.  His son was not barred because of Micheal's abusive behavior.

  We helped his son at the Arctic Winter games provided team dogs, lead dogs,  sled dog racing equipment and sleds. Four days after the Arctic Winter Games  Michael Salvisberg went to the Human Rights Commission to put in a bogus complaint stating that we were bigots and predigest against Europeans namely (SWISS) This was also investigated by the registrar here in the Yukon where Micheal also went with his complaint. We were told we were within our rights to take the action we did. Micheal went to the paper to every known source to complain about us. It shed a poor light on the Association and left a shred of doubt about what was going on within the association. He has a way with dividing people. It was very clear it was his abusive behavior and temper that was the four front of the problem. We solved the problem the only way we knew how.

  We were now faced with a bogus complain brought to the Human rights commission. The executive of the association brought proof of his behavior to the commission showing that we were with in our rights to take action against the abusive behavior of Micheal Salvisberg. The complaint moved forward despite this. We were now in the position to vigorously defend the complaint thinking that he got it this far now what. We felt we needed  a lawyer.

  We set out to prove that Michaels abusive behavior was the cause and we found that his behavior has been a problem in mushing for many years and spread a vast area geographically. We made note of this and talked to race officials that had witnessed the same behaviour. This was signed witnessed accounts of his behaviour. Not hearsay. 

  We put together a thirty something page document that showed he is a problem with everyone and indeed we were not bigots and the issue was not his nationality. He then dropped the complaint like a tonne of brick. 

  We looked for a way to vindicate the association and get our money back from defending the bogus complaint. This bogus complaint took money from the hands of Junior Mushers and from our own pockets.  We looked at the commission first. There is a way in which the commission will find complaint's vexatious and frivolous. We received no help from the commission in these regards. 

  We decided to go the the Small claims court and at least get it in front of a judge. There were more cost and delays. It was very stressful for all that this concerned. The conclusion was that there was no evidence or scanty at best that we were discriminating against Michael S. The court how ever could not award us money as it was in the hands of the commission to do this.

  All this information can be seen if you Google Michael Salvisberg. 

 The kick is,  a local race, the Copper Haul Twister has let Micheal Salvisberg in the race as a sponsor. I was also told the he may come and race. We presented the race our reasons for not letting him get involved in the race. We knew he was capable of ruining the race and the fun that surrounds it. Remember we and officials in the sport had witnessed his abuse of his dogs, volunteers, organisers, officials and even spectators. Our concern then was obvious. We didn't want him to bring this abuse back into the sport. It was simply a concern and we wanted him removed totally from the race. That was the only solution and still is the solution and that is simply to say no. 

  The race organisers did not get back to us about any solution to the problems that we were concerned with. That left us with no avenue but to tell others who were involved with the race and not to support it if Micheal is involved period. You have to remember his behaviour is witnessed not hearsay we don't have a personal vendetta against the guy but are truly concerned about the integrity of the sport. 

 I will not subject myself or my children to this guys abuse. In the end some of the race officials and participants went ahead and complained that we were concerned about this telling us to grow up. Why wouldn't you be concerned. This is very serious!  We simply are looking out for the best interest of the sport. 

  We were treated quite rude. We received no replies to allot of our questions and concerns. It leads be to believe that the CHT twister has turned private and does not concern itself with participants that want to get involved to help keep what little integrity remains in the sport intact. 

  Copper Haul Twister remember it is your members and participants that make a race. You should listen to their concerns and take them seriously.  There was a blog stating that we should grow up. When all concerned replied to the blog because of the statement the person running the blog. (Dave Damaris north of ordinary) went ahead and deleted the replies.  Why would he bring issue with all this on his blog if he wasn't ready to get the replies that address once again our concerns.  So much for freedom of speech.

  In closing I would like to thank all that support us in our effort to protect the integrity of the sport and to help make it fun and safe for everyone that participates. The support has come from many that have put years into the sport. These people are Duffy's pets, Sean fitzgerald, aka mum, Suzie rogan and Hans Gatt, the Kinvig family and many other mushers that really care about the integrity and future of the sport.

  

mushing politics

  Yes there are allot of politics going around about the sport right now. It needs to be explained and I will do so on ben and Rachel's site. I will do it even though I shouldn't. What I have to say is important to the past and the future of mushing so I think that it is important to mention. I will go over the facts once and then I will never let the politics enter our mushing again.

 I will talk about it later on a future blog for now I will need it to settle. It will be better that way.

  Today Ben and Rachel got home from school and ran two teams at the same time. Rachel was first leaving the chute and Ben followed in her foot steps. OR should I say the dogs footsteps, It didn't take long and Ben passed Rachel due to some leader trouble in Rachel's team. The two of them did a six mile run in really fast time considering the warm temps. and poor trail conditions. It is so nice to see their teams coming together. It actually got dark on them today and they had to put headlights on. I know it doesn't take long from the first runs with a head lamp till the days begin to get longer again. When they have the lights on it is actually a good sign. Not many training runs left before their racing begins. We all look forward to that here. Please everyone do the snow dance because we really need it.

 Mushing politics 101 coming up.

another warm day here in the beautiful Yukon

   The weather is super nice today in the Yukon. It makes it easy to clean out the dog houses. The straw gets wet and freezes. When the weather warms up then it makes it easy to take out the old straw. The males seem to be able to pee into the doorways of their houses. It makes for allot of work for the dogs that do that. You have to change straw quite often or they get wet. It is so nice to see them on fresh dry straw. The days off of training keep Ben and Rachel busy. 

  We are still in need of snow. Four inches would be nice. The sky looks like it could snow, almost rain. I hope it doesn't snow. 

  The dogs seem to be gaining some muscle tone and strength. The meat and steady training sure change the shape that they are in.  Tomorrow Ben and Rachel will train some more six mile runs with the dogs. It looks like the dogs should be ready for our first race at the end of Dec.  Ben and Rachel will be on their Christmas break and we will stay in Fort Nelson and then on to Taylor B.C.  During the week between The Race in Fort Nelson and Taylor the racing teams will train one day. I don't know how much training will have to be done. That depends on how many dogs will be on the truck. Ben and Rachel will decide this because they do all the work. Ben and Rachel may just want to take their race teams and a couple of spare dogs. The other option would be to take all our dogs and train them all while traveling. Again this is something Rachel and Ben will have to think about. I really enjoy joining them as much as possible. Ben should have his drivers license by then and can do allot of the driving.  That is all 4 now. 

   

Kennel and dog maintainence

  Another wonderful warm day in the Yukon. When Ben and Rachel get home  they will work at checking feet and nails. Ben and Rachel noticed that the dog's nails are getting long. One thing that is harder to see is the condition of the feet. It doesn't take long to get cracks on their feet which need treatment. It can be cracking on pads and deeper in the webs of their feet. I learned allot from Buddy Streeper while on a tour with four Junior mushers At their kennel. He uses a clean plastic kennel and puts a liquid in it. The liquid can be an antiseptic to clean the wounds. If a dog has a cut that may be getting infected you place the dog in the kennel to stand in the liquid this helps to clean and soften the wound. When the dog comes out of the Kennel  the wound has to be scraped out so no scab is left to cover over the wound. The reason for this is if the wound scabs over it prevents healing from the inside out. Wounds in the foot heal from the inside out. You have to keep the air and healing ointments on the inside of the wound. All the straw in dog houses will also taken out and exchanged with new straw. When the weather gets warm it makes it easier to take any wet straw out.

 We are working on getting more sponsors to come on board this year. Some of last years still have not got back to us. Rachel and Ben sold the Heeler pups that helps. We are still in need of more to get to the races planned.  The plans still need to be done regardless. It takes allot of planning to get to the races and to train specific to the race planned. It is necessary to go to some preliminary races to get ready for our main races.  

A well deserved day off

  Every one here has earned their day off.  Dogs too. I can't believe how quick that those dogs recover from strenuous exercise. It has always amazed me. I think it helps being in this stage of training. It is before too many miles get put on their bodies. It seems when attitude is high recovery is faster. Or at least appears to be such.

 When I ran further distances I have seen dogs act differently. If the dogs  aren't jumping around and all happy while at rest in the dog yard you know then something is up. It is called a sour dog and you really see it when you hook them up to go out for a training run. The dogs could care less. This is time to give the dogs some more time off and some TLC.

  I ran dogs myself since 1987 that is when I started getting involved. I was hooked right away. It was like it was in my blood waiting to be discovered. I really liked all animals as I grew up. I always wanted to be a vet. Then I wanted to just work with animals in one level or another. It was a perfect fit. I had allot to learn about dogs and more to learn about looking after multiple dogs. The great thing about it is I didn't have to go to school to do it. 

  I carried on with the dogs mostly because work was scarce in the winters for carpenter and that is what I was doing at the time. Dog racing occupied my time in the winters. It took me to many places. I have learned lots about it and am still learning everyday. I moved to the North to learn that the southern style of racing dogs was pretty well non existent up here in the Yukon. I was used to sprint races up to thirty five miles.  Up here the longer distance races were king. So I shifted my breeding program and training so I could participate in the local races. 

 At this time in my life I had a young family. I didn't get to all the races for one reason or another. It was usually lack of funds or lack of time. I stuck with it though.

  When we moved here to the property we have now,  the training got easier. I could train out my back door. Where I was before it took allot of effort to go out and train. I was usually hauling the dogs with the truck to a dog training trail I could train on or staying at a friends house where he had decent training trails.

We stayed with it. Our dogs got better we got more competitive. I was making plans to race in stage races. Races where you run a certain distance and then stop for the night. The next day it is the same thing. This can go on for 5-8 days of racing. I was putting together a team for this type of racing.

  It turned out that I also started a touring business called WILD N' REST ADVENTURES. I made a huge business plan. The business was starting to get real busy. I was booking between races and kept dogs just for touring. The business was at a place where I was going to have to hire a guide. I was very busy but very happy.

  It was in 2000 when at work I had a wall come down on me and  crush some discs in my spine and damaged lots of other parts of my body. I tried to get back to work and mushing but it has not happened. I was forced to sell my kennel. Hans Gatt took most of them and raced them successfully in races as other mushers did the same. I kept some of the breeding stock that I thought would build a good dog team if it ever happen that we started to race again. I don't even consider racing dogs myself as part of my future any more.

  Leanne and I asked the kids if they would be interested in mushing the dogs. They both said that they wanted too. It included a portion of the work too. I couldn't do the work that I used to do with the dogs either. To this day Ben and Rachel still race the dogs. I think we have produced ten litters since my injury and the dogs get faster every year. 

  I love being involved and go to more races now than when I was racing, it is allot of fun. It is also a time that you spend with your family that is like no other. Our family talks don't happen around the kitchen table but happen in the dog truck on our way to competitions.  We spend allot of time together while traveling to races at races and while here training. 

  I would say that if it wasn't for my injury I wouldn't be doing this with my children. I say I am pretty lucky ! I keep saying I will talk about dog sleds but I never get to it. I will though sometime stay tuned.

A beautiful day to train dogs

    What a great day to train. It was a perfect day to train. The kids did head on passes. This is when dog teams meet while  going in opposite directions. IT was perfect training in a controlled situation. It was better than going to a race any day. Rachel lost her team while leaving the yard. Ben went through the loop but Rachel was no where to be seen. She ran quite a ways before she found her team again. The dogs had stopped on the trail with the lead dogs siting down. Luckily no one was hurt. Rachel got them all straighted out and finished her Training run. To cut down on time Rachel and Ben are training their dog teams together at the same time. It really helps in making a shorter day for all involved. We got a little snow this evening. I hope that it will help to fill holes on the trail. The world championships are being held on Feb. 21-23 2009. This takes place in Anchorage Alaska. The dogs all looked great. Rachel had to have a talk with her leader as he decided today was a play around day while training. It wasn't long and he was working good again. I hope That the weather holds Untill we get more training runs in .

Time to train four teams 6 miles each.

Rachel had a sleep over and volleyball this morning. I asked Rachel how late her and her friend Sam stayed up before they went to sleep ? I asked a few times my quess is midnight or later. Her answer is half past ten. I will go with an average. It shows on her she doesn't feel too motivated. Ben was out last night to a movie. He was late home and in bed. His motivational level is equal to Rachels. What is a coach to do. It isn't easy as they grow. Physically yes but mentally no.
They are outside as I write. I quess I did something right. Or said something right. Today is the the teams first six mile runs. We are rest assured after some six miles that they can race any distance that Ben and Rachel choose to take them in their age classes. The kids are looking forward to the races they have planned. It will be a fantastic year to ready young dogs for next years Arctic Winter Games. It will be held in Grande Prairie. It's hard to believe that Grande Prairie will have enough snow to run sled dog races. Only the residents know best.
The trail is in need of some more snow so speed will have to be held back today. Rachel, Ben and the dogs will have to be patient. It pays off in the end. It is a beautiful clear day today with zero wind factor. I look forward to seeing their teams in action. Happy Sat. to everyone. 

  Rachel and Ben ran two teams at once. Rachel took her team in the lead. Ben's team followed. It makes for a much shorter day this way. We can train the teams in half the time. It went really good for the dog's first six mile run. The dogs had some stops at places they are used to turning at or stopping at. Other than that the dogs moved pretty good. We are very happy at this point to have the miles on the dogs that we have on them. It is nice to have some six mile runs on the dogs before Dec. It can get very cold during Dec. If it gets too cold the dogs do not train. Our cut-off for training is -25 Celsius. It seems to be counter productive to be training at temp colder. 

   The dogs nails will all be clipped this weed-end. Once the diet starts to get really good to compensate for weather and hard training the nails grow in thick, long and quick. Another reason is the dogs are standing on snow. Snow is not good at wearing nails down like dirt Is. During the summer season the nails rarely if ever need to be clipped. It is however very important to keep the nails on the dogs clipped and in good condition.Over and out.

Time to start grooming the trail ?

Yes we groom the trail. That only can mean one thing. There is enough snow to GROOM the trail. What is actually done when grooming the trail is you get on a "iron dog" or what is known as a snowmobile. In most dog mushers yard you will find various" things" that they pulled behind their snowmobile at one time or another to help pack a trail or groom a trail. Grooming is when the "thing" that you pull behind the snowmobile moves snow where you want it.
It can be 14 foot 2x6 boards on edge with 3 foot 2x6 cross members. You pull this with the 14 foot members length wise. The snowmobile pulls the "thing" along and the cross members plow the snow flat. As you pull it through the snow the snow piles up in front of the crossmembers. The snow that is piled up in front of the cross members will fall in the holes on the surface of the trail. It also makes the trail flat cross way across the three foot way. Not long after snow has been moved in this way it "sets" up hard. The friction of moving snow makes it harden.
Ben and Rachel will then train their dog teams on the trail. The dogs are able to reach faster speeds safer on a flat, hole filled surface. Not only do they reach faster speed but it will help to prevent injury. Just imagine if you were running as fast as you could. Then suddenly on your next stride you find your self stepping in a hole. Ouch !!
After Ben and Rachel run on the trail a few times it helps to pack it. The "thing " that was pulled behind the snowmobile filled in holes then the dogs run over it and pack it. Pretty soon after a few more times grooming new snow fall there is not one hole in the surface of the trail.
When dogs run on it the first few times the dogs' feet punch holes in the surface of the snow.
Then there is another "thing" in our yard we pull behind the snowmobile. It is made of 8 foot steel runners. It has steel crossmembers that will cut into the surface of trail where the holes are. The depth of cut is adjustable. It cuts out and fills in the holes thus repairing a trail. After enough training runs on the trail in becomes very hard and the dogs only leave their toe nail marks on the surface. It's crazy I know but when it gets that hard we are wishing for snow again so we can start all over.
At this moment there is so little snow that it is not possible to do much effective work with the "things" we pull behind the snowmobile. We are need another four inches and it would be perfect.
Rachel and Ben are training on the trail as it is now. It means that teams have to be held back as to not get going to fast on the uneven surface.

That's a little news on 'Grooming trail " Thanks for popping by for a visit talk to you soon.

It snowed a little today.

We will take what ever snow comes our way. Leanne ran one of two of the four teams today. This makes it easier for the Kids after school. If they had to run two teams each it would be getting late before they were done. Later on they should have one main team each to run. One team will be left over of injuries that they may have gotten. Sick dogs, Dogs that can't quite make the team because they are too slow now etc etc.
We work with them all to keep them in shape in case the kids need a replacement for their main team. Injuries do happen but rarely around here. This year could be a bad year for injuries because the lack of snow on the trail. It is rough and dogs can pick up injuries running fast on trails with defects bad enough.
Any sick dogs we nurse back to health. They may have gotten sick and missed some training runs with the main team. missed training can put a dog behind then it will get dropped and put back in a team that is running a little slower. Dogs that are not making the speed are put in a slower team and asessed. They could be slightly hurt or the speed scares them because they are just not capable of the required speed. Those dogs are usually sold to mushers who travel greater distances at a slower speed. Sometimes dogs like that fit right in at slower speeds.
I think I said something about talking about sleds soon. I will do that later on. For now the training is back on. I am not sure if Ben and Rachel are racing this week-end. If not we will take the team to a different trail system and run. The hope is to find a really wide trail where they can meet head on and pass one another. This is good training for the new dogs.
If they race we will be sure to keep everyone up to date on their results. That is our day for today thanks for checkin in

Time to train.

Where is the snow ?

We have been waiting for snow, but none to be seen. The kids say the trail is rough and I think they are right. I talked to Jonathon lucas up on the fish lake road and he says they have eight inches. The copper haul twister is held there. We will go to that race on Sun. The purpose is to expose some of our younger dogs to racing before we head out to other races. The kids race is a four dog race. Ben is too old to be counted as a junior in the race at the Copper Haul Twister. The next age group is the adult class and the distance they run is twelve miles. Twelve miles does not fit in with anything that the kids will do all season. We won't train a team to race twelve just for one local race in the Yukon. They will let Ben race four dogs in the kids race but will not allow him to collect any prizes. I hope Ben finds incentive to go to the race this weekend to give dogs experience.
We have been thinking of training a team for Ben to run at the Copper Haul twister. It will be later in the season once we get longer runs on the dogs. It will not be his main race team for the regular season that races at the copper haul twister. We may have enough dogs here to train a team for the longer race this year. I think Ben would enjoy racing with the adults.
It turns out to be another busy day for the Ben and Rachel. Ben with boxing again and Rachel is off to Volley ball after school. No training the dogs again today. It will be okay because they jump up miles next run and the dogs will be well rested and ready for the bump up. The dogs will run six miles. I think in the next blog I will talk a little bit about sleds and the differences in the way they are made and advancements over the years. Until next time thanks for reading talk to you all later !

The dogs are looking rested.

On their second day off the dogs look ready to go. Super athletes. The kids will put on some longer miles this week. Rachel has volleyball this weekend so I am not sure how the training will fall into place untill I hear from everyone about their schedules. The dogs will move somehow. Leanne trained two teams the other day and had fun doing so. She was impressed with the teams that the kids have been training
We have two Blue heelers in the house. (Australian cattle dogs) wonderfull dogs. A female and a male. Molly and Hook. The kids sold a litter of five pups to help support their racing. The money will go towards fuel, hotel and food while on the road at races. The idea worked very well and we plan on a second breeding of our pair. Leanne is away from the kennel working. It makes some extra work for Ben and Rachel. If we keep ultra organized we can make it fairly easy. We will put in a training report when we start again. Talk to you all later.

The dogs are resting Ben and Rachel are not

Hi everyone. We had some colder temps. this morn. It was down to twenty six below. Still no more snow. The kids were off to school today. Ben has boxing lessons tonight. Rachel played volleyball after school. IT Will be tricky to fit everything in when the dog racing starts.
The dogs rested today and they needed it. We are increasing the meat in the diet. We got our second pallet of dog food. Another 45 bags. Leanne unloaded the pallet and put it into the U-haul trailer. Thanks to Dr. Tim Hunt for the help with the cost for dog food. He sells a commercial dog food called pursuit. He is based in Michigan. The food has proved to be of good quality. This observation is based on the race dogs health and performance. We have raised litters of pups with this food. Mother and pups do really well on it !
I think that it is important to know that it takes alot of people in the background to help Ben and Rachel get to the races and allow them to live the life with dogs like they do. We have had great support from family and the community of Whitehorse Yukon. The offers poured in last year as we got ready for the Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife.http://www.arcticwintergames.org/. Most of the same sponsors last year are helping out again this year. There will be some local races here in Whitehorse to go to. These races are key to help prepare the teams for some of the bigger events.http://copperhaultwister.blogspot.com/ The copper haul twister is a good example of a race that is good to help prepare for some of the bigger races. It is well run and everyone seems to leave with something for their efforts.
Next training day will be on Weds. Ben and Rachel will be training after school. Then train again on the week-end.

Another great day in the Yukon.

Today Ben and Rachel trained another four teams with sleds. They all did good. Ben's team is experiencing some temporary leader difficulty. The whole family sat down and tried to trouble shoot the problem. We think we have a solution for next training run and will try and implement the solution.

The dogs get two days off. Then back at the miles. Ben and Rachel have become very good dog drivers and it has made it easier each year to coach them. The teams this year finds a lot of yearlings to train. This makes it interesting as you never know what could happen. We do our best to have major consistency while training but you never know what comes your way out on the trails. Ben and Rachel are doing their best to train new leaders every yr. It looks like there will be some good ones up and coming. Time will tell. Our training system makes sure that new leaders (or young dogs) are not pushed too hard until we are sure they are ready.

The trail has little snow on it and it makes it rough so we are keeping the speed down to around 16-17 MPH. That is probably a little fast for the conditions but the dogs have to "roll" as soon as possible to develope the right muscles. The trail will be groomed when the dogs have days off. Hopefully . IT will snow some more during the dogs rest period.

I think that some of the life lessons Ben and Rachel learn happen because they are dealing with dogs and the rest of their family so close all winter long. I will talk about that later on one of my blogs. For now the team and Ben and Rachel are having some very good days.



Talk to you all later.

Running on snow in the Yukon !!

Hi everyone Welcome to the blog site of Ben and Rachel Kinvig. Rachel is pronounced Rachelle. French spelling. We are going to try and blog away for this racing season. I have tried to get Ben and Rachel to keep a diary but no luck . I thought this would be a good way for them to keep track of their racing season.
Ben and Rachel are a brother sister racing team. I am Darren their father and Leanne is their mother. We are a family effort in the sport.
Ben and Rachel are currently training 24 dogs and have 6 puppies to add to next season. NEW additions to the family are Gypsy, Anna, and Kelly. These dogs are from the kennel of Arleigh Reynolds in Salcha Alaska. Thanks alot to Arleigh for the dogs!! They are fitting in great to the teams!
Ben and Rachel are running 4 teams of 6 right now. Yes we have snow but barely any that is the reason for the small teams. Ben and Rachel are on sleds now for two weeks. They are preparing for Ft.Nelson and Taylor B.C. The main races will be Junior Worlds and Junior North American championships in Alaska. That is if the fuel kiddy doesn't dry up before hand.
Ben and Rachel have numerous sponsors to keep them racing. We also have many friends that help out whenever possible. Today 4 teams will be trained 6 miles each. A fairly big day for Ben and Rachel but they have had bigger ones. Good luck training tomorrow.