Dogs in Alaska

Note:  if you see a little sign at the bottom that says "Read more", it means I haven't run out of hot air and there's more to read if you like.  I notice a comment from those concerned about cruelty to dogs during the race for your information.

When thinking about Alaska in the past, I had been curious about the sled dogs.  As a dog lover, who wouldn't be?  However, I really hadn't given it much thought.  I knew I was looking forward to visiting some kennels and cuddling puppies and meeting some dogs but, as is the way of Alaska, I should have been prepared to be overwhelmed by the whole experience.

Our first visit was to the kennels housing the sled dogs used by the Park Rangers in Denali.  As  little aside, the rangers I met anywhere in the US were all young, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, polite and extremely cheerful young people who were just thrilled you were coming to visit and wanted to share their enthusiasm with you.

The young lady who talked to us about her job at the kennels was just the same.  First we were free to wander around and meet the dogs.  My first impression was that they all looked a bit scruffy but I soon realised they were working dogs and not suburban prima donnas who were regularly groomed.  (I'm sure Jock wishes he could join their ranks when it comes to brush time.)  And they are not your thorough bred Huskies.  Nevertheless, they are divine.

It was a hot day when we visited the kennels and the dogs, like us were not too enthusiastic about it.  However there was no need to fear being snarled at or barked at because they just love people.  Everyone who wanted them got lots of dogie cuddles and licks that day but it still wasn't enough for me.  The ranger explained that the sled dogs are not an officially recognised breed of dogs because they are bred for a purpose not a set of specifications.   They are bred for long legs for running through the snow, for endurance not speed, for their temperament and keenness to please the musher, for paws that facilitate running in snow, for long, bushy tails that can wrap around their nose and keep them warm when sleeping outside in the snow and probably a lot more.

The dogs and sleds are used to patrol Denali National Park in winter.  Noisy machines are not allowed and there are very few roads anyway.  It is also one way of maintaining an important part of Alaskan history.  The rangers have cabins (as you have seen) set up in various positions in the park and they patrol from there.  These cabins were once accommodation for workers who built some of the roads and were moved to various places around the park for use mostly in winter.  They are set up with food and provisions ready for the winter.  Mostly the dogs sleep outside in the snow.  Brrr!  I hope I'm not a sled dog in my next life!  Here's a brief glimpse of some of the rangers' equipment.

So after some information giving, it was time to hook up the dogs.  And I thought the rangers was enthusiastic .... the noise was deafening!  They all wanted a turn!  In the end five lucky ones were chosen and they were nearly jumping out of their skins to start.  It was absolute madness with dogs barking because they were excited to be going and other dogs barking because they wanted a turn.  Usually eight or ten dogs pull a fully loaded sled but this time it was only five because there was only the ranger and off she went hanging on for grim death.  Those in the know were most surprised when she rounded the corner on the home straight and had not been thrown off - no snow to slow the dogs down and a light load into the bargain.   I really wanted her job!

While she talked some more about the dogs and their role in the park other kennel personal came and gave the dogs water and sat with them because they wanted to go again and were really vocal about it.  I wonder if kennel workers get industrial deafness.  Those dogs have very loud voices.

One more quick whip around for a few more pats and licks and I had to leave.









My next dogie experience was visiting the kennels of Jeff King.  He is famous for having won the annual Iditarod sled dog race four times.  Apparently there is some discussion about cruelty to dogs during these events.  All I can say is I hope not and I can't see how anyone would get any advantage out of it.  Also every step of the race is supervised by vets to ensure that all dogs who continue are fit to do so.  When I visited the kennels, again I just thought about cute puppies and fast dogs (armed with my previous experience at the rangers' kennels) however, this is different again.

The Iditarod is an annual race 1200 miles across Alaska in March.  It has a ceremonial start in Anchorage but really starts in Wasilla (home to you know who).  It is a gruelling race that commemorates the journey taken in 1925 by a relay of dog mushers and their teams of dogs to take serum to Nome to prevent and outbreak of diphtheria.  Its one tough race and people come from all over the world to participate in it.  Dogs and their mushers train for years.  Mushers pay out lots of money to keep and care for dogs.  Entering the race is a strategic nightmare with all the preparations that must go into each stage and rest stop in the race.  The prize money fluctuates each year according to the economic times and the sponsorship.  And it is and huge achievement simply to complete the race.

Jeff King's kennels are a bit depleted at present - he only has about 80 dogs ....  and of course some adorable puppies.

Jeff King

I think he wants to come home with me.

We met Salem, a champion Iditarod dog, who had shared many experiences with Jeff King including a first place.  He is a kennel favourite and, although retired, is top dog.  I also met both of them again later in a book I read about the Iditarod.

Salem

Preparing for a training run

A quick swim to cool off.

We saw some training activities and the excitement and noise level was even louder here because there were so many dogs.  They showed us how the dogs are hooked up to a small tractor and pull it around a track as part of their summer training.  The dogs were hosed down to keep them cool while they were being hooked up and I don't think they liked that too much.  But when they returned from their run, they went through a big pond of water and really seemed to enjoy that.

It's a sled dog, not a gerbil.

Like the dogs at the National Park kennels, these dogs just live to run and it must take an enormous amount of work to keep them fit, healthy and happy year round.  And all of this because of a passion for mushing dogs across Alaska and and a bigger passion for dogs.

And so you think the dogie episode is done - not quite.  One evening a quiet woman with a couple of dogs strolled in as we were finishing dinner.  She was quiet, looked young, the dogs looked like sled dogs.  One dog was very excited to be there and had difficulty focusing his attention on anything and the other dog was more sedate and calm and was let off the lead to wander around.   This shy, quietly spoken woman was yet another amazing Alaskan with quite a tale to tell.  Her name was Lisa Fredric and she told us about her adventure of a lifetime.  It was spell binding.

Lisa and her husband are salmon fishermen (is fisher persons PC?!#*  Yuk!) and they both work boats off the Kodiak archipelago in the south of Alaska and compete to see who has the better catch.  They live on Kodiak Island which is a feat of bravery in itself given the density of grizzlies.  One holiday, they found themselves in Nome for the end of the Iditarod and Lisa was hooked.  After that she worked as a volunteer at various stops on the Iditarod for a few years and her passion for the dogs just grew.  She contacted Jeff King and asked if she could come and work at his kennels through the winter and she was accepted.  For two winters, she worked with the dogs, fed the dogs, cleaned up after the dogs, fell off sleds, dragged herself out of bed to work in freezing conditions and generally honed her skills until she was given a team of puppies to train.  And then her big chance came to race the puppies in the Iditarod.  Her book is entitled Running with Champions and I could not put it down.  It is a catalogue of sacrifice and passion and love of dogs and determination with more than a sprinkling of self doubt.  She was forty when she and her team completed the race and one of her team was Salem.  Lisa is now fifty and she doesn't look a day over thirty.  She and her husband spend part of the year fishing for salmon and part in Denali.  It's obviously a very agreeable combination.  I admire that woman so much.  I have the book and it will be compulsory reading for all my dog loving friends when I come home.

Next installment will be the Kenai Peninsula.

Lotsaluv

Carmel