My attention was just drawn to a news article in the on-line "paper", The Alaskan Dispatch. According to the story, a dog in Jake Berkowitz kennel attacked and injured a two-year-old child. Please read the details of the article to get a good understanding of what happened.
I frequently see photographs and video-tape of very small children interacting with dogs, often in situations in which they are unsupervised. I can't stress enough how dangerous this can be. Nearly every day I see a news article on the CNN or Fox News website describing how a small child was severely injured, and sometimes killed, by a dog.
We very rarely allow small children into the Stardancer Historical Sled Dogs dog yard, and our yard is well fenced to prevent stray children or wild animals from inadvertently entering the dog's space. Although the Stardancer dogs are well socialized to adult humans, they've very rarely seen children and they tend to be exuberant, "jumpity lickety" dogs. Last year I gave a kennel tour to a co-worker and his young daughter, and that was conducted very carefully.
It started with a safety briefing, in which I explained to my co-worker the nature of these animals and the importance of not allowing his daughter to go within the "circles" of tethered dogs, or inside the pens of animals housed in that manner. She got lots of opportunities to pet dogs, but only after I had physical control of each, with my hands on the dog's chain or collar. I made certain that I was never more than an arm's length away from the little girl.
She had a wonderful time visiting the dogs, but most importantly, it was as safe as her father and I could make the experience.
In most cases, when children are injured by dogs it is by their own family's pets. Adults become complacent when a dog behaves perfectly day after day, year after year. We adults sometimes forget that young children don't know how to 'read' canine body language (most adult dog owners don't have all that great a grasp), and that kids sometimes do things that annoy or even hurt dogs. The only way the dog has to tell the kid to stop is with his or her teeth, and dogs do indeed tend to go overboard once they've reached their breaking point.
In a kennel setting, with multiple dogs that rarely see kids, diligence is especially important. We don't know for sure what goes on in a dog's head, but we do know that once the dog is aroused beyond a certain level it is impossible to get through to the dog through verbal cues or "commands" alone. The same is true of human beings, because of the way that adrenalin (epinephrine) acts on the central nervous system.
In any event, my heart goes out to little Elin Shuck, his parents and to Jake and his family as well. It is a heart breaking situation and one that I hope other dog mushers, and all other dog owners, will make every effort to prevent.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Finally - Break Up has Arrived
We are FINALLY seeing break-up in the Interior, and as expected, it's a wet, muddy, mucky, slushy mess. Although I got off duty from my job on Tuesday, I spent Wednesday through Friday in training. I'm please to report that I qualified on all three weapons platforms quite handily. Those include pistol, shotgun and patrol rifle. Everyone on my shift trains and qualifies together, and our crews average score was well above 90%. It is comforting to know that the guys who will have my back if things go south are very well trained and competent.
Yesterday was my first day I could call my own, and Trish and I spent it doing break-up clean up around the place. I got a good start on cleaning up the yard next to the cabin, but it is truly an ugly mess. Although my former handler was pretty good at keeping my yard scooped and tidy, he was much less so about his own. It's going to take some serious work to prepare that area to safely house dogs during summer, when I hope to take advantage of the shade that upper yard offers.
All the dogs in my yard had opportunities to play "run amok" as I carefully cleaned straw out of houses, spread straw in the most mucky parts of the yard, and did general maintenance. There are a couple of dog houses that need to be rebuilt, but I can't do much until it thaws more as they are still solidly frozen in place.
All of the dogs were well behaved during their free-run time. Friday and Thowra, both less than a year old, were properly deferential to the other dogs. I decided to give Thowra some time in a pen with Capella, a young adult female. I think today I'll put young Friday in with Rose, and give Beau some time out on a swivel post.
We picked up garbage that spent the winter hiding beneath the snow, and hauled it to the dumpster station on the four-wheeler pulling a trailer. On the way back to the house apparently the drive belt on the machine broke, which triggered a safety switch to reduce power to the machine to next to nothing. That means I'll have to haul the machine to town for repair sometime this week. The sooner I get it in the sooner I can get it back and use it for dog training. This is the second time I've had this issue with the machine, so I'm thinking that I should probably plan to just replace the drive belt with a new one every year or two.
The equipment shed held up well over the winter, and I'm very pleased with that. The dog food shed wants a different roof, but I knew that even when I put it in service last fall. That is also a project I'd like to get to pretty quickly. Toward that end I currently have the dog food cache stored in the garage. The sooner I fix the shed the sooner I can reclaim the space in the garage. I'll need that space for an upcoming summer project.
We use a combination of pens and swivel post and chain tethers in the Stardancer yard. Normally we house a pair of compatible dogs in each pen. When we got home from dinner last night and were doing our evening kennel chores I was surprised to find four dogs in 1 pen, and the adjacent pen empty. I distinctly remembered putting Thowra with Capella in one pen, and Beau with Rose in the other. It turns out that young Thowra and Capella found a weak spot in the partition between the two, and took advantage of it to visit their neighbors. It took only a few minutes to repair the partition, but it was a bit of a surprise at the time.
Last summer's chicken raising project was so successful that Trish and I are going to build a year-round chicken coop to raise a small flock for eggs as well as meat. That means installing a better chicken coop, which will be a good use for one of the salvaged shipping crates I got last year. That's a project that needs to happen pretty quickly as our friends Ted and Clare are hatching chicks, and ours will be out of their eggs pretty soon. We will probably need to set up a brooder in the garage for their first few weeks of life, but they will need their coop and yard quickly. Fortunately, chickens don't require anything particularly fancy and once we have the coop installed we can work at preparing it for winter during the course of summer.
We have talked about putting in a garden, but with the late breakup that's not likely to happen this year. What we CAN do is prepare the garden area, tilling the space we want to use, pulling all of the weeds that will want to grow in that space, and start working with the soil. We have a friend who is a master gardener, and with her advice and help I think we can probably set up a small but productive garden that can help keep us fed and lend some color to the place as well. Trish is interested in putting in some flower beds, and I'm not opposed to helping her with that.
Summer is coming fast, but this IS Alaska, and there is no question that it will leave just as fast as it comes. That being the case, it's time for me to stop typing and start doing some of the work that should be accomplished today. Not before wishing all of the Moms who follow this blog a very happy Mother's Day.
Yesterday was my first day I could call my own, and Trish and I spent it doing break-up clean up around the place. I got a good start on cleaning up the yard next to the cabin, but it is truly an ugly mess. Although my former handler was pretty good at keeping my yard scooped and tidy, he was much less so about his own. It's going to take some serious work to prepare that area to safely house dogs during summer, when I hope to take advantage of the shade that upper yard offers.
All the dogs in my yard had opportunities to play "run amok" as I carefully cleaned straw out of houses, spread straw in the most mucky parts of the yard, and did general maintenance. There are a couple of dog houses that need to be rebuilt, but I can't do much until it thaws more as they are still solidly frozen in place.
All of the dogs were well behaved during their free-run time. Friday and Thowra, both less than a year old, were properly deferential to the other dogs. I decided to give Thowra some time in a pen with Capella, a young adult female. I think today I'll put young Friday in with Rose, and give Beau some time out on a swivel post.
We picked up garbage that spent the winter hiding beneath the snow, and hauled it to the dumpster station on the four-wheeler pulling a trailer. On the way back to the house apparently the drive belt on the machine broke, which triggered a safety switch to reduce power to the machine to next to nothing. That means I'll have to haul the machine to town for repair sometime this week. The sooner I get it in the sooner I can get it back and use it for dog training. This is the second time I've had this issue with the machine, so I'm thinking that I should probably plan to just replace the drive belt with a new one every year or two.
The equipment shed held up well over the winter, and I'm very pleased with that. The dog food shed wants a different roof, but I knew that even when I put it in service last fall. That is also a project I'd like to get to pretty quickly. Toward that end I currently have the dog food cache stored in the garage. The sooner I fix the shed the sooner I can reclaim the space in the garage. I'll need that space for an upcoming summer project.
We use a combination of pens and swivel post and chain tethers in the Stardancer yard. Normally we house a pair of compatible dogs in each pen. When we got home from dinner last night and were doing our evening kennel chores I was surprised to find four dogs in 1 pen, and the adjacent pen empty. I distinctly remembered putting Thowra with Capella in one pen, and Beau with Rose in the other. It turns out that young Thowra and Capella found a weak spot in the partition between the two, and took advantage of it to visit their neighbors. It took only a few minutes to repair the partition, but it was a bit of a surprise at the time.
Last summer's chicken raising project was so successful that Trish and I are going to build a year-round chicken coop to raise a small flock for eggs as well as meat. That means installing a better chicken coop, which will be a good use for one of the salvaged shipping crates I got last year. That's a project that needs to happen pretty quickly as our friends Ted and Clare are hatching chicks, and ours will be out of their eggs pretty soon. We will probably need to set up a brooder in the garage for their first few weeks of life, but they will need their coop and yard quickly. Fortunately, chickens don't require anything particularly fancy and once we have the coop installed we can work at preparing it for winter during the course of summer.
We have talked about putting in a garden, but with the late breakup that's not likely to happen this year. What we CAN do is prepare the garden area, tilling the space we want to use, pulling all of the weeds that will want to grow in that space, and start working with the soil. We have a friend who is a master gardener, and with her advice and help I think we can probably set up a small but productive garden that can help keep us fed and lend some color to the place as well. Trish is interested in putting in some flower beds, and I'm not opposed to helping her with that.
Summer is coming fast, but this IS Alaska, and there is no question that it will leave just as fast as it comes. That being the case, it's time for me to stop typing and start doing some of the work that should be accomplished today. Not before wishing all of the Moms who follow this blog a very happy Mother's Day.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
May Day???
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| 6:00 AM, May 1st, 2013 |
In my 20 plus years in Alaska, I've never seen winter hang in quite so long. Some of the guys at work who were born and raised up here and are of a similar age as I say the same thing. It's pretty newsworthy up here, as this article in yesterday's addition of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner shows. Although the snowpack has settled some, there is still plenty on the ground and I'm starting to think I may even be able to run some dogs after I've finished some training slated for my next R&R.
 |
| Still plenty of snow on the ground. |
Like me, it's rather odd.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Catching up
First, please accept my apology for not posting recently. I just haven't had much news to share. After my last two-week tour of duty at work I spent an additional week of clinical training down in Kentucky, where I enjoyed some warmer spring weather. When I returned home I had to spend a day running errands in town, but finally yesterday I was able to take a team out on the trail.
I wanted to give 7 1/2 month old Friday an opportunity to run with the team, his first ever chance to do so. Though he has been introduced to his harness yesterday was his first taste of the job he was bred and born for. He did a marvelous job.
Winter has been lingering in our area. Down in Kentucky, as well. Usually we have thawing weather by late March, and by mid April the trails are at best mushy, and usually not runnable with sleds. This year they are holding out longer than usual due to colder spring weather. Based on today's forecast, it appears that is changing. It looks like we'll be seeing temperatures well above the freezing point for some time to come. Though I may get another sled run in later today, odds are better than even that by the time I return from my next rotation at work we will be running dogs with the four-wheeler rather than a sled.
Of course the change of season will mean a change of focus here at home. Last year's chicken raising experiment was successful enough that this year I plan to raise more, this time a hardy breed noted for egg laying as well as for meat. My friend Ted Kirby has been raising these birds with great success and has offered to help me get started with them.
I need to do a lot of clean up by the handler's cabin and that upper dog yard, so I can put some of my dogs up there during the hottest weather of summer. That yard offers more shade than does the big yard here by the house. That will require cleaning and sanitizing the ground, moving some dog houses and repairing some fences. Construction of a chicken coop and the work on the upper yard need to happen just as soon as the snow melts down enough to permit.
For the most part, this will be a summer of relatively small projects around the place. I want to install an electrical plug in the equipment shed to prevent the power cords needed to heat vehicles from being buried every time snow slides off the roof of the house. If I do that job well I'll only have to do it once, and it will save a lot of inconvenience during upcoming winters. I may also install a gate at the back of the equipment shed to make one of the two bays a "drive through", again making it more convenient to do things around the place.
Perhaps the biggest project I have planned for this summer is to build removable dog boxes for my trailer. I have more dogs than capacity to move them in an emergency, and this project will remedy that situation entirely.
I can't start any of those projects until a lot of snow has melted away, but it looks like that process is starting, so I can look forward to another active summer. There are some other things in the works, but those can wait for a future post.
I wanted to give 7 1/2 month old Friday an opportunity to run with the team, his first ever chance to do so. Though he has been introduced to his harness yesterday was his first taste of the job he was bred and born for. He did a marvelous job.
Winter has been lingering in our area. Down in Kentucky, as well. Usually we have thawing weather by late March, and by mid April the trails are at best mushy, and usually not runnable with sleds. This year they are holding out longer than usual due to colder spring weather. Based on today's forecast, it appears that is changing. It looks like we'll be seeing temperatures well above the freezing point for some time to come. Though I may get another sled run in later today, odds are better than even that by the time I return from my next rotation at work we will be running dogs with the four-wheeler rather than a sled.
Of course the change of season will mean a change of focus here at home. Last year's chicken raising experiment was successful enough that this year I plan to raise more, this time a hardy breed noted for egg laying as well as for meat. My friend Ted Kirby has been raising these birds with great success and has offered to help me get started with them.
I need to do a lot of clean up by the handler's cabin and that upper dog yard, so I can put some of my dogs up there during the hottest weather of summer. That yard offers more shade than does the big yard here by the house. That will require cleaning and sanitizing the ground, moving some dog houses and repairing some fences. Construction of a chicken coop and the work on the upper yard need to happen just as soon as the snow melts down enough to permit.
For the most part, this will be a summer of relatively small projects around the place. I want to install an electrical plug in the equipment shed to prevent the power cords needed to heat vehicles from being buried every time snow slides off the roof of the house. If I do that job well I'll only have to do it once, and it will save a lot of inconvenience during upcoming winters. I may also install a gate at the back of the equipment shed to make one of the two bays a "drive through", again making it more convenient to do things around the place.
Perhaps the biggest project I have planned for this summer is to build removable dog boxes for my trailer. I have more dogs than capacity to move them in an emergency, and this project will remedy that situation entirely.
I can't start any of those projects until a lot of snow has melted away, but it looks like that process is starting, so I can look forward to another active summer. There are some other things in the works, but those can wait for a future post.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Successful Journey of Exploration
The other day when I tried this, I got myself a bit confused. None of that today. Today I took the proper and right turn off the Dead Martin Trail, and then the proper right turn on the trail to Oh Sh*t Hill. Sorry, but that's really what it's named.
I'm pretty sure that the person who named it screamed it aloud while careening down with a big string of dogs, 'cause anyone going UP it is likely to be working way too hard and be way too out of breath to say much of anything. That would especially include me.
The team worked very smoothly through most of the run, but didn't quite earn full bragging rights. I decided to take the crew home via our neighbor's feeder trail, as I have their permission to use it and it's a lot more fun than returning via the Swamp Trail. Today the neighbors were also out on the trail, and my leaders decided it would be O.K. to ignore my "on by" cue and visit with Julie and the dogs she was walking. I've never struck a dog, but I have been known to discuss issues in rather strict tones, and such was the case today.
So, if you can't handle a bit of rough language, you might want to skip today's video. After all, the geographical place name is indeed obscene, and some of the language I used with the team is a bit profane. No "F-bombs" or anything quite that bad, but I think I pretty clearly expressed my feelings at the moment.
In any event, here are some video clips from today's challenging but successful exploration.
I'm pretty sure that the person who named it screamed it aloud while careening down with a big string of dogs, 'cause anyone going UP it is likely to be working way too hard and be way too out of breath to say much of anything. That would especially include me.
The team worked very smoothly through most of the run, but didn't quite earn full bragging rights. I decided to take the crew home via our neighbor's feeder trail, as I have their permission to use it and it's a lot more fun than returning via the Swamp Trail. Today the neighbors were also out on the trail, and my leaders decided it would be O.K. to ignore my "on by" cue and visit with Julie and the dogs she was walking. I've never struck a dog, but I have been known to discuss issues in rather strict tones, and such was the case today.
So, if you can't handle a bit of rough language, you might want to skip today's video. After all, the geographical place name is indeed obscene, and some of the language I used with the team is a bit profane. No "F-bombs" or anything quite that bad, but I think I pretty clearly expressed my feelings at the moment.
In any event, here are some video clips from today's challenging but successful exploration.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
A bit of catch up.
When last I wrote, I had taken a small team for a leader trial for Animosh and puppy run for Thowra. The next day (Wednesday) I harnessed up an older and more experienced team intending to do some exploring. I ended up taking a wrong turn onto a trail that led me into a residential area. This first necessitated turning the team around on a well used trail, and then later getting them out of someone's back yard. It truly is easier to show than to explain. The video is only about 7 minutes long because I sped up the action in the long, drawn out "error correction" parts.
Thursday I had to spend most of the day in town to run errands and work with my accountant to prepare my federal tax return.
I was planning to run dogs yesterday, but while feeding my feet slipped out from under me, causing me fall. I landed hard on my back and realized in very short order that trying to run dogs would not be a particularly bright idea. I felt that taking care of the lower back pain would make it possible to run a team today.
But, fate has a way of intervening. This morning I woke to a nice fall of snow, a good three or four inches of heavy spring type snow. The type that had to be removed from the driveway. It took several hours of work with the tractor to accomplish that, and by the time I was finished my back was hurting me once again.
So, here I am, updating the blog, and hoping that I'll feel more sound tomorrow and can finish the exploration that I so badly bungled on Wednesday. Wish me luck with that, tomorrow will be my last chance to run dogs before I return to my work place.
Thursday I had to spend most of the day in town to run errands and work with my accountant to prepare my federal tax return.
I was planning to run dogs yesterday, but while feeding my feet slipped out from under me, causing me fall. I landed hard on my back and realized in very short order that trying to run dogs would not be a particularly bright idea. I felt that taking care of the lower back pain would make it possible to run a team today.
But, fate has a way of intervening. This morning I woke to a nice fall of snow, a good three or four inches of heavy spring type snow. The type that had to be removed from the driveway. It took several hours of work with the tractor to accomplish that, and by the time I was finished my back was hurting me once again.
So, here I am, updating the blog, and hoping that I'll feel more sound tomorrow and can finish the exploration that I so badly bungled on Wednesday. Wish me luck with that, tomorrow will be my last chance to run dogs before I return to my work place.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Short Runs with Big Results
While the weather still permits, I wanted to give Animosh a leader trial, and also wanted to give Thowra (formerly Dozer) a fun puppy run. For that purpose, I chose a short little 3 1/2 mile run that takes the team over flat terrain for about half the distance, then up and back down a pretty steep hill. For our work today I chose to run small teams (only six dogs in each) with an empty sled. Since I already had a six-dog gangline on my toboggan sled, I used that one, though in all truth my traveling sled would have been a better choice.
I put Ani and Thowra in the first team I ran. The entire lineup was;
Animosh and Just - lead
Thowra and Capella - swing
Nels and Beau - wheel
I couldn't have been more pleased with their performance. At first Ani was a bit snarky with Cassie and did a fair amount of rubbernecking, but overall she stayed focused on her job and apparently had a good time doing so. Thowra was all excited to be running, and his behavior was that of an experienced dog. He was harness trained by Charlie and Robin Boulding before I got him from Brent Sass, so it wasn't his first 'rodeo' by any stretch. He assisted with harnessing, was reasonably well behaved on hook-up, and ran fast, pulled hard, and did it with a big ol' doggie grin on his face the whole way.
Here is a video of our entire run, from start to finish. It's about 23 minutes long.
I've only run Aumaruq in lead once before, a leader trial which he passed with flying colors. He mostly runs back in wheel because of his large size and considerable power, but any dog that wants to run lead should be trained to do so, because you never know when that dog will be absolutely vital at the front of the team.
That team consisted of:
Cassiopeia and Just (lead)
Amazing Grace and Seamus (swing)
Denali and Chetan (wheel)
Just like last time, Aumaruq led the team as though he'd been doing it every day for his entire life. He was fully focused and intent on working hard and running fast. All of the dogs on that team were on their best behavior and we did the training circuit in very short order.
I couldn't be happier with the Stardancer Historical Sled Dogs.
I put Ani and Thowra in the first team I ran. The entire lineup was;
Animosh and Just - lead
Thowra and Capella - swing
Nels and Beau - wheel
I couldn't have been more pleased with their performance. At first Ani was a bit snarky with Cassie and did a fair amount of rubbernecking, but overall she stayed focused on her job and apparently had a good time doing so. Thowra was all excited to be running, and his behavior was that of an experienced dog. He was harness trained by Charlie and Robin Boulding before I got him from Brent Sass, so it wasn't his first 'rodeo' by any stretch. He assisted with harnessing, was reasonably well behaved on hook-up, and ran fast, pulled hard, and did it with a big ol' doggie grin on his face the whole way.
Here is a video of our entire run, from start to finish. It's about 23 minutes long.
I've only run Aumaruq in lead once before, a leader trial which he passed with flying colors. He mostly runs back in wheel because of his large size and considerable power, but any dog that wants to run lead should be trained to do so, because you never know when that dog will be absolutely vital at the front of the team.
That team consisted of:
Cassiopeia and Just (lead)
Amazing Grace and Seamus (swing)
Denali and Chetan (wheel)
Just like last time, Aumaruq led the team as though he'd been doing it every day for his entire life. He was fully focused and intent on working hard and running fast. All of the dogs on that team were on their best behavior and we did the training circuit in very short order.
I couldn't be happier with the Stardancer Historical Sled Dogs.
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