Hüsky Race Training...

Going out in a few minutes to train the furry fiend w/ sled team. Unbelievably,  H.I.M. woke up at 6:30 and went outside to take care of business.  He usually sleeps in until 10 AM or so.  Fucker knows what's up because I told H.I.M.  "We're going sledding tomorrow !!"  

That Dog understands basic English.

He is now kibbled-up and ready to run with his pals.  Yeah mon, Home-Field Advantage. Boy is going to learn that course and Win the big purse come race day.

^

Mr. Fabes --

My dawg is no slave. Being a Hüsky and a Taurus, he is one stubborn fuckhead.  Does not listen very well; he understands what you say, and doesn't give a hoot.

But, he really likes pulling stuff and running with his Cousins.

There's a good view of the "sled" which he towed last weekend and again today.

My guy is upper left in the foto. Dog next to H.I.M. is another "Newbie" but didn't want to run. About 1/2 mile into the loop he just quit. I was following the four-dog team with my el-cheapo mtn. bike and brought the dog back to his owner. It's got a "Cycleash" attachment on the seatpost. Anyway, the dog liked running with the MTB, so I loaned it to the owner and they went for a spin.  Dude said he was gonna go get one of those things.

That's the owner there w/ red hat. He's taking a photo of the loaner harness because it fit just right, and he wants to get the same brand.

Another one of those two palling around. 

They are very social animals, and being "Working Dogs" they want to do something constructive, when not destroying stuff.

The "Cycleash" is alloy bracket/clamp bolted to seatpost, aluminum curved tube with heavy-duty bungee cord and collar/harness clip. Where the red ribbon thingy is, attached to a cotter pin where you can put the aluminum tube on either side of bike. Or you could have Dog on each side (get disc brakes).

So you get the idea. Anyway, my Dawg went out on a 4-dog team which turned into 3 dogs.  After red-hat guy was done 'Bikejoring' I took H.I.M. out on the MTB to follow the next round of 4-dog team on the loop. Everything was going great, but then Tragedy reared its ugly head.

Yes, the dreaded Kibble-Spill.  Must have happened when I went over some bumps on the dirt road.  Now I must clean it up or the Raccoons will be feasting at my expense.

So he did about 4 - 5 miles on the Pine Barrens trails, met a new Hüsky Girlfriend (Sasha) and learned more teamwork.

On the way home we stopped at Union Transport Trail for some serious roadwork. They have mile-markers so I timed a few sections. He's doing the first mile in about 5 1/2 minutes, not bad. We put in seven miles there today.

It's a popular recreational trail, so you encounter a good quantity of idiotsticks that like to block the 'road' just because they are Blockheads. Today I met a Crazy lady who tried to run me over biking the wrong side of the trail. I had to explain that we are not in Great Britain anymore. Things like that slow down Hüsky's time.

Kibble spill is almost contained.

Hüsky has awoken from Nap-Time. 

He ran hard today,  and did his Job as "Working - Dawg ".

Boy can Win, Place or Show in the Race.  Fuck it; he is Fastest Hüsky in Jerseyland.  I am certain that he can be Big Winner.

But the stupid politics involved... 

It's so technical. I know he can be the Most Fast Dawg, but all the rules will slow H.I.M. down.

We are clocking 5-6 minute miles right now.

That Furry Fuckhead is leaner & meaner than all of his fellow Huskies.  

Boy - Boy is obviously a contender.

I like that photo because of the shadow Effect.

Shadow is even Faster than my Dawg, who(m) is quite rapid.

That Big-Dawg Boy can Win, Place or Show in the upcoming races.  I know that for sure, as he is Fast and in great shape.

But Trail-Boss Dude tells me to hold off on the first upcoming Race, and just be an Observer.

What can I say ??

I ain't that stupid that I'll piss off Trail - Boss.

So I will serve as an obsequient Cur and aid the races...  Next week, there is another Race, which my Hound will take Top Prize in Bikejoring. We are learning that trail now, and will Smash the Canadians.

After He wins that, I might let him join various 4-7 Dawg teams if I get a cut of the 20-dollar Prize money.

My Hound & Sasha, an 8-month old Dawg.

That's his latest Girlfriend.  What a cute couple.

This sequence is blurry; they don't sit still very long.

You can see how Goofy they both are. The owner of Sasha was just thrilled to see them play and frolic together. Some lady from Toms River, NJ.

He really liked that Girl Dawg, Sasha.  You can tell he's saying "If I wasn't neutered, we could raise Beautiful Puppies." Those Blue Eyes got H.I.M.  hooked.

Bart made me realize,  the Pine Barrens turf is fairly similar to where Dawg grew up his first 7-8 months. Lotsa conifers and some Oak trees.

Sasha & H.I.M. flirting.

This trail is only a few miles from the Farm. No motor vehicles, but Horses are allowed.

There's the historical placard. Because it was a rail-bed, pretty straight and not at all steep. Just very gentle hills. Joggers, cyclists and Dog-Walkers abound. A few horses.

We mainly stay on the southern part (existing trail 4 miles) so depending on where I park, we get 8-10 miles of Bike-joring in a session. He's faster in Winter. Hot weather, we go Early or just before Dusk.

Another six-dog team, The Ragin Cajuns.

Boy in front does not actually have a metal pipe stuck through his head. It's 'trick photography'.

Here they are in their Cage-uns:

One of that Krewe did manage to escape his or her lead and run amok that morning. I think s/he slipped the collar. They are notorious escape artistes.

Anyway, those last dog photos were after they returned from their 6-dog training run. Those guys are obviously serious about the sport.

No training for us today, weather was too warm. I'm probably going to volunteer in the first race, help teams find the corners and maybe let H.I.M. run with a team that is short one Dog.

Sometimes they get lazy or grumpy and just don't want to run.

By the second race, the next weekend, my guy will know that course and have it down. 

He's just having a Grand Old Time with the Sled-Dawg sport.  You can see in that photo he's now got six Legs, making H.I.M. 35% faster.

His Hu-Person has been enjoying all of the exercise.  All the Bicycling has really toned-up my thigh and ankle flab.

Plus all the Good Clean Fun keeps me out of Honky-Tonks and Gin-Mills 

Phaldo --

There's various types of harness for dogs.  In the photos above, the purple one some dogs are wearing is "X-back" type. The blue one on my Dog is "ZeroDC" made in Czechoslovkia, it's a different style & the latest, greatest trend, but $$pendy. "Nooksack" in Oxford ME sells them about 50 bucks, or "X-backs" for about 20.

nooksackracing.com

I ended up ordering from them.  Call on the phone after 4:30 PM, she said that's the best time.  

Another place in Maine is Mtn. Ridge, maybe they are local to you.  Then you could just take the Dog there for the right size.

mtnridge.com

You want to call them before 3-3:30 PM as they take their Dogs out sledding every afternoon.

Alpineoutfitters.net I think are out of CA and they have good deals on custom-size or pre-sized X-backs, with reflective tape at no extra charge.

Affordable Dog Sleds is out of Wisconsin, good prices there.

All those guys have instructions on how to measure B.R.U.C.E. for proper fit. You should weigh him, too. The ones I phoned were all very helpful and informative. 

Figure out if B.R.U.C.E will be pulling you on a bike, or on x-country skis, or whatever.  

Sleddogcentral.com has all sorts of articles, videos, links that can give you ideas.

All these Dawgs have a Ball in this sport. You can see from the photos that they are just having a Blast.

They are team players, and really social Dogs. Part of the "working-dog" class of breeds, they are happiest when achieving some sort of task, especially one involving running a whole bunch, and maybe pulling a contraption.

Left to their own devices, they will just run very far and slaughter smaller animals. "High prey drive" they call it.

The 'Cycleash' works pretty well for us in that I have more control of where we're headed with the dog on my side rather than out front.

But early attempts I just had a cable lead clipped to the head tube. That works fine, except when he got confused on turns and let the line wrap around front wheel.

So if you have B.R.U.C.E. in front you need to rig something to keep the line away from the front wheel. People use 'pool noodles' or you could rig a length of PVC to the head tube with velcro, tie-wraps, or tape.  Nooksack has a photo of the special one they sell with the lines and all.

Worked on the mtn. bike brakes yesterday, and moved 'Cycleash' clamp forward near head-tube.

We did 5 miles on UTT. 

Still clocking 5-6 minute miles on the middle three;  seven minutes on the last return mile.

Not quite up to competition times  yet.

However he is learning basic Scales,  so that's good.