From Labor Day To October
Started training just after Labor Day, running just the 8 yearlings 1 ½ miles with 2 veteran leaders to keep things headed in the right direction. We start our fall training by running the dogs on ATVs’ with the engine on and in gear to provide resistance training as well as some measure of control and discipline. Young, first year dogs tend to run wide open so we keep the speed at 4-6 mph. so they’ll learn pace and control, as well as building a muscle base which the mature dogs have but puppies don’t.
Last week we started running the mature dogs as well, mixing them in with the yearlings, still keeping it to 1 ½ miles at 4-6 mph. since sled dogs don’t really understand the whole stopping thing . We stop several times during these short runs to build in the discipline of stopping. It’s a darn good thing we have about 10 lead dogs that we rotate up front or it would be like driving a truck down a freeway with no brakes or steering wheel. We have some great leaders that will run right by deer, elk, and right over any other animal that gets in the way; extremely well-focused! We’ll continue to run 3-times a week with a little increase in mileage until their feet toughen up. Last year we had a bunch of torn-up feet by the end of October and had to bootie some, which is tough on the light booties we have when you’re running on frozen gravel.
Fortunately, the initial runs have been pleasantly routine except for the yearlings’ unbridled energy when we’re hooking up. When we have enough help, we’ll start trying new potential leaders, dogs who we’ve been watching and think may want to be leaders. Leaders are a very special type of sled dog in that they have to be able to listen and obey commands or, at least to be able to handle the pressure of running ahead of 14 very powerful team dogs. Alison P. and Laura S. have been helping out as much as they can as it’s a challenge just to take 32 dogs to the gang line for hook-up. 1 ½ miles doesn’t really do much for them so unhooking is sometimes like water-skiing in sorrels. We’ll run the yearlings up to 25-30 miles and then turn them over to our friend, Dan MacEachan, who’ll run and race them a bit in his tour operation, Krabloonik Kennel, over in Snowmass, Colorado.
We’ll post another update as training progresses, the team evolves, and we see how the yearlings are doing. Thanks for checking in on Team Clarke’s season so far.