Blog updates

I’ve begun developing the “Meet our Family” and “Meet our Working Dogs” pages on the blog.  Just click on the tabs at the top.  The dog section begins with a video introduction of Lucky.  The family section has a brief narrative and some pictures plus a video clip.  I’ll update both pages periodically.

Kyle

Belleques go sledding

The kids wanted to break out the sleds as soon as snow started falling last week.  We all went sledding on the trail behind our house today.  It is my mushing access trail to the flats.  This is my first attempt at posting video clips so we kept them short.  Let me know how it works for you.

Here comes Jacob.

done

Alethia’s turn.

done

Then Jake hitched up Alethia.

done

Bunny

Last night Jake, Alethia and I set two rabbit snares on a rabbit trail 75 yards from our front door.

 

Jake set this snare. I fixed it a little when he was finished.

We checked them this morning before school.

 

This was hung up in Alethia's snare.

First bunny of the season.  A good stew and part of a hat.  Way to go Jake and Alethia!  Looks like we’ve got a bumper crop of the fluffy little guys this year so there should be more to come.

We love our place on Waskey Road!

Kyle

 

 

 

Let working dogs work Part 5: Makin’ dog pot

What the heck is “dog pot”?  I’ll show you.

 

This is the dog pot "cooker".

The cooker is made from a single 55 gallon drum.  The drum is cut with a third of it on bottom serving as the burner section.  The other piece of drum is a huge cook pot on top of the burner.  There are other designs, but this one is working well for me.

 

In the pot goes water, whole frozen salmon, rice and fat.

Amounts of each ingredient depend on how many dogs are being fed.  For 20 dogs I’m using 10 gallons of water, 2 or 3 salmon (depends on size of fish), 5 pounds of rice, and some fat (fat is a big variable depending on temp, work level, etc.)

 

Toss some wood in the bottom and light it up - a little stove oil helps.

Then walk away and go about your business.  The wood will burn out and your dog pot will cook completely.  No babysitting required.  Come back to it when you are ready.  Takes about 2 hours to cook fully then a bit longer to cool down.

 

Dinner is served.

Scoop it into buckets and feed the dogs.  I add Genesis from 10 Squared Racing before serving.  Genesis has all the vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and good intentions needed in a sled dog’s diet.

That is dog pot.

Kyle

 

 

 

 

Qualifying

Racing sled dog kennels around the Northern Hemisphere are well into their seasons.  Most races won’t start for another 2 months, but dogs are miling up, equipment is being readied and every musher is checking the weather hoping for a cold snowy winter to arrive.  Ours is not a racing sled dog kennel so I’m just dusting off the old wood hauling sled, sharpening the chainsaw and getting ready to hunt up some beetle killed spruce.  But of those scheduling their lives to coincide with North America’s midi-distance races, a few of them are hoping to qualify for the 2011 or 2012 Iditarod or Yukon Quest.  I couldn’t help but think of those folks when the Iditarod came out with its new qualifying regulations.  I thought I heard a collective, “Ahhh Man!”

Currently both the Iditarod and Yukon Quest require mushers to complete at least one 200 and one 300 mile race they have sanctioned.  These 500 miles, a completed application, entry fee, and the final nod from the race has allowed mushers to enter.  Due to a number of reasons including a particularly difficult 2009 Iditarod where it seemed a few folks just weren’t ready, 500 miles won’t be enough beginning in 2012.

The Yukon Quest’s qualifying requirements haven’t changed that I know of.  But it also draws a different sort of musher.  It’s rare that a dog dies on the race and most of the mushers are pretty “woodsy” folks.  The Iditarod is a much bigger deal, it sparkles and draws folks to its bling.  It’s the grandest stage in all of mushing.  People who don’t care for the rigors of owning a dog team still find ways to enter the Iditarod.

In an effort to protect the race, mushers, and the dogs above all, the Iditarod will require rookie mushers in 2012 to: 1. Complete two 300 mile races (and they have to be 300 miles) and a 150 mile race; 2. Get rated by qualifying race officials on a range of criteria from preparedness for the weather, dog care, gear selection, competitiveness, etc.; 3. Collect recommendations from a current Iditarod musher (not sure if it’s more than one musher); and 4. Present it all before a board that will make the final determination as to a musher’s preparedness to enter the race.  I think these steps are needed and will make for more prepared rookie mushers.  I do wonder though, will there be any rookie mushers in 2012?

A rookie musher has 2 years to get all this stuff done.  The extra qualifying race should not be too big of a deal.  Wouldn’t be too concerned about the qualifying race report card as long as you came prepared for that particular race.  But who is going to vouch for all these rookie mushers planning to sign up in 2012?  22 rookie mushers are signed up for the 2010 race.  Could they all have  secured a voucher?  The mushing world is very small with plenty of wannabes.  I’d venture to guess that today’s mainstay Iditarod mushers won’t be whoring their recommendations out to the first person showing up in their driveway with a fancy new Nothern Outfitters parka.  This also puts those who don’t live anywhere near a current Iditarod musher at a serious disadvantage.  All this means the 2 year qualifying window will include courting an Iditarod musher in hopes of a stellar recommendation down the road.  I don’t know how a musher in Iowa, Colorado, Maine, New Hampshire, or Rural Alaska will pull this off.  And can you imagine preparing for and doing your best at 3 qualifying races, buying dinner and washing the dishes for some musher for two years, standing before the alter of Iditarod rookie mushers and hearing, “No.  You can’t run our race.”?

I’m assuming the Iditarod board thought through all possible scenarios before deciding on these requirements.  It is after all mostly a group of mushers and mushers are well known for their foresight.  But there are folks beginning this journey this winter.  At least I hope someone is beginning the journey toward the 2012 Iditarod this winter.  The Iditarod better hope so too.

Don’t get me wrong.  I think all of this is very very good for a couple reasons.  For one thing, being a rookie Iditarod musher will really mean something in 2012.  Partly because I don’t think there will be very many of them.  Hopefully that fact will assist rookie mushers in securing sponsorships and generally gather the support needed.  I’m also guessing this will be good news for the Yukon Quest.  As long as they don’t change their qualifying requirements, they will be a much easier 1,000 mile race to enter as a rookie.  It’s already much cheaper.  I hypothesize it will be considerably easier for rookie mushers to secure those important recommendations and the final christening if they have already successfully completed a 1,000 mile race.

It’s really hard to say how all this will go.  I can’t tell from my comfy black love seat how seriously people will take all these reports, recommendations, and qualifying boards.  How critical are people really going to be?  As a guy with a bunch of young dogs in the yard and a yearning to see the Iditarod Trail, I’ll be paying close attention.

Kyle

Let working dogs work: Part 4 “How many dogs ya got?”

It’s a common question for mushers.  We stopped at Aliy Zirkle and Allen Moore’s place for a visit in August.  We joked about how mushers usually answer that question.  Most mushers won’t admit to the actual number of dogs and after a while it’s just a lot of dogs.  Does the exact number really matter?

But lets say you’re fixin’ to build an honest to goodness team of working sled dogs to haul wood, hunt caribou, run a trapline, take your family ice fishing, and just generally travel the winter landscape.  Then how many dogs do you need?  I need 8 adults to do all these things.  My dogs are between 60 and 70 pounds.  Not the biggest dogs on the trail, but a long way from the smallest.  With a team averaging 65 pounds I can do all the things mentioned above and don’t have to work all that hard myself.  In the beginning I did all those things with 5 or 6 dogs, but I was putting in a lot of miles in my Steiger mukluks running beside the sled.  Suppose you could subtract a few dogs if they were big 80 and 90 pounders.

A couple generations ago they used 2, 3, or 4 dogs, but the people were generally part of the team instead of the cargo.  An elderly woman in Koliganek in the late 70’s explained to my father-in-law how her first husband and her would travel all around Southwest Alaska.  The dogs hauled the load while the people walked beside.  My wife’s apa (pronounced uppu meaning grandfather) told me his 5 dog team could haul 2 moose in a sled.  That’s quite a statement.  But you must remember he was likely running beside and as well as pushing the sled.

Today’s mushers are way way lazier then those old men and women.  That includes yours truly.  I like an 8 dog team, but sometimes use 10 and rarely 12.  More than that is overkill for most tasks.  Remember, working dogs are pullers and 8 hard pullers are a huge force.  I can load my wood hauling sled to the handle bow and 12 dogs will get that thing moving at a fast lope.  Dangerous.  Too much weight moving too fast.  8 dogs can handle the same load at a safer pace.  10 and 12 dog teams are more appropriate for long hauls, big trips requiring sustained pulling for a few days in row.

The most important determinate as to your kennel size should always be the dogs.  What is best for the dogs?  Don’t ever stop asking yourself that question.  Mitch Seavey wrote a book with many fun quotes, but one rises above the rest.  Mitch instructs, “Don’t own more dogs then you can afford to feed the best food.”  It’s way too easy to get in over your head when you start building your dream team.  It takes discipline and creativity.  Ultimately it’s the bond with your dogs that will guide you down the trail and keep you looking out the window for snow each fall.  I find those bonds easier to develop with fewer dogs.

So how many dogs do I have?  20.  I hear you through the computer screen, “I thought you said you only need 8!”  Most of those 20 are pups and yearlings and I’ll be looking to find good homes for a few dogs here shortly.  But you’re right, it only takes 8 of my dogs to constitute a formidable wood hauling squad.  Let’s just say I’m looking beyond a load of wood at this point.

Connectivity. Sweet connectivity.

Watch out world!  Nushagak Kennels is back online!  I want to sing, leap, and shout with joy.  I want to prance.  Prance with me!  So much has happened.  So much to write about.  We’re very moved into our house, I’m feeding 20 dogs, Jake just got through something called Kawasaki’s Disease, Aimee is walking around and it’s snowing outside!

We got our internet hooked-up today.  Seems to  be working well.  Johanna has been on Facebook and I’m blogging.  Life is good.  Also bought a new camera this summer so look forward to pictures.  Other than 3 of the cutest kids on the planet, I’ve also got a great looking group yearlings to show off.

Will keep this one brief, but plan to write posts often from now on.  Once per week should be a minimum, but I’d guess more often than that.  Definitely plan to pick up the “Let Working Dogs Work” series and hope to keep it going through the winter.  I’ve discussed the importance of hard pulling, breeding, and early socialization.  Introduction to harness is a good place to pick it back up.  Just so happens I’m introducing Lucky’s most recently litter to harness this week.

Good to be back.

Kyle

Let working dogs work Part 3 – “Can I pet your dog?”

Fortunately, the answer is usually yes.  Dogs don’t automatically like people, and very few understand children.  These are teachable skills.  So we must teach them.

Not all of my dogs are that social.  Bing is a perfect example.  He doesn’t like tons of people, more of an intravert.  If he had been raised without proper early socialization, he could be a difficult dog to own.  With the early socialization he received, he’s just a shy dog.  Lucy is on the other end of the spectrum.  She can’t get enough attention.  From Bing to Lucy, none of the dogs I’ve raised have ever curled a lip to another human – not a huge accomplishment.  But they’ve also never curled a lip around kids – that is an accomplishment and very important at Nushagak Kennels.

With three children from 10 months to 6 years, we are in full-time kid mode.  Other kids come over to visit our kids.  We’ve always got kids around.  Not all dogs like kids, especially very young kids.  I don’t know the behavioral reasons for it, but we’ve all have seen dogs growl at kids trying to play with them.  It’s an easy fix.  Expose the dogs to children from the beginning.  Starting on day 2, go out with a box, load up the pups and bring them inside.  Let the kids hold them, let the baby touch them.  Kiss them and love them up.  Do this on a regular basis and you’ve created dogs that know how to act around kids.

It’s crucial to not wait until the pups are older to introduce them to kids.  They must meet the kids and babies when they are babies themselves.  The pups I’ve brought in at 2-4 months have all liked kids, but they still don’t understand how to behave around them.  One of my main questions when bringing in adult dogs is, “Have they been raised around kids?”

What’s the difference between dogs liking kids and understanding kids?  When Jake or Alethia walk up to a dog they’ve helped raise, the animal lowers its ears, and drops its head a little.  They move slowly and become very calm.  They never jump on them or shove their noses into their faces.  They keep all four feet on the ground.  They’re almost looking them in the eye anyway.  Plus, and most importantly, their tails are always wagging when the kids pet them.  These dogs include Bing, Phoebe, Luke, Bernard, and Lucy’s pups.

Dogs who just like kids are simply too agressive in seeking attention.  They bump into them, shove their noses in their faces, and usually knock them to the ground.  They don’t mean to hurt anyone.  They just don’t understand kids.  I might also mention that I don’t let my dogs jump on people as a rule.  I’m afraid they may jump up and frighten someone or tackle a kid.  My big dogs look even bigger standing on their hind legs.  But to be clear, the dog’s I’m describing here don’t run up, take a leap and level the poor kid.  They are just too agressive in seeking attention.  Very subtle, but very important difference.  Dogs like this include Lucky, Lucy, and some yearlings I got as pups.  The kids know they shouldn’t approach these dogs on their own.  They wait for me and we pet the dog together.

What does this have to do with a discussion of working sled dogs?  What if you don’t have kids?  Working sled dogs are all around animals, no limit to the tasks they may be asked to perform.  If you don’t have kids, find someone with kids and have them come over to pet the pups a few times each week.  Your working dog may be hiking a trail, picking berries, hanging out at moose camp, all places you could encounter kids (Yes. Kids go to moose camp.)  If your dog hustles up to the kid  and shoves their nose into their face knocking them to the ground, you’ve got all sorts of problems.  Kid’s crying, Mom and Dad are pissed off, and they’ll tell everyone about the mean dog they met while they were out enjoying a beautiful day.  Now you’ve got to hang on to Mr. Loves-a-lot taking the fun out of your experience too.  It’s a simple fix and worth the effort so socialize your pups!

Kyle

We’re still kickin’

I’ve got some explaining to do.  Plenty of excuses for my absence.  The best being we haven’t had private internet access for months.  We should have an internet sattellite dish up at our new house any week now.  Watch out when that happens, lots of catching up to do!

Yes I did say “at our new house”.  We moved into our house on Waskey Road in March.  Still a work in progress, but we enjoy living out there.  We’re heating with wood, bathing in our maqi (steambath), plugging our appliances into extension cords run in from outdoors, and pooping in a fancy bucket.  But it’s our bucket, and it’s fancy.  The place is cute and very comfortable.  Everyone has a bed, a nice table for eating, couch and chair for relaxing, and thick walls and windows to keep us warm.  Will post some recent pictures as soon as we take some.

Alethia finished kindergarten, Jake starts Head Start next year, and Aimee is crawling around and cute as a bug.  They REALLY enjoy our new place.  If isn’t raining, they’re outside.  They play in the gravel, ride their bikes down our long driveway and explore our woods.  We planted a strawberry patch and Dad has started landscaping.  Our mandatory maqis (steams) have proven great family events.  Jo and Alethia go out together, then Jake and I.  Other people come over sometimes, but usually it’s just the Belleques.  Great time to relax and visit with our children.

We’ve got a few projects planned, but nothing like last summer.  One more summer like that and I’ll admit myself somewhere.  We’re waiting on the kings (salmon) right now.  Johanna likes putting up fish.  Dogs are mainly laying low.  It’s another puppy summer (I’ll talk more about that in future posts).  We hitch up the dogs when it isn’t too hot.  Alethia asked me to teach her how to mush this Spring.

And I owe a big apology to anyone looking forward to my discussion of working sled dogs.  Only made a few posts before loosing access to the internet.  I’ll keep working on the topic this summer and keep it going through the fall andwinter.

Will get back to making regular posts as soon as our internet is hooked up.  Until then…

Kyle

Let working dogs work – Part 2 Who’s your daddy?

A generation ago, working sled dog breeding stock selection was a simple process.  Mushers bred their best males to their best females.  If an accidental breeding did occure, there was  a good chance some great pups would come of it.  You see, if you weren’t an exceptional working sled dog, you wouldn’t be alive. 

That was a hard reality for a hard time, but its the most simple way to breed any species for selected traits.  Bob Wehle was perhaps the finest dog breeder of all time.  His Elhew (Bob’s name spelled backwards) English pointers are easily disernable from other pointer lines.  They look, and perform, better then any line of any pointing dog breed.  He described his breeding practices in a book that I read once.  He believed (I’m really paraphrasing and hope I get this right) that the only way to develop a breed of dog with a high chance of passing along predictable traits was to breed heavily and cull ruthlessly.  He put many puppies on the ground and eliminated those exhibiting recessive traits.  This was done in such a methodical fashion, that he succeeded in identifying many recessive traits and eliminating them from the gene pool.  Before his death he was able to breed very closely realted dogs with a high certainty of success.

I respect success and Mr. Wehle’s results speak for themselves, but I find it difficult to follow his lead to that extent.  So I follow the simple rule of breeding my best.  I’ve heard some mushers say they “study” genetics.  Believe me when I tell you that eukaryotic genetics are incredibly complicated.  It’s not as simple as those cute little boxes we all used in high school to figure out if the baby pea plant would be white, pink, blue, or polka dotted.  I actually did study genetics to get my microbiology degree and wouldn’t claim to have anything more then a layman’s understanding of how a male and female of any species pass traits to their offspring. 

Breeding is gambling – literally.  It’s all probability.  If you breed a wirehaired fox terrier and a  great Dane, what would you bet you’ll get?  Probably wouldn’t choose to put money on anything too specific.  Very difficult to say how the genes will line up and what traits will be displayed.  Same could be said for a 6 foot white guy with 6 different nationalities and a 5 foot half Yupik woman .  Hard to predict what you’re going to get.  On the other hand, if you bred two black labs, one 55 pounds and the other 60, and both solid hunting dogs, you might feel more comfortable about the outcome.  

Line breeding takes this philosophy  increasing your odds a step further.  Line breeding is an attempt to increase  the probability of a breeding yielding dogs with desirable traits through common ancestry in both the dam or sire.  For instance.  A breeder may have an outstanding dog and breed it to his granddaughter.  Plenty of breeders would tell you line breeding yields the best results, but they won’t all agree on how close dam and sire should be related.  How close is too close?  What’s the difference between line breeding and inbreeding?  Don’t ask me.  Plenty of discussion to be had on line breeding.  Just Google it, you’ll get plenty of hits.  Some folks are very passionate about this topic.  Read what they have to say and draw your own conclusions. 

No matter what school of thought you follow, if you want long legged 70 pound hard pulling leaders with nice coats and feet, you’ve got to breed a dam and sire fitting that bill.  Breeding two 60 pound short dogs that lead sometimes might give you what you want, but the probability isn’t high.  This is all a general rule of course.  I’ve known shorter haired dogs that throw a lot of longer haired dogs.  And some lines of huskies always have smaller females.  It isn’t uncommon for lines to consistently have 50 pound females and 65 pound males.  These are all things for a breeder to consider.  But if a breeder has any hestiation about a pairing, DON’T DO IT!  Go find better dogs to breed from another kennel if you must. 

This is easier said then done however. Very few working sled dog lines still grace Alaska’s trails.  Locating breeding stock is a huge challenge.  The big 100 pound Interior lines are practically gone.  The few mushers still using them are always searching.  I’ve found large distance racing dogs work for me.  Sled dogs in Dillingham weren’t as big as Interior dogs so my 70 pounders are pretty close to the traditional size.  I’ve collected breeding stock from Mitch Seavey, John Baker, Will Forsberg, Andy Bassich, and my friend Swanny.  Mitch and John are well known distance mushers while Will, Andy, and Swanny use larger dogs for many different purposes.  I’ve always got an eye open for potential breeding stock because they are so difficult to locate.

Let’s get specific.  I recently bred Lucy and Bing.  Here’s what I see as their strengths and weaknesses – factors considered before breeding

Bing:

Physical Characteristics – Bing is the perfect size; 72 pounds, long legs, long body, broad chest, iron clad feet, longish medium coat.  He is physically almost perfect.  His coat can be a little long in warm weather which we get a lot of.

Working Characteristics - Rock solid gee haw trail breaking leader.  Can’t imagine a better working sled dog.  Pulls hard 100% of the time.  The harder it gets, the harder he works.  Always calm in harness, never barks or raises a fuss.

Other Considerations – Good appetite.  Friendly with kids, but standoffish with strange adults.  Never shown agression to people, but not overly friendly either.  Very dominant, agressive with strange males.  Both parents were leaders and siblings are good dogs, half became leaders.

Lucy:

Physical Characteristics – Lucy is one of the smaller dogs in the kennel -  about 63 pounds.  She’s a broad chested longer legged dog with a shorter body than some of the others.  Very well muscled and strong.  Feet like steel.  Lighter medium coat, have to put coat on her below -25F on longer runs.  However she does very well in warmer weather.

Working Characteristics - Young dog willing to run up front.  Pulls hard 100% of the time.  No dog in the kennel works harder then her and she always does it with tail wagging.  Calm in harness, but will get excited if other dogs around her are acting up.

Other Considerations – Good appetite until she gets tired.  Very friendly, absolute love bug with everyone.  Gets sick when traveling in a car or plane.  Both parents are good leaders.  Mother is a nice big leggy female.  Siblings are good leaders and working dogs.

You see, I don’t consider either a perfect dog, although Bing is pretty darn close.  Some characteristics are clearly more important for a working sled dog then others.  Just because Bing doesn’t crawl into the lap of everyone he meets, he won’t be eliminated as breeding stock.  Also, you notice I didn’t say anything about color.  I don’t care if they’re purple, makes no difference to me.  I do have a soft spot for dogs with pricked up ears.  So far all my dogs ears stand up, but if that changes in the future I don’t really care. 

Will these pups become the tough working sled dogs I’m hoping for?  Only time will tell.  All have been introduced to harness and most took to it very well.  They’re off to a good start.  Hopefully this calculated gamble will pay off big.