Many apologies for not being back in here sooner. I had a wonderful surprise after returning from the race (and a weeks worth of work up in BSSD) both of my sons have decided that mushing is for them.... so the last few days they have been going out together on a 4 dog team running a 2 mile loop out behind the house. Great fun to see them work together on the sled and in the yard.
I will do my best to answer the last few questions, more apologies if I do not get to yours. Please do not hesitate to ask again.
How do I know where a dog belongs on the gangline? There are some skills (in my limited ability to know these things) that I look for, for some spots. Wheel dogs have to be tough and agile able to move quickly form side to side to avoid obstacles (they don't get mush warning as their vision is blocked by other dogs). The do not have to be the hardest pulling dogs just the best built to take the added force of the sled. In fact the hardest working dog you have will eventually fail in wheel. My hardest working dogs go furthest up the line. My one leader Houston (referred to as an SUV by the start line commentators) works so hard that lead is really the only spot for him. I had to train him to gee haw but it was innate for him to be out front. Really what amazed me during the race was how important swing dogs are. After 400 miles they really drive the team. While the leaders show the way the swing dogs seem to set the pace and keep the team moving. In general I move dogs around in training to see where the are happiest and look for dogs who are always tight on the tugs and dogs who take small breaks (slack tug) while we are running. Certainly far from a stupid question
I still make different choices in team placement than other more experienced mushers have made with some of the dogs I run.
Neutered and Spayed...Well on the team I ran this year I had one spayed female and the rest of the team was in tact. Turns out one female was in full season and had to be sent home because it was causing issues....that did not stop me from parading her up and down the team in Ruby to get the boys a bit fired up ( I felt a bit like a pimp) but eventually I had to drop her. Unfortunately I am not smart enough to know if a dog is breeding stock or not so in general I no longer breed dogs. I have tried in the past but it is expensive in the long run and I have only been moderately successful. I rely on experienced breeders for dogs. That being said I am thinking of changing my practice because of the huge advantage that comes with having dogs that you have raised from birth. I took 5 "A Team" dogs that another musher was going to run (but had to withdraw before the race started) they were wonderful dogs who did their job but did not work hard for me they worked hard because thats what they do, so when it was tough or I needed more they were not invested in me and chose not to give extra. The mutts I had raised and were running with me stepped up and out preformed the "A team " dogs. Now, I believe, those same "A team" would have put the rest or my team to shame in the hands of the owner who bred them. But my own dogs have a relationship with me that allows them to exceed their breeding and perform like all stars.
Dog health and Massage. I had almost zero experience with things like wrist wraps and shoulder massage mostly because I was not and have not had issues during training and racing (no neck lines is the key). So when those things developed, and they did because I started to add necklines during the race (out of ignorance and fear) I has to rely on what I had heard about how to treat the injuries. I did fine and the dogs were fine but I would have liked to not have to rely on on-the-job training.
Deciding to run the Iditarod. Well this is multi layered. Much like when Shrek says Ogers are like onions I feel that there are many layers to this answer. I ran mainly for selfish reasons. I am nearing 40 and feeling not as athletic as I once did, I love being outdoors with the dogs, miss being competitive, wanted to celebrate my family's (grandfather and father) connections to dogs, wanted to have the adventure of a life time, wanted to apply the years of outdoor skills I had accumulated, wanted to explore more of Alaska and really wanted to tackle what appeared to be an impossible task. The race was an excellent combination of skills I thought I had and an amazing place to put them to the test. Before the race I had run many many races in Unalakleet, mostly short sprint type with a few 80 and 100 mile races and one 200. Then I added a 200 (Gin-Gin) and a 300(Don Bowers) this year.
How do we have time for a full time job and dogs...well I will end with this one tonight. I don't. The truth of the matter is that I was sleeping about 4 hours a night for the last 3 months before the race. I am a fanatic about doing what ever I choose to do to the best of my ability. And quite frankly, I don't feel as though I was giving my all to the big 3 in my life: Family, job and dogs. I was exhausted before the race began. I am very luck y to have such an understanding and supportive family. Many times if not all I refer to the team as we did this or we did that...and folks think it is cool that I refer to the dogs and I as we..well yeah sure the dogs are in there but the real we is Tiff the boys and I. They made huge sacrifices to make Iditarod a reality. Tiff took on all the house chores, the home schooling of the boys and some dog chores. The boys gave up me reading to them in the evening and me being around most hours they were awake, missing out on play time and good quality family time. The folks I work for are amazing and tolerated what I would consider less than my best efforts. And the dogs could have gotten much better attention but there were times when training was adjusted to meet family and work schedules... it was too much and I am tired. And after nearly 9 years of all of the family working hard to make my dream come true it is time to put the energy into helping the family make their dreams come true. I will be parking the sled for a while....I have placed the team in good homes with wonderful mushers... and I will be on the sidelines for the next couple of years. I am looking forward to starting our next adventure, the adventure that we will all do together. At this time we have not committed to anything but are looking a several options. I do not regret one ounce of effort that we all put into Iditarod and every second of the trail has changed who I am and how I think about what we can accomplish as a family. I look now at the possibilities and think we can do ANYTHING...there is nothing that can stop us from achieving our dreams. I know now that it will not all go smoothly (like the race) and that there may be times of great sorrow and despair but that we always have each other and the family and friends who believe in us who will, without question, support us and cheer us on AND there will be times of great accomplishment and celebration that will bring us closer to our goals. As a family we are even more committed to what has become our mantra over the last few years Dream it. Plan it. Do it.
work hard. play harder.