so whats your moto, or your manta you run your dogs by? where did it come from and why I don't think I had a mantra before this year. This year I really needed to get some mental and emotional focus, and I spent a lot of time working to get my head in a good place. One thing I did was work on developing a moto or power phrase to fall back on when things got tough. Someone asked me to tell them how I knew I would finish Iditarod, and I explained that I knew what I was doing, I was tough, and I could handle whatever came my way. "I can handle this" became my focus phrase - not just for Iditarod, but sort of anytime I start to get frazzled. Because the truth is, I CAN handle it.
have you everr tried any other forms of sled dog sport? sprint, skiijor, etc?Before I came to Alaska I taught my two pet dogs to pull me on a kid's scooter. Those dogs had advanced level obedience, agility, search and rescue, and tons of training. They picked it up really fasts, and learned gee and haw in just a few trips. And once they got running together they wouldn't listen to 'whoa' any better than a sled dog!
I also tried skijoring once or twice. One dog was too slow. Two dogs was better, but still too slow. Three dogs was an improvement....I kept adding dogs. Pretty soon I decided I would be better off if I had some way to make things more stable. Maybe a handlebar of some sort?
the all time funnest story you've either had or heard along the trail Almost everything Karen Ramstead writes is funny. I really love this story from 2008 (the pants part, not the finger part!)
http://www.northwapiti.com/Iditarod2K8/040508rocksinplaces.html