Second Chance League

Sorry it's been so long since that last post. Illness has run it's course through the household, ending with me getting pneumonia through all of Christmas break! Needless to say, the dogs didn't get a chance to get out. But we did finally manage to get Munchkin out a few times with our 5 year old son, Devlyn. He's trying out different dogs for his 1-dog races, so we decided to see how Munchkin would do.

In the dogyard, Munchkin is a very sweet girl. She is patient with Devlyn, yet loves her hugs. Devlyn helps with straw and feedings now and then, so he's had the chance to spend some time with Munchkin before we ever tried her as his 1-dogger. This is a very important part of training dogs for Devlyn, because he needs to form a connection with his dog. The better the connection, the better the team will do. Also, Devlyn is a pretty tall boy for his age, so he has to help his dog out while on the sled. All of the things he does from petting the dogs, to feeding, to helping put fresh straw in their houses, etc. helps Devlyn build a relationship with his dog(s). Then, when he steps on the runners to race, everything is more meaningful and he wants to work hard and help, instead of just stand on the runners, letting the dog do all the work.

Well, we were finally able to get over to Musher's hall. We tried Herod out first. He's an older, 60 lb. guy who has raced on my mid distance team for the past few years. Herod is such a sweet guy, a command leader (though he doesn't always like to be!) and a strong, hard pulling dog. Herod took off like a shot! In fact, he pulled so fast and hard, that Devlyn hit a berm and dumped the sled. Luckily, Herod sensed this and stopped to wait. But after that, he had a hard time getting going again, until he spotted me at the finish. So, even though Herod did well, he's so friendly, that we know he'd be stopping to say "Hi!" to the midway assistant on a race.

Next, we pulled Munchkin out. Boy, was she happy to go! We hooked her up and she took off like she'd been running the 1-dog all her life...until she got halfway around and spied a snowmachine track that turned off into the deep snow. She dove off the trail and ended up looking like a jack rabbit bouncing through the deep snow! Devlyn got her back on the trail, but then she kept circling back to him, wanting some attention (what a love muffin she is!). Manny went out and got her going, but she'd only pull with someone running ahead of her. I went out a little ways onto the track and once she spied me, she poured the speed on! Unfortunately for me, I have the extra weight of my 7 month burgeoning belly to slow me, so she caught me very quickly. Eventually, we got her to the finish line. She was just bouncing around, having a blast! We've tried her a few other times, but she's just so friendly, that she wants to say hi to us instead of pull the whole way around. I'm sure with more work, she'll get the idea. It's great to see what a hard pulling dog she is though. Munchkin just lays into that harness. I can't wait until I'm allowed to run the dogs again, as I have high hopes for the "Munchkinator!"

The last to try was Dutchess, our main leader. Dutchess is such a good lead dog, though she's never been real comfortable running by herself. Still, with Devlyn needing a larger dog to boost his time in the races (this is his 3rd year racing), we decided to try Dutchess. Once Manny got her going, that dog pulled great! It really helps that she knows commands, because Devlyn was able to "hike her up" to increase her speed. This helped him on the slight incline that is on the 1-dog course. Devlyn pumped his leg and hiked Dutchess up, which worked nicely. We did a few runs with Dutchess; but on the last one, Devlyn dumped the sled on a berm and Dutchess just kept going around the course to the finish line! It was great though, because Devlyn never quit trying to catch the sled. He came running after her, all the way to the finishline.