What kind of dogs are those?

It was a little to warm to run today, but I loaded the scooter into the back of my car anyway while Blizzard howled (apparently she wanted to make sure I did not forget her). I drove out to a gravel bike trail not too far from my house. Blizzard and Flurry pulled the scooter about a mile and a half before I turned them around to return to the car.

The trail we took is not my favorite trail, but it is close by. We have to cross a road to go over a mile out and to go more than 1.5 you have to run along a road for a while. We usually just take short runs on this trail.

Afterward, I took them to a dog walk at a near by park to raise money for the local humane society where I adopted Blizzard. We got some free tennis balls from various vendors there and took a mile walk around the small lake in the park. I had many people ask what kind of dogs Blizzard and Flurry are. It seems most people have never seen white huskies before and never noticed that huskies do not always have long coats. Even other husky owners will not recognize these two as husky. Most people guess they are white German Sheppards (but they are clearly too small). One person even stared at me as if I was nuts after I told him they were huskies.

When they are pulling me down the trails or I am vacuuming up their fur, I have no doubts these two dogs are huskies.

Two Dogs and a Sled Short

If you have never owned a husky, you may not be aware of the incredible energy these dogs have. Three and a half years ago, I became the proud owner of a 3-month-old Siberian husky. It only took me a few days to discover I was going to have to work extremely hard to keep her from destroying the house or escaping the backyard to find more entertaining prospects.

I discovered skijoring in 2004 and follow that up with biking with my dog in the summer. Seeking more adventure, in the summer of 2005 I found Blizzard, a Siberian husky and Yellow Lab mix, at a local shelter and brought her home. Some small part of me thought this second dog would wear out the first. I discovered this was not the case.

I got a scooter for them to pull the next fall and participated in my first race the next winter. My two dogs have only pulled a sled twice last winter, but now I am out to build a real sled team for the coming season.

The challenge is how to build a sled team in a city with an ordinance stating you can only have two dogs. Not only that, I without a dog sled and must find the best place to get my dogs out to run in an urban setting.

Our competition will be built from larger rural kennels with experienced dogs and larger numbers of dogs from which to choose the best and fasted for the team. The other mushers will be more experienced and already have the necessary equipment, but I plan to develop my team and race this season competitively.

The training season is about to begin. Three-mile walks in the morning all summer were only the beginning. It is time to become an official team.

For now, I am two dogs and a sled short, but on my way.