Photos by Don Deckert

Oken in lead next to Klaus. Ilu pokes his head out from wheel

My fearless leader, Klaus

Phoenix, Mr. laid-back

Distractions on Gunflint Lake

Puppy leader and Hailey with her four dog team

One of our distractions

Trout derby in full swing

The bun snatcher, Ilu, playing with mom, Icoa prior to hook up

Oken rests during our lake distractions. Good dog!
(all photos on this post by Don Deckert)

I make a point to mention to our guests that when working with dogs, anything can happen. There may be training moments out there and that is just part of the adventure. Teaching the dogs to be calm and focused around distractions is another welcome training challenge. The more they are exposed to these things, the better they can become at dealing with them.

We had ideal conditions for a distraction training day on Gunflint Lake last week with a trout derby in full force and the herds of deer that hang around the lodge searching for hand outs. In addition, this was Hailey, our kennel helper's, first run with her own team on the lake. We had our work cut out for us in the training department.

The dogs didn't seem to be bothered by the dozens of snowmobiles wizzing by but the minute they spotted a deer on the shore, they all took notice. This is where the "on by" command comes into play. It is a useful command to teach the dogs while out on the trail and it means to ignore whatever is catching their attention. Don't mark that tree, don't sniff the dog team we are passing and don't pick up that bag of buns and carry it back to the lodge with you (more on this later). In this case, the dogs were not on the gangline but were on their picket line with harnesses on. Even though they can be in rest mode at this point, they are working and the rules are enforced. You can notice the deer on the shore but there will be no lunging at the picket line and no obnoxious barking. The adults understand this rule, however it took some time for one of the 17 month old pups(Zodiak)to get the idea. We continue to train......

Once the two teams headed out and we got past the majority of the trout derby traffic we could relax and work on some other items. Oken, one of my 17 month old pups, was in lead with Klaus, my seasoned veteran. It was Oken's first time to be in lead with him from hook up to our return and again, we had out work cut out for us!

On this day, we had a snowmobile assist to come along and run interference in case any of the snowmobile traffic came too close. Don, our guest musher, took this position and also acted as "dog team with puppy in lead" helper and photographer. Don helped with a couple of tangles when Oken did a few puppy moves, otherwise just took some nice photos and warned snowmobilers of our approach. Oken is such an eager to please boy, he doesn't always wait to be told what he should do and tries to guess. This means he's thinking. "Oh, I bet she wants me to go THIS way! I'm looking back and see her smiling so I must be a good boy! Uh oh, no smile, ok, well back I go". I can see his potential he just needs to solidly learn the commands, learn patience and focus. All in time. He did quite a good job and even went head-on towards a strange person laying in the snow on the trail to get a photo and did an excellent "on by"! Good boy!

While all of this training was going on, with our guest in the sled, delighting at every training moment, Hailey was behind us with her four dog team, looking like a pro. No problems there.

And that bag of buns I mentioned.......the trout derby was a big party. There were picnics on the lake. Someone snowmobiling along apparently dropped a perfectly good bag of hamburger buns in the middle of the lake and we headed right for them. A quick "on by" command was obeyed by the first four dogs as they trampled the bag, however when we got back to the wheel dogs, all bets were off. Ilu quickly snatched it on the run. He held it proudly in his mouth, ever so softly, and carried it back to the lodge from about a quarter of a mile away. Leave it to an Inuit Dog. I suppose I could frame it in a positive light. Rather than saying he disobeyed my command, I could say that he could not comply as he had a strong desire to keep the lake free of trash and it just wouldn't have been right to leave it there.

Another Vet Trip

Tukisi's smiling face

Copper and Blue with the spay patients in the crates

Liz's dog, Utah, shortly after his snow hook injury

This vet trip was planned. It happened a few days after the Run Your Own Iditarod Adventure.

Tukisi had a swollen muzzle over a month ago. After speaking with the vet over the phone it sounded as if it could be a mouth injury caused by a bone or it could be a tooth issue. Antibiotics would be the first course of action to see if this would take care of the problem. We were told that if the swelling came back, then it was a tooth that needed attention. Well, the swelling came back.

Being several hours away from a vet makes planning important. Liz was interested in having two of her girls spayed and also needed to make a trip to visit a friend to bring back some borrowed gear. She would be traveling through Ely, MN and right past the vet. She offered to take Tukisi along and drop him, along with her girls, off for their vet visits then return for them the next day on her way back to the lodge.

All went well. Liz's dogs, Dane and Achoo were spayed and Tukisi underwent a surgery for an abscess and had the tooth removed. Tukisi is now off his round of antibiotics and is feeling well enough to begin chewing on bones again. Liz's girls have spent the last week and a half in the musher apartment as they recover from their spays.

With the little dogs, Copper and Blue, my retired boy Zulu, Dane, Achoo and Utah, who was recuperating from an injury, it has been a little cramped in the apartment but the more the merrier! Aaahh, the life of a dog musher!

Run Your Own Iditarod...Quite the Adventure!

Iditarod Adventure on Gunflint Lake

Written by Liz Parrish, Instructor, Musher, Chief Pooper Scooper

Two spirited souls, Meredith and Lee Ann, met myself, my dogs and each other on Feb. 19 for an adventure quite unlike any other. We had planned a very full 3 days with learning to drive a sled and small teams, education about dog care, travelling by dog team, personal care in the winter wilderness, planning and preparing for and running a 24 hour “mini-Iditarod” consisting of three 4 hour runs broken up by 2 “checkpoints”. The participants were responsible for everything having to do with their teams…feeding, harnessing, hooking up, driving, dog care, booties, etc.

As usual when running dogs, plans are made in order to be changed, so here’s a recap of what really happened.

Lee Ann and Meredith arrived Thursday afternoon and after introducing them to their teams, we immediately went out for a short run with each of them driving 4 of their 5 assigned dogs on their own team. Nothing like jumping right in – no experience required, we provided that! Our first run was the Highland Trail, which is a steep climb, a beautiful small turning trail running through the woods, and then a fast descent back to the dog yard. They both did great, and started getting their “sled legs” immediately. They jumped into dog chores as soon as we returned, putting the dogs away, feeding, scooping and getting used to the entire dog care routine.

Next morning, an early run before breakfast set the tone for the jam packed day, and helped them work the kinks out of their new-found sled muscles. We did an extension of the Highland Trail which added another mile through a swamp and a tiny wooded trail that the dogs love as it twists and turns. It was spectacular in the early morning cold, and breakfast never tasted so good for dogs or mushers. Friday quickly flew by while learning how to prepare checkpoint drop bags, basics of people and dog care, and a small rest break thrown in for good measure. Friday evening we planned an introductory night run over to Loon Lake, and a showing of the Iditarod 2008 video “De Ja Vu”.

Everything went fine, with even a crash by Lee Ann’s sled going over to Loon Lake being taken in stride. She lost her sled after rounding a curve and dropping onto a plowed road, and it hit my sled as I was stopped ahead of her – knocked me off my sled but I managed to grab the front of her sled and got dragged down the road to the lake. Both teams stopped at the bottom of the road once we hit snow, I got both sleds hooked down and waited for everyone else to catch up! Lee Ann was a trooper and got back on the runners and we continued our trip and finished it without further incident. All’s well that ends well!

Almost, anyway…ending well that is. Turns out one of the dogs (Utah) who was leading Lee Ann’s team was injured in the crash. It seems as my sled tipped over when Lee Ann’s sled hit it, the snowhook on my sled came down and sliced open his side just behind his right shoulder. Stoic and black dog that he is, he didn’t say anything and there was no blood, so nobody found it until the next morning. I took him to a nearby local vet for stitches, putting the proverbial change of plans in motion. Utah is just fine, and as of this writing just got his stitches out and is a much happier camper and no worse for the wear (other than doing some time as a house dog).

Taking a 7 hour “vet trip timeout” into consideration, Meredith and Lee Ann decided they would like to do another night run Saturday night (NOT on the gravel road!) and then do a checkpoint in the dog yard, and Sunday AM doing a long run out on Gunflint Lake as their finale. It was a great plan and worked out fabulously! The night run was flawless, and with a new moon the stars were incredible. The dogs loved it as it was cold and invigorating for them, and not too bone chilling for the people, although it did get down to a brisk -30 or so windchill by morning.

Meredith and Lee Ann bedded the dogs down as they would on the trail upon returning to the dog yard checkpoint, putting straw down and feeding the dogs while harnessed in their teams and then heading in for a quick bite to eat. It was after midnight when they went out to sleep with the dogs, while I stayed inside to sleep with the patient who wasn’t too patient being a conehead. They all piled back into the checkpoint building (musher apartment) about 5 am, with the need to pee and warm up from the cold having become paramount.

We got everyone fed, watered, and set out for Gunflint Lake on a gorgeous sunny day. Everyone did really well getting down the hill to the Lake with the snowmobile assist courtesy of Linda, and then heading out up the lake and taking turns leading. About 2/3 of the way up the lake we ran out of snowmachine trails, and so started breaking trails of our own, got to the far shore and played around the islands, snacked dogs and mushers, and headed back. The participants ended up with a 4+ hour run which included training, frustrations, successes and being “in the zone”…Meredith started trucking on the way back and ran away from Lee Ann and I without realizing it, getting back almost to Gunflint Lodge before figuring out maybe she should wait for us.

Both Lee Ann and Meredith wanted to “do it all”…and they certainly did!! We finished the weekend with nearly 40 miles by dog team, 16 happy hungry and satisfied dogs, and 3 tired, chilly, hungry and exhilarated mushers…mission accomplished! It was thrilling, exhausting, a tremendous learning experience and a great time was had by mushers and dogs alike. When we got back to the dog yard, everybody was quite contented with a very full weekend!
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Many thanks to Liz for creating this adventure for Points Unknown, for providing such excellent instruction and for sharing her story in this post.

Special Adventure

Liz Parrish, instructor, and team

Meredith and team

Meredith and team

Musher Lee Ann

Lee Ann and Team

Karen and Team

Lee Ann and Team

Meredith and Team

The Run Your Own Iditarod Adventure wraps up today. Liz Parrish is the instructor and will have a full account of the weekend for us that will be posted soon. Until then, I thought I would share some photos of their final run on Gunflint Lake earlier this morning.

There were two participants who signed up to Run their own Iditarod this weekend. They plunged into the details of mushing dogs directly upon their arrival last Thursday.

Time to Catch Up!

Laying down on the job

Dog mushing is hard work! Wait, where are the dogs?

Sandy Hagan with his team

The wifi is temporarily functional which makes it easier for me to catch up a bit this afternoon. Last weekend was a busy one. Guest musher, Sandy Hagan, came up for the weekend to help with client adventures. Sandy has Canadian Inuit Dogs, Malamutes, Large Freight Alaskans and mixes of each. He was concerned, at first, that Liz, with her Iditarod dogs, wouldn't be able to keep up out on the trail and he'd have to spend a lot of time waiting for her......

Sandy also spent a lot of time laying down on the job as you'll see by the photo above. He made up for it, however, by pulling his own sled while the dogs rested. He and his dogs did a wonderful job with guests and we're thankful he could join us this season.

Liz and Karen went out on an all day adventure last Tuesday with a couple of wonderful ladies that traveled all the way from downtown Minneapolis just to go dog mushing. Each adventure is customized to the individual participants and since it was so cold, we decided to begin the day on Gunflint Lake in case the weather took a turn for the worst. A steep and windy hill that leads down to the boat landing from the dog yard is too treacherous for a team to go unassisted so I took the snowmobile and we tied the snub line of each team to the front bumper and I slowly helped the teams down the hill, one at a time. Just before the road crossing, one participant got out to check for vehicles on this minimally traveled road. Both teams crossed the road safely and headed across the lake.

Unfortunately, it was quickly apparent that an extended trip on the lake would not be in the best interest of our guests when the wind picked up and white-out conditions prevailed. Turning the teams around, our mushers took the teams back to the dog yard to stop for lunch and prepare for the afternoon portion of the adventure that would consist of a dog mushing slide show presentation and a trail run in the woods, which would allow shelter from the wind.

Our participants fully enjoyed their customized adventure and insisted on helping feed the dogs after the run. It was then that we discovered that there was a birthday girl among us. Barbara had just turned 80 years old the day before! She said she didn't want to tell us until after the adventure because she was afraid we wouldn't let her go! Sneaky.....

After the busy holiday weekend I spend the day in Grand Marais. A pallet of dog food had been delivered and needed to be picked up. In addition, I was called to act as an expert witness and give a deposition for a case currently in litigation for which I did the appraisal two years previous. Imagine purchasing a home and finding out years later that there is a burial mound of Native American affiliation on your property to which you were not informed. Because I am based in northern Minnesota during the winter, the deposition was given in Grand Marais and both attorneys made the trek from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area for the event. I tried to entice them to go on a dog mushing adventure during their stay but was unsuccessful.

Today

Pristine snow on Gunflint Lake

Karen investigates the wolf kill remains. This spot will be some good "on by" training for the sled dogs!

Open Dog Yard

A guest gets a big wet kiss from one of Karen's dogs prior to her departure

Sandy, our guest musher, gives a client a lesson in sled dog harnessing

Temps were below zero over night, making the trails set up nicely. Four guests were taken out on the trails with the dogs today while I took to the lakes with the snowmobile to see how the conditions were after our rain earlier this week. Only a few days ago, a day after the rain and one day of snow, Gunflint Lake was entirely slush. Not one section passed along with the snowmobile was free of the nasty stuff. It seemed unlikely that the lake would be ideal for dog team travel any time soon.

To my surprise, I found Gunflint Lake to be relatively slush free today and the new track laid will be runnable for the dogs tomorrow as temps are below zero again over night. Also a surprise was the wolf kill in the middle of the lake. As usual, nothing was left but a few bits of hair.

In the dog yard today, our guests enjoyed their adventures; so much so that two others who came along to watch their friends take off, quickly booked adventures for tomorrow. We also hosted over a dozen people at our Open Dog Yard event. I think it was a record number for toddlers in attendance! Parents were asked to keep close tabs on the toddlers and educated to the behaviors of some dogs with regards to loud high pitched noises and awkwardly "toddling" small objects that can quickly engage the dogs' prey drive. The toddlers viewed most dogs from afar with an occasional "up close" moment with some of the more toddler friendly dogs such as Sweet Pea.

Tomorrow brings another busy adventure schedule with six guests heading out on the trails with us.