Remembering Zulu

Zulu's last trip to the BWCA where he was in lead was three and a half years ago, when he was ten years old. I had planned to have Klaus, who was only a young upstart at this time, be the leader on this trip but when he showed such an over exuberance, darting back and forth, back and forth like a herding dog on the lake, my patience quickly ran out and I placed the faithful Zulu, who had been waiting ever so patiently in point position, up in lead. He was sooooo happy, he rolled on his back and smiled for me.

Zulu was known for his wide mouth smiles.

A journal excerpt, February 2004.

The Rocks

I am heading towards the portion of the run we so affectionately call “THE ROCKS”. I stop to wrap a long piece of rope around one runner to help slow me down before I reach the beginning of the daunting rocky moguls. I’m all set. Rope around runner. Drag pad in place. Heavy duty steel brake ready and waiting. We begin the descent. Down the rocks we go!

But wait…. There’s a problem! Now the sled is on its side and I am hanging on to the brake bar, sliding down the rocks, behind the sled, on my stomach. After much struggle, I finally righted the sled. As soon as I thought all was well, I find myself on my stomach again, skiing down the rocks AND my drag pad is caught up in my heavy duty steel brake. I can’t even lean on the brake with my elbow to try and slow us down. The dogs don’t seem to hear all of the commotion. If they can, they really don’t seem to care that they can’t see me and there is a strange looking object swishing along attached to the sled. All they want to do is run and run pretty darn fast for a bunch of freight dogs that must pretend they like to go slow because they sure aren’t now!

So I know that at the bottom of “THE ROCKS”, which is possibly 400 more feet, there is a “T” in the trail and I had planned to take a left. So I am yelling to Zulu, who, keep in mind, can’t see me, “Haw! Haw! Zulu, Haw!!!” “Well”, I can imagine him thinking, “I guess she is still with us, I don’t know where but I can tell she’s in trouble.”

So we get down to the bottom of the hill and just about to the “T”, and remember, I had originally decided to go left so I again, shout “HAW!” as I am cruising behind the sled on my stomach, hanging on for dear life. (Because the first rule of dog mushing is NEVER LOSE YOUR TEAM.). Zulu takes a quick right at the “T”. “What?!” I say to myself. “Zulu is disobeying me?!” I set aside the fact that I now had arms that are at least several inches longer than they once were, from being dragged and the fact that I had large amounts of snow packed in my hood and around my head, to discuss with myself how upset I was that I had just been dissed by my ever so sweet and usually obedient leader.

I knew I said “Haw” and I believe I said it at least 25 times. (After a while, it become “blah, blah, blah, blah” to my infamous leader) Well, the second I ended the dialogue with myself, the sled got caught up on a tree like is does EVERY time we take a right in this section. Perfect! I now have time to get up, untangle my brake pad and plant myself firmly on the back of the runners, not even remembering the anger I had seconds earlier knowing that Zulu had just disobeyed me. Disobeyed me? He did indeed but that wonderfully intuitive leader of mine KNEW that I was in trouble and he KNEW that every time we take a right the sled gets caught up in a tree. So, that is why he disobeyed me because the second I got myself untangled, he looked back at me as if to say, “You alright now, mom?” and took an immediate left or the original HAW I had asked of him and didn’t even skip a beat.

Talk about the bond between dog and (wo)man…….

ZULU the Magnificent

06/17/1996 - 01/17/2010

I joined the dogs in a mournful howl this morning.

Zulu is gone; my magnificent open country leader and faithful companion. Zulu is the dog that taught me the most about being a good, fair and honest musher. My Zulu is dead.

Those of you who believe only in the notion that dog mushing is all about the romantic stories of adventure in the north woods and the wonders and joys of a day in the life in the dog yard don’t know the whole story. It is also about dealing with extreme pain and loss over and over again as your faithful trail companions who you have spent years training, nurturing and cherishing, depart this earth. If you have had a dog and lost them, you know a bit about this sort of pain, only now multiply it.

I’d like to tell a story of Zulu passing away quietly at home with no pain. Fairytale ending, his is not. Zulu became violently ill last night, completely out of the blue. The day went by as usual. Zulu, the happy retired sled dog turned house dog, spent a great deal of time outside while we hosted dog mushing adventure guests. It was a beautiful and warm January day. He posed with one of our guests for photos, pressed as tightly against her as possible. This was Zulu’s style. Never can get too close.

The house dogs ate some dinner then rested while the sled dogs were fed. After which time, Zulu, Copper, Blue and I went for a walk on the lake. Zulu loves his walks and extends himself to the end of his 26 foot flexi leash, running circles around the rest of us, even at thirteen and a half years old! I recall commenting to myself about his gait and how fluid it remains after retirement and arthritis as he bursts into a flat out “puppy run”.

Tuloon joined us in the house last evening. We were all hanging out in the sun room relaxing from our busy day when Zulu began to vomit. Outside he went. Dogs just do this on occasion so there were no immediate concerns. When I returned to retrieve him from the back yard a few minutes later I saw a terrible sight. Zulu’s body was rigid, his steps were measured and his tail was straight up as he staggered towards me. He appeared in terrible pain as he began to vomit yet again. In all of this, it appeared as though he had also cut his eye while he was making his way out of the trees to come towards me when I called him. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach. I had seen this behavior before in him and only a few weeks ago. Neil had sat up all night with him, helping him through it. At the time we thought it was because he had gotten some of the high protein powder in his food that we give to the working sled dogs. We assumed that it would pass and it did. This time, he had nothing different in his diet and he looked even worse.

After securing Tuloon and the house dogs, I carried him to the waiting vehicle and loaded him into his crate. I called the emergency vet letting them know that we would be about 40 minutes out and then my phone died. At least I got that call in.

I tried to console myself during the drive but my gut instinct was telling me that this may very well be Zulu’s time. Over the past year he began to have a fair amount of body tremors while we rested in the evening. Most recently they had begun to knock him off balance but not to the point of falling. He had lost his ability to walk up or down steps a year ago as well and had to be carried if steps were necessary. If he did pull through this, what would I do if we were in a remote location as we many times are and it happened again? We would be hours from help. How much pain would my poor sweet Zulu have to undergo before we reached help, if he made it that long? I remember asking, many years ago, how in the world do you know when it’s time to make that decision for your dog? I was told that you just know. And, do you know what? You do. You may not like it, actually, you may just down right hate it with every fiber of your being at the moment, but you know it to be true. This was Zulu’s time.

In under 30 minutes we arrived. I went to remove Zulu from his crate and his back was facing me. He didn’t want to move. I helped him out then carried this 70lb sled dog into the vet clinic. Doors were opened wide at first sight of us. The tech behind the counter asked for my name and although I couldn’t manage to make it audible the first time through the tears, she did finally understand and whisked us away to a private room. Although I could barely make the words come out, I was sure of my decision and told her that it was time and Zulu needed to be put down. We discussed that based upon the symptoms it was likely a stomach bloat that he was able to relieve on his own just a few weeks earlier. This time seemed much worse and if he got through this one, it would likely return. No more pain for Zu.

I reassured Zulu that the pain would be over soon. And as the vet entered the room and began to administer the overdose of anesthesia that would instantly remove his suffering, I said I would see him later and that I loved him, as I always do with any of my furry companions that pass on. Knowing Zulu, however, I added that if he felt he needed to stick around a while after the pain was no longer, he sure could. Zulu fell limp in my arms. No more pain. My sweet Zulu was gone.

I felt his presence on the drive home. He was resting his head on my right shoulder. Although his last moments were not painless and he didn't pass at home, that is just a moment in time. He is not to be remembered based upon his ending but upon the memories we shared during the time he was in my life and those are abundant.

He was an awesome dog. Zulu lives on in the Points Unknown kennel in his kids Sweet Pea and Klaus and grandkids Oken, Zala and Zodiak.

I’ll see ya later Zu!

Oake Lake Sunrise

Early/Mid Winter on Oake Lake

Copper, one of our sled dog team mascots, snoozing late this morning, tucked snugly into a fleece blanket. He's got his own pillow!

Back on the Runners!

Unassuming Zala in lead with Klaus, contemplating...
Zodiak and Journey are in point and McKenzie and Sweet Pea are in wheel.

The crazy dog bug hits before the others know what happened

And a roll as the others look on

After a while, the others stop watching...its just Zala being a crazy dog again.

Phoenix, Tuloon, Oken, Ilu and Icoa

There they are! The amazing duo.

Back home!

I've been back on the runners now for 5 days after taking a long break to recover from the latest mega cold/flu bug that went around. It sure has felt good!

You would think that with over a foot of snow on the lake and warmer temps to let the snow melt a bit and pack down, you just might be able to sink a hook to stop the team or at least be able to slow them down with the claw brake but, alas, no. Stopping does come in handy when running alone if you'd like to reinforce commands. Instead, if it looks like the dogs are having a "we can't hear you back there" kind of day, then forget even trying. All you can do is just reinforce what they do well and hope that at least, they stay on track. That was the run with Klaus and Zala in lead today. Zala is just all gang busters to go. She encourages seven year old Klaus to keep a quick and steady pace and spends a lot of time licking his face as if to say - "This is so fun, don't you think Klaus! I'm so glad I'm up in lead with you, aren't ya, huh, aren't ya?"

Since I couldn't stop to reinforce commands, after an initial failed attempt at giving them a challenging command that fell on deaf ears, I tried to give commands that I was 95% sure they would take so at least we got a little training out of the day when I could then praise their excellent work.

Zala just wouldn't stop seeking affirmation from Klaus with the face licking. He even began to back away from taking the "Gee" commands because that would mean he would have to get closer to her. This calls for some training strategies yet to be determined. This little girl just cracks me up. When we would stop, she has made a habit out of tossing herself in the snow, line tight mind you, but tossing and rolling in the snow like a crazy dog. I figure that as long as her line is tight, I really have no issue with this. She's having fun and encouraging others to have a good work ethic but also have fun.

Our second run consisted of Tuloon and Phoenix in lead. I usually reserve this term for Oken but Phoenix was just "smokin'" today when it came to turn-on- a-dime commands. He has gained so much confidence in the past couple of years, he now doesn't defer to Tuloon but actually contradicts her if he thinks she's wrong. Independent thinking! Yes! I got confidence early in the run that I could challenge this team, even with the lack of ability to hook down and continued to challenge them the entire run. Awesome is the word for for this Hedlund Husky duo. Phoenix is a modest one. He's never full of himself but just displays a big grin when he knows he's done a good job. Tuloon shows a bit of modesty out on the trail while the challenge is taking place and reserves her "take that" attitude for our return to the kennel as she prances around, head and tail held high.

Photos by Neil Slaughter

Topa - Tuloon/McKenzie daughter, full sister to White Feather, half sister to Zodiak, Zala and Oken

McKenzie - father to Topa, White Feather and Journey

Phoenix - father to potential litter with a Zulu daughter. Due date is end of the month

Topa on left. Sweet Pea on right - Zulu daughter, sister to Klaus and Aunt to Zodiak, Zala and Oken

McKenzie

Zodiak - Tuloon/Bazil(son of Zulu) son, full brother to Oken and Zala, half brother to Topa and White Feather

Zodiak

Miss Tuloon - mother to Zodiak, Zala, Oken, White Feather and Topa

Goofy Zodiak with sister Zala

White Feather - Tuloon/McKenzie daughter, full sister to Topa and half sister to Zodiak, Zala and Oken

Tuloon and White feather breaking a trail in the deep snow

Zala, Tuloon and White Feather

Zala - Tuloon/Bazil(son of Zulu) daughter, full sister to Zodiak and Oken, half sister to White Feather and Topa

Icoa - mother to Ilu

Inuit Dogs at Play

Photos by Neil Slaughter

Neil captured some very candid images of Ilu and Icoa at play. This is their typical play behavior and, believe it or not, no dog or person was injured during the shooting!

Tuloon/McKenzie New Hampshire Pups

Hana and Tumac, just babies.

Look how much they've grown!

Stopping for a snack

Tumac at just over 6 months old.

Hana at just over 6 months old.

Tumac and Hana, two of the 2009 Tuloon/McKenzie pups, have just began to make short runs with the Uktousa team. From the sounds of it, they have the drive, determination and focus of their sisters Topa and White Feather. At just over 6 months old Tumac weighs 62lbs while Hana weighs 48lbs.

To get regular updates on Tumac and Hana, please visit the Uktousa blog.