Wheel Dogs

    The other night Scott and I were talking dogs and discussing the merits of single-wheel dogs. I would’ve never run a single dog in the first one or two sections in front of the sled (wheel), but now I’m a believer in the method.

    Although you may lose some power without the four dogs in the back, it makes the next section (one or two sections in team up from wheel) an ‘honest’ position – those dogs have to work too. Until Scott told me we put the weakest dogs in those spots, I’d never really thought about it. But what he said is true: I automatically put my strongest dogs in wheel and the best front end dogs are arrayed in front. And who goes in the middle (in team)? Those dogs I forget about, the dogs that don’t stand out.

    Taking some of the power out of the wheel sections makes the rest of the team work harder as well, because up in lead the dogs just aren’t pulling as hard anyway. Thus, without being able to rely on the back four doing so much of the work, they have to lean into their harnesses a bit more.

    Another benefit is that the wheel dogs have more freedom to move out of the way around tight turns and switchbacks – which I have noticed on our tight portage trails. The dogs can jump over or under the line which helps you navigate the turn by jerking the sled out of the turn and also keeps them from getting wrapped around a tree or off the trail. Single-wheel is also beneficial for looking at dogs more closely, whether judging performance or soundness.

    While on the subject of wheel dogs, another mistake I realized I was making, was putting my biggest dogs in wheel. It’s actually hard on the ‘big boys’ to be back there since the tug-line pulls down on their hips at a sharper angle in wheel than further up the gang-line. Thus, it is best to put your big, powerful dogs up one or two positions and put smaller (but not tiny) dogs in wheel instead.

    Another introduction…

    Noah: from Bill Cotter, running with the race team. He’s Bill’s trademark big, white dog. Although he’s a leader, he’s not as competent as the other 22 leaders on the race team, so he hasn’t really led. The biggest dog here, it would be horrible to have to bag him if he got injured!   

    Just Scott’s dogs to go now…