As I gear up for the Iditarod, I keep an eye on Sled Dog Central for any equipment sales and, I admit it, dog sales. I've not bought any dogs from anyone but Scott - and only dogs I've run - since Alaska...until this year, when I got a yearling from Kirk Barnum named Saxon. But I only went down to get gear...oh, those famous words!
One of the things I miss most about Alaska is all the mushers. My friend Hannah and I talk often and it's nice to have a fellow musher nearby - but the atmosphere of mushing talk and stories from Iditarod musher's is hard to beat. That's why races are often like a family get-together...swapping training and race stories and talking dogs with people who know what you're saying when you mention things like "snub-line" and "swing dog." I should note that my family is extremely kind to listen to my ramblings; I thank God for such support!
I'd met Kirk many years ago at a Seppala (siberian husky) sled dog club meeting in Montana - when he was doing the Iditarod. I knew he'd sent some good dogs the way of my friend Aiyana but hadn't really seen him since the 2012 Iditarod when he was parked across the street (it was SO good to see him and Aiyana and her dad - people I actually knew from home after 6 months in the Alaska wilderness!).
So when I heard he was selling out and only 4 hours away, why not drive down and see what gear I could buy that's Iditarod tested? And when Hannah offered to come with me: it's like a musher's vacation!
I went down in April and although I meant to only come back with snowshoes, sleeping bag and other mandatory and needed gear, I ended up with a sled and lots of gear...and several dogs. I was originally going to take 12 dogs, but Hannah helped convince me to only take seven. The deal was that I would harness break the young dogs and then could keep the two Iditarod veterans...if I wanted them. This satisfied the requirement I've set on dogs of never purchasing a dog I'd not run first. The dogs were three females: Pabst, Hermit and Amy and four males: Saxon, Ludwig, Wizard and Schmidt.
A few of the dogs:
It's not often that you can take another musher's dogs and run them...and get to see what they're made of. It was a great experience. The first thing I realized is that although his dogs are a slightly different style from mine (they move their feet a bit different), they moved fluidly and got along well...there was consistency. I also felt encouraged because his dogs are about the same size as mine. I've always been back and forth about size, but as Kirk said, the ideal size seems to be changing all the time. Top notch mushers who used to be known for small dogs now have big ones, etc.
The second trip to Kirk's was in May to take the dogs back. I decided to keep Saxon only. It was a hard decision, but I hadn't planned on getting any dogs and he just stuck out. I decided I didn't want any older dogs at the moment because I'd bred the 3 litters which I'd hoped would provide a large crop of pups.
The third trip was to get some more gear, including lines. On this trip we talked a great deal about breeding dogs and bloodlines. He said that he looks at the female line in a dog more than the males in the pedigree - which is apparently what the Streeper's have been doing. I think there is some truth there, because when I look at all the pups from Mouse or even the female line from Summer's background to Summer to Moondrop (who's becoming a gorgeous pup) it seems to make sense. I'll be watching it for a while and see if it's true. This is not to say that the male is not important, just that the female is more important. Looking at some of his bloodlines I was pleased to see Summer has some extremely good dogs in her background...
Upon coming home I've been using Kirk's lines and have "fallen in love" with the small snaps for both tugs and necklines and the 19" necklines, made of very small rope. I've been training 18 and 19 dog teams this fall as I try to sort through the dogs to get to the race string and it makes the tight corners on our trail difficult. Thankfully, I'm using Kirk's system. Not only will the snaps break, as a last resort, but the light necklines snap easily if the dog gets dragged into the corner or goes around the wrong side of the tree/bushes. The safety advantages, especially as I'm running Rowdy's pups who are still learning the ropes (literally!), are tremendous. Of course, it's also strange to be using 8ft gangline sections - I've run 7 and 6 ft sections for so long the 20 dog gangline seems overly long...but it's not.
There's so much more I learned from Kirk, but I'm sure it'll come out in future posts...happy training!
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