September 29, 2019 - First ride with a dog wagon
September 29, 2019 - First ride with a dog wagon
Yesterday we met Marianne for the first time. She gave us a very warm welcome and in the evening the humans had Cheese Fondue outside at the campfire.
Let me tell you a little bit about the two people we will stay with for a while. Wolf, this is not his official name, is a dog trainer along other professions.
Marianne has different professions too. Both of them are very kind people and very friendly.
All the dogs here are Huskies. There are different kinds of Huskies: Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, Alaskan Husky and others.
Originally indigenous peoples kept Huskies. Husky is a general name for a sled-type of dog. They are very energetic and athletic.
There are different kinds of sleds for dog sleds. Here on the farm the dogs pull side by side in pairs. “There are leader dogs, point dogs, swing dogs, and wheel dogs. The lead dog is crucial, so mushers take particular care of these dogs”. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_sled).
We don’t have snow here yet but it will not take long now. To train the dogs without snow Rolf has two vehicles that look like a little cart on wheels. In the back stands the musher, then there is a seat for a passenger and the dogs go in front to pull the sleigh. The dogs are very strong and can run fast. You can’t imagine the strength they use to get started, it’s like they make a jump when they start pulling.
When the humans prepared the dogs to get tied to the wagon they get tied to a slack line first. There was a lot of barking and howling. All the dogs barked when Wolf walked around and decided which dogs he would pick for the training. Every single dog yelled “pick me, let me run!”.
I had to watch through the window because I was stressed with the situation. Imagine, me being a single dog, I am not used to that kind of things. I was running around like crazy, trying to say Hello to every single dog on the slag line while they were ignoring me because their focus was elsewhere. That was so frustrating!
Some of the females were in heat and there were arguments between the male dogs about who has more rights to be near the female dog.
Once they were all tied to the lines of the wagon they were desperately waiting for Wolf’s command to start running.
My mistress was the passenger on that ride and she told me later what happened. She said it was incredibly beautiful to be on that wagon and feel the power of the dogs and she could imagine how that would be in the snow with the sled and in silence without the noises of the wagon.
They went for a while and when they turned around they saw a bear in the distance. The bear decided to follow the dog wagon and was fast. He came closer but the dogs were fast enough to not let him come any closer. My mistress asked Wolf what he would do if the bear came very close and he said he would turn the wagon around, the dogs facing the bear and that normally helps to scare the bear away. There was no need to be worried; the bear was still in a safe distance. Anyways, the humans would be protected by the dogs. Oh yes, I would protect my mistress too if anyone or anything or any wild animal would try to hurt her.
The bear kept following them for a longer distance although bears are normally only running short distances but this one had a strong will. Finally he gave up.
When the dogs and the humans arrived back at their home two of the dogs were running free. They were tired and couldn’t pull any more. No wonder, they were just starting the training for this season.
When it is too humid outside the Huskies can’t sweat, as the humidity on the outside is too much to get rid of the humidity of the sweat. That means they would overheat.
While it is hot outside the fur protects them from the heat.
All the dog got a bowl of water immediately after the arrival and it was refilled a couple of times. The dogs drank some water, then stopped for a while to fill the lungs with air again and drank again. After they all cooled down they were untied and returned to the kennels.
You should have seen my mistress, she was dirty all over. Her pants, her jacket, even her face was full of dirt. The ground was still wet and while the dogs ran they pushed all the dirt and water to the back, right on my mistress. But never the less she enjoyed the ride a lot and was very happy.
Yesterday we met Marianne for the first time. She gave us a very warm welcome and in the evening the humans had Cheese Fondue outside at the campfire.
Let me tell you a little bit about the two people we will stay with for a while. Wolf, this is not his official name, is a dog trainer along other professions.
Marianne has different professions too. Both of them are very kind people and very friendly.
All the dogs here are Huskies. There are different kinds of Huskies: Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, Alaskan Husky and others.
Originally indigenous peoples kept Huskies. Husky is a general name for a sled-type of dog. They are very energetic and athletic.
There are different kinds of sleds for dog sleds. Here on the farm the dogs pull side by side in pairs. “There are leader dogs, point dogs, swing dogs, and wheel dogs. The lead dog is crucial, so mushers take particular care of these dogs”. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_sled).
We don’t have snow here yet but it will not take long now. To train the dogs without snow Rolf has two vehicles that look like a little cart on wheels. In the back stands the musher, then there is a seat for a passenger and the dogs go in front to pull the sleigh. The dogs are very strong and can run fast. You can’t imagine the strength they use to get started, it’s like they make a jump when they start pulling.
When the humans prepared the dogs to get tied to the wagon they get tied to a slack line first. There was a lot of barking and howling. All the dogs barked when Wolf walked around and decided which dogs he would pick for the training. Every single dog yelled “pick me, let me run!”.
I had to watch through the window because I was stressed with the situation. Imagine, me being a single dog, I am not used to that kind of things. I was running around like crazy, trying to say Hello to every single dog on the slag line while they were ignoring me because their focus was elsewhere. That was so frustrating!
Some of the females were in heat and there were arguments between the male dogs about who has more rights to be near the female dog.
Once they were all tied to the lines of the wagon they were desperately waiting for Wolf’s command to start running.
My mistress was the passenger on that ride and she told me later what happened. She said it was incredibly beautiful to be on that wagon and feel the power of the dogs and she could imagine how that would be in the snow with the sled and in silence without the noises of the wagon.
They went for a while and when they turned around they saw a bear in the distance. The bear decided to follow the dog wagon and was fast. He came closer but the dogs were fast enough to not let him come any closer. My mistress asked Wolf what he would do if the bear came very close and he said he would turn the wagon around, the dogs facing the bear and that normally helps to scare the bear away. There was no need to be worried; the bear was still in a safe distance. Anyways, the humans would be protected by the dogs. Oh yes, I would protect my mistress too if anyone or anything or any wild animal would try to hurt her.
The bear kept following them for a longer distance although bears are normally only running short distances but this one had a strong will. Finally he gave up.
When the dogs and the humans arrived back at their home two of the dogs were running free. They were tired and couldn’t pull any more. No wonder, they were just starting the training for this season.
When it is too humid outside the Huskies can’t sweat, as the humidity on the outside is too much to get rid of the humidity of the sweat. That means they would overheat.
While it is hot outside the fur protects them from the heat.
All the dog got a bowl of water immediately after the arrival and it was refilled a couple of times. The dogs drank some water, then stopped for a while to fill the lungs with air again and drank again. After they all cooled down they were untied and returned to the kennels.
You should have seen my mistress, she was dirty all over. Her pants, her jacket, even her face was full of dirt. The ground was still wet and while the dogs ran they pushed all the dirt and water to the back, right on my mistress. But never the less she enjoyed the ride a lot and was very happy.
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