Husky News

AUGUSTA — Barking wildly and lunging for the start area, roughly 150 sled dogs lined up Saturday morning to race the trails at Fort Custer Recreation Area. But these Alaskan Huskies, Siberian Huskies, Malamutes and Samoyeds are not aggressive dogs. They are more like giddy children waiting to board a merry-go-round.

“These dogs are really excited, really ready to go,” event chairwoman Jo Oostveen of Galesburg said.

The dogs were lining up for the day’s first run, a structured run in which dogs practice passing other teams on a one-mile loop.

Almost 20 teams came from Michigan, Illinois and Ohio to participate in the annual training weekend, which wraps up at noon today. The training is sponsored by Mid Union Sled Haulers, or M.U.S.H.

While sled dog racing is called mushing, trainers explained “Mush!” doesn’t mean much. Instead, mushers use four basic commands, similar to those used with horses. “Hike” means go, “Whoa” means slow down, “Gee” means turn right and “Haw” means turn left.

“You really only need one good dog, the lead dog,” she added.

If a lone dog is training, the musher, or person behind the dog, rides a mountain bike. Mushers with a team of dogs use either a motorless all-terrain vehicle or a rig, a metal frame with a riding platform and three wheels.

“We can’t use motorized ATVs because it’s a state park,” Gary Loebrich of Sanford, near Midland, said.

The 74-year-old brought 13 of his own Siberian Huskies to Saturday’s training. He has been racing for at least 20 years.

Each breed of sled dog has its own virtues. Alaskan Huskies are actually a cross-breed between any breed of fast dog, such as a hound, and an Alaskan Husky, Raabe said. They are the fastest sled dogs, reaching speeds of 15 to 20 miles per hour. Siberian Huskies can go 10 to 15 miles per hour, and tend to be the longest winded.

“I’ve raced Siberian Huskies for 20 miles at a time,” said Bill Raabe, 78, a Battle Creek man who started M.U.S.H. in 1979.

Malamutes are stockier and bulkier than Huskies, and are considered freight dogs, meaning they can pull the most weight. Malamutes and Samoyeds are the slowest, at five to 10 miles per hour.

“They ain’t worth a damn for runnin’ but they sure look nice,” Raabe said of Samoyeds, a fluffy white breed. “Alaskan Huskies were built for speed. You see a lot of those in iditarods.”

Raabe no longer races dogs, but he is a life member of M.U.S.H. He started the organization to break away from races with monetary prizes. M.U.S.H. is a family-oriented club, with no money pots.

This is the fourth training session M.U.S.H. has sponsored this year. The organization has about 160 members, Raabe said. Competition starts in January. Raabe said dry land training is essential to having a successful team once the snow hits.

“Theoretically, you cannot train dogs on the sled,” Raabe said. “If you don’t get training in beforehand, you’re going to be in trouble. You can stop a rig, but it’s harder to stop a sled in snow.”

Source: The Enquirer