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Fellow musher?


sled dog musher

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I am a canadian musher. I here there is another musher on here called pumpkin. If you are reading this I would like to here about your team. There aren't many musher around here so I am excited to know i'm not alone in my ocupation on this forum.

I have a small team since I just started full swing in january. My 2 lead dogs are Riley and Bear. I'm training Bear with Riley in lead since I just received him on jan 1. He is 1 yr and a red\tan and black siberian husky.]very handsom!] My 2 nd leader I ever trained is Riley a lab\rottie\pointer mix. He may not be a sled dog but he loves to pull. The first leader I trained was Samantha a border collie australian shepherd x. My neighbor owns a husky german shepherd x named Dixie. We think she is possibly Bears mate. I have a small sled. It is handcrafted it's between a freight and sprint sled. It weighs about 40 Lbs. I also have a sheltie that I may try on the sled next winter because he is strong and fast. We are also in process of moving to buy more huskies? What do you think of samoyeds as sled pullers? I have no experiance with them.

thanks!

Hope you will tell me more about your team!

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Hi Katherine- I live in Wisconsin, and race Alaskan huskies. I started with Siberians, but got tired of coming in last in all the races. Most competative mushers use Alaskans- Siberians have become too heavy boned and short legged, while Malamutes are simply too big- Don't get me wrong, they are both lovely breeds, but they have been bred to conform to an AKC standard, not a working standard. Alaskans are really mutts- allot of different breeds have been added over the years to produce what the Alaskan is today, like hounds, Irish setter, greyhound, and Border Collie. The latest mutation that is burning up the sprint racing circuit are Alaskans with some German shorthair pointer mixed in. Incredibaly fast dogs. As I said before tho, I do Mid-distance, with mileages around the 25 to 100 mile length. My guys have some Malamute mixed in and weigh about 45 to 65 lbs. . Again, check out sled Dog Central- there is a mentor list -perhaps you can find someone near you to help you out.

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  • 2 months later...

I agree Annushka- a true Siberian is quite different from what the show style is here in the States. There is a man in Canada trying to breed back to what they originally looked like- he calls them Seppala siberians in honor of one of the founders of the breed in the west, Leonard Seppala. If I can find the website again I'll point you at it, really interesting stuff.

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[quote name='Pumpkin the musher']I agree Annushka- a true Siberian is quite different from what the show style is here in the States. There is a man in Canada trying to breed back to what they originally looked like- he calls them Seppala siberians in honor of one of the founders of the breed in the west, Leonard Seppala. If I can find the website again I'll point you at it, really interesting stuff.[/quote]

That isn't the original Sibes?? Find the link, I wanna see!

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  • 1 year later...
Guest Anonymous

Great! It is always nice to talk with fellow mushers!
I know this was first posted a couple of years ago. I hope this "chat topic" is still active.
I'll come back soon to check if there are any replies.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello from the Yukon Territory!

Here's the link you were asking for, only two years late . . .

[url=http://www.seppalasleddogs.com/ourideal.htm][b]The Seppala Siberian Sleddog Project[/b][/url]

Sorry it took so long to find this forum! Anyway, you'll find a wealth of information on the SSSD Project website: history, Siberian bloodlines information, training tips, a discussion of feeding, breeding topics, tons of photos, and more!

Also separate websites for Seppala Kennels and for the International Seppala Association. I hope you find our sites enjoyable.

Jeffrey

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Hi Jeffrey-
Been reading your site for several years now, having first seen it on Sled Dog Central. I started mushing with Siberians back in the 70's- my mom raised them. I had one female with a Seppela backround that was a wonderful dog and left me with high expectations of what lead dogs are capable of. Thankfully I've been blessed with two "once in a lifetime leaders" -the second being a 75%/ 25% Alaskan- Malamute cross. We are nearing the retirement trail now, and have decided to do the Beargrease 150 this winter, as a reward to her for her 8 years of being a perfect lead dog. She deserves a better musher than I...
This is "Bug":
[img]http://www.mypetpages.net/artists/1653/0/d758859c2b5b6e17f383b37ce9f5f9a3.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.mypetpages.net/artists/1653/0/7cd6068350ecfce3584eefce70eb082c.jpg[/img]

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Hi Pumpkin,

If you're in Northern Wisconsin and have been around for that long, surely you must have known Carolyn Ritter and my dear friends the Serbouseks!? Carolyn used to live in Mercer, Deb and Steve still live in Iron River (Windigo Outfitters). Lost touch with Carolyn after 1993 to my regret; I think having to get out of sleddogs was just too painful for her and she doesn't want to stir old memories.

I am STILL using the incredible H-back harnesses I bought from Deb in 1991, they just never seem to wear out! Once I had tried out those harnesses I never put another X-back on a dog; they are so great for my kind of back-country dog driving.

"Bug" is a doll, what an aloof, self-contained, contemplative expression she has! Know what you mean about those once-in-a-lifetime leaders. I have one myself in Tonya of Seppala who'll be ten on the first day of November. Fortunately, her young niece Lizaveta ("Little Lizzy Lineout") bids fair to become an even better leader than Tonner. Guess I'm just plain blessed in the dogs I chose as lifetime associates. Seppalas are SOOO cooperative and well-behaved, they spoil a person for anything else.

Jeffrey

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I was pretty young, but if I remember correctly, Carolyn may have even bought a dog from my mom, but that would have been in the late 1970's, or at least had correspondence with her. Our kennel name was Andromeda, but it has been a long time since I saw the name on any pedigrees. Deb and Steve I've known for many years- all my harnesses are Windigo too, and if I didn't have a dedicated harness eatter, all of mine would be intact too..... :-?
Yeah, that Bug is quite the gal- very serious dog and and very expressive. She is out of some old Attla Alaskans, (Chris and Jarvi) and her brother , whom I also have, has been a super dog as well. She deserved a better musher than me!
This is her brother Merlin- also a leader, but better at being a doofus. He acts more like his Mal mother...
[img]http://www.mypetpages.net/artists/1653/0/094e2e719aee6574f5e1e35ecfb582f8.jpg[/img]

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  • 2 years later...

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