Pumpkin the musher

Oh sheesh, here we go. Just got into a pissing match with someone on Dogster who posted their Siberian/Malamute/wolf mishmash as an Alaskan. I pointed out to them that what they have is not an Alaskan, especially since they got the dog in South Carolina. No big mushing kennels there, would be my guess, :roll: . Now they are insisting they have a Amerindian dog, from someone named Becky Galliher at Graystone ranch in S.C.. Anyone heard of her?

It took awhile for the bell to ring with me, but she showed up on a mushing site I frequent trying to sell her dogs and created a real sh1tstorm-(This is a while back, maybe year at least). For this of course she claimed what awesome sled dogs they would make, but when pressed to show race results, couldn't. She lists her dogs as 80 to 100 lbs, and for weight pull or freight racing they may be OK, but in any distance or sprint race they would be left in the dust. (snow :wink: )

It's the same with Alaskans- they are not bred for looks, but just athletic ability- sure, there is a certain body type that would predispose a dog to able to perform at a high level, but of seen plenty of dogs that [i]looked[/i]like they could breath fire, but turned out to be couch warmers, and others who did not look the part but were 110% heart. Alaskans are the ultimate form of "mutts"

Oh poop. I just realized we're talking on a 2 year old thread. Thhhpt.

If looks (by looks I assume you want a dog that looks wolfy, but with none of the baggage associated with a wolf hybrid) are what you are looking for an Alaskan Husky might not be a bad choice- they still need firm training and lots of exercise, but they are a real breed that isn't ashamed of their mixed blood heritage. The description of the dog that the buyer thinks has wolf in it because of it's behavior sounds like most untrained Siberians, Malamutes or Alaskans- with out something to do they will become destructive

Seijun, you are right- they were "Siberians", or actually dogs that were the foundation of current Siberians. If you look at Seppala Siberians (named after Leonard Seppela, of the serum run fame) they are not much like the current show Siberians. There are a couple of breeders in Canada that have some original bloodlines and are trying to bring back the original look and working ability. When I started mushing in 1978 I had registered Siberians, some of them having some Seppela blood. I'll see if I can dig up some old pics to scan.

I think the fact that Alaskans aren't a registered breed encourages people to "experiment" . That's how Alaskans came to be, and are still evolving. When I bred the litter which is the foundation of my current kennel, I had a sprint trained Alaskan named Teddy who I bred to a half Mal, half Alaskan because I wanted dogs that I could take out in any weather, but had the speed to get me from A to B in a reasonable amount of time. Teddy helped train all those new puppies to pull, but they soon were able to outrun him because Teddy was trained to run full out for 10 miles then take a nap. Old Ted spent many a trip home sitting in the sled because he simply hadn't been trained by his previous owner(a sprint musher) to pace himself. Our training runs now are aroung 15 miles at a brisk trot which translates to about 12 miles an hour. Sprint dogs are running around 22 to 22 miles per hour. :o

These are not designer sled dogs meant to show, but to race- Alaskans are an everchanging breed, and because there is no "registry" of what the dog is suppose to look like, racers will breed the existing Alaskan to whatever will make it run faster and farther. The "breed de jour" as I said, is the German Shorthair Pointer. I guess that I'm a bit old fashioned and like my dog to look like sled dogs. Then again, I hardly ever win races. To quote Malamum- "you can't have it both ways!" :D

True! I find it amazing when we are at a race and the temp. is below 20 degrees F. all the "designer"sled dogs are bootied and coated to keep them warm. Sort of defeats the purpose...

With the amount of time, money and energy it takes just to [i]qualify[/i]for the Iditarod, no musher could afford to mistreat their dogs. Yes,dogs have died in the race- moose attacks and a disorder called myopathy have claimed some, but these dogs live to run-it is impossible to [i]make [/i]them run if they don't want to. You can't just go up and enter the race- you must finish qualifying races to prove that you can take care of yourself and your dogs.

Matty is correct that the giant show type Mals are useless, but there is plenty of"real" Mal in most Alaskans- mine run from 1/4 to 1/8-the two leaders in my sig pic are 1/4 Malamute .Most Siberians are just as useless,too heavy boned.Most Alaskans ar not, however,BC mixes.(Sorry Matty) :D Certain strains are heavy in Border Collie, but their build is usually not the best for stamina- backs are too short, hind legs not angled correctly. In Alaskans out of Gareth Wright,called Aurora Huskies, there is Siberian, village dog and Irish setter, and the hot new thing now is German shorthair crosses. Fastest thing on 4 legs as far as Sprint racing, but still need to be moved back tword Alaskans for distance.

Most races have a set number of dogs you can use- for instance, I do mostly 6 dog mid distance, and most rules state that you can have no more than six but no less than 4 or in some cases 5 dogs. Sprint racing is the same, mostly classes of 4,6,8 and then open class, which can have teams of up to 22 dogs :o . In races like the Iditarod, Yukon Quest and the Beargrease, most racers start with 14 to 18 dogs, dropping some at checkpoints, leaving some to finish with as few as 6 dogs. The Iditarod gives awards to mushers who finish with the same number of dogs they started with, usually a tremendous accomplishment. Dogs are dropped for all sorts of reasons including sore feet, tired, and sometimes if the musher wants to go faster, droppong a slower dog will actually speed up your team. There is obviously allot of info, so if you are stillcurious, check out [u]Sled dog Central[/u]great site with lots of info The link below is for some pics of open class teams. Very impressive! [[url]http://www.sleddogcentral.com/results04/alaska/rondy_photos.htm[/url]

Sorry if I assumed your were a first timer! :D You would have to be careful with the other two dogs as well, otherwise, as long as you are consistent with training, you shoudn't have a problem. Cricket coloring is called "Parti-colored", and there are a ton of other colors as well- I would check out the [u]American Pomeranian Club[/u]web site. The husky pic was taken in Wisconsin- those are my dogs, and me on the sled!

I would not recommend a Pom for first time dog owners. True to their northern dog heritage they can be stubborn and head strong, and need firm consistent training early on. If you could find an adult rescue dog that was already trained, that would be your best bet! In my opinion they are extraordinary little dogs, but because they are small, they can also be damaged easily. Someone on a Pom chat site that I frequent just had her Pom to the vet because one of her kids stepped on it and broke it's leg. :( This is my pom Cricket- [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0XQAjY8Yaq6j3leiDT1dyCV4Yhj1udjblCfEjZOn13WW3gYVK9PiRdYAEZ0DF4D0FrgQOhAF3F6BpLorbQ7V9UWT8H3tEXj96uyf7aC6lIlA1tQUZVMFOZXjGhEQy5eiWiM*NXZEZze0/2109151-R1-028-12A.jpg?dc=4675489135235440234[/img]

Thanks guys! The reason that I'm asking is that I'm trying to figure out what color my dog Bug is. My best guess is agouti, but her undercoat is not the same as the examples I've seen. She has the multicolored hair shafts, ending in black, but her undercaot varies from a "coffee with milk " brown to a very rich caramel. This is the best pic I have so far- I'm going to take some close ups this weekend and will post them later. [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UgCXAoMWQc*VcuHwa1!Lb5oUavcqkqVJDKJpT94XNrg7PbSvSBK0DlMBWuXIFbnuBbT0XF2SVi!DDG27hgXKZDIVNSILbrVvd*A5E2VCrSRZVzIX*!bM9LdDJ799gna5/bug.jpg?dc=4675491048081849759[/img] [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UwDZAvMZWVGnfK1Ucn**PcMUmcCKmSYSaMjD28wOmF2FO4ev!rAmHLE!rBXI!zjLpK3RyC9lKJQfdEU4S87C8!AxLFxcpY*6KV8F7L4SVjoMJ*N05!*Yz8SChNVNU9fS/me-n-bug.jpg?dc=4675469756330429154[/img]

My mother went to Alaska in the late 1950's and brought back a half Alaskan /half arctic wolf puppy. She bred her to a Samoyed and she kept the one male puppy whom she named Nanook- He was pure white, very furry and weighed in at 120 lbs. He was the dog I "grew up with", and he was an incredible animal. We also had a toy poodle who would go outside in the winter and sit on Nookie when her feet got cold. I'll try to find some old pics that I can scan - he was very beautiful. Unfortunately he was run over in our yard by a UPS truck when he was 12 years old. :(

Trinka did exhibit a certain amount of wolf behavior. She regurgitated food for her puppies, she would "store" food for later by urinating on it then burying it, :-? she insisted on moving her puppies, even though there was really nowhere to go with them, she would carry all 11 to one side of the puppy pen, pile them up in a heap, then move them back to her house. :tard: . This seemed to satisfy her need to move them. She also did not lap water, but would suck it up between her lips, presumably to make less noise. She actually wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree however, compared to my purebred Alaskans.

Does anyone know of a comprehensive list/explanation of dog coat colors, regardless of breed? I know there are a ton of descriptions, but have not been able to find one that is all-inclusive. Ideas?

Back in 1995 I ended up with what I thought at the time was a Malamute-I rescued her from the neighbouring farmer who had caught her eating his chickens and chasing his cows. :-? Fairly normal husky behavior if allowed to roam unfortunately. I tracked down her owner, and he didn't want her so I kept her. She turned out to be 1/8 timber wolf . Even having some wolf in her, does she look like a wolf dog? So who then should decide what is a wolf dog and what isn't? [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UQAnA40ZCDQvJrpNSodOmLR!Kc0lGco902IdxWIjeNZCJHQ!CG8IiVVDWZo2uh7idWLMJgNvxNatEvYN!dJhig9omrfYUaqjpb82EJoI21YGoZK8IcsJhrqshtvgXYsW/trinka.jpg?dc=4675470135998168274[/img]

The St. Paul paper is our "local" paper, meaning that it's the closest city to us with a daily paper, so I've been hearing about this for a while. [i]Her[/i] dogs appear to be Malamutes, but to play devil's advocate, there are allot of breeders in this area who produce wolf hybrids- so there is a problem with unethical breeders and ignorant puppy buyers. In the last year I've seen ads for Wolves crossed with Siberians, white GSD's, Mals, and even Great Danes... :o I can't even imagine that last one. :-?

My dogs eat their bedding straw all the time, especially if it has clover or alfalfa in it. Don't worry, unless they would eat huge amounts that would cause compaction, it will come out looking just like it did when it went in... :wink:

The poms are horrible too, but I still feel sorry for the little mites. :(

:o Those prices! Holy shit!

I guess I could be biased, but... :wink: pulling seems to produce allot of muscles! Depending on what type of exercise the dog does, different types of muscles are produced. Heavy weight pulling produces bigger"shorter" muscles than speed running, which produces "long"muscles. A good example is how a Pit Bull who does weight pull looks next to racing greyhound. Both strong, but in different ways. Below is Gemma ,one of my sled dogs. She is a super hard puller and has very muscular thighs. [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0XAAjA4calJOnn*NpjVMSNZeCTRHusaFBXjvrKpNYvon*f4Dg0bKdi5elQknrOMDFZv*9DJWvBG63Cqulgtvyi*n8STAsfS4ZM1VLEtEV6aDYkedAcfwY34ROaEFbiCA7SNStv!sFPfI/5112351-R1-012-4A.jpg?dc=4675479496234518065[/img]

She was chewing on my foot when I was taking the picture :roll: