Dog Sledding

Have you been dog sledding? We have never been, so my adventurous husband, Chuck, signed us up for an overnight excursion at Nature’s Kennel located in the upper peninsula near Newberry, Michigan. I was clad in my woolen layers, Arctic coat and snow pants hoping I was prepared! Chuck, who has always embraced the cold, was comfortable in a sweater. Join us on our adventure!

Elizabeth, our guide, came out to our Jeep as soon as we pulled into the snow covered lot. “We’re a bit early.” Chuck shrugged. She bubbled her introduction as well as her sidekick, Kemper, a retired Alaskan Husky, who was assisting Elizabeth with her morning chores. “We’ll go in the house where you’ll get your boots, then we’ll go meet the dogs.” Nature’s Kennel provides polar-style boots for their guests. Once inside we slid on our footwear, dropped our overnight gear in a snowmobile sled and followed Elizabeth to the kennels.

The Kennels

*Here is one of six kennels at “Nature’s Kennel.”*

Each kennel has around 20 Alaskan Huskies who are cared for by one guide. When Elizabeth walked into her kennel area, the dogs loudly chanted and leaped with excitement. Weekly, the guides are responsible to check each dog’s paws, claws, ears, eyes, teeth and weight which are recorded and charted.

*Alaskan Husky eyes followed Elizabeth as she greeted each member of her dog family.*

“If the dog is on it’s platform, it’s ok to pet them. We don’t go behind the barrels. That’s the dog’s space.” As the dogs barked, I felt uneasy about petting these energetic hounds. Then I looked up and saw one dog melting into Elizabeth’s arms. “He gives the BEST hugs!” Elizabeth smiled.

*With a black oval on his head, “Blow Hole” was given his special name.”*

My uneasiness instantly started to thaw. For the first time, I began to see the charming uniqueness of the individual dogs. I offered my hand to Funny. He nuzzled into my pet.

“The boys names are written in blue and the girls in red. The year they’re born is on the sign, too.” Elizabeth explained.

The Dog Sled Driving Instructions

Two sleds were parked in the center of the kennel. Elizabeth called us over for our tutorial before hooking up the selected teams.

“When leaving the yard the dogs are going to go pedal to the metal. That’s when they’re the most excited. So, put a good bit of pressure on that drag pad.” Elizabeth demonstrated. “This line (to her left) is called the snub line or quick release. It ensures that the dogs go on the tour with us and not without us.”

“Once the dogs get into a rhythm, you may stand on the rails. I often have one foot on a rail and the other foot I place sideways so my heel is on the drag pad and my toe is on the rail.” Elizabeth spoke matter-of-factly with a smile.

*I still wasn’t sure if I would be brave enough to drive a dog sled,*
*but I practiced the foot positions.*

Twenty Miles to Musher’s Village

With seven dogs harnessed to Elizabeth’s sled, I climbed into the seat designed for one rider. I couldn’t believe that running would be something that the dogs (or anyone) would want to do, but they barked and loped forward earnestly trying to get the sled to move. Chuck had a team of four harnessed to his sled behind us. His dogs erupted with barks. The Alaskan Huskies along the sides of the kennel answered in a harried chorus. Energy vibrated all around us.

Then Elizabeth gave the command, “Ready, Go!” Our sled jerked and wobbled as the dogs muscled forward. I felt as though we may ascend into the air as if we were in Santa’s sleigh. Soon the team created a cadence over the soft snow and a peacefulness enveloped me as we wound through a Narnia-like landscape. These creatures love to run!

*Osborne (closest dog on the left) kept “merging right” under the green rope into Raphael,*
*who’d give a reminder snarl* *and snip a bark. Osborne would retreat back to his side.*

Watching Raphael correct Osborne, I commented, “This reminds me of setting up a seating chart for my second graders.” I laughed. “Oh yeah,” Elizabeth replied. “Some dogs are better with certain partners and not so good with others. Some are better at following.” Elizabeth explained the reasons for each dog’s placement. “Slick is an excellent lead dog. He’s focused and minds my commands.” GEE means ‘go right’ and HAW is for ‘going left.’ She continued, “I am so proud of Roni!” Roni was a co-lead dog today.

“Each dog has it’s own gate.” I observed. Elizabeth gave commentary about each dog’s paw placement pattern. She has an in depth understanding of each canine. “I just love watching their ears.” She commented. Their ears certainly had a dance of their own!

Elizabeth has been working with this troop for three years and speaks as lovingly as a mother would about her children. “When I’ve sent my dogs off to a race, it’s like putting them on the school bus for the first time.” The owners of Nature’s Kennel, Tasha and Ed, have competed in the Iditarod (8 time finishers), the UP200 and several other competitions. They choose dogs carefully from each kennel for their racing teams.

“Woooooah!” We had to stop at a snowmobile crossing. I thought, “Oh good, the dogs must be tired and can rest.” After a quick bite of snow and a pit stop at the snowbank, the team began leaning into their lines. When we didn’t move, they started impatiently jerking forward. When the coast was clear of snowmobiles, Elizabeth eased off the brake, “Ready, Go!” she gave the verbal cue. We were off! The group was definitely the happiest when they were running!

*I commented on how the trails were pristine.*
*“Oh, Will grooms all the paths and repairs anything mechanical that needs fixing. He does a great job!”*

Driving A Dog Sled

When we stopped after ten miles, Elizabeth had encouraged me to give it a try. I felt more confident and had decided to take a turn at mushing the four-team dog sled. Plus, this would give Chuck a chance to film from the seat in Elizabeth’s sled. I took my position and stood on the brake with two feet as the pack lurched and jerked. I silently gave myself a pep talk. “It will be fine.” I reminded myself to breathe deeply.

“Ready, Go!” Elizabeth commanded her troop. They took off in front of us on the one lane path. My quartet edged, pulled and whined. I needed to leave some distance between us, so I hesitated before moving my feet from the brake to the drag pad. The sled bumped as we flopped forward. I wobbled, unsteady. Elizabeth’s words rang in my mind, “Always hold onto your sled.” I gripped the handle bar tightly. With my feet fully on the drag pad, the four hounds rushed along the trail.

*Chuck had taken this photo on our second day as I was busy holding onto the sled!*

Soon, the dogs fell into a pace and I was able to put my feet on the rails. It reminded me of skiing. I tried to slice the curves. I mimicked Elizabeth’s foot placement as she knew the trail and when to use the drag pad on downhill path. When the course would climb a hill, Elizabeth would walk alongside her rails holding firmly to the handle. I was fearful that I would loose my footing, so I remained standing on the rails. (The poor dogs had to lug me all the way!) They charged forward and continued to enjoy their run.

After a while, I was able to once again enjoy the majestic, snow laden pines along our trek. Elizabeth raised her fist in the air as a sign to stop. “Woooooaaaah!” We were adjacent to a snowmobile pass. Once we stopped, Elizabeth tied the lines and stomped the ‘parking brake’ into the snow. Chuck and I switched places again. Riding the rails turned out to be exhilarating. I was thankful for the experience!

I resumed my riding position in Elizabeth’s sled as Chuck took over the quartet team. Before I knew it, we had traversed twenty miles and were pulling into an open area with long parallel hookups for the dogs. We’d arrived at Musher’s Camp.

Musher’s Camp

Our first task was to get the dog’s squared away. The Alaskan Huskies always come first! Elizabeth demonstrated how to unharness the hard working troop. Each hound was hooked to a space on the line. Then Elizabeth brought over a bale of straw in a toboggan. We spread the bedding for each canine. Han leaped and scruffed during his ‘straw party.’ He danced in his shower of straw bedding!

“Now, we’re going to make ‘dog chili.’ ” Elizabeth guided us to the mini-meat freezer.

Dog Chili

“If we gave the dogs plain water, it would freeze, so we make them a ‘chili’ of rendered beef and dry kibble mixed with warm water. That way they get protein and hydration at the same time. We feed them twice a day.” Elizabeth explained. She gave Chuck three slabs of frozen raw beef. “Here, break these up into smaller pieces and put them in the bucket. One bucket will feed 14 dogs, so we won’t need a full bucket since we have eleven dogs here.” Dry food was added. Next hot water was ladled into to bucket. Using an edging-type tool, the dog chili was stirred, chopping up the chunks of meat. In the distance we could hear the pack whimpering their desires.

*Fifty pound blocks of rendered beef had been sliced with a ban saw.*
*(Top Left: Nature’s Kennel Facebook Photo)*
*The canines watched intensely as Chuck served their dog chili.* (right)

Once the dog chili had cooled, we loaded a toboggan with their dog dishes and the bucket of chili. Chuck scooped ladle loads of food to the waiting fur friends. When they were finished, we collected and rinsed the pans.

Naming The Dogs

*Slick (black dog) and Roni (tan dog) led Elizabeth’s team.*

“Roni is named after, ‘macaroni and cheese’.” Elizabeth explained with a chuckled, “There were four dogs in the litter. They were named, “Mack, Roni,” she gestured to her tan dog, “They have a sister named, ‘Ann’ and a brother named, ‘Cheese.’ ” She pleasantly laughed. “And that is my favorite litter theme. I think it’s so creative.”

The Cabin and Outhouse

Now that the dogs were fed and bedded, we could get our own comforts ready. The cabin’s wood burning stove gave us some difficulty with the air intake, so Elizabeth came and helped get the fire roaring. We could still see our breath inside the humble abode, so I hoped the stove would start warming the cabin soon.

*The cabin was cozy. The outdoor well provided water.* (foreground top left)
The outhouse was tidy, but COLD for this city-girl.

The Outdoor Kitchen

Elizabeth started preparing human chili for our afternoon meal in the outdoor kitchen. Her skills and comfort level with the dogs and the frozen landscape constantly impressed me! Chuck lit the campfire to warm us and so we could cook our hot dogs.

*The clever outdoor kitchen was nestled under a lean-to structure.*

Elizabeth

Not only is Elizabeth a humble expert about her sled dogs and EVERYTHING outdoors in the winter, she is a great story teller! Her insights into people and appreciation for making connections and memories is well advanced for someone who’s been on this earth for two decades. Wow!

Our Evening Meal

Our conversations flowed. Suddenly, she announced it was time for our evening meal. She organized frozen offerings for us to assemble in tinfoil so we could easily cook over the fire.

*After spreading butter on the foil, we wrapped up servings of fish, meatballs, potatoes and vegetables.*

Sleeping

After giving the dogs another batch of straw, we finally returned to the cabin. It had heated up nicely! In fact, so much so that it reminded me of a sauna. It was so hot inside that we actually cracked the window for awhile. I snuggled in a bed up in the loft. Chuck chose a bed downstairs where it was a bit cooler, more to his liking. At 2:30 am he stoked the fire to keep us comfortable.

Breakfast

First, Chuck and Elizabeth fed the dogs by making another batch of dog chili. I was moving more slowly at that early hour. Then, we ate omelets boiled in a baggie. With all our bellies full, we cleaned up camp and harnessed the pack.

Harnessing The Teams

The dogs were so excited to be harnessed into teams the following morning! They were ready for another run!

*The pack howled and barked as they waited to hit the course once again!*

Our Return Trip

*The clouds had thinned revealing a blue sky. The sun laid gray shadows across the snow.*

At the half way mark, we switched places again and I took over the dog team of four: Badger, Cyrus, Blow Hole and Daltry. I felt more confident and even clicked a few photos.

*Elizabeth gave the signal for us to stop.*

“Whoooooa!” we both chimed and I stood on the brake. We waited to be sure the snowmobile trek was clear. Then we proceeded all the way back to Nature’s Kennel.

Mushing a dog team had been exhilarating! Stepping outside my comfort zone and trying something new has given me a sense of accomplishment. I now appreciate how these dogs love to run! It was wonderful to get to know each fur friend. I never would have tried this if it hadn’t been for Chuck and Elizabeth’s encouragement! Thanks, guys!

Retired Dogs

Each dog decides when it’s time to retire. Their handlers see the signs and start looking for adoption placements. These furry friends easily adjust to life with a family. In fact, there are some dogs ready for a retirement home. Their name plate is then added to the building’s display.

Thank you, Elizabeth! You are one amazingly dedicated and outgoing person. It will be enjoyable to watch you carve your path through this life! Please enjoy Chuck’s YouTube video of our caper – linked below.

Resources:

Nature’s Kennel YouTube

The Greenland Dog article

The Restless Viking