This is a snippet from the Kalkaska race Saturday, with my team and I in the starting box/chute. It will take you less than a minute to watch, but it makes a good point - This is why you should always have several handlers, most especially under these conditions. I had handlers Matthew Paquette, Karen Hill and Kim Haverkamp Marshall (my niece was there too!), and they had my dogs under control while we were waiting to be let out of the gate. From behind us came another four dog team where there was only one handler and the musher on the sled. The handler fell, allowing the team behind us to rush into the chute by us, and the dogs MEET.... Even though my guys are quite social (a skill weve worked on from day one), the other dogs may not have been, there could have been a fight or worse, a tangle and a fight. Thanks to the quick thinking and reaction of Karen, none of the above happened. Safety is a big thing with me, and some may think I am being a wimp by insisting on having people on the ground at take off, be it a solitary mush or a race like this. Even if youve got control, someone else might not. https://youtube/watch?v=428YmnSeUKg
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 00:28:48 +0000