Meet the Stardancer Historical Freight Dog Team
“A good dog is so much a nobler beast than an
indifferent man that one sometimes gladly exchanges the society of one
for that of the other.” William Francis Butler
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Torus - Leader and Trail Boss
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Daisy - Lead dog and Queen of
the Yard.
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Gump - A traditional "Up River"
Dog, and a True Canine 'Gentleman'.
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Sheenjek - Team and wheel dog.
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Seamus - Swing, team and
wheel dog.
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Rose - Swing, team and leader
in training.
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Nells - Swing, team and leader
in training.
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Amazing Grace - Leader
in training.
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Chinook - Weight puller, team
or wheel dog.
Torus came to me from the Rogue Summit Racing Kennel. He is about 9
years and a Yukon Quest veteran, originally from Eric Butcher's team.
Torus is a dog who will run for anyone who will let him run,
gets along well with other dogs, and is a brilliant gee/haw
leader. In all regards, Torus is an exceptional dog.
It isn't unusual for retired racing dogs to find
new working homes in less demanding teams. As Manny and Tammi have grown and developed a faster team Torus
wasn't been able to maintain the higher speed, but he's a great
match for the Stardancer Historical Freight Dogs team.
He's one of the very best lead dogs I've ever seen.
Daisy was my first leader, and though
she can not longer physically manage the longer distances we frquently
run, she still loves to work and plays an important role in training
younger sled dogs.
She is an 11 year old Alaskan husky that I
adopted from the Fairbanks North Star Borough animal shelter after she
was relinquished when her owner suffered a catastrophic medical problem
forcing him to move to town. At 73 pounds, Daisy is a large, powerful
husky of the type frequently referred to as 'freight dogs', 'village dogs'
or 'trapline dogs.' Historically such dogs were bred primarily for
pulling moderate to heavy loads while performing the day to
day tasks associated with a bush subsistence lifestyle. Until the
late 1960s or early 1970s they were the mainstay of bush transportation
in Alaska. A bush family's team of village dogs was their
equivalent of a modern family's SUV or pickup truck.
Daisy was whelped in the
prestigious Denali National Park kennel, where freight dogs are still
used for hauling freight and patrolling the back country. The
paternal side of her pedigree includes dogs from very prestigious racing
lines, including Swenson, Attla, Bruce Lee and others. All of the
dogs in her maternal pedigree are Denali Park dogs. Two of Daisy's
siblings and one of her puppies are currently working on the trapline
teams of Mikki and
Julie Collins, the famous "Trapline Twins" of Lake Minchumina.
Daisy was adopted as a yearling by a
park neighbor who ran her with a freight team hauling supplies into the
bush. Daisy is now eleven years old and
although she is technically a "geriatric" dog, she is in excellent
health. Daisy is an awesome command leader, a lead dog trained to
respond to directional cues such as "haw" (turn left), "gee" (turn
right) and "straight ahead". Some of my sprint racing friends like
running their young leaders beside Daisy because she is a very good
teacher and helps the younger dogs learn to respond to verbal cues.
Older lead
dogs are in huge demand among mushers who desire such dogs to help in
training puppies and young dogs. It is incredibly rare to find an
older leader of Daisy's quality in a shelter or sled dog rescue
organization. Finding such a great leader in the shelter was a
tremendous stroke of good luck and I am very pleased to be able to
provide a home for her.
Gump came into the Stardancer
kennel in Ocotober, 2007. He
is a classic "Upriver" aboriginal husky originally whelped in
Eagle, Alaska. His birthday is December 3rd, 1998.
Gump was trained by the
original breeders and then sold to a musher running a trap line
in the Fortymile River country for some time. He was
recovered by the original breeder when his trapper-owner fell
into hard times. Some of the dogs had already starved to
death and Gump and the other survivors were in dire straits.
Once rescued he was turned over to a rescue foster home in
Fairbanks, nursed back to health, and ran lead on her
rescue/rehabilitation team.
Gump was transferred to the
Daisy Acres rescue team when his foster needed to go Outside for
an extended time, and from there he came to the Stardancer yard.
Gump is a very friendly dog with no hint at all of shyness.
His behavior and temperament is that of a "gentleman". He
gets along very well with all the other dogs and seems to love
all the humans he's ever met.
Although he's a leader, he's
not particularly driven up front. When running back in the
team he works much harder, and seems to do especially well when
running in the wheel position beside Sheenjek.
Like Daisy,
Sheenjek is an Alaskan husky "village dog. Sheenjek was one of
Daisy's pups and is now 9 years old. I have run him in every
position on the gangline and learned that he is too easily distracted to
be a good leader.
When hooked up in the wheel position, Sheenjek is in his element,
pulling hard throughout the run. Wheel dogs are harnessed closest
to the sled and provide the strength and power needed to control
the sled, especially in corners and tight turns.
The moment I saw Sheenjek at the
Fairbanks North Star Borough animal shelter I knew he was coming home
with me. He is the most striking working sled dog I've ever seen.
Standing 27 inches tall at the withers and weighing in at 83 pounds, he also one of the largest
working sled dogs I've ever seen and I sometimes refer to him as my
"mega-mutt".
Sheenjek displays many traits common
to the large freight dogs in common use in the late nineteenth and early
20th centuries. He is very friendly toward humans but can be a bit
scrappy with other dogs. Like most huskies he is a very
intelligent dog with a strong sense of independence.
Seamus (pronounced "SHAY-mus") is probably an Anatolian
Shepherd Dog / Alaskan husky mix who my wife adopted as a thirteen week
old
puppy only weeks before her death. When visiting the
Fairbanks North Star Borough animal shelter, shelter staff members told
her that he is an Irish Wolfhound / Doberman mix although his shelter
paperwork described him as a German Shepherd mix. Thinking that
was of Irish Wolfhound ancestry we gave him a traditional Irish name. Later assessment
by a professional animal behaviorist and trainer determined that he is
more likely an Anatolian husky mix.
Regardless of his breeding, Seamus is an
incredibly enthusiastic 70 pound athlete who began his mushing career by
running at the wheel position with Mike Green's team three winters ago.
Mike and I have both been amazed at his sheer exuberance on the line.
Seamus loves to run with the team and has been known to bark out his
complaints when the lead dogs slow down or the team is stopped for a
rest break.
Seamus runs well in every position
except lead. His temperament is that of a social butterfly. When hitched up front tries to turn around to play with
his buddies rather than lead them down the trail. He is very well
socialized to both humans and other dogs.
Anatolian shepherd dogs are
livestock guardians, and some of that heritage is displayed in
Seamus' behavior. He will prevent strangers from messing
with "his" stuff. He won't allow strangers to mess with
his truck, his harness or other gear, &c. In addition
to guarding his stuff, he has also guarded his team and last
fall protected his team mates by driving a wolf away from the
yard. Once he's been
formally introduced he is easy to handle and a joy to interact
with.
Rose and her brother Nells were a
wonderful gift from Dillingham musher Kyle Belleque. They came
into my yard in March 2007 at 9 months of age. Their mother is "Lucky" is from Will Forsberg's kennel in Healy from a breeding between a
"big Mackey dog" and one of Will's famous 70 pound black dogs.
Their father is "McKenzie", a
Hedlund Gray Husky from Kim Fitzgerald's team in Knik.
As a yearling Rose has run in
every position on the team. Although quite shy around
humans, especially strangers, she is a consistently hard worker
and is demonstrating a fair amount of talent as a lead dog.
Nels and his sister Rose were a
wonderful gift from Dillingham musher Kyle Belleque. They came
into my yard in March 2007 at 9 months of age. Their mother,
Lucky" is from Will Forsberg's kennel in Healy from a breeding between a
"big Mackey dog" and one of Will's famous 70 pound black dogs.
Their father is "McKenzie", a
Hedlund Gray Husky from Kim Fitzgerald's team in Knik.
As a yearling Nels has run in every position in the team.
When running lead he quickly becomes bored and then tries to
play with his running mate, often resulting in a big tangle of
dogs and lines. In all other positions he is a strong and
consistent worker who puts heart and soul into the task.
Although she's not a
freighting dog, I am training Grace as a gift for a close friend, and her
story is very interesting. Grace came from a non-mushing
pet home and was relinquished to
Loving Companions Animal Rescue at around four or five
months of age because she was "hyper and destructive."
When my training partner and I first saw her run we were
astounded by her talent. We immediately pulled her from
the rescue and began training her for a friend who would like to
pursue the sport of long distance sled dog racing.
Grace was a bit of a head
case, prone to stereotypical pacing. After consulting with
a certified canine behaviorist she was diagnosed with canine
obsessive compulsive disorder. We removed all corn and corn
products from her diet, gave her melatonin supplements and
starting changing her environment two or three times each week.
That, combined with running her on sled dog teams as frequently
and as far as possible seems to have resolved the symptoms.
Amazing Grace is an exceptionally
talented little girl. In her very first season running on
teams she has developed into a fine lead dog who frequently
responds to cues more quickly than her more experienced running
mates. You can see a photo of her running in lead beside
Torus in the 2008 Jeff Studdert Passenger Race at the bottom of
the page.
I adopted Chinook from the Fairbanks
North Star Borough animal shelter when he was about six months old.
Today he is a five year old St. Bernard / Alaskan husky mix who is a big
bloody love muffin. Chinook is a tremendously strong weight puller
and has been trained to pull a travois or a toboggan loaded with camp
gear by himself. Last winter (2006/07) I ran Chinook in the team. He is a hard worker but sometimes can be very
scrappy with running mates, especially other males. Rather than
deal with squabbles I usually ran him in a single swing or single wheel
position. I've not yet tried running him in lead.
This year, with more dogs on
the team, he isn't able to keep up with the much faster gait of
the longer-legged aboriginal huskies, so he will once again
focus his industrious efforts on weight pulling, pulling the
Sacco cart and other tasks where this independent free spirit
can work alone.
Chinook isn't nearly so huge as he
looks. In working condition he weighs in at only 73 lb. He is 24 inches
tall measured at
the withers. His thick coat always makes him look much heavier
than he actually weighs. I sometimes joke that he is a St. Bernard
/ Fence Jumper mix who takes after his daddy. He is an
accomplished escape artist who has been seen clearing a six foot fence,
digging under the fence and chewing through the fence in order to cruise
the neighborhood. In the past couple of years he has been much
better about staying home.
Caution - Dog's Working
Here is a photo of four
Stardancer Historical Freight Dogs at work, carrying a passenger
in the 2008 Jeff Studdert Invitational Passenger Race just days
before the Open North American Championship in Fairbanks.
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