Good-Time Charlie

Posted on May 20, 2012 by alaskanarcticexpeditions

When I let Charlie out of the truck he seemed shocked. The barren arctic landscape and blowing snow was very different from his home in the tall spruce trees where he felt secure and sheltered. But the frigid environment struck a chord with him, a yearning to see more of this foreign Arctic land where the hills and wide river valleys lay open seemingly to the ends of the earth. He felt a sensation of being home, yet he had never been in the Arctic. He was dumbfounded yet invigorated like he had never felt before.

Good-time Charlie.

It didn’t take very long for Charlie to settle into the expedition routine of traveling and breaking trail every day, camping on the open tundra and getting to know his 22 teammates. One of the team members who befriended Charlie from the start was Shorty. Shorty is an energetic and playful gal that has the strongest positive attitude I have seen in a dog. Nothing will get her down. No matter the conditions…deep snow, cold temperatures, hard work… Shorty is always wearing a smile and a curled, wagging tail. They became friends immediately and played together every evening for hours on end. But Dino, a handsome, solidly built, red male hated Charlie. He became fitfully jealous of Charlie. After all, Shorty was his gal, but now she took a shining to the newcomer.

After several weeks of breaking trail across the windswept hills, working our way toward the mighty mountains of the Brooks Range, Charlie started to change. His physique was transforming. He wasn’t the lazy, soft, couch potato dog anymore. Now, he stood stout and broad with muscled chest and shoulders with leathery, impenetrable paws. He developed a new ready-to-take-on-the-world attitude.

Charlie discovered a facet of his character buried deep within his soul he never knew existed. It awakened his passion and he couldn’t ignore it. It tugged on the very fiber of his being. Charlie knew he was in his element, his ancestral land, where his blood coursed vibrantly through his veins. Even his howls were strong and vigorous and chimed in tune with distant wolves.

Watching Charlie change was inspiring, and reassured me that the Arctic element is ingrained deep in Alaskan malamutes’ DNA and when it’s awakened there is no resisting the call.

Charlie came into our lives six years ago as an eight week old puppy we had purchased from a local breeder. Immediately Andrea and I fell in love with him. He was smaller than our other malamutes, but he had a feisty and personable character and it was difficult to look at Charlie any other way except as a new member of our household. Charlie settled into a lifestyle of ease. He grew accustomed to the soft couch, belly rubs, table food, classical music, sleeping on our bed with us, and his favorite dish…popcorn coated with melted butter. But as Charlie grew into adulthood, occasionally he stood on his hind legs and stared out the window at the other dogs in the kennel. They intrigued him. When they thrust their muzzles skyward to sing their ancient tunes, Charlie joined in, filling the house with a mournful song. And when winter covered the ground in its white blanket and the night skies danced in a ray of multi-colored northern lights, Charlie paced to and fro across the floor.

Charlie as a puppy.

But last July, life changed for good-time Charlie. The birth of our beautiful daughter meant Charlie had to join the others outside. No more couch or other luxuries he’d grown accustomed to. It wasn’t that he would harm our new baby, but between Andrea, the baby and I, and our companion black lab, Melvin, there wasn’t any room for him in our small house. Charlie had to set up new digs outdoors.

Melvin and Charlie. Best friends and partners in crime!

I gave him a nice house under a leaning spruce and plenty of room to run. He dug the roots of the tree, killing it sufficiently and in winter he peed on his house until the long yellow icicles hung down thick over his doghouse door so he couldn’t enter it.

One day as he pace continuously, whined and howled such a sad song I just couldn’t take it anymore.

“That’s it! I’m taking Charlie with me this year!” I said as we sat down at the dinner table, glancing at Charlie standing in front of his yellow-fanged doghouse glaring at us just outside the window.

“Do you think he’ll be okay in the Arctic? He’s a 6 years old “baby” and pretty much a house dog.” Andrea replied with concern.

“Of course…he’ll be fine. He might be an overgrown baby now, but come springtime, after a season in the Arctic, he’ll be a man.”

The following day I introduced Charlie to a small team, harnessed him and placed him on the gangline. Now, he was used to having the run of things and he thought he’d strut his stuff and tangle with the young females behind him. Well, they weren’t impressed with his advances and Petra, one of our feistier girls, put an impressive scar on his snout. Day one in harness and Charlie was taking on the look of a real Alaskan malamute. Eventually, I got Charlie to focus on running instead of the ladies, and once he realized the fun of it he pulled like there was no tomorrow.

After several training runs on local trails, I felt good ol’ Charlie was ready. He was ready to go north to the Arctic, but one question remained—how would he do around the big boys, the veteran fellas who knew the bitter sweet taste of the Arctic trail, the guys and gals who were only interested in a good day’s pull, breaking trail in an untamed wilderness, and doing what they were born to do? The veterans didn’t care for a newbie strutting around and messing with their girls. They just wanted to put their noses to the grindstone and pull.

At first I just couldn’t find a place for Charlie in the team. He had a demeanor about him that offended everyone, especially Dino. Charlie carried himself stiff legged, and bristled which ticked everyone off. Being a small dog, I didn’t want Charlie in wheel position, which is reserved for big muscled brutes, and lead position was out of the question because of his lack of experience. Finally, he found a comfortable position next to Bear, a 12 year old retired leader, and Shorty.

Two months into the expedition I noticed a dramatic change in Charlie. He didn’t carry himself like a dominant male anymore. He walked humbly amongst his peers and no one bothered him. Now he was one of them. When soldiers fight in battle they bond with one another. Malamutes experience this comradery and bond as they work together every day. Though they love their work, they know when times get tough they have to pull together to keep going. This teamwork is a natural bonding extinct for both man and beast.

One morning I crawled out of my tent, glanced at the thermometer… -65°F… and I noticed Charlie and Dino, lying close together, practically on top of each other, combining both their body heat into one unit. Charlie had become part of the team.

Our boy is all grown up! charlie_team

The Pulling Factor II—The Early Years

Posted on May 13, 2012 by alaskanarcticexpeditions

Per a request on Facebook, I’m going to elaborate on the highlights of my training methods for my malamutes.

There are many strains of Alaskan malamutes around the world. Some are light weight, small-boned, and swift running dogs; others are heavy, large-boned and slower paced animals. There isn’t a “one size fits all” malamute. Although the AKC has their standards, and Mother Nature has hers, we won’t get into that. In this post, I am addressing the larger freighting malamute strain which I use in the Arctic. I hope everyone can find a nugget or two of information that they find helpful in training their own working dog or pet.

In my previous post I mentioned tapping into a dog’s psyche. Training dogs to pull/work with 100% effort is 100% psychological training. For a number of reasons, I prefer not to start officially training my malamutes to pull until they’re 2 years of age. The larger malamutes tend to mature very slowly, both physically and mentally, sometimes not until 3 or 4 years of age.

Prior to age 2, the puppy lives a carefree life. I don’t implement any pulling training whatsoever. In fact the 2 year old isn’t even put into a harness until his first run in a team, and that run is only 5 to 10 minutes long—just enough to give him a sweet taste of what he was born to do. It’s like planting a seed in fertile ground, and watering it lightly until the seed blooms into a full-fledged plant. After the pup’s first run, I won’t run him for a few more days so his subconscious has time to mull over the fun he experienced for those 5 to10 minutes and he’s ready and craving for more.

Larger malamutes tend to desire hard, slower paced pulls rather than fast runs, which actually can cause injury or, at the least, soreness that can sour his attitude toward working. This can be devastating since pups at this age are very impressionable. So I always load the sled with a substantial amount of weight and allow him to pull to his heart’s content. I don’t overdo it with the weight, but I put in just enough so the speed isn’t faster than his natural ability.

After the pup eases into longer training runs, he becomes stronger and more confident with his ability to pull and keep up with his veteran teammates. At this point in his training the pup has never experienced fatigue or any type of strenuous pull wherein he loses his confidence. All he has experienced is when he pulls the sled moves and he’s doing what he was born to do. He pulls with all his might because he wants to and he learns commands from following the example of the older dogs in the team. The pup will observe and learn that, for example, when he hears the command to stop, the team halts. It won’t take him long to get it figured out.

When the going gets tough, say if the team comes to a steep hill and they’re breaking trail with a lot of weight in the sled, the rookie doesn’t stop because he hasn’t heard the command so he continues pulling with his young passion which is growing stronger by the day. However, on a swift trail with a light load, he notices and follows his teammates’ example and “holds back,” conserving energy. This is a natural instinct, to conserve energy to avoid exhaustion. But he knows when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and being that malamutes are naturally go-getters, that is the part he loves most.

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So, to summarize my training philosophy, I look at it like this…

All of God’s creatures have physical and psychological limitations, although if malamutes/working dogs believe their strength is invincible because they haven’t been introduced to the dark beast called “limit” they will work with passion for their entire lives. If a person nurses and builds up their egos, never allowing them to recognize that their muscles, bones and tendons are due to fail at a certain point, in their mind’s eye, they can’t be beat and there is no limit to their strength.

Joe

2012 Expedition-The Pulling Factor

Posted on May 9, 2012 by alaskanarcticexpeditions

When you see an Alaskan malamute during a hard pull you will see the happiest dog alive. He or she doesn’t know the limit to their strength. They pull with every muscle fiber in their bodies backed up with an iron will and stubborn determination. In fact, they don’t know that they have a limit to their strength, and they haven’t any idea the incredible amounts of weight they are pulling. All they know is that they are doing what they were born to do, and pleasing the person they love, and having a blast doing it.

One of my favorite quotes – “Ordinary people have accomplished extraordinary things because they didn’t know they couldn’t.”

If you know no boundaries, then you know no limits. Now, if we modified that- “Alaskan malamutes have accomplished extraordinary things because they didn’t know they couldn’t.”we tap into a malamute’s psyche. Malamutes are not aware of any limits. They believe their strength and stamina is invincible. Of course we humans know better, and it’s up to us dog trainers, owners, and mushers to nurture their way of thinking and not abuse it or take advantage of it in a way that pushes them past their natural limits and abilities, to accomplish a personal goal. This is the foundation and training platform that I use, and is the key to a happy and healthy freight dog.

Here’s a photo of the 2012 team taking a break in February. All of our 23 dogs did a great job this year. We traveled nearly consecutively every day for three months and the team was just as enthusiastic on the last day as our first. It’s a true testament to the resilience and stamina of the Alaskan malamute.

Home Is Wherever I’m With You

Posted on May 5, 2012 by alaskanarcticexpeditions

Home again! Joe and the team have been home for just under a week and it’s great to see them all again. The dogs are in their best form…muscled up like Popeye from head to toe with sparkling, fluffy, snow-washed coats. It’s a beautiful sight to behold.

Little Explorer is thrilled to see her Dada and the very day he got home, she started crawling like a pro. She’s been enjoying her beard-pulling, nose honking sessions with Joe! She’s been showing him all the things she learned and all the ways she’s grown over the past three months. It’s so nice for us all to be together again.

It takes a while to decompress from the expeditions and there’s a lot of work to do to get all the gear offloaded, cleaned, organized and put away. As we get those chores wrapped up we’ll be posting details of the 2012 Arctic Expedition!

In the meantime, have a great weekend and enjoy some sunshine!

Melting

Posted on April 17, 2012 by alaskanarcticexpeditions

The word from Joe lately is that it’s warm on the North Slope. The snow is melting quickly and their days on the expedition are numbered for precisely that reason. Even though the snow was waist deep this season, there’s no telling how quickly it will be gone and it would be a bummer, to say the least, if they ended up pulling against conditions like this:

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Sometimes things like this happen, and Joe had chronicled some nightmarish springtime conditions in his article Bears, Blizzards & Breakup. One of the biggest concerns is getting out of ANWR and across one of the major rivers that parallels the Haul Road to the east, the Sagavanirktok River, before it starts running.

So, we have an end date in mind now for this year’s expedition. Just two short weeks to go!

The dogs are pulling with all their might despite the tropical heat wave. Let’s just hope they don’t end up having to pull across the bare tundra!

Meanwhile, the Little Explorer and I and all the dogs that didn’t go on the expedition this year are really looking forward to having everyone home again! It’s been hitting 60F here. Breakup is always such a sloppy time…no fun. But maybe by the time everyone gets back things will have dried out and summer will be full-force in Fairbanks. One can only hope!