Three wheel carts or scooters, four wheelers, trips to the Alaskan ice fields, and swim time in a pool or lake. While their techniques may be different, mushers agree that careful conditioning of sled dogs during warmer months is important.
“We use the early fall to build up the dogs strength,” says former Marquette musher David Balding, who has competed in four Midnight runs. “And once the snow flies we can safely go from two mile runs to ten mile runs, focusing on endurance.”
In North America sled dog racing season ends in the spring. Mushers typically rest their teams through the hottest months and resume training for the next season in late summer or early fall, once it is cool enough for the dogs to run comfortably, Balding says.
Most mushers use four wheelers or training carts in place of sleds during the months without snow. Typically four- wheelers are the most common and the carts are reserved for when you are training a small number of dogs, says musher Tasha Stielstra, who owns Nature’s Kennel in McMillan and is the 2006 winner of the UP 200.
While swimming is a great, low impact way to keep sled dogs in shape during warm weather without risking over- heating and some mushers do have pools, it is a rare commodity. “You have to have good access to a lake,” says Stielstra. Temperature plays a large role in the sled dog training schedule. Mushers will not train their dogs when temperatures are above fifty degrees because the dogs could easily get dehydrated or overheated. It’s dangerous to resume training when the weather is too warm because heatstroke can cause significant bad experiences for a dog and may even lead to their performance being affected for life, says Stielstra.
“To take a mental break and have a couple of months off isn’t a bad thing.”
Jeanie Wilcox, who is serving as this year’s head veterinarian in the U.P 200 and has a practice in Gwinn, MI, says that she doesn’t see a lot of heatstroke or exhaustion problems during the summer months because mushers are careful not to train their dogs in the heat of the day.
When summer break begins Stielstras dogs enjoy free walking and running loose, while Baldings dogs enjoy swimming in a nearby lake and digging holes under their houses providing a cool bed for napping out of the hot sun.
“We’re so careful during the summer and the fall not to overdo it because we’re worried about something like [heatstroke], that it almost never happens,” says Balding. “We end up going in the middle of the night or when it’s raining.” The rain has a cooling effect and if the temp drops we just go out and start running teams, Balding says.
Once the days grow cooler and the nights grow shorter it is time for the dogs to begin their training, which is a lot like the regimen of a professional athlete. Gradually the dogs regain strength and muscle fluidity and once that step is accomplished we will work on building up their lungs, says Balding.
Using a four-wheeler in place of a sled Balding puts the dogs in their harnesses and attaches them to the front of the machine. Keeping the ATV in first or second gear depending on the terrain, he allows the dogs to pull him along the trail. This means that the dogs are not only pulling him but also the weight of the machine. “The fall is like a weight lifter it’s all building mass and then as soon as winter hits then it’s like a marathon runner, there’s no resistance behind them at that point, all it is, is run as far as we can as fast as we can and be as efficient as we can,” says Balding.
Wilcox emphasizes the need to resume training slowly in order to avoid sore muscles, shoulder and foot injuries. “Start slowly and build them up gradually,” she advises.
The dogs begin running just short distances of one, two, and three miles, with three miles being the absolute farthest they can go before getting worked up in the heat. Once the weather cools down even more the dogs are able to work on distance training, says Balding.
While Stielstra also uses a four wheeler for training her dogs in the off season, she even does one better. Stielstra who owns Natures Kennel with her husband Ed will often take her dogs for tours in Alaska to run the glaciers during the summer months.
Armed with a handler they just load the dogs up in the truck and go, usually taking about fifty dogs but a couple of summers ninety have gone, says Stielstra. “We’re always looking to gain a tough edge on competitors.”
