How did you get started in Dog Powered Sports?

I saw an article in a magazine about skijoring, and I was already a cross-country skier and I had a Irish Setter so I tried holding on the dog's leash while skiing. I remember looking up skijoring on the internet and the Midwest Skijorer's Club was just starting out, so I went to a meeting and fun run at Baker Park.

What were your  accomplishments as a skijorer?

I believe that was my one and only time racing on skis at Snowflake, 2004 -1st place 2-dog sport class. After that I only did sprint sled there.

Your funniest skijoring story?

At Phalen one year for the Winter Carnival Race, we had one of the TV stations come out the day before, I let a woman from the station use my two leaders, I think others tried it too with those same dogs, so I had to keep taking them from the parking lot to the trail where we were shooting. The next day during the race, when we got to the same spot where we were shooting my lead dog thought she should go back to the parking lot just like the day before, I couldn't drag her back on the trail, so I laid there swearing, Peter was up on the hill watching the whole thing, but did not come to help, he told me later there was no way he was going to help me with the way I was swearing.

 

Who were your skijoring mentors and/or sponsors?

Right from the beginning it was John Thompson, Kevin Murphy and Jim Benson, Peter VonGrossman and Betsy Behning.

Why did you venture into sledding?

I got tired of not having brakes and having to use my butt.

 

How did you make the move from Skijorer to Mid Distance Musher?

I was at the Paul Bunyan Bemidji Race in 2005 and was in  1st place after the 1st day in the 4-dog sport class, the next day my leader Frank  stopped to take a poop TWICE, I was yelling & swearing (yes, again) and then I was passed by the person in second place. I just realized then I really didn't like yelling at my dogs, this was supposed to be fun, and it wasn't. I wanted to be on the trail longer than the 10-14 minutes in a sprint race, plus driving hundreds of miles and the cost of hotels. It just wasn't worth it, I wanted to not care if my dogs stopped to take a poop. It is about the journey, not winning.

How has your training changed from limited to Mid Distance? 

   I used to be able to run right from my house and do all the training at home. I could get in all the miles I needed for sprint or skijoring. Now I have to truck the dogs up north, I am basically gone every weekend from Sept. thru March. I can train during the week about 45 minutes from my house, but need to get the longer miles in on the weekends. I used to put about 500 miles on my dogs for sprint/skijoring season. Now this year I have over 1300 miles. And I think I should have gotten more in.

How have your dogs made the transition? 

    At first it was very hard for me to slow the dogs down so they didn't burn out by the end. I am still working on that. I haven't quite figured out the happy medium yet. I know it will come with experience.

When choosing dogs for your mid distance team, what conformation do you look for? I am still running some of my original skijor/sprint dogs on my mid-distance team. I prefer females to males, I really don't like dogs bigger than 50 lbs. Many of my dogs have really short coats, in the longer, colder races I do wish they had a little thicker coat, but it is great for when it is warm.

 

What temperament do you look for?

It is very important to me to have friendly dogs, I want kids to be able to come up to the truck and get licked to death.

What bloodlines are you using at this time, and what are some considerations for the future?

Most of the dogs are from Swingley lines. We had our first litter in the summer of 2006, so these pups are the future right now. They are Gilbertson/ Swingley lines. I'm supposed to get a whole Swingley litter this summer, so really hoping the breeding took, otherwise I will have to find some young stuff to fill in the ages I need.

 

What was your favorite Mid Distance race this past season?

That would have to be Wolf Track Classic 6-dog. It was a 30 miles race in Ely. It was hillier than the Beargrease and had tight corners. My dogs were just on. I had to stop and take out a main leader that was seeming a little off and hot, so I put a yearling up with a 5-yr old race leader and they rocked together. It was an amazing time. I came in first out of almost 30 teams. 

Tell us about your Beargrease Experience: 

It was a good race, the dogs really enjoy the hills and turns. They get bored on the flat straight stuff, so do I. I don't mind getting off and running up the hills (most times) except Heartbreak Hill. I had two yearlings on my team who did great, I did drop them at the last checkpoint because the vet said they both had sore shoulders. I wanted them to finish happy and not hurt them by trying to make them finish. My main leader had a swollen hock and really didn't want to be out in front, the vet thought he might work it out so I ran him anyways. On the last stretch into Tofte all the dogs got the "beargrease bug" diarrehea. So that was pretty tough. I guess it was going around all the teams. It affected my whole kennel for the rest of February even.  I finished and was truly proud of all my dogs. 

 

How did the training for this race differ from any others?

My dogs were used to training on hills and they really weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be. I didn't really change anything

 

Were you nervous, or just happy to be running? 

I was nervous at the start because I had heard people were crashing into the fence on the way out.

What was the best moment for you out on the trail?

 Just watching the dogs lope up and down the hills and to realize they were having a blast.

What was the biggest misconception you held when starting the race, and when did you realize this?

 I thought it was going to be a lot tougher that it was, I had always heard that if you weren't going up a hill, you were coming down. The middle section was more flat. It was harder on my husband Peter, who was my handler, and my other handler Cindy. They were the ones digging trenches, carrying straw, water, food. No sleep. I got to go take a nap in my warm heated horse trailer living quarters.

Were you satisfied with your 15th Place finish?

 I guess I was, after doing the White Oak Race two weeks before, which was straight and flat and my dogs were barely moving, I thought during that race that there was no way I was going to finish Beargrease, in fact after White Oak was over I told Peter I was pulling out of Beargrease. If my dogs could barely do 60 miles in White Oak how could they do 150 miles of hills in Beargrease? I found out that dogs LOVE hills, corners and stuff. The flat stuff is boring, and if I'm bored and disappointed they totally pick up on that and it WILL be a bad race. ALWAYS, ALWAYS have to have a positive, can do attitude!

 

How did you feel when it was over?

I had never had  dogs have diarrhea for days, so I didn't like that part of mid-distance, but I'm sure I'll be back next year.

Who are your mid distance mentors and/or sponsors?

I went to Jamie Nelson & Ann Stead's Mushing Boot Camp this fall. I had gone before, but as a handler for someone else, never with my team. Boy, did I learn a lot. I would recommend it to ANYONE, even if they have only one dog, I can't even tell you how much you learn about your dogs and yourself. If I could ever be half as good as dog trainer as Jamie Nelson is I would be thrilled. Also, I have gotten really good advice from my friends Pete & Sharon Curtice, Rebekah Chapman and Carol King.  My main sponsor is Mojo Solo, a graphics company in St. Paul, MN. My biggest supporter is my husband Peter, I could not do this without him.

What do you feed and why?  

Redpaw 32/20. I have been feeding that for almost 6 years. I believe it is the best food out there. Made here in Wisconsin too! (It's all about the poops!) I also feed ground venison and beef, also Redpaw fat, and beaver meat in the training/racing months.

 

What are your future goals in Mid distance? 

I will probably enter the same races next year as this year, but the year after that run the UP200 instead of the Midnight Run. I would also really like to do stage racing, a little more speed, shorter distances and a pool of dogs to pick from.

 

Is the Iditarod in your future?

Yes, I am hesitant about the cold, but I had some cold runs this year, and I think I finally figured out what gloves & boots to wear. When I left the checkpoint at the Midnight Run this year it was around 4:00 am and it was -24 below. I wasn't even cold. So, yes, I would really like to run it someday, if all the logisitics can be worked out. I think I would need to move up north where I can get more and longer training runs in.

 

 

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Thanks to the North Star Sled Dog Club for use of the Member Spotligjht article