Re: Sled Dog Race, Iditarod, is less than a week away

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 22:22:30 -0600, "flick" <flick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

AFAIK, the Sibe was bred to pull a light to moderate load, at a moderate
speed, over long distances. I am unsure whether the Iditarod or Yukon Quest
qualifies, except as "long distances." How much sleep and rest do the dogs
get? How often are they actually checked by the vets, and what's done at
those checks?

Even though Sibes are somewhat less "biddable" than other breeds, the nature
of dogs is that they're trainable and to varying degrees want to please
their owner (master, trainer). I can believe it's possible to train a group
of Sibes to overexert themselves for days on end. Just as it's possible to
take a wonderful, friendly type like the Pit Bull and make it into a
people-biting maniac.

You missed the point. You don't 'train' a group of Siberians or other
sled dogs to overexert themselves for days on end. They're born and
bred to do what they do; it's instinct. Just as a Greyhound from
racing lines will often fall during a race, get up and finish the race
on an injured limb, a Siberian will often pull a sled until it drops,
if its musher doesn't stop it. To compare running Sibes in a sled dog
race to turning Pit Bulls into people biters shows that you know very,
very little about Siberians or sled dog races.

I wonder, also, if there would be so many excess Huskies if there weren't
races like these :-/.

That I won't disagree with. But pounds and rescue groups have been
full of Siberians for years, in places where there are no sled dog
races, so that's not the only cause of that particular problem.

Mustang Sally



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: Dogs Iditarod sled dog race going on now
    ... I mostly ran for fun and did races to hang out with other mushers. ... "As three time Iditarod champion Jeff King has said, you can't push a rope, ... and if the dogs decide not to pull, well, that musher isn't going anywhere. ... whose hopes were crushed in the 1999 race when her ...
    (rec.outdoors.rv-travel)
  • ALERT: Save Iditarod dogs from abuse - WRITE
    ... Subj: ALERT: Who's supporting Iditarod dog torture in 2007? ... Please help the Iditarod dogs by sending protest emails to race ... Alaska Airlines ...
    (rec.pets.dogs.behavior)
  • ALERT: Save Iditarod dogs from abuse - WRITE
    ... Subj: ALERT: Who's supporting Iditarod dog torture in 2007? ... Please help the Iditarod dogs by sending protest emails to race ... Alaska Airlines ...
    (rec.pets.dogs.behavior)
  • ALERT: Save Iditarod dogs from abuse - WRITE
    ... Subj: ALERT: Who's supporting Iditarod dog torture in 2007? ... Please help the Iditarod dogs by sending protest emails to race ... Alaska Airlines ...
    (talk.politics.animals)
  • Re: Sled Dog Race, Iditarod, is less than a week away
    ... of dogs is that they're trainable and to varying degrees want to please ... You don't 'train' a group of Siberians or other ... racing lines will often fall during a race, get up and finish the race ... very little about Siberians or sled dog races. ...
    (rec.pets.dogs.behavior)