Sam was born with blue blood in his veins for sure.  He may have hidden it under a thick red coat of fur but that’s just so that he doesn’t stand out too much from ordinary sibes.  Not that he is shy about his heritage of course, at puppy school he was adamant that other dogs should note all toys were his by birthright and any appearance they were not was simply tolerance on his part that they might share in his bounty.  Yes Sam is upper class and is never happier than when sharing that knowledge with everyone around him.

Poor deluded boy.

Ashi on the other hand is made of pure black and white Husky adventure. The first to dig the hole, jump the fence or slay the new stuffed toy, she gleefully wreaks mischief at every opportunity, but she also has the big round eyes and button nose to get away with it.  She’s built like a nugget, with an endless appetite, regularly helping herself to a buffet of toilet rolls, books and other paper goods from around my place, supplemented only by a twice daily snack of kibble.  She’s the proverbial energizer bunny and keeps going and going and going, she works hard, sleeps hard, plays hard and runs even harder, she’s a real dog’s dog.

I don’t spoil my dogs much.  I mean sure I give them a leather lounge to sleep on, allow them free run of the house, let them eat from my plate, have built them an extensive entertainment complex in the back yard and am at their beck and call to drive them around to doggy play dates.  But that’s all.  Plus they get copious dog treats, their own shower room with hot and cold running water, padded collars, generous dooner privileges, outdoor wading pools and indoor air conditioning.  Oh and I take them to work with me every day.  But that’s it. So it was under this Spartan paternal guidance then that Sam grew up, into a beautiful adult Husky who thoroughly enjoys the great outdoors, but only if it’s not too damp.  The ick factor of wet feet is something he’s never really been comfortable with, so if it’s raining he’ll stop at the verge of the bricks and only place his front paws on the grass to pee.  He’s neurotic but I love him.

These then were the two dogs I loaded into the back of the wagon to take to the Husky Club’s Introduction to Sledding Day in April.

Belanglo is both beautiful and picturesque and also fairly close to Sydney.  The dogs love it there in winter, it’s cold and clear and they get to smell things on the ground that are simply too good not to eat.  With roo poo never far away Ashi could not have loved me more if I’d left a box of mints on her pillow.  This is what all Huskies were born to do; be outdoors I mean, not scoff poop.  As soon as we arrived Ashi’s eyes lit up saying, “Let me run through the trees, howl in chorus and sleep under the stars, oh happy day, I’m alive!”  Sam’s eyes said “Take me home, I want my sofa.”

If you haven’t been to a sledding event before it’s worth the trip even if you think you won’t like it.  At Belanglo you don’t exactly have to rough it, there’s running water, electricity, a kitchen with fridge, microwave and stove, indoor fireplace and also a fairly comfortable bunkhouse if you want accomodation.  There are perfectly serviceable toilets too; in fact perhaps the only thing the place is missing is Foxtel.

The best part is being there with the dogs, and with people who love them just as much as you.  It’s BYO dog but someone would probably loan you one if you asked so don’t let that stop you from coming.  All the equipment is provided, the harness, the tug lines and scooter.  There’s a fantastic spirit of cooperation and sharing and even if you’re not into mushing yourself it’s great fun to turn up and see others in action, and just spend some quality time with your dogs outdoors.  You won’t be sorry you came.

The practice circuit for beginner mushers is both relatively flat and mercifully short at just over one km in length.  It’s a dirt track that’s also a service trail and is an ideal surface for running dogs.  Stepping onto the track was Sam’s first chance to get dirty.  He’d been hanging back till that point, shrinking away from what looked too much like exercise, and trying not to tread in anything sticky on the way.  But he was in harness now and had given up staying crisp white, his Husky tuxedo was about to get very dusty.

I had two dogs attached to my scooter, Ashi on the left and Sam on the right.  The tug line out to them was maybe two metres long and the dogs were attached to each other by a short neck line to keep them in step as they pull.  We roll up to the start line and nervously wait our first mush ever, as the handlers give the signal to go.

“Off you go!” I yell spontaneously as I throw myself forward on the scooter.  This was supposed to be the dogs’ cue to go – and to my amazement they did!  They headed straight out almost at a run until they passed the last handler, then veered steeply to the left and stopped to pee on a bush.  Having stopped I now had time to remember my (fifteen minutes of) training, and so thought I’d yell out the right command to go, which was, “Hike!” as if I thought it would work.

Sam, still peeing, turned around with a quizzical look of, “You right?”

Moments later we got going again and this time I kept them on track with a few sharp No’s, which seemed to work to curb their urge to sniff.  We were running, for the first time ever!  I was ecstatic!  “Good dogs, off you go, come on Ashi, come on Sam, good dogs, good dogs, off you go, run, hike, go!” I yelled as we went, forgetting the line from the book that says, “use commands sparingly or they’ll simply tune out.”  Ah, I was fine I thought to myself, because that would suppose my dogs ever tuned in.

We were actually running now and I could almost feel tension on the tug line pulling me along.  Almost.  Actually I’d been scooting pretty hard, pushing out with my legs so the dogs would get up to running speed.  Then I noticed the lovely slack loop of tug line between them and the scooter.  The same slack loop I’d trained them for all those years when walking on leash.  D’oh!  Now was not the time for them to obey the rules.  I decided to try an experiment and slowed down.  The loop tightened then slacked off again as the dogs felt me slow.  I sped up and the dogs started moving off again, still the same slack.  How brilliant, I was taking my dogs for a walk in harness!  This was going to be a long mush.

Just then we got overtaken by another musher and that was too much for Ashi, she was spurred into action and the slack in the tug line twanged into tension.  It was just what we needed and off we went to give chase, this time I just stood on the platform and was genuinely pulled along, powered by eight Husky paws – now this was more like it!  Ashi put her shoulder into it, got low to the ground and kicked dust out behind her, she was really going at it.  And yet somehow we just weren’t picking up speed.  It was flat, the scooter was rolling smoothly but even downhill we weren’t picking up speed, I was baffled.  I look at the dogs again and Ashi was sure going hard, her body rippling forward like a wave as she strained against the harness.  Next to her Sam was also applying effort.  Stiff-legged effort to put on the brakes that is, he’d backed off from pulling and was vigorously protesting the whole idea of exercise, resisting running at all costs.  There was Ashi straining forward like a trooper and doing nothing more than dragging Sam along by his collar, the neck line between them taut a string.  No wonder we weren’t gaining speed!  Despite Sam’s resistance though, Ashi was winning.

Poor Sam, he was happy to walk, and happy to trot but he’d decided it was just too unbecoming to run.  Ashi was too enthused to notice the drag, she had that wild-eyed look in her eye and was far too lost in the moment.  Sam just skidded along behind her looking as unimpressed as possible.

Still, Sam’s heart was in the right place, and after I slowed down and let him go at his own pace he found he could start to enjoy it and the happy Husky smile returned to his face.  After a while he trotted and then even ran, but only while no-one was looking.  He could never be seen to be working of course, what with his reputation and all.  By the time we made it round the track and back to the finish line he had his head and his tail held high, with the look of someone who’d just conquered Everest, he was obviously impressed with his efforts. I have to say I was proud of them both, it was the day they officially became sled dogs.

Well Belanglo wasn’t our last mushing event, and now Sam’s getting the hang of it and really starting to pull.  He does as he pleases and always has, so if he’s running now he must be enjoying it.  He still loves his couch and his kibble, and still works his way to the center of the bed when he can, but when the alarm goes off before dawn to get up for a practice run his tail is wagging and he’s first in the car, keen to go.  Just think then, if Sam can do it, anyone can!