Red Shed Racing

Summer's Summary

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:15:00 +0000

Alas the daylights is fading (Getting dark at 10:30PM) and the nights are down in the low 50's. Summer is coming to a close. We had a great warm summer with a few periods of rain - Which we like so we can run the dogs on our summer cart. We attended markets to raise money for the cause and awareness about the over population of unwanted sled dogs. We got some work done on the property to make life EVEN better for the team!

Overall I can't complain and I don't think the dogs can either!

Rabbit and Holly at the opening day Weds Market in Solodtna

Pickle Helps me work on the Fence

Aspen and 7 other dogs enjoy the NEW Family Bed with Sean - 110 inches by 83 inches!

Bad Dogs Save the Life of Baby Moose

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 23:35:00 +0000

The Trials and Tribulations of housing a wild bunch of sled dogs and be filled with joy and sorrow. Last week an unsuspecting SnowShoe Hare somehow made it into our so called "rabbit proof" fence. I regret to say these dogs who are no doubt related to the wolves of their past did what came natural. I buried the poor soul in my garden and gave him a tearful farewell prayer.

Then just a few days ago I was beckoned out of the shower by a group of insanely barking dogs. I ran outside to fine a 10 day old moose calf charging the fence in a panic. Three dogs (Blue, Skittles and Pickle) got their heads through the fence and grabbed the poor guy.

I shouted and waved my towel between the dogs and the moose and all but Blue let go. Blue who had a firm hold on the hind leg required additional waves of my frantic towel before he released the babe.

Eventually I summoned help and Fish and Game came out to get the abandoned calf (who I had learned later was seen wandering alone for two days in our neighborhood). If Blue hadn't Injured the little guy I wouldn't have convinced Fish and Game to come out and he would have starved to death. As it turned out he made it to Anchorage to a rescue for Moose!

Rescue Dogs Rescue the Moose!!!!!!!!

Read the whole story in the Redoubt Reporter

Old Dog Learns New Trick

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:55:00 +0000

Holly teaches Rabbit (8 years old) how to Hi Five and Roll Over!

The Three Days of Christmas

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 23:15:00 +0000

The Dogs had a very good Christmas this year. There were so many good times we had to space them over a three day period. There was something for everyone.

We had some new dog beds donated!!!! Thank You Peggy Allen and Lindsay Muzychenko!

- Let me tell you EACH and EVERY dog has been sleeping with smiles on their faces!

And SOME dogs More than Others felt like the beds were the BEST part of XMAS

Talon is Nuts about tennis balls and found it very enjoyable to bring a fresh new ball on to one of the new beds.

And then there are those who really really love anything stuffed

And those who try to steal from others... All in good fun of course

And then there was Mushing around the Lake

Christmas Dinner included Turkey Gizzards for everyone who Gobbled them up!!!!

With full Bellies it came to an end and to all a Good Night

A Forlorn Farewell - Kodiak's Last Howl

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:22:00 +0000

Good Bye Kodiak.... I will Always think our your beautiful spirit and be grateful for our time together.

Kodiak (My First Lead Dog) was the start of it all. After adopting him and learning to Skijor with him I was hooked on Alaskan Huskies and all that goes along with them. He was a few days shy of 10 years old when we discovered he had Cancer. We were blessed with a month to spoil him and say our goodbyes. He gave me a special howl on his last day and I would like to share it with you....

My Heart Is Heavy My Friend...

Summer Activities

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:04:00 +0000

The summer has been good to us so far. The temperatures are allowing us to run the dogs a few days a week. The dogs run slower in the summer but I think it is important to keep their heads in the game and their muscles toned. I prefer to run on our outlaw cart but have been using the ATV also. We have had the opportunity to give rides which has been alot of fun for everyone involved!

ABOVE Hannah and Monster after a run!

ABOVE Nathaniel Takes a turn!

ABOVE Look at us GO On-By the people!!!!! GOOD DOGS!

In between runs the pups are enjoying the yard and their toys and pools to keep cool!

Dogs Stop Eating Dirt!!!!

Thu, 27 May 2010 19:36:00 +0000

A little over a year ago when the snow was melting and the mud dried up I noticed something very peculiar. ALL of my dogs were eating dirt!. It seemed like they were doing it all day long. They would scratch at the ground and uncover a little fresh dirt and just eat. What struck me the most was that they were ALL doing it.

I had not ever noticed it before. I had a few grass eaters but this dirt eating thing was new and a bit concerning. WHY were the dogs eating dirt? My mind went over the possibilities and I thought they were missing something in their diet. Now even though they eat EVO and oat bran and raw fish and meat as a very healthy diet for sled dogs I still thought they were missing something. My second thought was they were lacking the power to digest the raw diet easily. Perhaps in addition to the oat bran they needed more fiber....

I posted on a sled dog forum and asked if this was occurring elsewhere and asked if anyone knew why. I got many responses about frequent dirt eating yet not one person knew why. So I went about researching this and found that dogs who eat dirt may be lacking Silicon in their diet. This is a micro-nutrient that was recently (relatively speaking) discovered to be vital for canines too.

I did a lot of research on what food sources contain Silicon and also what would be the safest and easiest to give to the dogs. I chose beetroot in a powder form. I have been giving the dogs 1 teaspoon of the red powder three days per week for one year. I found many many reasons to feed this other than just to curb the dirt and grass eating (I will post another entry soon on just beetroot) so I fed it all winter too. It wasn't until this spring that I could see if it had made any impact in the dirt eating.

Low and Behold!!!!!!! NONE of my dogs are eating dirt!!!!!!!!! Now they are digging for pleasure and I suspect the grass eaters will still eat grass for fun but will stop eating grass due to a silicon deficiency. Only time will tell on the grass eating as it is just starting to green up now.

If you want to learn more check out these websites!

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=dminerals

http://www.morethanalive.com/Beet-Root-Powder

Summer Plans

Thu, 20 May 2010 23:54:00 +0000

I have some plans for the dogs this summer. First I want to rotate each dog and take turns letting them ride in the car to the post office. Some of them have been doing this regularly but I thought it only fair to give them all the opportunity to live the "pet-dog" life letting their heads hang out the back window while they take in the smells of the neighborhood and scan the horizon for anything and everything to bark like crazy at! So far I have taken CatchMe, Rabbit, Pickle, Monster, Blue and Indigo! They all did really well!

I also want to run them all summer with the training cart. This takes a bit of finesse as they still have their winter coats on. I will bathe them all this week to help their coats blow out. Then I will start by only running them on the cooler days and work slowly into the warmer temps. They can get overheated if you dont slowly allow them to work up a tollerance to the heat - just like humans! Of course extra water, some electrolytes and lots of breaks on the trail will be part of the routine too. I just want to make sure they get every chance to get out there because our winters have ben so marginal the last few years with the lack of snow etc...

Also I am going back out to hit the markets to raise money for the team selling our swag. I really enjoyed this last summer and the dogs loved meeting all those people!

Seasons Change

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:01:00 +0000

As the snow disapears I can look back on our winter with great Joy and Admiration. The dogs all looked great and focused and strong this year. I can even say I never "Lost my Team" Yeah!!! The snow conditions were very low and it was bumpy conditions most of the season. I took to wearing a helmet and most of the time ran smaller teams to keep things safer. Well that is except that one time I ran eleven dogs!!!!!! Ok so I know what your thinking people do it all the time whats the big deal?

So the story goes like this.... Our friend Sean just learned how to run a sled this year. He is very good with the dogs so I gave him a seven dog team. I took out a six dog team and left him to follow me around the 7 mile course. My team is faster by far and after the halfway point I looked back along a straight away and saw his team. I thought it was weird but there was fresh snow so I thought my team was just running slower than usual. I teased my leaders and called them slow pokes and encouraged them onward.

One more time along the trail I looked back and saw them, they were gaining on us. Now I could have been smarter and put two and two together - but alas once again I chided my team and called them snails! I finished my run and was working with the gear when my team began to look out into the woods where the trail is. Then I heard lots of barking. I had told Sean to take it easy and give his team lots of breaks because the fresh snow would make it harder for them. So I thought - oh well they are just taking a long break.

But then the barking heightened into a panic and I could hear ASPEN and TALON especially going nuts like they were hurt. This whole time, still not doing the math of two plus two, I imagined Sean on the trail trying to load gigantic Talon into the tiny sled and all kinds of other crazy stuff. . .

This barking lasting five minutes now is getting more rowdy so I decide to run four dogs out the trail backwards to help Sean with whatever may be happening. (I had tried his cell and he didn't answer) So I quickly loaded two dogs in the truck and fixed my sled up for four dogs and put Secrets and Monster in lead and Jumar and Indigo behind.

I gave Secrets the Haw command to go out the left trail and she did with confidence (even though I was asking her to go backwards!) We went just about 3/4 mile when we came upon a hysterical team of dogs with no driver! Aha! The light bulb finally went on and I realized that two plus two is indeed four - and dogs travel much much faster without the weight of a human!!!! Although the dogs looked great I couldn't leave them there since Sean hadn't answered his phone - I had to get the dogs to the truck and then work out a plan for finding him!

So the moment of truth had arrived and I took an extra section of gangline out of my sled and hooked it on the front of the team of screaming dogs. Then I moved two of my dogs over there. Then I took their gangline off my sled and repeated what I just did. So now I have eleven dogs seven of which are amped up and crazed to go and four who still want to run the trail backwards! I then changed the front dogs all around so they would all go forward in the direction I wanted. I went to pull the hook that was embeded in the fresh powder and I couldnt get it loose without letting go of the sled. I bet you could guess what happened next!

Off and running are eleven crazed dogs and the sled without a driver again!! But the hook plunged in and held the team and once again I tried to free it - ahhhhh yep! I lost them for fifty feet again. The third time I got smart and set the second hook which is easier to pull. So I pulled the one and then the other and off we went flying and careening down the trail eleven dogs and me on a little tiny sprint sled! The sled tipped over and I got drug a fair distance and my helmeted head came very closed to the chainlink fence which lines that stretch of trail. I finally had to let go as my face plunged into the powder and was headed for some scarry looking shrubs. The hook plunged in and held them and I gave it one more try - this eleven sprint dog thing is way crazy!!! This time I managed to drive the team home unscathed and in one piece at lightening speed vowing to remain a limited class sprint musher!

Oh yeah didn't I start this by claiming I never lost my team! Well technically this was Sean's team right?

I hurried to get the dogs and gear loaded - tried to call Sean a few more times - still no answer - I looked and found his cell phone in his truck! As I was almost ready to leave to go borrow a snowmachine, a very very worried Sean emerged from the woods. His first words were - Are they all ok?

He had lost them around the 2nd mile and had walked the whole way trying to find them. He could have turned around and come to the truck a lot easier but he was more worried they would take a longer route or get stuck out there somewhere so he followed their tracks the whole way! I guess we'll keep him around for next year cause He does love the dogs!! But he has to take his cell phone on the trail from now on!!!!

Snow Snow Snow!!!!

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:47:00 +0000

Thankfully we are getting some snow in Kasilof! We have been out on sleds for a month now but until this weekend the snow has been marginal. We are currently running 3 teams of 5 dogs but with more snow the team size can get BIGGER! We have a new partner in crime named Sean who has been skijoring and mushing the dogs too. Big Thanks SEAN :D The dogs are all healthy happy and in the groove!

Indigo has been leading with CathchMe's team and she is a shining star. Next week I will put her back in with the faster team and push the distance with the larger team! All of the dogs are showing signs of maturity and each run they get under their belt really seems to help them focus.

I am so Proud of them ALL . . .