Some Nome Sled Dogs

I'm back from Alaska and SO MANY stories to tell! I met some REAL sled dogs and found out they are really sweet...not at all like Gabs described them. I met an Eskimo named Dempsey who has been a musher all his life. He has over 40 dogs. He took my Spokeswoman for a very long run with his 16 fastest dogs (pictured here)! They sure do LOVE running! These 16 will run the Iditorod in 2011! Not many mushers are able to run 16 dogs at once like Dempsey does. His dogs are very well trained and work beautifully together. He spends many hours each day outside letting them run loose while he does his chores. He said that most mushers can't allow their dogs to all run loose like he does, but, none of his dogs are fighters...they stay close to the area he is working in and never stir up trouble! Part of the day they are chained next to their individual dog boxes, but, when it gets really cold, they have a dog barn that they all take shelter in together. My Spokeswoman had always felt sorry for the sled dogs she would see on such short chains, but, after spending time with Dempsey, she saw that his dogs are living full, happy lives. They LOVE to run and get so excited when they see Dempsey getting their harnesses out! He runs them five days a week. That is their favorite part of the day!

(In case you were wondering, it was 20 degrees BELOW zero F the day this picture was taken and MOST of the days we were in Nome. The coldest place we went, though, was Kotzebue...it was THIRTY-EIGHT DEGREES BELOW ZERO there! My paws got cold there!)