Welcome again to the latest newsletter. I just looked at the calendar and saw we were heading into summer. I am surprised since I just got used to it being spring. Time is flying by again and I am sure we all are trying to keep up. Therefore my sincere appreciation goes out to all who have contributed to this issue.

Here on the south shore of Lake Superior this past weekend the mushers of the area showed their true colors. Josh and Sandy Hutchens from the UP of Michigan were traveling across the south shore when a truck made a U-turn right in front of their truck and trailer. In the trailer were 18 adult dogs and 7 puppies. Well the crazy's truck ended up side swiping the dog trailer and truck forcing Josh and Sandy off the road. Thankfully no humans or dogs were injured. However the dog trailer was a total mess with one dog compartment totally demolished. The three dogs in the box were well enough to take off and run free down the highway. Many motorists stopped to assist and many drove around trying to locate the lost dogs.

The dog trailer was a total loss and Josh and Sandy were left sitting on the side of Hwy 2. They placed a call back home to Michigan and the phone chain began. Lloyd Gilbertson was notified and he began to call the mushers he knew in the area. One of them was Eric Morris who in turn contacted Steve and Deb Serbousek. Steve, Deb and Eric jumped in Serbousek's dog truck and raced down the highway. Once they reached the accident site all of the dogs were loaded into the truck and the search was resumed for the lost dogs. Steve and Deb took the shaken up dogs back to their place. Later that evening after searching Josh and Sandy traveled to the Serbouseks and took care of the dogs. Deb and Steve made sure that Josh and Sandy had what they needed to take care of the dogs and also gave them a soft bed to sleep in.

The next morning phone calls went out to other area mushers and they all pitched in. Matt and Paula Rossi went out searching for the dogs as did Janet Cismosky and Tim Martens. One dog was found and reunited with his teammates. While Josh and Sandy continued to search for the lost dogs Steve and Deb made arrangements to get a trailer and driver to continue the dog's trip out to Montana.

As of the time I am writing this there are still two dogs missing and many people out looking for them. I am confident they will be found.

I am telling this story to illustrate the kindness, power and ability of a group of people working for the same cause. The local sled dog clubs (Battle-Axe Sled Dog Association and Northern Wisconsin Dog Mushers Association) members were all willing to help and due to the organizations it was an easy task to rally the troops. I strongly recommend we all join and support our local clubs. You never know when they will be needed.

The events described above just took place this past weekend so I may be unclear on all of the details. I apologize if I left anyone out. I hope as time passes I can get complete details and recognize all of the wonderful help.

I hope you enjoy this issue and if you have any stories or ideas to share please let us know.

I also wanted to let everyone know about a new symposium that's being put on this fall in Bayfield, Wisconsin. If you want to learn more about mushing, I would highly recommend attending this event. It's being put on by the Northern Wisconsin Dog Musher's Association and the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce. There will be talks, demonstrations, and info about the great trails in Bayfield County. It will also be an opportunity to meet several of the contributors to this newsletter including Ken Anderson. So mark your calendars for October, 23rd! Look for more details coming to our website in the next month.

Regards,
Eric Morris

Answers:

From Rob Lombard:
Thankfully I don't have a very big tick problem due to living in sand country, however I do wind up picking only about 4-5 ticks off per week. Once the sand flies have moved in for the summer I apply Synergized De-Lice which is a product created for horses to keep flies and other bugs off of them. This oily fluid when applied all but eliminates the ticks in addition to keeping the dogs ears free from the torture of being eaten all summer long.

From Helen Newman:
I have 12 dogs and I use Frontline on them. It may be pricey but it works and I do not have to worry about any ticks or fleas on the dogs. If you shop around you can get good bargains by buying a year supply (12-pack) and that usually runs about $80 for the 12 pack. I only use the Frontline for 3 months: May, June and July.

Zoya Denure:
Move to Alaska. There's no ticks here. Whew!

Eric Morris
Here in my dogyard ticks are a problem in the spring and fall months. Although I have never had a large infestation I maintain a steady vigil to keep them in check. Here are some of my tips:

• Learn as much about the life cycle of the tick as you can (check out the Internet) and try to interrupt as many stages as possible for your given area.
  Here's some links on this:
  UCDavis
  AffraidToAsk.com
  Another good page
  
  
• Keep the grass in and around your dog yard to a minimum and as short as possible. At my yard not only is the immediate yard kept mowed but I also mow a 20-foot perimeter around the entire yard.
  
  
• Keep the rodent population as low as possible. You will be amazed at the number of ticks you will find on rabbits, squirrels, mice and voles. The mice and voles are the worse since they travel into the dog yard carrying a load of ticks. The ticks will leave the small host and get on your dogs. I routinely set mousetraps in and around the dog yard. I once caught a mouse that had over 25 ticks on it. Most of them were ready to find another host, my dogs.
  
  
• Check your dogs regularly for ticks. It is best if they can be removed prior to becoming engorged with blood. Once fully engorged the tick is all set to reproduce and start the process all over again.
  
  
• Provide as much sunlight in the dogyard as possible. This helps keep the moisture level down.

I hope some of these tips help and I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Spring is nearly over and Summer Solstice is right around the corner. The Solstice is a big celebration up here in Alaska. From here until December 21st the days will get shorter and shorter, slowly plunging us back into winter's icy cavern. If you're a dog musher, it's a great reason to celebrate, but if you like sun and warm temperatures, it might be time to start planning your winter vacation to some tropical climate. On Solstice evening, 100 miles north of us at the Arctic Circle, the sun will dip just to the horizon but won't set, giving 24 total hours of daylight. The seasons change so fast here in interior Alaska that it's sometimes hard for your body to adjust as fast as the weather is changing. After our racing season ended in mid-April up in northern Alaska, the snow had almost all melted back home. By mid-May the ground was dry and fire season was well upon us. Before we know it, fall training will be at hand and we'll do it all over again.

After a rough go in the Iditarod, we pulled things together, sped the team up a bit, and headed to Kotzebue for the Arctic Circle Championships. The "Arctic Circle", as it's locally called, is a three-day sprint race of 25-mile heats run out on the open sea ice. It's held in conjunction with the Kobuk 440. Kotzebue is a very "doggy" village with lots of good local talent in both distance and sprint racing. They have a strong club that's funded by Bingo and pulltabs, paying out over $130,000 in race winnings throughout their race season with the bulk of the money on Arctic Circle and the 440. Alaska Airlines gives us out-of-towners a break on flight costs, which helps draw lots of the top mushers to Kotzebue for a big weekend of racing.

The 440 is the last hurrah of the season for the distance teams and a great way to see what you and your team are made of. I liken it to a "jungle" race with very few rules, very few judges, and very few trail markers. It's fierce and fast with only 20 hours of mandatory rest. However, by this time of the year the dogs are all in the best shape of the season, with most teams coming off either the Quest or the Iditarod. When I ran in 2002, it was a real eye-opener to see what the dogs could really handle. I learned a lot in that race but haven't had a team since that I felt could or needed to experience the long runs and tough trail that the 440 has to offer. This year's winner, Ed Iten, a native of Kotzebue, told me the trail was either dirt or water the whole way.

By the sounds of it, this year was a great year to choose NOT to run 440. Luckily the snow held out for us out on the sea ice just long enough to pull off the race without too many water puddles and patches of glare ice. On day one Joee Redington got off the trail right out of the chute and drug a half a mile behind a raring team of 16 speedsters. We all watched in horror as snowmachines darted out after him and helped him get his team back on the trail. Luckily the trail was just slow enough and long enough for my team of mid and long-distance race veterans to compete at. With Joee's bad luck on the first day, we slipped into second place overall just behind Bill Kornmueller. Kotz is known for their awesome trophies. Back when Jade mining was big up there all the trophies were made of Jade. Last year they commissioned a local scrimshaw artist to carve the trophies for the top three teams out of walrus tusk. This year a local woodworker handcrafted beautiful plaques with mini hand-tied dogsleds. It was a great weekend of racing but it wasn't the last for me.

The very last race of the year was the Shishmaref Spring Carnival held on April 16th through the 21st. I had to charter a Cessna 206 for the 100-mile flight-packing dogs, sleds and gear in as tight as could be. By this time all the other Kotz mushers had had enough, and I was the only outsider to make the trip into Shish other than Joe Garnie who ran his team 80 miles from Teller. Shishmaref is a very traditional Eskimo village, known for its excellent ivory carvers and Herbie Nayokpuk, the "Shishmaref Cannonball". Herbie was nice enough to put me up for the week and I had a great time listening to mushing stories and learning more about their culture. The Nayokpuk's still eat a lot of traditional foods. At the center of the table is the ever-present bowl of seal oil. They still use Ulu knives and toss in dried caribou and seal meat as well as vegetables like carrots and celery. Seal oil is really strong and I had a hard time getting it down. Herbie and his son's friendly ribbing made the experience a little easier to handle. They even got me to try walrus intestine and caribou tongue soup, which are both considered delicacies in Eskimo culture.

The race went well for me and we finished up the season with a win in the men's main event which was three days of 36 miles, again out on the sea ice. I lent my team to Herbie's niece and she won the lady's race. The next day Herbie's nephew took my team and won the junior's race. The day after that I won the run-harness-and-go race. All the races have cash prizes. Of course, after doing so well, I was beginning to wonder if they'd run me out of town or something. So, in an effort to give a little back, I decided to play a little bingo. I never win at bingo, so I considered it a charitable venture. But my luck wouldn't quit, and I won the postage stamp and collected another $70. I figured to be nice I had better buy a few raffle tickets. My luck just kept on rolling and I won the main prize of a VCR/DVD player. Now I was really getting nervous, so I decided to donate back my share of the junior winnings to the junior club. That got me a huge round of applause at the banquet and bettered my chances of getting invited back to Herbie's next year. After the banquet was over several ladies approached me with beautiful handicrafts for sale. I got off the flight in Kotzebue with a four-foot high trophy, two plaques, a seal-skin hat, a pair of beautifully beaded fur mukluks, two ivory bracelets, a whale bone carving, and a whack of cash left over. It was a great way to finish off what was shaping up to be a not-so-great season.

Caloric Energy Measures in Dog Food

The energy content of dog foods is one way to compare brands. However, it also causes much confusion because not every brand uses the same methods to express its energy content.

The first problem in the expression of kilocalories is in volume. Many brands express energy content in kilocalories per cup. This is a poor way to compare dog foods because it is too vague. A cup can be many sizes, and even if we use the standard 8oz liquid measure it is misleading. Since dog foods vary greatly in density and size of kibble, a denser kibble will look like it has a lot more calories than a less dense one. A more accurate way is to compare a given weight of the foods such as kilocalories per pound or kilogram.

Beyond unit measures, there are also different ways to measure the actual caloric content of a given mass of food. They are Gross Energy, Digestible Energy, and Metabolizable Energy. It's important to understand the differences so you can make better comparisons

Gross Energy

Gross energy is the simplest measure and as such is the least accurate. It is measured by the complete oxidation of the food in a bomb calorimeter. The energy measured is the heat released. The problem with this measure is that not all of the combustible energy in a food is available to the dog for metabolism. Energy is lost in digestion, urine, feces, and other processes in the dog's body.

Digestible Energy

This method is an improvement over gross energy because it takes into account energy lost in digestion and feces. It still does not account for urine loss so it is still an incomplete measure of a food's energy available to a dog.

Metabolizable Energy

M.E. is the best measure of dog foods we have available because it takes into account all of the factors listed above. It most closely expressed the amount of energy a dog will get from a given amount of food.

However, ME cannot be measured by a lab test, and since ME data is not available on the individual ingredients, the ME value must be estimated using the following equation:

M.E. Kcal/gram = (.035 * (%protein + %carbohydrate)) + (.085 * %fat)

Since carbohydrate content is not listed on dog food labels we must calculate it ourselves.

%carbohydrate = 100 - %protein - %fat - %fiber - %moisture - %ash

Ash is one of those terms that sounds worse than it is. It is basically the "none of the above" category in dog food. It is the non-combustible ingredients of the food and is composed mainly of minerals. High quality performance dog foods typically fall in the 7-9% range for ash. There is no clinical relationship between ash content and disease in dogs, however, high ash content foods may indicate a compromise in quality. Thus, when comparing dog foods it is important to look at the ash content. You will generally have to ask for that information because it is not usually listed on labels.

To convert the KCal/gram into pounds multiply the result of the ME calculation by 454.

So as an example, lets assume we're looking at a food with 32% protein, 20% fat, 3% fiber, 10% moisture, and 7% ash. That leaves 28% as carbohydrate. If we plug those numbers into the equation we get:

ME Kcal/g = (.035 * (32 + 28)) + (.085 * 20) = 2.1 + 1.7 = 3.8

Me Kcal/lb = 3.8 * 454 = 1725.2

In summary, M.E. is the best measure to use in comparing the energy content of dog foods. Any respectable company should be able to provide this figure for you, just make sure you keep your measure the same (grams vs. lbs.) for even comparison.

I had the opportunity to meet Jon Williams of Ravencrest Kennels in the fall of 2002, at Mushing Boot Camp in Togo, MN. He is a tremendously nice person and has one of the most well behaved team of Malamutes I have seen. Here is his story.

The Alaskan Malamute of today evolved from the sturdy dog of the Malemute tribe of Inuit people that lived around the Kotzebue Sound area of Alaska. They used these dogs for transportation, hauling freight, and hunting. Over time white explorers found these dogs to help them on their expeditions, especially in Antarctica. Alaskan Malamutes also worked the gold fields hauling freight and gear, and performed rescue services in World War II. As you can see, these dogs had tremendous strength and endurance. They ranged in size from 22-27 inches at the shoulder and weighed 70-100 pounds, or more. With their thick double coats they could withstand just about any type of wintry weather the Northland could throw at them.

The temperament of the Malamute could be described as laid back. They are very friendly loyal dogs, love to play, however their size can be intimidating to some people. Their personality can range from downright comical to very stubborn. Because of this stubbornness, some find this breed hard to train and control. I feel this is due to the dog's natural instinct to lead or be led, and if you allow it to be the leader or dominate over people then it will. That is why training MUST begin at an early age and it must have controlled socialization with people and other animals.These dogs, like many other northern breeds, follow the laws of the pack and you must recognize this and deal with it, otherwise they can become quite a quarrelsome 80 or 90 pound animal!

As I mentioned earlier the Malamute has tremendous strength and endurance. Because of these physical features they excel at weight pulling, sledding, packing, hiking, and agility trials. Today, their activities can range from expedition, trapping, racing and recreational sledding, agility and obedience trials, show competition, to outings with the family as pets.

The Alaskan Malamute breed was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1935 and also that year the Alaskan Malamute Club of America was formed. Since the breed was first recognized, it has produced an amazing amount of champions in the show ring.

In closing, I would like to say, that the Alaskan Malamute, can be a wonderful companion, however this breed is not for everyone. It is a dog that needs a lot of quality attention, love, and discipline or it can be a nightmare for you. To prospective owners, I really recommend that you read, "The Alaskan Malamute; Yesterday and Today", by Barbara Brooks & Sherry Wallis, and visit a reputable kennel of Malamutes, before you decide to make the final decision to purchase one.

I guess our story should start with the question. Why did we want an Alaskan Malamute? From my perspective, I can trace it back to my love of winter, at an early age, and watching Sgt. Preston of the Yukon on TV in the early 1960's. For those of you who have never heard of Sgt. Preston, he was the hero of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and his constant companion was Yukon King, an Alaskan Malamute. Together they handled the renegade lawbreakers of the Klondike! No, I did not become a RCMP officer, but after much discussion, my wife Jane and I were soon on our way to pick up our first Malamute puppy in 1986.We had both done some research on the breed, and decided that this was the type dog we wanted to live with us at our newly purchased 60 acre woodlot/farm in southeast Iowa. Yes, Iowa does have trees! I can honestly say that this first Malamute puppy changed our lives, especially mine, forever. His name was Thor, and he was an excellent example of Malamute personality, STUBBORNESS, and desire to pull.

I really had very little experience in dog training. Somehow I managed to train Thor in the basic obedience commands. Did I make mistakes, you bet I did. So, I read as much as I could on training dogs and the Alaskan Malamute. I wanted to find something in the winter that Thor and I could enjoy together, so I thought taking him ice fishing with me could be a good idea. I soon had a weight pulling harness and in a short period of time I trained Thor to pull my ice fishing equipment on a sled. We had a lot of fun together; he was so good about watching my fishing poles to see if I was getting a bite. As soon as the spring bobber would vibrate he would get excited and howl, knowing that it could mean a snack for him. He loved eating fish like we would eat a potato chip. We did have a few bad experiences ice fishing. Like the time he wandered away from my brother Ted and I during one of our busy fish catching episodes. He left us and decided to visit a couple of fisherman about 100 yards away from us. They too were catching fish left and right. They were so busy that they didn't notice Thor eating their pile of fish behind them until he devoured about 6-7 fish. They yelled at him to leave and I yelled at him to come. Well, Thor always had his own ideas, and he took about ten steps toward us and then decided to go back to the fish pile. As the two fisherman turned around to yell at him again, Thor urinated all over their fish and then ran back to us. Oh Great!!! I yelled at them that I was sorry, but judging by their sign language, they were not very accepting of my apology.

In a few years we purchased another puppy, Niki, a female. She was the poster child for dominance and stubbornness. I learned quite a bit about patience and discipline from this dog. I was beginning to wonder if all Malamutes were like this! Well, it was just a matter of time but we soon had our first litter of puppies from Thor and Niki. Nine healthy little ones. We kept one male puppy, Juneau and sold the rest. Thank goodness, Juneau became our laid back gentle giant. Now with 3 dogs I decided they needed more training and exercise than I was giving them. I found a Frank Hall 3 wheeled rig and started training them to pull me around the gravel roads. By winter I had one of Frank's sleds and was giving rides to some of the neighbor kids. I really was enjoying the dog training; however my wife Jane didn't share in my passion. She always enjoyed playing with the dogs and helping out with the chores, that was fine with her.

At this point, in time, I was put in touch with David and Shilon Bedford of Black Ice Kennel, in Minnesota. I found that their dogs were just the type of working line I wanted to get more involved in. A few years went by before we purchased a female puppy from them. We called her Raven, hence, the beginnings of Ravencrest Kennel. As she grew to an adult I couldn't believe how good of a worker she was. Not only did she really want to pull, she learned quickly from Thor how to be a good lead dog. My four dog team had some good times, however in two years Thor would retire at age 11 and soon pass over to the other side. I decided to take a week long dog sledding course at Paul Schurke's before purchasing more dogs, so I could advance my dog training and winter camping skills. In 1994 I arrived at Wintergreen lodge and in one week learned more about northern breed dogs and winter camping than I had learned in the last 8 years. It was a cold week, highs at -10 degrees F and lows at -35 degrees F. I found that I could keep warm, in my sleeping bag, snoring away under the tarp thrown over the sleds during our camping trip.

After this camping trip I decided the best way for me to add more dogs would be to stay in this good working line and have Raven bred to another dog in the same line. I found that dog in Bucky, a male from Kingsdale Kennel in Wisconsin, owned by Keith and Cindy Olson. Our breeding paid off with 7 healthy puppies. We kept all of the puppies and instantly I had an 8 dog team! Now what was I going to do??? Eight dogs running on one team. A new challenge. I trained the puppies on a sled during their first winter, to give them a taste of running with Raven. I was amazed that they all did so well. Hey, don't get me wrong, we had plenty of tangles and incidents. I was really getting excited now about training them, but something was missing. I read an article entitled,"Teaching Your Dog to Pull" by Terry Miller. She talked about doing a boot camp thing with Jamie Nelson and learning to get more out of your dogs. It sounded just like what the dogs and I needed. More training. That fall of 2000 I loaded up 8 dogs into my newly built dog trailer, and headed for Togo, Minnesota. My pups had just turned 2 years old and they were ready for fun. Little did I know what awaited me. All I can say is that the 3 days I was at the Jamie Nelson/Ann Stead Boot Camp, that first year, I learned more about dogs and dog training than I could ever imagined! In fact I had such a good time I went back the next fall for more advanced training. (Stayed at Terry & Scott Millers on the way up and back, and found out more about Inuit Dogs). I never thought my guys could run down the road surrounded on both sides by Inuit Dogs, Alaskans, Siberians, and Malamutes. Without getting into a fight! I still get together, every year, up north, with some of these people for a camping trip, called the BIG DOG BASH.I found that my dogs are capable of more than I thought. In 2002-2003 we started logging over 800 miles/season on ATV and the sled.

Through the people I met at the Boot Camp, I've become friends with many other Minnesota mushers who have helped me learn even more about mushing and northern breed dogs. My next step for our kennel was to add some new young blood again. One of my lead dogs, Dusty, bred Gracie, a female belonging to Kris and Gary Johnson, Atajuq Kennel of Cambridge, Minnesota. Our litter gave us 11 healthy pups. I ended up with 2 males and one female. (Tok, Tundra, and Ruby).This past winter was their first, and they learned how to run with the adults in a 10 dog team. Their ATV training, this spring, went very well. I can't wait until the fall season is upon us!

This past winter, I also met Brian Fredericksen. I enjoyed spending several days of running dogs with him at his and Linda's mushing cabin off the Arrowhead Trail near Hovland, Minnesota. Our dogs were introduced to running through some good lake slush. They did fine.) I look forward to doing some extensive camping trips with them and their Inuit Dogs and Alaskans.

Well, as you can see, my first dog Thor, did change my life forever. Because of him, I now thoroughly enjoy running and training our dogs and puppies. When we first brought him home I never would have thought I would end up where I am today with dogs. I need to thank my wife, Jane, for being so understanding about my passion for dog mushing. She is a great help!

My goal continues to be of having one of the best trained working Malamute sled teams around and to get them on some great winter camping trips. Happy Trails!

I was out feeding dogs the other night. I searched for my headlamp, as I don't have any other lighting in the dog yard. Like many others I have several headlamps due to the fact that races require that you have two complete functional units along with the fact that the bigger ones are really not very convenient for quick use like running out to the dog yard to feed, scoop and look over each of the dogs. I really prefer the small one that is easily slipped on over a hat or directly onto my head, it was no where to be found, so I grabbed the big one which requires that I fish the wires down my shirt or wrapped around my head to the battery pack clipped on my belt. Got that all done and headed outside, click, the orange beam that could only light up my hand in front of my face indicated the batteries are about done. This brings up what I call "battery milking" which gets performed when out on a run on a cold night with batteries that work great coming out of the warm house but are on their last leg when out on a cold run. It works like this: you do as much as you can with your headlamp turned off to let the batteries "charge" back up a touch, then quickly turn the headlamp on to see what you need to as quickly as possible before the dreaded orange beam comes back and turns to nothing shortly after that. Boy was I getting frustrated; what was supposed to be a quick run out to the dog yard had now turned into a major ordeal just to get out of the house and get the feed buckets prepared. I started thinking there must be better solutions out there these days. I need a light that is easy to use, light weight, sparing on batteries and has a bulb that lasts forever. Hmmm, sounds too good to be true right?

Anyone that has been mushing or training coon dogs can relate to the unexpected frustrations that occur with headlamps. Headlamps are your best friend on cold long nights but they can also become your worst enemy if YOU don't prepare yourself properly with reliable equipment and the fore thought to use them in the situations that you will encounter. A couple hours into researching what is out there for choices was somewhat of a shocker to me; what I thought of as basically a flashlight on your head became a myriad of styles along with the requirement of building your knowledge of batteries and bulbs. Yes in order to make an educated decision on a headlamp you need to know all about the expensive parts which is NOT the headlamp itself, rather it is the batteries and indirectly the bulbs that dictate battery consumption. OK I did know that halogen is bright compared to regular bulbs and I did know that the price for having the brighter light was that you would burn through the batteries quicker. Now throw the cold into the mix!

Tip - Make sure that there is no way the flashlight in your kit can be turned on accidentally if batteries are installed. Even some seemingly foolproof switch designs seem to find ways to turn themselves on

On a more factual level you may find these comparisons enlightening about the differences between bulbs. Halogen will have a light range on an average 3 times as far as a standard bulb, so with a headlamp that can range 90 feet with a standard bulb you can expect to range around 270 feet with a Halogen. However, halogen will use 4 times the batteries compared to a standard bulb. To put that into perspective, a headlamp that will last for 12 hours on a standard bulb is only going to last for 3 hours using a halogen bulb and that means changing batteries in one nights run to keep the full range of your beam! A third comparison is the life of the bulb: halogen bulbs are much more reliable and have a much longer life than incandescent bulbs. Last race season I discovered that one of the things most forgotten is spare bulbs so be sure to find out what kinds you need and stock up prior to race day. It can be a bit hard to locate the right bulb in a town that you are not familiar with on short notice.

Tip - Don't shine your headlamp in other's eyes! Most people find this disrespectful and rude yet I have it happen to me at EVERY race event.

LEDs!!!

A huge discovery at the races last year was the new LED headlamps that were out there. This was the first year I noticed them anyhow but as you will see these lights will make traditional flashlights, headlamps and anything else extinct in a matter of a few years I am sure. These headlamps brought a bunch of color to the nights with blues and green lights shining amongst the blinking red veterinarian, officials, and lead dog lights (also LED lights). So just what do LED lights offer that make them the fastest growing style of headlamp? Two main reasons: the bulbs last virtually forever and they are very easy on batteries. While some makers claim the LEDs will last upwards of 100,000 hours, others only claim 50,000.

Like pearls, LEDs are graded and can be matched for output and color. One fallout from this has been that the brighter and whiter you want them, and the better color matched they are if more than one, the more expensive these LEDs are. That translates to a more expensive end product.

At first when LED lights came out they were just not bright enough for camp work or seeing your lead dog in a bigger team. LED's themselves have been around for quite some time in electronic equipment mostly with the little red light being the most commonly used application. In 1990 the white LED was invented which paved the way for today's emerging flashlights, penlights, and headlamps. Two years ago you could not buy a LED lamp that was practical for anything other than close up low light applications. The lights were great for applications where you need to retain your night vision due to the soft blueish glow that was emitted. So what happened is there were hybrid lights that had both the traditional beam and a LED light which allowed you to switch from the bright beam to the LED when you only needed the softer lighting.

Today a company called Lumileds is making the Luxeon Star, which is equivalent to 10 or more of the original white LED's, and has become the standard to compete with. So now there is the high output 5 mm LED and, the newest style, the 1 watt LED. I am only aware of a couple of headlamps using the Luxeon Star right now and they are the Streamlight Argo and the Princeton Tec Yukon HL. The Streamlight Argo ($42.95) is a one LED lamp with high, medium, low and strobe settings which aid in battery consumption reduction while giving you the brightest LED made. The Princeton Tec Yukon HL ($59.95 ) is unique in the fact that it is the first total LED hybrid light containing one Luxeon Star LED accompanied by three high output 5mm LED's to allow for bright light need situations and low light situations to preserve batteries better. I am sure that there will be many models using this bulb in the near future so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Another headlamp that has been receiving very good reviews and which made it's mark before the advent of the Luxeon Star 1 watt LED is called the FrontaLED. Made in Switzerland, it contains 10 LED's and is said to cast very good light and perform flawlessly in cold conditions. One of the reviews said that they used the Alkaline batteries that it came with, used it extensively for 17 days, and never required a battery change! The second big FrontaLED feature is its magic magnetic switch. To turn the lamp on, you just push it forward on its hinge. The round dark thing you can see behind the turned-on lamp in the below picture is a magnet, glued to the lamp holder; a magnetic switch sealed inside the lamp assembly turns on when the lamp moves away from the magnet.

Tip - change the bulb and batteries in your headlamp while running on a practice run one night. The practice will prepare you for the time when it is NOT expected.

As I look at the various models out there it is evident that much like the traditional headlamps, LED's just aren't designed for mushers running in sub-zero temperatures. That is why the arctic headlamp made by Cold Spot Feeds and replicated by others has been THE headlamp for the serious musher out there. They made it for mushers with everything catered to cold weather and waterproofing. Another thing about LED lights is that they shine directly forward so reflectors are not a factor, which also means that you can't concentrate the beam but rather they give off a glowing type light that lights up a large area around you.

One of the unique qualities of the LED's is that they don't turn into that dreaded orange glow as the batteries begin to die, they continue to glow white and, according to several tests, they will remain glowing enough to read a newspaper (if held within 6 inches) for a week if you had the time. The point being that the LED's glow just diminishes but still remains quite white making that milking of the batteries I was talking about a thing of the past. Prices on headlamps using the LED system were very reasonable from a headlamp standpoint, starting around $30 and going up to $100. I think we are at the age of the LED. I will be buying one as soon as I can afford to, which as I complete this article I am wondering how I can afford not to.

Hello Friends,

The grass is greener and the flowers are wild and sweet in the foothills of the Alaska Range. Summer time rolls and we are busier than ever with dogs.

Our move from the quaint community of Nenana to Paxson Alaska was successful; blessed with nice weather and time off in between my work situations.

We would travel without cruise control luxury in piecemeal Parks Hwy Expedition increments with a smaller pickup truck due to the unforeseen dilemma that my Ford 250 dog truck would break down flat and square- with transmission issues just weeks before we would be scheduled to move.

With 20 some Alaskan Huskies and 250 miles one way 6 times, dog gear, training equipment and house stuff, it was surely to be an adventure of it's own with many long hours on the road, late nights up driving and mad amounts of coffee. My dogs are still humming tunes from my Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday cassette tapes. We love you, Ella & Billie.

After 2 years of working and training sled dogs on the Nenana trail system, I had decided a move was in order for my sled dogs and me. We weren't feeling satisfied with our training as we were putting long hours out each day and then to come home feeling as if we were lacking later in the season. The trails are mostly flat with little extras for sled dog adventure and stimulation. My dogs could and would travel at great speeds on these pancake trails with their eyes closed and backwards if I had asked.

With many mushers training each day over the same trail and religious trail groomers, the team would experience a very fast, icy, and hard packed trail. I felt as if my dogs deserved better training with varied terrain in backcountry Alaska. The quality of our training has to improve if we are to do well in our future of racing. I have young dogs with terrific amounts of speed and racing potential; seasoned dogs with ready knowledge and experience. Time isn't to waste.

I began to train my dogs the early part of January in the Paxson area for more stimulating training and challenging trail. We would experience a whole new world of mountainous terrain and scenic mushing. We fell in love with the mountains and decided to make this home. Home is 40 Sled dogs later, 3 spoiled-happy housedogs, 4 chickens, a rooster we call Soup and one dove named Jude.

I have been busy working on my business plan and the construction of a new kennel from the ground up that would outfit our 40 Alaskan sled dogs and offer kennel tours in the summer months on the Maclaren River, on mile 42 of the Denali Hwy.

We open this June and are excited to offer custom tours, daily cart rides, weekend dog training clinics with accommodations included, specialty mountain retreats with high alpine tundra hiking, and guided bike tours on the West Fork Trail. We encourage the Alaskan tourist and sled dog novices and enthusiasts to visit. Come by and say hello if you're traveling through the area this summer.

Visit us on the web at dogsleddenali.com or email for questions, comments and chat zdenure@yahoo.com

Next issue I will introduce a few huskies from my kennel that are shelter dogs and rescued dogs in training for long distance races of 2005.

Remember, this newsletter was created for you. We encourage your input on any sporting dog related topic. If you have tips, questions, or suggestions, please send them to us.

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