I worked this summer with these ladies
http://www.hungryhorsenews.com/artic...news/news2.txt
Powered by Pomeranians, this is one dainty dog sled
Chris Peterson photos Sissy, Tina, and ND, raring to go.
By JOHN VAN VLEET
Hungry Horse News
On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen.
On Comet, on Cupid, on Tina and Sissy.
Tina and Sissy? Huh?
No, to answer the obvious question, Tina and Sissy aren't actually Santa's newest reindeer, they're just two black fox Pomeranians pulling a sled of their own around Hungry Horse, albeit a slightly scaled down version without all the gifts.
The dynamic duo is just two-thirds of Kelly Kitson's homemade dogsled team, with the twist being that all the members are dogs -including NDAnna (pronounced Indiana), or ND as they call her, the eldest of the trio that sits atop a tiny sled as it's pulled through the snow.
Kitson and her mother Carolyn thought this up as a way for the younger dogs to get some exercise, and to try and make them look as cute as possible doing it.
“I saw a child's pull sled,” Carolyn said. “I thought, ‘these two are bursting with energy, they run together. They're just a mess of energy.'”
Carolyn purchased the small sled for the dogs and then made a pair of pooch-sized harnesses, custom fitted for the energetic pair.
Kelly said that the dogs took to it naturally, partly because Pomeranians are actually downbred from larger sled dogs, and partly because they just plain love the snow.
“We don't hold them back,” she said. “We just let them go.”
Outside in her backyard, Kelly strapped the dogs in, ready for a pull around the yard. Although the snow was a little slushy and thick, the dogs bounded through it with an incessant energy, pausing only when the front of the sled got bogged down with the snow.
Both Kelly and Carolyn watched the dogs with pride and a hint of amusement, and talk of them glowingly, almost like children.
Tina, they said, is the alpha female. She's the aggressor of the group, a bit of an instigator. She's devoted to Kelly and tries to protect her when possible, barking away at intruders and foreign objects.
Sissy, on the other hand, is more of a “scaredy cat.” She follows Tina's lead, but is less assertive and equally affectionate.
“She won't be aggressive unless Tina is there,” Carolyn explained.
Then there is ND, who Kelly said was originally named “New Dog” because they couldn't think of a good name for her. The initials stuck.
This oldest dog, Carolyn said, is also the most relaxed, by far.
“She's so laid back it's ridiculous,” Carolyn said.
ND was the first of Kelly's dogs, and is eight years older than the other two. She's the “queen” of the group and enjoys sitting in laps just as much as she does riding on the sled.
“She just hops right up (on the sled) on her own,” Carolyn said. “They'll do anything Kelly tells them to do. They're very devoted to Kelly.”
Kelly and Carolyn started the sledding this winter, and plan to continue it as long as the snow stays in the valley. They've already delivered cards and gifts to their neighbors via the sled, and have even created a video of the dogs pulling that Kelly called “Iditarod: Pomeranian Style.”
Kelly, a math teacher at Columbia Falls Junior High School, has shown the video to her class to rave reviews. Even the Christmas cards she sent out this year featured the dogs and the sled.
In between jokes about entering the trio into a dogsled race, Carolyn and Kelly admit they might have some plans for the dogs in the future.
“We've got some angel wings set up for February,” Carolyn said. “We're thinking about doing something for Valentine's Day.”
Drat the photo didn't come up Is really cute.
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