The Iditarod

Alright, I'm new to the forum and I'm probably jumping in with both feet by starting with this thread...but I had to stick my two cents in because after reading through this I was dumbfounded. First of all, I love the dog races, sports, herding etc. Anytime I see a dog doing what it was born to do - man, it's so impressive. As for dogs getting "hurt, killed, abused" in the races or sports, that's not an entirely true statement. Yes, it is possible for dogs to sustain injuries doing high-impact activities, but then again, my two dogs could run down the stairs too fast and break a leg - dogs and people, can get hurt doing just about anything. I am not involved in mushing (don't think my little peke/poodleX and rat terrier would get me too far;))but my dogs do participate in competive obedience, rally and agility, so I see how handlers treat their dogs on the courses and behind the scenes and from everything I"ve seen, if a dog is not bonded with their owners - it's not going to work. No matter what. I also know that yes, people train their dogs to win at these sports, and in order to do that, the dogs get the best. On agility days, my dog is often outdoors for long periods of time waiting for our run. during that time he's in his crate drinking cool water, has a crate fan and one of those heat resistant covers on his crate. And when it's his turn to run, he's spinning circles at the start line waiting to run - there's no stopping him, he's gonna run! I see the same look on the mushing dogs faces when they get their harnesses on and line up at the start line. I've seen the races on t.v. and I've seen dogs that have had sore pads (not cracked, not bledding or torn, just sore) sent back to the start by helicopter because the checkpoint vet said they need to rest. To me, that says this race (even though it's not run in the original way) is well planned, organized and has the dogs best interest in mind.

To all you mushers out there - be proud that you are letting your dog do what his heart wants to do.

Oh, and I have a question for the huskie owners - what's a good outlet for city huskies? There is a husky owner in my beginner class at the dog school and she is looking for a "job" for her dog. I told her I would poke around for her.

Welcome to Pettalk, Mazie. I got a real kick out of imagining your two little furrys all harnessed up to a sled! Sounds like you have a great time with them at the obedience trials -- maybe you can post some pictures sometime, we'd all love to see your pups. As you can see by my logo, I am Mom to three siberians. We lived in the city with our first girl, Star, for 6 years. She busied her days with chasing squirrels in the trees in our yard for hours on end. We played fetch and took lots of walks. Once my kids were gone, we got another dog to keep her company. Huskies really need company. Their pack instinct is really strong and they get very lonely when left alone. We're out of the city now but I take my three almost daily to our local dogpark so they can run their little hearts out (which they do) and my extra-energetic little guy also gets as much fetching as he's willing to do.
One good thing to do is to be sure they "work" for whatever they get. They have to follow a command before they get treats, meals, attention, toys, you get the picture. It helps you keep your place as the head of the pack, which is important with this breed. I'm sure you'll get lots of other info from other husky owners on this site, there's quite a few.

Welcome Mazie, welcome to Pet Talk and thank you for your very astute views. You are among the majority, yet, other viewpoints are listened to with respect so again, thank you for a very welcome response :cool: I'm sure I can speak for others when I say I hope we hear more from you :)