New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

[DianeLDL]

Yay, we'll get to see at least two of them grow up then!

Do you do any normal 'pet dog' training, like sit, stay, come, drop, etc.?
What a shame you can't spend much time with them - I hope that changes soon!

Judy, see the picture that Swanny posted on the Funnies page about training Huskies. It will give you a hint.

Swanny,
It will be great seeing at least two of them grow up and learn to mush.

About naming dogs. We did not want to keep Sandy's name from the shelter as it was Pepe, and since he knew some commands in Spanish and from his reactions to getting petted on the head, we knew we had to change his name ASAP for his new life.

I named his Sandy due to his coloring and also after the dog we got when I was in high school. It angered my dad, though, who said that "there is only one Sandy and he is dead". That angered me. But, in Jewish naming, we often name children after those who are deceased, so I felt it was an honor to name him Sandy. So, it has just added to the contention with my dad who doesn't like Sandy, and Sandy shows his feelings by growling at dad.

But, we had Sandy for two months before my dad saw him so it wouldn't have been fair to Sandy to change his name again.

Diane

[Swanny1790]

Yay, we'll get to see at least two of them grow up then!

Do you do any normal 'pet dog' training, like sit, stay, come, drop, etc.? Or do they learn everything more or less on the job and by watching your other dogs? How much time will the pups spend indoors, as presumably you need to housetrain them even if they spend most of their lives outside? Also... if someone wanted one of these pups just as a pet, never to pull a sled, would they be totally unsuitable because of the way they've been bred, or would they be fine as long as the person understood their nature?

What a shame you can't spend much time with them - I hope that changes soon!

I do more behavior training than most mushers, especially during summer as a form of enrichment. Nearly all of the dogs are trained to jump on top of their houses ("hup") for handing, pets, body condition exams and so forth. Most of them have a reliable "sit", "Off" cues some of the more jumpity ones to stand on all four feet rather than jumping up. Innoko has a pretty good "down". One of these days I'll try to remember to wear the helmet cam while I do kennel chores and put some of them through their behaviors.

I would not release any of my own dogs to a non-mushing home. With some 4,000 plus years of selective breeding for the traits associated with running and pulling, every strand of DNA in their bodies SCREAMS at them to work. If they don't have a suitable outlet for that energy they'll find other ways to use it. For example, we got our Amazing Grace after she was relinquished to a rescue organization at five months of age because she was "hyper and destructive." That noted, MANY mushers place retirees into pet homes and the majority of them do just fine. Those mushers put a lot of time and work into matching the right dog with the right owner. Some are perfectly content to embark on a second career as couch warmer and dish pre-washer. Others need to go to somewhat more active settings - recreational mushing teams, athletic owners who take the dog as a running partner, dryland mushers, and so forth. It really depends on the individual dog.

While most of the northern breeds are considered "challenging" dogs to train, they are just as trainable as any other dogs once one understands what motivates and reinforces them (running and food are HIGH on their list).

The only significant difference between sled dogs such as my Stardancers or MPBandmom's scooter/bikejoring dogs and the many other wonderful dogs we share on the forum is that the sled dogs are pets who also perform work.

[Anatine]

I can imagine it takes a lot to train a whole kennel of sled dogs!
Quorra obviously comes from pet lines, and I don't think any of her recent family did any pulling, so she doesn't have that drive, but she can still be a little pain in the butt!
I can't speak for dogs with more of a work instinct, but I agree with Swanny, you just need to know how they like to be rewarded.
Quorra's pretty easy and will take almost anything as a reward, but she's a little strange for a northern breed; she could rival a sighthound at how much she's a couch potato

Swanny, it's really interesting to hear how your dogs live, and how much working and the need to work effects them
I can't wait to see more of the Stardancer pups, they're so gorgeous already!

[JudyN]

Thanks Swanny - it's always good to hear what makes different dogs tick. I do think we have a problem whereby most people think that all dogs are basically the same in their needs (and, paradoxically, those who excuse unwanted behaviours because 'All [insert breed] are like that').

[WufWuf]

No pressure but I'd be RIDICULOUSLY excited if you did name her Floe Also you'd have 2 dogs named by Irish ladies (the lovely Seamus being the other one ). I have a bit of a fixation with cold mountainous forrested places so much so that I spent my honeymoon in Montana, infact my pc's wallpaper is a picture I took in Glacier National Park .

[Swanny1790]

I've been to historical reenactors near Glacier NP. It's a beautiful and wild region with many of the same wild critters we enjoy (or not) here in Alaska. The North Fork of the Flathead River is an amazing float trip in an open canoe.

In an interesting bit of synchronicity, this article by Susan Clothier was brought to my attention yesterday.

I found some raw video I shot early last summer while doing kennel chores that demonstrates a lot of the behaviors we've trained our dogs to do, but it's VERY long. It generally takes us between 1 1/2 to 2 hours to do our kennel chores. I also can't get access to YouTube while at work to upload it, so that will have to wait for another time. It reminded me that our buddy Seamus also knows "get in your house". Years ago he was boarding with a buddy of mine while I was at work. When he was feeding he noticed that Seamus, all excited to be fed (he's ALWAYS excited to be fed) would sometimes tuck his head into the door of his house while waiting his turn. He took the opportunity to shape the behavior of diving into his dog house on cue.

It was Mike's first experiment with shaping versus luring.

My tour of duty at work is winding down, but I'm only going to be home overnight before leaving again for a paramedic refresher course in Anchorage (sigh). At least I'll get a puppy fix before dashing off to the big city.

My work and training schedule is definitely a challenge. I'd much rather be home everyday and I know I could do MUCH more with the team if I had a more traditional job and schedule, but then I wouldn't be able to afford the expenses - so it's the price I willingly pay to keep the feed store accountants and veterinarian's collection agency away from the door.

[Swanny1790]

Photo of the babies shot yesterday (10-22-2014)

[gwd]

They're getting so big!!!

[MPbandmom]

They're getting so big!!!

!"

My thoughts too. I thought, "oh my gosh they are huge." Then I realized some of that must be perspective, but they do grow up so quickly.

[Swanny1790]

Trish and I got individual photos and weights before I had to dash off to the airport for a a four-day training session in Anchorage. All 6 are now named, also. Here's who we've got.

Aufeis (aka "FO", acronym for "Flippin' Overflow") weighs 4lb. even.


Frazil remains the smallest of the puppies, weighing only 2lb, 10oz.


Glacier, who was born with a silver gray coat, has become more strawberry colored, and tipped the scale at 3lb, 8oz.


We decided Hardpack would be for the agouti colored male, who weighed in at 3lb, 2oz.


We chose "Jumble" for the big buff colored boy, who rocked the scale at a solid 4lb. even.


Nilas is the buff colored female, a very nice sized puppy at 3lb, 2oz.

[gwd]

if I use my imagination, I can almost smell the puppy breath.

[mansbestfriend]

Ouch. Those claws look like needles.

[JudyN]

I so want puppy cuddles.

[Nettle]

It's hard to snuggle a photo on a screen but by George I'm trying

[MPbandmom]

Soooooo cute. All of their eyes are wide open now. And those feet! Good foundations for walking on the snow.

They don't look as large as a Sammy's feet though. That is one thing that I was really amazed about with the sammy's, just how huge their feet are. But then it made sense that they would be born with natural snowshoes.

They really do need to make pictures more huggable.