T200 this weekend!

[Olympia]

Thanks, Toni. I can't get over how beautiful those dogs are. I missed most of the Working Dogs section of the Westminster Dog Show this week, so I didn't see if anything resembling them were entered. I don't know if they're a recognized AKC breed. There was a lovely malamute, and a Norwegian elk hound. But the sleek dogs of your photos I didn't spot anywhere.

I'm so glad you were well received by the mushers. Congratulations, and may you have many more successful years of this. I can't wait to settle in and view all the photos. Just took a quick look before getting ready for work today.

 

[Tonichelle]

Olympia - the Alaskan Malamute is the racing sled dog's ancestor. The European version is the Siberian Husky (which is also in teh working group)... but Alaskan Huskys are mutt dogs. They aren't recognized and never will be because each line is just a little different than the next. There isn't a standard look or a quality. If they are healthy and love to pull they will be sled dogs... if not they are sold or given away as pets (high strung, hyperactive pets, but still).

For example - Jeff King's dogs are completely different than that of Martin Buser (another 4time Iditarod Champion). Those that are around the racing scene long enough can actually spot the differences in the dogs. Jeff's dogs are easy to spot, their markings are pretty uniform in a lot of ways... dark brown to place face the rest of the coat is a dark brindle brown type. Busers are mainly black with white markings, but sometimes he gets teh polar opposite in color... both are sled dog teams, but they have different mixings. Buser's dogs are mainly bred out of sprint dogs (sled dogs that don't do Iditarod type races, but shorter distance races) with the long distance sled dogs... whereas Kings dogs came out of the Denali sled dogs that were used to patrol the Denali park waaaaaayyyyyyy back when.

Mushers also breed dogs with other mushers dogs to get a completely new line... instead of breeding to the "standard" of the breed, because there is no standard, the dogs are "line bred" to get the race quality they want. They aren't bred at all for their look, just their ability.

 

[Olympia]

Your whole post is fascinating. Thanks for the nifty details!

 

[Tonichelle]

feel free to ask questions about any of it, I'll try to answer with my knowledge, or i'll get the answer for you it's fun.

 

[Olympia]

You're a great ambassador for mushing and for Alaska. And you even come with illustrations! Thanks, Tonichelle.

 

[Tonichelle]

not sure about ambassador, but I like to get real information out there. I hate the streotypes and the hate that is spewed in the general direction of mushing/the Iditarod

oh and to help you get an idea of what I was talking about with a distinct look here's a look at some of Jeff King's Iditarod team (he's sharing pics on his facebook page) http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.311259672257075.69998.210364722346571&type=1 - some of the dogs don't have the distinct King markings, but most of them do. I think it gives you a good idea that it's not the LOOK they're going for, but what they bring to the team (the discriptions of each grouping of dogs is what I like most about how they are introducing the team).

Other mushers have announced the names of their team but Jeff's the only one I've seen who gives pics too!