the coach's kid

When Peter was following us back home on our first run of the season, he noticed that Pico was a little out of place in the line up. The three Iditarod dogs were running in a straight line, right in front of the sled, their tug-lines taunt and their noses pointed ahead. Pico was off to the side, running sideways, neck-line as tight as he could get it, sniffing the wind and generally not paying attention to what everyone else was doing. Peter later said that it was clear which of the dogs was the 'coach's kid,' "you know, the one on the team that everyone knows is only there because his dad is the coach."

And it is true. We got Pico from the pound a year and a half ago as a gangly five-month-old husky mutt. I had intentions of turning him into a skijoring dog, but mostly picked him for his mellow personality. He is a spectacular pet. For a husky, he is low energy (read: he is high energy but without being destructive*) and he is a sweet, polite house dog. He loves to run, and he loves to pull ... but he didn't grow up running alongside ten or fifteen other dogs with a job to do, so he takes our runs as a lark and not a vocation.

This became even more clear today. I took the dogs back to the ADMA trails to try and find my way around (we got lost again) and give us a good, short run close to town since I didn't have much time to squeeze a run in and there (still!!) isn't enough snow on the trails by our cabin. I started Sawyer up front, but noticed after about two miles that she was constantly letting her tug go slack and looking back at me. I decided to stop and switch her out with Pico. I thought that the shorter neck-line between him and Leo, as well as Leo's crazy work ethic and drive, would literally straighten him out.

When I pulled the snow hook, Pico took off like a racehorse out of the gate - straight and fast at full speed. For about a quarter mile, with the two boys up front, we were flying. The pace slowed a touch, and we ended up turning around a couple of times to get to trails that ended up being the wrong ones. During a few straightaways on flat, open marsh, I noticed Pico trying to pull sideways. Leo gave him a good snap-snarl at twice for it, and it was clear that although Leo and I knew why Leo was pissed (Pico was inadvertently pulling him off the trail) Pico had no clue why Leo kept snapping at him. And it only made him pull away harder.

To prevent a fight (and once we were on a reasonably wide trail) I took the neck-line off of both of them, letting Pico (now very wary of his running-buddy) veer waaaay off to the left. He continued to run off to the side, at more than a 45 degree angle from the rest of the team. Although he never let his tug-line slack, his sideways pulling was irritating and confusing the other three. And it was starting to irritate me, as well. Especially when his distraction and odd angle lead to the first major tangle of the year ... with awful timing. We had just (after being lost, again ... and ending up running on roads, again) turned onto the bike path for a quarter-mile run back to the car. The bike-path is paved under the snow, which meant that we were right next to a major, busy road with tangled dogs and no way for me to secure the sled to anything while getting them untangled. The whole incident took less than a minute to resolve, but it was not a good situation to be in at all and my generally irritated feelings gave way to anger that his lack of focus was putting us all at risk (never mind how my poor navigation skills and refusal to backtrack on trails played into it.)

I am still at a bit of a loss as to who to run up front and what to do about Pico's sideways pull. It seems to me that he feels the need to have as much pressure as possible on his neck-line at all times in order to feel secure ... but what can I do about it? This is (yet another) point at which I wish I had somebody experienced to talk to. This is only my second season running dogs, my first year with a team of four, a lead dog and a half-way decent sled. I know a handful of mushers, but none of them have seemed eager to answer my questions. I keep hearing about how great the mushing community here is, how supportive everyone is of new mushers, but I guess I have yet to figure out my place in it. The mushers I know (granted, none very well) are too busy with their own teams and their own lives trying to support this crazy, expensive habit. The one I'd most like to talk with is our vet, but I feel awkward broaching this with her (even though she helped provide housing for the three loaner dogs) because of that relationship. Maybe I just haven't met the right person yet. Or maybe I need to be more assertive with the few people I do know.

Either way, I hope I can find a good resource sooner than later.

*puppy destruction discounted.