First Guests of the Season

Yesterday we welcomed our very first guests of the season - all the way from Singapore! Since it’s early October and there’s still no snow, we’re using our four-passenger wagons, each hitched with 14 dogs. For now, our trails are the same ones the cars use, so we occasionally meet some traffic. Thankfully, most drivers spot our fluorescent vests (and the dogs’ reflective harnesses) and slow down to pass us.

I was nervous before we set off. Lately, we’ve been struggling with tight turns and the dreaded ditch. The team dogs love to cut corners if we’re going slowly enough, which can pull the wheel dogs and wagon off the road. But yesterday we had a breakthrough: we realised that not braking through corners keeps the team’s momentum and prevents that sideways pull. It worked perfectly! The guests were none the wiser about the lurking ditch beside us.

Collin's first day with guests!

Since it was a “husky taster” tour, each person got a 15-minute ride. We had 30 guests in total, so we ran four rounds. The route was 3.5 km each way - to the switching point, where the next group waited with the van, and then back to the

Atlas

kennel. Between runs, we gave the dogs a well-earned water break. The guests were lovely and full of great questions. Everyone wanted a photo with Bongo - he is the prettiest boy - but I made sure to tell them it was Collin and Chubby’s first ever guest run. They did amazingly well!

Back at the kennel, my colleagues were busy giving tours of the kennel, and serving cookies and berry juice by the fire. They were also preparing some 'replacement' dogs for me (I suspected that my 11-year-old leaders needed a rest), so Scott and Nada were harnessed up as replacement. Scott is a 10-year-old veteran, who lives with 2-year-old Atlas. Atlas adores Scott, and likes to be attached to his side at all times.

When Atlas saw Scott being taken away, he panicked and (for the first time ever) jumped over his 2.5m-high kennel fence, and sprinted down towards the resting wagons. He was caught, and secured on a 'stakeout'*, but managed to break away twice. He's a very strong dog. Atlas was super happy when Scott returned, and next time we take Scott out, we'll definitely bring Atlas too.

Yesterday was our first display of teamwork this season, and we received a few kind compliments for it. It made me super excited for the upcoming season.

The Wagons

Our wagons have two different types of brakes. There are handlebar brakes, which require the brake fluid to be 'turned on' by a different bar. There is also a big lever that lifts the back wheels of the wagon off the ground. This can be used as an emergency brake, or when the wagon is stationary to ensure the team stays in place.

During training this week, we had an incident where the brake fluid was 'turned off', but the driver didn't initially realise, so the handlebar brakes kept failing, and the wagon lost control. This was a huge wake up call for all of us on the team to double and triple check everything before saying "hike". Luckily the driver turned on the brake fluid and (after lots of skidding on the road), got the wagon to a stop, but not before running over our esky and breaking it into tiny pieces!