Feb 282010
You win some, and sometimes you have to bag a dog…
Yesterday during the race, Daria one one of my point/swing dogs tripped during the race. She is also one of the most consistent, strong, fast and dependable dogs on the team. She is the dog I call my invisible dog – never does anything wrong, and never brings attention to herself.
Daria
This morning I let her run around and she looked okay. So, I decided to run her in the team. We were hauling along today, passed Mayor Issacson at the trail block again., and went onto the dike. The dogs were cruising at 20mph. I pedaled along the dike helping the dogs and hoping to stay ahead of Dori who was just 15 or so seconds behind me. We left the dike and dropped into the trees again. This is when my race changed. Little Daria, the dependable dog who never puts a foot wrong was neck-lining. I stopped the team and ran up to the front. I was going to load her, but she was banging her harness and trying and to get the team going again. I decided to run back to the sled and see how she looked. We started again and she was going like the banshees. I thought it was fine and maybe something else was bothering her. Then just a few hundred feet down the trail she started backing off again. This was real. I needed to bag this dog.
In all of my sled racing years, a whole 5 years, I have never had to load a dog. I had opened my bag on the first stop just in case. This time I stopped the team, unhooked the lines on Daria and hooked them onto Miriam. Lifted Daria and put her into the bag. This was not as easy as it sounds. Daria was not tired, she was injured. So she was a little reluctant to go into the dark bag. With a little extra coercion she was in. I did up the bag and as I was zipping the bag Dori’s team went silently by my stopped team. This means I lost a full 2 minutes!
I jumped back on my runners and started my team again. This time we were 40 pounds heavier and the sled was sluggish to steer. The dogs caught back up to Dori but I could not re-pass for another mile, so I hung back and it seemed pointless to pass her anyway. This would have screwed up her race too. So, we just stayed on her butt and followed her back into the finish. I was disappointed that I had an injured dog. The place was not important. There are plenty more races. I cannot replace my invisible dog.
Upon finishing I let Daria out of the bag and she was limping pretty good. My poor baby.
What was really interesting though, was that with 2 minutes lost I still managed to only slide back one position! We moved from 2nd to 3rd. We got a trophy, a good sized check, and I was feeling pretty good.
I got home and let the doggies run around and loosen up. We did it at the track as well, but after being cooped up in the truck for another hour it was nice to let them run and pee and run some more.
Daria went straight to the house and wanted in. I let her in and she immediately fell into her “massage me” position. I Put other doggies away, fed everyone a hearty meal and started to massage Daria. My initial thought was that her injury was in her shoulder. This is a very bad thing. But, upon massaging I noticed her wrist swelling. This, while still being an injury, makes me feel a lot better about her recovery.
Daria is now snuggled in one of my old bed comforters in a kennel by the heater. She is very comfortable.
Other than than that, the team performed flawlessly.
The North Pole Mayor was on hand to present the trophies.
Thanks to Malinda and Ami for helping me all weekend. Also thanks to Goldstream Sports and Regency Fairbanks Hotel for the continued support.
That’s it for now!
