John Agnew
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 15/99) - "Keep your tugline tight."

So says Angela James and she ought to know. She was the one in charge of a seminar last Sunday that introduced the arcane sport of dog mushing to a handful of curious novices.

The group of would-be mushers met at the kennels on Kam Lake, and, with a chorus of howling and yelping as background, James, with the help of Jaime Connell, laid out what was involved in the care and feeding of a full complement of sled dogs.

Once the engine of the North, sled dogs' status has been raised from unpaid labourer to major-league athlete. The tenants of the kennels at Kam Lake are the product of selective breeding of traditional Northern dogs, such as Greenlanders, samoyeds and Alaskan huskies, with speedy breeds such as greyhounds and selukis. The result is cold-weather dogs that are born to run.

The care and feeding of these racing machines is more involved than simply opening a can of Ken-L Ration. Owners feed their dogs an unappetizing stew of animal parts mixed with a variety of nutritional supplements and dry feed to keep their strength up.

Cost is a factor, too. Serious racers keep a kennel of 50 dogs on average, and some, such as well-known racer Grant Beck, have well over 200. That's a lot of kibble.

All in all, it can cost an owner about a dollar a day per dog. Dogs can burn thousands of calories in a race and, like two-legged runners, a great deal of thought goes into keeping the pump primed.

Harnessing that energy requires practice. Sled dogs aren't bred for patience and trying to slip one into its harness is like trying to put a fish back on the hook.

Keeping a team of dogs in line before a race is like juggling an armful of eels. In their enthusiasm to get going, dogs can tangle themselves in their leads. Mushers use a snow hook, which works just like an anchor set in the snow, to keep the team from taking off with the sled before the driver is ready.

The final stop of the afternoon was a tour of the kennels. The reception by the dogs is nothing short of overwhelming. An explosion of howling, baying and yelping came close to being intimidating.

"Don't worry, they just want attention," said James reassuringly. It was the first time the students had been muzzle to muzzle with the stars of the race circuit.

As blind dates go, it was a success, but the real test comes in two weeks. The novices will be hitching up the dogs for their first race.