Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Smith (Mar 24/00) - Henry Landry guided 10 dogs to a fourth-place finish out of nine teams in a Fort Smith dog-sled race over the weekend.

The race was one of three he has competed in this year, the other two -- in Hay River and The Pas, Man., -- were with his father Julian.

Many of the races are run in stages over a few days, with each leg ranging from roughly 32 to 56 kilometres and taking about two to three hours to complete, according to Henry. Some races require as few as six dogs, others have as many as 14 hooked up at once.

Even though they've been involved with the sport for the past five years, Julian said he still has a long ways to go.

"I'm still learning. I'm still a beginner yet," he said, adding that some racers have in excess of 20 years experience.

One of the nuances he is starting to better understand, for instance, is which position the dogs are best suited for and when to switch his lead dog.

"You want your speed up front," Julian explained, but he quickly added that the whole dog team must be efficient.

The Landrys purchased a few racing dogs from Danny Beck in Hay River in 1993. Today they have 24 dogs, which are a mix of husky and greyhound. They're fed dog food, beef and a lot of fat because they burn a lot of calories, noted Julian, who can recall growing up in Hay River and watching his uncle Pat Martell race dogs.

He doesn't take anything on the course except what he absolutely needs, such as extra mitts and some extra line in case any of the line harnessing the dogs happens to snap. Henry added that a canvass bag to carry and injured dog is brought along as well, just in case.

The cold weather is taken into account beforehand.

"It gets quite cold when it's windy," Henry said, adding that he usually dons his muskrat hat on such occasions.

The dogs are trained every other day for about an hour and a half, said Henry. Lately, they've been running the dogs about 20 kilometres regularly in preparation for a Yellowknife event next weekend. In that race, mushers will have to cover about 240 kilometres over three days.

"That's what you do in your training, you gear them up for it ... these dogs are amazing," Julian said. "They all love to run."

And Julian and Henry, 19, love to go along for the ride. The tranquillity and scenery around Kakisa are reason enough to hitch up the sled, according to Julian.

"Just running them ... it's nice when you're training them, especially out here," he said.

Henry added that he likes the opportunity to travel for races too.

Although they are not treated as pets, the Landrys admit they have a close bond with the dogs, which they say are very obedient. The dogs, Julian says, know the chain of command quite well.

"They know who feeds them. They really do," he said.

Because he's been busy, he hasn't been able to devote as much time to training and racing the dogs as he wishes he could. That will change in the future, he predicted. The world-renowned Iditarod race is a challenge Julian has in mind.

"Someday ... if not me, Henry for sure. It would be nice if me and him did it," he said.