Dog mushers talk future of activity
Deh Gah Dog Mushers Club hosts symposium on how to train, raise better dog teams
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 26, 2016
DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
Dog mushers from across the North met in Fort Providence on May 22 to learn from experts on dog nutrition and health, as well as to enjoy a healthy debate on what the future of mushing in the Northwest Territories might look like.
Guest presenters Veronica Devall, left, Tim White and Cristina Hansen made the trek to Fort Providence on May 22 for the Dog Mushers Symposium. - April Hudson/NNSL photo
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The symposium, hosted by the Deh Gah Dog Mushers Club, brought together nearly two-dozen mushers and kennel operators at the Snowshoe Centre for the full-day affair.
Deh Gah Dog Mushers Club member Susan Fleck said it has been 10 years since Fort Providence hosted the symposium. Aside from discussing the 2016-17 NWT dog race circuit, the symposium also included presentations from veterinarian Veronica Devall, musher and inventor Tim White and veterinarian Cristina Hansen, who spoke about preventing and healing injuries, nutrition needs for sprint dogs and a history of dogsled racing.
A tentative racing circuit for the upcoming mushing season has Fort Nelson, B.C., scheduled for either Dec. 10 and 11 or Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Meanwhile, Fort Providence's annual Christmas race has been set down for Dec. 17 and 18.
February start date anticipated
The season will pick up again in February, with a race in Fort Chipewyan, Alta., anticipated in the last half of the month. Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Resolution and Yellowknife all plan to have their races in March while Enterprise is planning its race for the first week in April.
Discussion focused on two areas: how to calculate points in order to determine Mushers of the Year, and whether Fort Smith would consider expanding beyond six-dog races.
Fleck said she will be looking into a form of point-counting that would break points into groups for people who run four-dog races, six-dog, eight-dog, 10-dog and open.
As for the six-dog race in Fort Smith, Fleck said the issue stems from the concern that there may not be enough draw for mushers who often run eight-or 10-dog classes.
"If you do that, people who have more dogs ... (or) who are running in Yellowknife would like to run the race but the six-dog's not going to cut it for them because they need a longer race," she said.
"A number of options were presented. People were asking if they could put in a longer race for 10-dog."
No decisions were made but Fleck said Fort Smith had 17 mushers compete in its last six-dog race.
"It's not as bad an issue as (it seems)," she said.
"What we wanted at this symposium was to talk about all these things so now it's out in the open, and that allows for more opportunity."
Member praises symposium
Fleck called the symposium a success, although she noted one thing mushers were not able to discuss was the possibility of junior races.
With Arctic Winter Games coming up in 2018, she said the various mushing clubs across the North need to decide soon how to promote junior races, which have to be a specific length and with a specific number of dogs, usually between four and seven.
"We need to have a more organized way of having those," she said.
The symposium closed with a barbecue and awards given out at the territorial campground.
Musher of the Year for the six-to-eight dog class was TJ Fordy, while Anthony Beck was given that honour for the 10-dog class and open class.
