It's a dog's life
World of dog racing has become domain of the few
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
RANKIN INLET
John Hickes of Rankin Inlet had seen a lot of changes to the world of raising, keeping and racing dogs during the past six decades.
Michael Yvo of Arviat takes off from the start line while competing in the Kivalliq 250 dog-mushing race in April of 2016. - photo courtesy of Noel Kaludjak |
Hickes and his family were heavily involved with dogs when they moved to Churchill, Man., from Nunavut.
The dogs were a livelihood to the family, who used them for hunting, going to the floe edge, and hauling buildings, fuel and wood.
Hickes said he had his own dog team from the age of 12 to haul newspapers in Churchill.
He said the military base was five miles out, and he had another good route there.
"Dogs were a part of our life that we brought down to Churchill with us when we were transferred from the territory," said Hickes.
"Dog racing came about at Christmas, when guys would have a few beers and start bragging about how great their dog team was and the challenges would come out.
"It became a sporting event at Christmas only, then the white society of the dog-mushing world modernized it by breeding for speed and endurance.
"People started importing southern dogs of the bird-watching breeds that have a lot of stamina and speed running."
Hickes said that was a dramatic change from the dogs being fed seal meat and used to haul walrus.
He said that's the change we still see today with the dogs.
"Anyone who can afford to buy a faster dog is paying $1,500 to $2,000 for just one dog, whereas, before, $1,500 would have bought you a whole team.
"When I came back to Rankin, there were 28 teams in the Christmas race, while, now, we have five to 10 teams.
"And they're of the type trained for speed and short distances of 10 to 20 miles.
"We used to go 50 miles and, rather than being a speed thing, it was about who had the best dogs, obedient to their master, able to handle the climatic conditions of the area we were racing in."
Hickes said today, especially in smaller communities, people are busy working and don't have the time to train and feed dogs properly.
He said you see people now, who had dogs 10 years ago, driving trucks and snowmachines and dogs no longer fit into their lifestyle.
"In today's world, dogs are an expensive hobby and, if I didn't have a decent income, I wouldn't have the dogs I do.
"But it's a lifestyle I love that keeps me active and physically fit.
"Dog racing has become a specialized sport in the domain of a few.
"You can draw a parallel to horse racing, where it has become the domain of an elite group of people who have $1-million horses that can run faster than the next, and it's become the same with dogs."
Hickes said for dog racing to survive, older mushers will have to stimulate it to keep it alive.
He said there are some young people picking up dogs as a hobby, but they're finding it very time consuming and expensive.
"The young people who are interested have to decide between owning a fast machine or fast dogs, because you can't do both.
"I'd say about 50 to 60 per cent of the races that used to happen in the south no longer exist.
"But, in Alaska, the number of participants in long-distance racing is increasing, so I'd like to think there's still hope for racing to continue.
"I want to race dogs until I can't physically do it anymore, and even then I think I'd keep trying."
