Take a gander at our beautiful, gorgeous and otherwise just fantastic scenery in Garrett County... home of Husky Power's trails. Our dogyard are in the very extreme right bottom corner in the first photo, and right in the center at the very bottom of the second picture. Many trails crisscross throughout all the wooded area around the airport landing strip. See how close the lake and ski slopes are? Can you see me waving???!! (Thank you, friend Dick, for taking me into the sky....)
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We just hook the team to this and have them pull... that way we can lean over the top of the dogs to correct any actions or mis-actions the leaders perform. Great way to study them too.
Just kidding, of course! (Couldn't go fast enough for OUR dogs!!) But it was Mike's "IDEA of the DAY."
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But it's really not snow, not the melting kind anyways. It is the hairy kind. The kind that blows and blows out of all the dogs... sticking to trees and fences and clothes. It is actually called "blowing coat" for the downy underlayer of the northern dog breed's 2-layer coat puffs out, "blows out," in big hunks-- making them look like they have some horrid skin disease. It "snows" most of the summer with so many dogs around here! We brush and comb and comb and brush constantly... filling bags full. Some folks actually wash and spin their downy dog hair into yarn... subsequently kitting neat furry things. Our birds love it too-- many nests are lined with the softness! Here's Jag showing us her new springtime couture.
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Over Memorial Weekend 2010 we joined one of our non-profit animal welfare groups, "HART," for their annual fundraiser named "K-9s, Tunes & Brews." HART is raising funds to build a new animal adoption center in our county which will include other services such as low-cost spay/neutering, grooming, boarding, etc. Currently HART transports unadopted animals to other rescue shelters from our county shelter facility. This fundraiser is growing every year with more animal-related activities and presentations for the whole family; along with live bands and several micro-breweries showcasing their beers. What fun on a sunny day-- everyone brought dogs and played! (More info at www.HartForAnimals.org.)
 
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Our beautiful, masculine and special sleddog "Bandit" developed a fast-growing cancer recently so he will now live-on in our hearts and minds. During a wonderful tour with a show-dog based 4-H group named "Goin' to the Dogs" (who visited us all the way from Southern Maryland) Mr. Bandit dressed in his harness for the last time. As the mushing community says: He now wears his golden harness! We let Bandit go for a run and he decided to stop running-- so for the rest of the day he got sweet attention and hugs instead. He was our handler Jake's favorite dog too-- so when Jake was here Bandit went on hikes and car rides and learned many new things. He was happy... and he made us happy! Run fast in your golden harness forever my sweet Bandit! Below is Bandit's WINKING portrait and a group photo of "Goin' to the Dogs!"
 
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And we, as in Mike and I, are always bickering over whether its a boy or a girl. Either way, its a gorgeous dog in many colors and always gets lots of attention from our visitors. She/He is constantly jumping and howling for hugs and belly rubs -- usually getting more than She/He deserves! Her/His name is "Invisible" which is clearly written on the nameplate of the house she/he lives in. Can you believe sometimes visitors tell me that they can't see her/him? (At first I thought that statement was a very clever joke... then realized it was not a joke.) I just tell them to look harder! And see how soft SHE is!! Ouuu... she just licked inside your ear! Here's girl scouts from Chevy Chase, MD giving her (him?) a good rubdown.
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Now you may not think this qualifies as "news"... but we do! After taking ten million photos of our dogs running in harness I can undoubtedly declare that one of the hardest things in the world is to get a picture of all 12 dogs *(plus three humans). I mean, actually get ALL their FACES in one picture. Sort of like a big group photo of a class... someone is always blinking or looking away or hidden behind, well, another dogs face. So for your viewing pleasure, ladies and gentleman.. Please welcome our 15-face team (includes the three people!) running during April 2010 with Annette and Ar on their "Musher's Experience" tour! *(Mike took the photo,  Linda is the musher....)
How about this one of a very excited Colt? He can't wait anymore to head out on the trail-- running at lead with his muSh calmer sister Jag. In fact, he is "airborne!" Flying!
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Okay, I admit it. I would not have known who he was even if he wasn't covered up with a big ski coat, winter hat, etc. (I did see much of his face, and I said "Nice face" to myself.) His family was great fun... and he was a joy to host. They came with their kids and two other families. In fact, we had one of the greatest tours ever! They were so much fun and they ALL listened so well and asked questions... always makes a tour so much more enjoyable for Mike and I, the teacher, that way. HE even told us his name... The tour was even booked in HIS full name... Never did we put his name together with "THE so and so."
Funny thing I will always remember... HIS joke. When meeting Smokey who was playing with his bowl, as always, He (John) said: "I bet I know what Smokey's favorite sport is!" What, we wondered. "Bowling." hehehehahahahahah.... HE John made up a good joke I tell all the time now! He listened so well that when I said in a sing song voice: "This line is what the dogs actually tug to pull the sled, what is it called??" MR. THE JOHN, happy to figure out my question, very excitedly and quickly yelled out "The Tug Line!" before any kids could. I just had to reply: "Very good job little boy!"
And guess what? HE, John R., esquire, listened so well we had to... ahhh, tell him things two and three times. You see, it's important to hop out of the sled and back into it fast, because it's hard for the musher to hold the team without riders weight in it. Musher Mike told The Mr. John R: "Okay front seat out." So, rider John jumped out. Then Mike said: "Front seat in!!!" Would you believe THE very fun, very humble, oh-so-cute John R. jumped back in?!!!! Yes, was supposed to be the next rider. And yes, he did stay out of the sled the next time he was asked to get out!! He was trying to get a second dogsled ride we guessed. You may remember his son on TV news... who was highlighted for making a bit of a scene during a formal event. Well, that son, John R. Jr... was an awesome dogsledding participant... did I say they were such a fun family to be around again?? I did mention HIS profession... esquire... meaning HE and the other Dads were lawyers. We asked their jobs, as usual, and then proceeded to make dumb lawyer jokes all day.
Know who it is yet? Does the name "John Roberts" ring a bell? As in, THE John Robeerts, esq? THE Chief Justice of our US Supreme Court!
Yep, we told lots of dumb lawyer jokes during their tour. Joke's on us! "John's" friend just had to tell us just who we were hosting that day when they were actually getting in their vehicles to leave! Mike asked JOHN to get back out of the car so we could all shake his hand properly. I didn't take pictures that day-- very rare that I don't-- shoot!
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I am always so amazed by the expressive eys of our huskies... I wondered if Iwould know which set of eyes belonged to which dog-- if I couldn't see the rest of the face! Can you? (Answers below.) More coming soon!
  
1 2 3
  
4 5 6
7
ANSWERS: 1-Buzz 2- Iggy 3-Jag 4-Zsa Zsa 5-Gunny 6-Denali 7-Oreo
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Okay, it's now official. Zsa Zsa has been a grand "dominant dog" of the entire yard... plus a tireless leader... for six long years. She now gets to stay in the house full-time... while other dogs get to spend the night only for slumber parties! After all, it was her 11th birthday! Hey... I meant Zsa Zsa ONLY Mike! (I know it's you under there...)
 
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And with a female musher no less! Linda modeled these wooden pups after her own... but they eat much less!
This day they had the holiday spirit... complete with lights, golden bows and a dusting of snow.
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Linda submitted two pieces to the juried photography show at the Saville Gallery in Cumberland during Jan. 2010. She was very pleased "Yard Party" was accepted to hang during the month-long show. "Yard Party" is an oil-painting-style photo in what Linda calls "illusionist fun." It's printed on canvas and hung without glass.
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I just found these photos of a race I competed in during 2009 at Nemacolin Resort in PA. We don't normally race because we do not train dogs to race... but we occasionally enter a local race for fun for us and the dogs. Our superstars race well regardless!!! ~~Linda
Charger and Gunny at lead, Frosty and Buzz in wheel position.
Frosty and Buzz at the sound of "GO"-- AIRBORNE!!!
Night time drag races -- so fast they're a blur!
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It was a dreary day in March... 2010... very foggy and spurts of rain. But that didn't stop these two nuts who came up to see us all the way from Birmingham, AL! Jennifer is a staff photographer for the magazine, who was joined by Chris, on contract by them. The magazine will feature us in an upcoming article and we'll see what photos they choose! Meanwhile, here's Jennifer and Chris doing their thing in the cold fog... and a portrait they posed us in (taken with my camera.) Jag, Thunder and Iggy got to join in. You've got to be pretty nimble to run with THESE big dogs!
 
 
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Some folks around here call it "Snowmaggoden." Many folks around here call it "Misery." All folks agree it was an historical, record-breaking amount of snow-- even for a county that is used to allot of snow. Schools were closed for 18 days-- and even Husky Power had to close for a few of those. Everyone kept saying things like: "I bet the sleddogs are loving this!" And, "This must be so great for mushing." Ahhh--but it was NOT. Too much snow is, well, too much snow. Very, very deep... Dogs sink! All mushers "groom the trails" when necessary-- including in races like the Iditarod. Usually by snowmobiles dragging things behind them. Alas--it was too deep for snowmobiles. They sank too. We tried grooming trails the emergency way-- walking on them mile after mile, day after day with snowshoes. Alas... it packed down but not of any consistency to support skinny little dog legs. The dog houses got buried time after time-- we dug them out continuously. Sunshine/melt finally came mid-March. Now you know, 275 inches is 23 feet! And most of it came non-stop with very few breaks. Now 23 feet is almost six dogs worth of feet. It's 11.75 humans!
 
"Foodbowls? What foodbowls? What house?" We're not driving anywhere today.
 
"Oh there's my house... under there!!!" Anyone wanna climb Mt. Husky?
Roadside Bliss... two days later this sign dissapeared completely.
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We can hardly believe it ourselves! During our visit to Alaska we ended up bringing home a dog from Lance Mackey's kennel! We are the proud "parents" of BISHOP who ran a 200-mile and 300-mile race with Lance during the 2008 season when he was 2 years old (the dog-- not Lance!) We are excited and proud to have a dog of such high caliber as part of the Husky Power non-racing team!
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What a vacation! Because we have friends in-common, we were able to visit several well-known mushers who have raced many long-distance races (and won!) such as the Iditarod and the Yukon-Quest. We hob-knobbed and traded mushing tails and tales and got to see how the Alaskan pro mushers "did their stuff."
 
Aliy Zirkle and her husband, Allen, have awesome kennels near Fairbanks, AK. On the left is an image of only part of their kennels. The right finds Mike, Aliy, Linda and Allen hamming it up.
 
Martin Buser lives just north of Anchorage and enjoys wonderful grassy land where he "free runs" his sleddogs regularly. Here he is doing exactly that in the early training months of the 2009/10 racing season.
Wonderful Denali National Park employs not only Rangers, but sleddogs! The dogteams patrol the park's boundaries during the winter months when other forms of transportation simply cannot get out there. Here is the park's dogsled yard, and a Fall 2009 ranger discussing the winter's mushing plans.
 
 Famous Iditarod musher Jeff King has his dogsled kennel just outside Denali National Park, AK. Here's a picture of his kennel and its awesome view, along with his working carousel. Yes, the dog houses are ON the carousel arms.... they can jump in and watch the ride from inside if they like!
How special to visit Lance Mackey's kennel. Another glorious view! And here's Mike telling Lance how to run his racing teams this year (hahaha...right.) Lance's well known leader, Zorro, relaxes inside his house while we goo-goo and gaa-gaa over the whole scene. Yes, Lance is just as "down to earth" as many think of him... winning several Iditarods and Yukon Quest races has not gone to his head!
 
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 It is a prestigious annual show at the Saville Gallery... juried by a different well-known artist every year and run by the Allegany Arts Council in Cumberland, MD. It is very difficult to be accepted.... and the Summer of 2009 was no different. About 500 entries were received from all over the nation. Only 37 peices of artwork were selected to be in the show. Only 5 of those 37 were from local artists. Linda's portrait of sleddog ROSIE was accepted -- Rosie herself was so pleased! Not only that, but it was SOLD on opening night! Yes-- Linda's large (22" x 32") framed mixed-media (watercolors/photography) was one of only five items to be sold during the entire month-long show. Miss Rosie, the sleddog hereself, sent a personal thank-you note to the buyer-- and invited him to come and see her in person! Here's a similar image to the one that MADE IT....
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It was an exciting day for the dogsledding teams and all of us at Husky Power... not to mention a very surprised young gal. Her boyfriend set up this neat way to propose well ahead of their weekend at Deep Creek... then while here pretended to find out about dogsledding tours and called us up for a "last-minute reservation."
But we knew and we had a PLAN! The Bride-to-be, Kim, had no clue what was coming!
The Groom-to-be, Shawn S. of Towson, MD sneakily passed me the beautiful engagement ring while they were enjoying their first hour of entertaining mushing education. Then out on the gorgeous, snowy white trails they learned to mush the team by themselves.
But alas! I "dropped my radio back on the trail" and had to leave them alone with the team while I walked back to get it. I asked Shawn to stand on the sled brake (it was tied off to a tree too) and asked Kim to go up to the lead dogs to keep them quiet for a few minutes while I was gone.
When she was up there, Kim found the ring box attached to Leader Zsa Zsa's (also known as "Sam"... get it?) collar...
She was awestruck. And likely confused. And surprised. And it is quite difficult to surprise a smart woman! Shawn then went up and kneeled and asked for her hand in marriage. To be witnessed by 12 beautiful sleddogs woofing and wooing! And me too... for I snuck back around through the woods to take pictures... pleased to find Shawn actually kneeling in front of a shocked Kim.
And by the way, she did say YES!
Which is a good thing... for later on down another trail, after the fuss and congrats, we surprised both of them with a big sign blocking a beautiful trail we call "Christmas Tree Trail." The sign was a Congrats to Kim and Shawn... which they took home in memory.
I had a scare... I was filming on video our ride to the arrival at the sign... which means driving a 12-dog team with one hand... squirrley to say the least-- and barely stopped them before they barged right through the painted bed sheet!
A day to remember for us all. Congratulations Kim and Shawn!
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The following is a press release about our famous Touri wheeled-dogsled. Read on to learn more!
Dogsledding is not just a wintertime activity anymore. Husky Power Dogsledding is now offering warm-weather mushing with its new “dogsled-on-wheels.” Now everyone can enjoy the pristine trails of gorgeous Garrett County throughout the year while being pulled by a team of excited and hard-working huskies. German engineers named the unique, wheeled-dogsled the “Touri.” It’s custom made for the utmost in rider comfort and safety while allowing guests to experience the thrill of dogsledding on trails winding through flowering wilderness forests and through fields of lush green grass. Yes, its still dogsledding—just dogsledding with wheels!
The Herderings, owners of Husky Power, recently imported the Touri dogsledding cart from Germany. There’s nothing like it made in the US. In fact, there’s only one other Touri in America— for guests at a resort in Oregon. It is designed to carry one to three passengers and their musher behind a team of eight to twelve eager sleddogs. They obsessively love to work at pulling it anywhere, anytime. (Photos below.)
 
"Dryland-mushing” is the term dog drivers use to depict this exciting sport. In areas throughout the world where snow accumulation is not dependable, dryland-mushing races are held with competitors using light racing dogsled carts made of high-tech materials. Local, regional and international dryland-mushing races attract competitors who also race with traditional dogsleds on snow.
The Touri has unusual capabilities including hydraulic brakes on both the front and back wheels, suspension and a parking brake. Unbeknownst to most, the important part of mushing is not enticing the dogs to pull the load, but being able to stop the strong dog team once they are doing so. With specially designed brakes, the Touri can slow down the strongest of teams before they run into the Atlantic Ocean. Conversely, riders enjoy the huskies’ strength and spirit as they bound through the woods and pastures.
The best-kept secret of dogsledding is that all mushers, whether they are recreational dogsledders or experienced racers, must train their dog teams when there is no snow. By the time deep snow comes around, teams will have built up their strength and endurance. Most dogsledders use an ATV or a simple cart for this purpose, depending on how many dogs they have (brakes!) But now that the Touri has arrived on the east coast, visitors to Garrett County can share this breathtaking and exciting secret activity with their Husky Power Dogsledding musher.
All of Husky Power’s rides begin at their home kennel with an orientation and kennel tour. The Herderings believe that the mushing experience should always include an orientation to learn about mushing and how sleddogs live, work and play. Guests can help harness the dogs and even learn to drive the Touri or the sled if they like. Linda Herdering describes the experience as “A truly unique and outrageous way to embrace three meaningful thrills at once… dogs working at what they love to do, the beauty and stillness of nature and the unusual and unexpected excitement of wildlife and husky antics.”
Husky Power Dogsledding and the Herderings also provide dogsledding presentations and kennel visits all through the summer months for both groups and private visitors. When the temperatures become too dangerous to run the fur-coat wearing dogs, enjoying a kennel tour is the way to go. Kennel visits include talks, films of dogsledding, equipment scrutinizing and husky love with playtime. “Experience a dogsledding kennel visit with us,” Linda Herdering said, “and you’ll surely want ten sleddogs of your own. It’s the potato-chip syndrome.”
The huskies are howling their approval at Husky Power Dogsledding. They, too, will happily enjoy the many extended dogsledding seasons to come. They cannot wait for your arrival!
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