Both Mike and I are strong enough to wrestle dogs, fit, healthy, relatively young (50s and 40s) ... opps, 60s and 50s now!... and probably a little crazy--for our goal in life consists solely of sharing our love of dogsledding and Siberian Huskies with the public. Both of us are Wilderness First Aid certified, CPR certified, expert dogsled driver and "masters of the scoop.".
Mushing. Dogsledding. Driving Dogs. Running Dogs. Skijoring. Canicross. Over many years, not a winter passed where we didn't vacation in the land of snow—often weeklong camping trips in the wilderness with our own team of sleddogs provided by Canadian tour operators. We were smitten, and our fate was sealed. But many skills needed to be learned while solidifying our decision to operate our own dogsled touring business.
During the two years after Mike retired from the USMC, we both gained extensive experience at two very large dogsledding kennels that offered training through apprentice-type programs. Seven days a week, morning, noon and night, we worked with, for and around sleddogs. In Chatham, MI we helped Caribou Creek Kennels train 120-dogs to win major dogsledding races. Caribou Creek Kennel depends on healthy well-trained dogs that place in international races in order to promote sales of their pups and the dog food they manufacture. (There's high demand at a high price for the winning dog’s offspring and food type.) That's a lot of dogs!
 We worked in a similar manner for Kuka Kennels, a 60-dog operation in Glenwood Springs, CO. Kuka's main focus was to open a touring business outside the Aspen slopes with its tour-designated dogs; and to train its racing-designated dogs to run the Iditarod. Both Mike and I were instrumental in each area by designing and maintaining tour trails; training both sets of dogs; and helping run the tour business so the owner could race in Alaska. Kuka subsequently finished in the low 30s in three Iditarods. At these two kennels not a day passed where we weren’t completely focused on dogs and dogsledding (to include the real test of loving sleddogs--scooping up hundred of pounds of dog-made-presents per day.)
We then decided that Maryland, where I grew up, would be the perfect place to operate our own dogsled touring business. Mountain Maryland has been our home-away-from home… with our family all over MD from the mountains to the shore (including Deep Creek Lake) and the alma-mater of nearby Frostburg University, what better place! In addition, dogsledding is relatively unknown here, as it is elsewhere south of the Mason-Dixon line. This "uniqueness" provides us with even more opportunity to indulge in our favorite pastime--teaching others about our sport. We decided to contribute to the mushing sport and community by settling our dogs and ourselves back in beautiful western Maryland.
Our business philosophy centers on the educational endeavor to promote the unique sport of dogsledding to visitors and local residents alike. We want our guests to experience the joy of mushing ... along with learning some of its varied skills, history and lore. Our goal is in direct opposition to many dogsled-touring companies around the world that push large numbers of people through for rides on an hourly basis. A few visitors have called their experience here "Fun-ucational."
We hope you will join us and our team for adventure, thrill…
and an unforgettable learning experience. We know you’ll
take away fantastic memories of your visit with us. And we
think, at the other end of the scale, you just may be so
enthralled you’ll start skijoring with your dog, or perhaps
start a dogsledding kennel of your own!
We promise you an intriguing and thrilling adventure with the
POWER OF HUSKIES
and
HUSKY POWER DOGSLEDDING! |
