The stockings are hung...

My new "Alaskan Sled Ride" snow globe

And the Christmas tree is up! To learn more about our harvesting of the Christmas tree, click here for the full story.

After a girl scout dog sledding patch program on Saturday and a cold, icy, rainy boy scout dog sledding patch program on Sunday, Eric and I and the sled dogs spent the afternoon on Saturday putting up the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures Christmas tree and hanging our other Christmas decorations.

After hanging the lights and a few ornaments

Ornaments waiting to go on the tree

Veteran lead dog, Zoe, watches from the safety of "her" chair

Snow: 10-14 inches expected at the cabin

As it looks now....

The Maryland Sled Dog Adventures sled dogs can smell it. What is "it."? "It" is SNOW. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for our cabin in Maine:

Issued by The National Weather Service

Portland, ME
3:36 am EST, Wed., Dec. 9, 2009

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 1 AM EST THURSDAY.

ACROSS INTERIOR CENTRAL MAINE... LOOK FOR SNOW TO DEVELOP BETWEEN 700 AND 900 AM. THE SNOW WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES LATER THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON... THEN BECOME LIGHTER IN INTENSITY THIS EVENING. BY THE TIME THE PRECIPITATION TAPERS OFF TO LIGHT FREEZING RAIN OR SLEET... BETWEEN 10 AND 14 INCHES OF NEW SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED.

AS THE PRECIPITATION BECOMES LIGHTER TONIGHT... IT WILL LIKELY FALL IN THE FORM OF DRIZZLE... .FREEZING DRIZZLE OR SNOW FLURRIES. THIS WILL DEPEND ON SURFACE TEMPERATURES... BUT LITTLE ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED AFTER THIS EVENING.

More Information

... SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT...

.A WARM FRONT EXTENDING EAST FROM LOWE PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT LAKES WILL APPROACH THE REGION THIS MORNING. AHEAD OF THE WARM FRONT... SNOW WILL DEVELOP FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST BETWEEN 500 AND 1000 AM.

AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING ON THE WARM FRONT WILL RESULT IN SNOW FALLING HEAVILY AT TIMES FROM MID MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS. SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES AN HOUR ARE POSSIBLE DURING THIS TIME. TRAVEL WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED FROM THE MORNING COMMUTE ONWARD... .AS CONDITIONS DETERIORATE FAIRLY RAPIDLY THIS MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS.

Ten to fourteen inches of snow is predicted to fall at our dog sledding cabin in Maine and since we're all snow lovers we say: bring it on! While snow at the cabin means plowing, shoveling and clearing, it also means dog sledding, cross country skiing, skijoring, and snow shoeing, some of our favorite activities. To check snow depths, we use the NERFC Snow Depth Map which is updated daily.

As it will soon look....

Want to spend four days having a hands on adventure learning all aspects of dog sledding and mushing across the gorgeous snow covered trails surrounding our Maine cabin? Interested in learning how to skijor, breaking trail on snowshoes in a silent forest, identifying animal tracks around the cabin, and spending time with our lovable sled dogs? If so, check out our special women's dog sledding adventure trip: our Maine Winter Cabin Adventure. There are only six spaces available for this trip and they are filling fast so email catherine@marylanddogsledding.com to register.

Bye, Bye Thanksgiving; Here Comes Christmas!

Okemo keeps a close eye on the table

As we wave bye, bye to Thanksgiving and hello to Christmas, the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures sled dogs would like to take some time to reflect on their Thanksgiving holiday which included a trip to their cabin in Maine, some turkey tidbits, two "dry"land (or not so dry given the rain) dog sledding training runs, a Maine lobster dinner (ok, so that was for the humans more than the dogs), some doggy fashion statements including blaze orange vests, and two eleven hour drives.

The Thanksgiving holiday kicked off with the drive to Maine on Tuesday which was one of the shortest drives to the cabin we've ever done. Along the way, we made only two stops: one in NJ to give our cat, Chloe, a sedative (she is not a happy traveler) and one in Sturbridge, Massachusetts to refuel the dog truck and drop dogs.

Arriving in Maine, we found the cabin in perfect condition and immediately fired up the wood stove and Rinnai to take the chill out of the air. We also discovered that the wood stove is very, very, very effective at heating the cabin particularly the loft where the dogs, Eric and I sleep.

There is a reason it's called "stick season."

Wednesday included a shopping trip into Skowhegan, Maine to pick up food and supplies at the Hannaford and some pie baking (and thankfully no pie eating for Okemo). Joining us on Wednesday afternoon were Eric's parents, Steve and Victoria. Wednesday evening we enjoyed a nice roast beef with red wine pan sauce along with some lemon thyme mashed potatoes.

Thanksgiving kicked off with several early morning walks to give the dogs (and people) some exercise. Thanksgiving dinner included bacon roasted turkey, prune and sausage stuffing, rosemary (grown in our garden) and honey glazed parsnips and carrots, gravy, and pumpkin chiffon pie with sweetened whipped cream.

All set up for Thanksgiving dinner

Bacon rubbed turkey

Rosemary and honey glazed parsnips and carrots

Friday we headed up to Corinna, Maine to meet up with our friends from Critterwoods and the Maine Highlands Sled Dog Club, Joan and Gary, for a training run on the rail trail that runs through Corinna. While wet, the dogs and I got a good work out with the dogs practicing gee over (something they don't always want to do on new trails), practicing passing an unfamiliar team, and going through over flow water (not something we get to practice very often). In lead were Zoe and Acadia and in wheel were Okemo and Sobo. The run was about six miles long and the dogs pulled approximately 350 lbs of weight. Average speed was 8 MPH. While the other dogs were out, T-Bone stayed home with his grandparents and took a nap.

The church where we parked had some nice stained glass

Joan and Gary and their nine dog team returning

Returning to the truck after a six mile run

On the way back, we stopped by one of our favorite seafood markets and picked up four lobsters ($3.99/lb) for Friday's dinner which was "Lobsters and Left Overs."

Eric and his dad check out different routings on the map

Saturday morning, Eric's parents departed to head back south while Eric took the dogs on a six mile training run on the trails surrounding the cabin. Several parts of this run are steep up hills and several areas had knee deep mud. In lead were Zoe and Acadia followed by wheel dogs, Sobo and Okemo. T-Bone, who is now in full retirement, stayed warm, dry and mud free at the cabin while watching attentively for the team to return.

T-Bone watches for the return of the dog team

Later Saturday, while walking the dogs, we discovered our cabin has a tie trail to the main trails which can be used to go directly from the cabin onto the hundreds of miles of trails criss-crossing the area. One tree (that has fallen) will need to be cut and Eric and I will need to work on packing and setting the trail once the snows come.

Plenty of time for relaxing at the cabin

Interested in learning how to dog sled? Want to relax with the dogs in Maine? Check out our women's only Maine Winter Cabin Adventure.

O'Christmas Tree!

Sled dog, Sobo helped us "mark" our special Christmas tree!

On Thursday, Eric and I along with Maryland Sled Dog Adventures LLC sled dog, Sobo, swung by the Pine Valley Christmas Tree farm in Elkton, Maryland where, for the past five years or so, we've been getting our Christmas tree. One of the best things about Pine Valley is that they will let you pick out and tag the perfect Christmas tree any time between November 8th and November 25th. Then, when you are ready to pick up your freshly cut tree, you let them know and either they will cut it for you, bale it and make it ready for you to pick up or you can come out and cut it yourself.

Eric and Sobo have found a tree....just kidding

Rows of lovely Fraser Firs

Tagging the "real" tree

Here at Maryland Sled Dog Adventures, we wouldn't know what to do without a freshly cut Fraser Fir (fur) as our Christmas tree. This year's tree is large, standing nearly nine feet and is a lovely, bushy Fraser Fir which is my favorite type of Christmas tree because of it's lovely smell, compact needles, and elegant branches. Showing his festive spirit, our favorite red and white Siberian Husky, Sobo, even donned his collar of bells.

Fraser fir: my favorite type of Christmas tree

An elf and her helper

Future Christmas trees

Training Your Dog to Pull: Run What You Brung Dog Sledding Programs

Two novice dogs running with the team during a Run What You Brung

Taking a novice dog and turning that dog into a dog that pulls, on command and is capable of participating in dog powered sports including dog scootering, bikejoring, skijoring, canicross, dog sledding, and dryland (wheeled) dog sledding can be a tall order.

After all, dogs, as you might expect, learn better from other dogs. Training a single dog from scratch can be tough simply because without an experienced dog to show your new dog the ropes, you (the human) must do all of the training from scratch and, let's face it, we humans simply don't speak "dog" as well as other dogs do. A trained sled dog can teach a new dog more in ten minutes than I alone can teach that dog in 10 months. To that end, Maryland Sled Dog Adventures LLC offers a very special training program, our Run What You Brung, for folks with high energy dogs, 30 lbs and over, who are interested in getting into dog powered sports with their own dog(s).

A novice dog running with the team

Over the years, we've frequently heard from folks who have approached dog powered sports from the stand point of pet owners thinking that because their dog(s) pull on leash that they will "naturally" pull well in harness. Generally, we hear from these folks when they are frustrated, complaining that their dog will run down the trail for a mile or two and quit, won't go past distractions, stops on the trail to relieve himself or herself, etc. And after nearly ten years of training sled dogs, I can definitively say that there is very little, if any, correlation between how well your dog pulls on leash and how well your dog will pull in harness for dog powered sports.

Dog powered sports require your dog(s) to pull on command, to stop on command, and to follow directional (gee, haw, on by) commands. While a dog that has excess energy and pulls on leash might run down the trail for a mile or two, it's also likely that same dog will stop when he/she grows tired or bored or distracted. A trained sled dog pulls on command, stops on command, follows basic dog sledding commands given by the musher, and will run singlemindedly down the trail even when there are distractions (squirrels, loose dogs, other dog teams, wild animals, etc), and will run even when tired. This is a very important distinction that very few novice dog drivers fully understand. Most think: My dog runs in front of me down the trail, end of story. As Lee Corso likes to say on College Game Day (we're big college football fans here at Maryland Sled Dog Adventures): "Not so fast my friend." The main difference between a sled dog and a pet dog with excess energy is drive and training. Drive is the dog's innate desire to go down the trail; to see what is around the next corner and over the next hill. Dogs are born with drive. Drive is not something that is trained.

Being passed by another dog team

It is training, however, that teaches a dog to pull on command, stop on command, and follow basic dog sledding commands. Training is also frequently misunderstood by novice mushers. Training is the act of showing your dog what you want him or her to do. Training is not just going out and running your dogs down the trail. To train a dog you must be able to control the dog as he or she runs down the trail (this requires good quality equipment with adequate braking power and the ability to be locked in place). When you give a command, either your dog follows the command in which case you should praise the dog ("good gee") or the dog does not follow the command. If your dog does not follow the command, you must get off the scooter, bike, rig, sled, etc. and show your dog what you want him or her to do. Failing to do this (or not being able to do this because of inadequate equipment) tells your dog that it is ok to ignore your commands. To this end, you need to have equipment that can be held in place (under any circumstances including in the presence of squirrels, loose dogs, other dog teams, etc) while you get off and show the dog what you want him or her to do.

Training "line out"

Multiple teams: All lined out

The musher's ability to stop on the trail and get off the rig is necessary to train the dogs

Command training with a double snapped leash

Side by side line out training: Note that the trainers are behind the dogs

Command training using a double snapped leash

Passing another dog team

Training is also frequently confused by novice dog mushers with conditioning. While training is the act of showing your dog what you want him or her to do, conditioning is putting mileage on your dog(s) over time at, hopefully, either increasing, or at least consistent, speeds. Conditioning should not be confused with training. Here at Maryland Sled Dog Adventures while we feel that conditioning is important, we feel that training is paramount. Thus, even training runs with conditioning objectives include training objectives as well. To us, a missed command or an unusual trail situation (horses, fox hunts, loose dogs, other dog teams, etc) are all training opportunities. In other words, these are opportunities to show your dogs what you want them to do.

Our Run What You Brung program is an opportunity for experienced sled dogs to show your dog the ropes and will provide you with the tools you need to train your dog to pull, on command, for dog powered sports. While you might think it is your dog that will receive the "training" during one of our Run What You Brung programs, it is not. Rather, it is you who will be "trained" as our Run What You Brung program is a "train the trainer" program. It is designed to give you the tools you need to train your dog to pull. And these tools are not dog scooters, lines, harnesses, bikes, and rigs. These are training tools because, as we like to say here at Maryland Sled Dog Adventures, training is "the gift that keeps on giving." No matter how nice your equipment, it will not train your dog to pull on command.

Drag training

Drag training

Dog sledding and other dog powered sports can be an expensive hobby (addiction) and while your bright shiny new equipment will not train your dog to pull, a basic level of equipment is necessary to safely run your dogs. Thus, if you find yourself unwilling or unable to spend money on your new found hobby, you have no business on the trails. The main factor to consider with any rig or vehicle used for running dogs be it a dog scooter, bike, rig, sled, or ATV is whether you can stop your dog(s) at any time (beginning, middle or end of the run) and under any circumstances (squirrels, loose dogs, leashed dogs, wild animals, other dog teams, etc.). If the answer to either of those questions is "no" or "not really" then your equipment is inadequate and is dangerous for you, your dog(s), and other users on the trails. Moreover, if you cannot control your team (be your team 1 dog or 20 plus dogs), you cannot adequately train (see above) your dog(s).

Fritz Dyck rig. Note the locking "digger" (earth) brake and that all four wheels have locking brakes

Not only is the ability to stop at any time under any circumstances a safety issue for you, your dogs and others, it is also a courtesy issue for other trail users. Mushers are a minority user group and most trails are multi use, shared with other users ranging from snowmobiles and quads to bikes, pedestrians, and dog walkers. Moreover, mushers are easily identifiable. Mushers must courteously share the trails with other users. This includes running your dogs on the right (at least here in the US), being able to stop your dogs, yielding to other trail users, cleaning up after your dogs, and in general keeping the trails a nice place for all types of users. Common courtesy and common sense go a long way towards keeping trails open to all uses and rude behavior and a general lack of common sense will close trails to mushers faster than anything else. To that end, you will frequently find us picking up other users' trash on our trails, always scooping our dogs' poop (very few pet owners clean up after their dogs), running early in the morning to avoid as much trail traffic as possible, rotating the trail heads we use, training our dogs to run on the right, yielding to other trail users, and running our dogs under control at all times.

Running on the right: All "gee'd over"

Sharing the trails with other users: Running right so a bicyclist can pass

State College, PA: Tow Hill Training Session

Fog shrouds the trails at Tow Hill

Eric and I along with the whole Maryland Sled Dog Adventures LLC gang trekked to the Pirmann residence outside of State College, Pennsylvania this past weekend for some dryland dog sledding and musher socialization. This is the fourth year we've attended the Tow Hill Training Session and the twenty third year the event has been held!

Acadia hangs out on the line

Sobo primarily ran wheel with one dog scooter run in lead

From Friday to Sunday it was non stop sled dogs and training as we ran the looping trails at Tow Hill practicing passing (over taking and head on) other teams, gee over, and our gees and haws.

Like the sign says: This is a haw (left) turn

Looking down the trail

The trails include many opportunities for gee/haw training

There were both motorized (ATV) and non-motorized teams

Running dogs on a three wheel rig

Bikejoring with one dog

Despite warmer than average temperatures we managed to get two runs in on Saturday, one in the early morning hours and one in the late afternoon and one early morning run in on Sunday.

Waiting to be harnessed

Relaxing after a run

The Powers Pack followed by the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures dogs

Eric training the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures team

Unfortunately, we did not get many photos of the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures dogs running the Tow Hill trails although we did get many photos of other teams!

Visiting Siberian from Virginia

Sadie: Another Virginia Siberian

Coming up a hill

A different kind of working dog

What's up next for the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures' sled dogs? This week the sled dogs will be doing a Run What You Brung on Tuesday, possibly a training run on Thursday at Fair Hill, a Tour on Saturday, and a Girl Scout Patch Program in Dog Sledding on Sunday. After that, the sled dogs will be heading up north to Maine to celebrate Thanksgiving and do some training with the Maine Highlands Sled Dog Club.

Interested in visiting the sled dogs in Maine? Check out our women's only Maine Winter Cabin Adventure, four exciting days (and nights) of dog sledding in the beautiful north woods of Maine.

Fall Training: Objective--Passing

Acadia: My what a large tongue you have...

Today's fall training run with the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures' sled dogs had one objective. Today's objective was passing Eric or Catherine on the trail. Anyone who has tried to take a team of sled dogs past an important person (i.e., the person who feeds them) on the trail, knows that this can be tricky. Because our dog sledding programs and tours nearly always require both Eric and I to be on the trail with the team, this skill is important to us.

Today, we arrived at the Sparks station on the Northern Central Rail (NCR) trail to do some practice passing drills with the team. We hooked up a four dog team with Zoe and Acadia in lead and Sobo and Okemo in wheel. Our fifth sled dog, T-Bone, is in partial retirement and stayed home to read a book on the couch!

The amazing flying, T-Bone, stayed home and read a book

Monkton Station: Northern Central Rail Trail

In the dark we set up the equipment including the lines and rig (the wheeled dog sled), harnessed the sled dogs, and gave each a brief walk. Just after day break, off we went out of the station with me driving the team and Eric riding our bike. The dogs love this stretch of trail and headed out down the trail at about 20 MPH despite the relatively heavy, 350 lb, load they were pulling. This stretch of trail runs through Maryland horse country and the farms, with their stone bank barns and white split rail fences, lining the trail are just lovely. About two miles out, after passing some pastured horses, I stopped the team to allow Eric to catch up. While the team was stopped, I enjoyed the gorgeous reds, yellows and orange leaves on the trees. I also practiced some line out training with the sled dogs.

Fall Foliage

After Eric caught up to us, we began working on leap frogging the bike (we'd pass Eric on the bike, slow down, and Eric would then pass us on the bike). Each time we commanded the dogs to go "on by" and praised them when they did it flawlessly and corrected them, showing them what we wanted them to do, when they did not. After about four passes, the sled dogs had this skill down pat. As we ran the balance of our 8 mile run from Sparks to Monkton, we continued this drill.

Arriving at Monkton station, we rested and watered the dogs for about ten minutes, and then began another drill. This particular drill involved having the dogs turn off the trail into a open field next to the Monkton station, run behind the station house, and come back out on the trail. After many missed attempts, the dogs finally got the idea that we wanted them to "haw" into the open field off the trail. Some of the dogs (Sobo who was in wheel this run) got it faster than others. As I once again showed the leaders, Zoe and Acadia, what I wanted them to do, Sobo valiantly attempted to turn the team "haw" from the wheel (back) position. Good boy Sobo!

Sobo and Okemo in wheel during a water break at Monkton Station

After re-entering the trail, now headed south, Eric and I switched positions and I rode the bike while Eric drove the team. Once again, we practiced passing (leap frogging) the bike. This time the dogs were spot on and didn't require any corrections. Good sled doggies!

Practicing passing drills

Heading down the trail

Arriving back at the dog truck, the sled dogs were fed their breakfast and meat, watered, walked, and we headed home. Our total run was 8 miles round trip with our maximum speed approximately 20 MPH and our "cruising speed" abut 7-8 MPH. Along the way, the sled dogs pulled approximately 350 lbs. At home we found our stone mason well underway on building us, and the sled dogs, a new field stone wall along the driveway.