Americano Blue's musher/mushing chat thread

[RezChamp]

Charnic44 wrote. What is she? If she is a racer, I say Mal, if she is more like a Mal, I say racer. That way they pups would be pretty even. (Strong and fast)


Pippon(Winter),,,,
Her dad Rufous,was red over white, his mom, Mispoon(it is snowing) was 1/2ArcticWolf&1/2Qimmiq. His dad was Borealis, SeppalaSiberian/show type working Sibe(Okimaw)//Qimmiq(Aurora).
Pipoon's mom's side now, Robin, her mom was Tasha a show Sibe/Seppalla, her dad was Bandit, a pure show type working Sibe.

FYI, Since this is to be Pipoon's last brood the whole family unanimously voted for Max to father all the pups. The pups will be kept for 1 year and tried as sled dogs.
After our strict criteria has been met we will keep 2 females and 2 males. The rest will be sold as working sled dog/pets with a very stringent contract that essentially states these dogs will not end up as obese, lazy stinking commercial dog food fed, diabetes riddled, apartment dogs and/or couch potaoes. Or at least not to be couch potatoes till they are very old.
Of the pups we keep. 1 Female will be bred into by a racer male and one of the males will go into a racer female. The pups from those will also go through a training/criteria after which the best will be kept and the others will be sold to people who will honor their heritage and bloodlines by putting them to work. A contract will be utilized here again.
That is what me and fam came up with.

 

[RezChamp]

He's very strong (has pulled me to the ground a few times) but he's 8 and kinda old and while I think it'd benefit him (walking isn't enough exercise for him) I think he's too old. Maybe I'll have him pull me on a sled this year and well see how well that goes lol

My old leader, Okimaw lead a sled for 14 years, even in front of young teams. If he had made to his next birthday(a few weeks more) he'd e been 17 human years or 119 dog years. Mind you he was always lean an muscular. I never overfed him.

 

[RezChamp]

Why?
And mom bought me 56ft of bungee cord. Can I make my lead line, Ganglines and wheel line out of it? 7different colors. I'll get pics when I get my phone back. I'm grounded.

Do not make ganglines out of bungee cord. Or tugs or necklines. Ganglines especially should not stretch. It WILL hurt your dogs. My necklines I make first then string a piece of small(very thin)bungee inside of them just to keep it taut bot not choking lay tight. I do the same thing with the tugs but a bit biggerfatter&stronger) bungee, but still not tight tight. Just enough to keep it from sagging and getting tangled. But the mainline/gangline is not stretchable. Believe me, I have tried any different things. Look T some of the ganglines even on the Iditarod. I had never seen dog ganglines with spreader sticks on the tugs till about 5 years after I did that. I did to reflect what my Pampa did with this horse teams and to save room(lengthwise) while running through the bush trails. Reason,,,,,,, long traces(tugs) and main/ganglines are not conducive to easily executing tight curves and turns in the bush.
Use hollow braid polyethylene rope for main/ganglines, tugs and necklines. 3/8inch should be used fro any teams larger than 4 dogs. 7/16 up to 8 dogs and anything over that should be 1/2inch.... and hook lines. Well.... for my applications anyhow. But I use my dogs to haul wood on/in a sled made to carry upwards of a ton or more. Very seldom do I use a small sled except for training new dogs or refreshing leaders at the beginning of the season.

 

[RezChamp]

Why?
And mom bought me 56ft of bungee cord. Can I make my lead line, Ganglines and wheel line out of it? 7different colors. I'll get pics when I get my phone back. I'm grounded.

I know people that use different colors of main line, tug and neckline for every section and sometimes every dog. For example, green main, green&red neck and tug lines for one side, green&yellow neck and tugs lines for the other side, while the next section of gangline is black with black&red neck and tug lines and black&yellow on the other side.
It helps to get out of a tangle-up quicker. And yes,,,,bin there,dun that.
But.....NO.... not bungee cord. Thats dangerous.

 

[RezChamp]

The pix of the pups are good pix. They are so darn cute. I thinkI if I were close I may be very tempted to take 1 or 2 off your hands.
I can hardly wait till they're about a month old.

 

[RezChamp]

We got snow the other day.
It's light and fluffy and it squeaks when I walk on it. Not enough to go mushing

, but I think it's gona stay.

 

[SternRose]

i cant post pics for a while. im grounded until december, if im luck it will be sooner.....

 

[Americano Blue]

Sometimes when I look at someone I have an instant dislike for that guy/gal. Sometimes I can't stand being around someone I've known for a long time. I think its probably because I see things in that guy/gal that reminds me of myself. Things that I haven't taken a conscious look at, or have and dislike, something that perhaps I need to work on.
My dad is 80. Yes he's still alive and works just about everyday. He works cutting firewood, operates heavy equipment, drives a semi, mows the huge lawn he and my mom enjoy, prunes the trees, cuts logs and pulp. He's honest(sometimes very bluntly), loyal(to the point of fighting[he has huge fists.his little finger is about the size of my thumb] to protect his grandchildren) Very active and very forthright man of few words. He has little to no regard for the frail human ego.
I hated him for years. It near consumed me. I thought he was harder on me than he was my siblings. He seemed to show a penchant for my first sister 2 years younger than me. It seemed to the rest of us she was "privileged" and was afforded much liberty.
He was quite harsh especially to my brother and I. My bro is a year younger than me.
It taken me a long time to sort out a lot of issues thus far. Some I was absolutely not aware of.
In my world sibling rivalry is a big taboo. Hate is a big taboo. Revenge is a biggy.
So all the crap inside of me was wrong because of all the emotions I was feeling were wrong, or so I was being dictated to by my adopted culture.
My Nana was a very wise old lady. She told me if I hate my dad or even my mom I would turn out like that.
I came to realize that I don't hafta hate someone just because I dislike what they do. I have every right to disagree with whatever or whomever. I also reserve the right to do so with grace. Quiet grace sometimes. I am a human being, an emotional creature. My emotions make me human. I have the right to control my reactions to emotional stimuli.
Today my dad and are pretty darn good friends. My sister was a hopeless drunken drughead for years and I think it was because she was actually incapable of comprehending consequence because of her comparatively "privileged" childhood. On that note, just a few years she finally gave up her drinking but continues her drug abuse though it's just Marijuana as opposed the rest which she drooped. There was a lot of issues that she was unable to let go that drove her to her previous lifestyle. She's 52 now and only starting to deal with her "crap" now. At this rate she will be emotionally 30 years old when she's 82.

I commend people who can vent without confrontation,

however I encourage a bit more confidential methods.
This is an open forum.
What I wrote is an open book kinda thing that we can all apply into a very broad spectrum of life. Even into mushing. An activity that will always be there for me.
I left it for years to go into the "real world,(NOT) and do what was dictated to me by others in my life including family, friends and "Guidance Counsellors" that don't know doodles squat. I returned when I was an adult that had dealt with some issues on my own because I wouldn't take heed to the teachings available.
I wouldn't take heed because I was too filled with resentment and hatred which is actually a false pride.
I can relate to a vast majority of what I see, excuse the old cliche(kleeshay)....bin there, dun that.
Remember.......I can give away only that which I have.
Slow down, love your self, do what you know is right and good.

I pray y'all can deal with this old man's rantings.
Now on to stuff more related to open forum type mushing stuff eh

this has turned into a ranting thread already. So...rant away as long as you don't curse!

 

[Americano Blue]

SternRose, I asked my mentor about the bungee cord and here was her answer word for word

" No. It would break and you'd lose pulling power."

 

[Americano Blue]

My old leader, Okimaw lead a sled for 14 years, even in front of young teams. If he had made to his next birthday(a few weeks more) he'd e been 17 human years or 119 dog years. Mind you he was always lean an muscular. I never overfed him.

Wow 14 years??? That's cool. Dogs are usually retired at 5-6 years. Of course, I still use younger retired dogs as leads. Griz was a retired Iditarod dog and worked until he got hit by a car.