Pulling their weight
2007-07-26
Lise Beyers
THE chorus of the sleigh dogs is heard long before they are seen.
As they are carefully loaded from the dog carrier, there seems to be electricity in the air created by their insatiable hunger to start running.
One by one they are connected to their harnesses and have to be held back by force to prevent them from starting to run before the entire team is ready to go.
Then they are off! Accelerating to speeds of up to 40 kilometres an hour, their joy is undescribable.
Because this is what Siberian huskies were created to do when the breed evolved about 3000 years ago.
And no, these are not the snow covered plains of Alaska or Antarctica, but local dirt roads in Wellington, Malmesbury and Joostenberg vlakte, where the spectacular sight of these dogs can be seen running, or rather “mushing”.
Dry land sledding is one of the fastest growing sports in South Africa, say husky breeders André and Natalie van der Merwe.
SA National Championships have been held for the past few years.
This is the sport of running Siberian Huskies on dry land in front of a cart, known as a gig. The dogs wear harnesses which allow them to utilise their entire bodies to pull.
The physical strength with which these dogs are able to pull the gig is awe-inspiring to watch.
As their names specify, Siberian Huskies originated in Siberia and once domesticated were the only means of transport in the inhospitable Arctic areas.
Still today, if bred well, this instinct to pull large loads over long distances, dominates.
But a Husky’s ability to sled is not limited to snow, and dryland sledding has taken off in warm countries.
There are various categories in this sport, with combinations of 3-wheel carts being pulled by six to eight dogs, to 2-wheel scooters or bikes being pulled by one or two dogs.
The driver, known as the musher, is trained to give clear voice commands to the team of dogs and a universal Husky language has been created by this.
Words like gee (turn right), haw (turn left), hike (start) and who (stop), are just some of the terms that the dogs in a team learn to adhere to.
Natalie says that locally dogs are run three or four times a week in winter, with temperatures below 15°C.
“We then train early in the morning and in the late afternoon and depending on the temperature, they run up to 14km at a time.
“When the weather heats up, the Huskies go into a state of semi-hibernation and only run socially and laze around in water to cool off.
“Due to the fact that they have a double coat, they shed their warm winter fur in summer to stay cool."
Another eager sledding enthusiast from Klapmuts, Michael Mostert, says that his dogs are his life.
“The relationship that one builds up with these animals lasts a lifetime.
"This is not a sport where you lock-up your equipment at the end of the day. You go to bed with them at night and wake up with them in the morning.”
Natalie says that unfortunately people buy Huskies because of their cuddly appearance and blue eyes. But they do not realise that they are high maintenance animals.
“They need space and must be allowed to run at least three times a week. We are fortunate enough to live on a small-holding which allows this.
“Huskies can successfully be kept in a suburban home, but the owner has to be committed to taking them into the country to run. Without doing this, they will destroy your garden and home out of frustration."
This year the van der Merwes will be running their dogs at the SA Championships in Mpumalanga, at the end of July with an extra special purpose.
“We will be running as ambassadors of Pets4Pets, an organisation which raises funds for research about cancer in dogs.
Natalie can be contacted at natalie@lindhorstwi nes.com.
More
News
|
