Musher

[wind howling] [sled approaching] [piano music] [car driving by] [engine revving] [dog barking] [engine revving] [dogs barking, whining] [flags flapping] I have light phobia, so I carry three lights I have mitten phobia, so I carry all these... mittens.

Everything has to be just right.

Rooting for the over 60 group.

[laughing] You think you're ready?

I gotta know.

How are you getting out of school for this?

We just take off Fridays and Thursdays and I take home all my work for school, and I have to do them all on the ride there, all on the ride back, do all my home work [dog barking] You're going, let's run 40 miles fast and get your meat.

[dog whining, barking] You ready to go?

Are you ready?

[dog barking] She doesn't look ready to go, [dogs barking, whining] but... Oh, yeah.

She looks super stressed, but she wants to go.

That's attitude.

In this kind of race, in a race that's like six dogs or eight dogs, you'll see a lot of women you know, more women than men, and they're dominating it Then sort of the longer the races go, that number diminishes, and so at long races, it'll often be like 25 percent women and then there just seems to be some sort of invisible barrier making it harder to sort of make the leap, or people don't want to, right?

Or they're like not crazy, which is like a totally viable option.

That could be what's really going on.

[music] [music] [Puppy whining] We got somebody missing.

[puppy whining] There.

[dog barking] Hi, guys.

Hi, Larry.

Hi, Frank.

Hi, Joanne.

Hi, guys.

[puppy whining] Oh, we're going to have a pile, aren't we?

[puppy sounds] Yeah.

This is what we do.

We just sit here and hold you, right?

Gopher.

Gopher.

Sit.

Okay, you're not going to get one.

Sit.

Sit.

Sit.

Sit.

Good girl.

Okay, go.

[birds chirping] I think dog-sledding is an incredible sport in the fact that a person can learn so much from the sport by aspects of all the problem solving and the dynamics of the animals and the teamwork.

Who are you going to get?

Fema!

I'm 62, and when we moved out here, I thought I only had 10 good years left.

And now it's 10 years later, and I'm probably feeling better than I did 10 years ago.

The dogs really motivate me to kind of keep with it [engine revving] [dogs barking] So mushers, I think, intuitively, you kind of know what you need.

And mushers also, like, they're such do-it-yourself people.

Like, there's no way we're going to hire somebody to come do it.

You better figure out how to do do it, you know, put a floor in even though I've never, you know, I've never built anything So you just have to figure it out.

[dogs barking] It's a lifestyle, and it's a completely different lifestyle that not everybody would want to embrace at all.

[dogs barking, panting] Ha, Ha, Ha A really beautiful component of dog mushing is, it doesn't matter how old you are, male or female It's this big, beautiful team thing going on with the dogs, and it's all those personalities of the dogs with our personality and then we have a team.

I just love it.

Pretty much every minute of it I think the dog's like, "Woo-hoo, it's mom!

Let's goof off and have a lot of fun [dogs barking] [music] There's a wasp up there.

I see that.

I don't know if you're happy with this Okay, am I centered?

Am I lined up with the lower one?

Move it over a little bit more.

Which way?

Right, maybe left.

Yeah, yeah.

[atv engine] [dog panting] I like to race my runs with my dad or my sister, Kiana.

This year, he's planning on me maybe going more alone so he can be with my sister and teach her how to do it.

Oh, there.

There we go.

[brushing dog] [gunshot in background] [chains squeaking] That's the last one.

It's the perfect circle for them to curl up and stay warm, and we've watched the different dogs sleep in different deals, and we think that they love this the best.

They always curl up, and they put their head right on the edge of the door and then they just look out.

All these trenches and all this stuff is one week old.

It's a constant battle to keep things level So just get into the puppy training, but that whole batch of puppies is doing awesome [dog barking] Right.

Want to drink?

Yeah, this is Wesley.

He's a big, strong boy, Yeah, he's a big, strong boy.

[music] Hi, Kelly.

This is Dr. Alex calling about Angel I got your message yesterday afternoon, and just wanted to see what things have been done so far to try to work on his lameness Ready?

Come on.

Come on.

Good job.

[car engine] Mushing is not a full-time occupation for most people, since there's absolutely no money in it Just feeding the dogs is really expensive, so it's a part-time occupation for most people.

There's a rare, you know, half a dozen people, probably in the world who do it for a living.

Hi, Bruce.

[inaudible] Oh, I don't know about this.

There you go.

Starting to figure out that she's a...

I think that's why she doesn't need cheese at all.

Maybe.

Yeah, but she's smart.

Maybe.

She's on to us, and this one's going to go on her rump.

Yeah.

[music] [birds chirping, dogs barking] [shoe slamming] Oh, they don't like to die.

And dogs can get Lyme disease.

But it's not as bad for dogs as it is for humans, but it does need to be treated.

Okay, Flame, we've got to get down.

She's going to do everything she can to keep me from getting off.

[laughs] See what I mean?

[laughs] You've got to let me go.

Good girl.

Good girl.

There you go.

Thank you for demonstrating.

So the idea behind these houses they're really solid.

It's all treated lumber.

Most of it's been reclaimed.

Deck boards and stuff.

And, you know, for them to be happy in their house, they need a platform they can stand on top of.

You know, and not every dog uses it, but like she's up there all the time They need shade.

So under here, they dig little dens and they can always get out of the sun.

And they need it to be wind and waterproof So that's why there's plastic barrels inside And they have drain holes in the bottom.

This one doesn't have any bedding right now because she's not using it But we put in either cedar shavings or straw.

And then in the winter when it's cold, they really just bury themselves and make little nests These poles are buried about four feet deep and they have swivels.

The distance apart from each other is just enough so that the dogs can play with each other but they can't get tangled and they can't really fight We set up the sled in the middle, and then it's really easy to just let the dogs loose on their houses and they run straight to the middle They're not running past other dogs and getting distracted.

And we also like the idea of being able to stand in the middle and see every dog at once And I'm always noticing if a dog starts digging when that's not their normal habit or is chewing on their house or starts barking a lot or anything like that could mean that they're stressed or they're bored And I just want to make sure that they have really good balanced lives.

So any sign that something's up I try to address it.

[music] We don't do a dog race.

We never put this race together because we're really, really, really big into mushing.

We put it together because we're really, really big into our community So it's just usually three or four thousand people, which is the biggest event that Calumet's seen in probably thirty years.

If you look all over the country, there's all kinds of little tiny and small races that do things.

Could we do this with something else like a triathlon or a bike race Maybe, maybe.

But there's a magic in mushing.

There's an ingredient in there that just isn't found in other sports.

[cheering] No sensible person would make that choice to have sled dogs.

They're all crazy.

Every one of them is crazy.

[laughing] It's a tremendous amount of work to put in with these dogs.

And other things that you enjoy doing, you cut out of your life because you can't miss that stuff.

So now, I tell people, now I'm a full-time grandpa and a part-time musher, very part-time musher.

We make it go as long as we possibly can.

And I think most mushers do that.

We are a strange breed.

[laughing] Wanting winter that long Everybody's complaining.

We're like, "Yes, another snowstorm."

If you're in a race, all of the mushers are on the same team.

And they want to help each other.

They want to help each other's dogs.

The race is a vehicle for them to be out there together.

And sure, if you're competitive, like, great.

I mean, there's races I've been competitive in and races I haven't been.

And it's fun to be competitive, but it doesn't change the fact that ultimately, you know, there are no opponents.

Everybody!

There you go.

Come on, buddy.

Good dogs.

Good dogs.

[dogs barking] My life right now isn't, other than the fact that we have a dog team, but it's not that much different from when I was little growing up on a farm.

And always having, you know, we had there was always projects.

We could do the maple syrup when I was little.

We could go round up the cows.

We could, you know, carry buckets of milk.

all of that is carried through.

And now that I'm retired, I can just do more of it.

And I think that makes me happier My fun is getting to run them ten months out of the year, almost every day.

We've been at this 14 years now.

And so you eventually learn what you're good at and what you're not good at.

And you have your roles.

But the consistency then, you know where it's not like I'm just coming in and training, working with them a little bit.

We're, I mean, we're consistently working with the dogs from the time they're pups.

Yeah.

There's always something to fix [dogs barking] [birds chirping] [dogs barking, birds chirping] We're complete opposites.

Like, as far as the East is from the West, I don't even know if we can meet in the middle, really But we try.

But 40 years.

We met in the middle.

We have four kids and five grandkids [laughter] Yeah.

Do you know, just, it'll just be a couple years, and they're going to be pulling me down the trail, and they're going to be so strong I'll hardly be able to hold on to them.

You're doing great, guys.

Isn't she cute?

They can really eat.

It seems like a lot of puppies, and it kind of is, but three, four of the and then all of a sudden they're only eight here, and then I sell four of them and go right back to the same number to train for races.

Right around 14 to 16.

[dog barking] [cheering] Awesome!

[sled skidding] Good girl.

[sled skidding] [dogs barking] Yeah, so did mine.

Isn't that crazy?

But it is a lot of downhill at the end.

Anytime I said Gee, or Ha, or straight, they'd be like... Yeah.

This kind of thing, when you come in with your dogs, you don't want to chitchat.

You want to say, "Okay, what do my dogs need?"

You say that to yourself, even before you get to the finish line.

Then you get to the finish line.

You want to say, "Okay, I want them hooked up on there.

I want to make sure they're safe, and I'm going to get their harnesses off And then what are you going to give them next?

Food.

What did we do today?

Food and water.

Water, and then food on top.

A little bit of water, and some food on top.

And you're going to watch them, and you're not going to talk about your run yet.

because you're busy.

You're busy taking care of your dogs.

Right?

Uh huh And you want to tell people about your run, but you want to do that afterwards, because you want to see what's happening with those dogs.

If you see one of your dogs isn't eating, you think, "Oh, my dog is sore" But they were all eating really good today.

But I want to see you with that stuff.

Doling food out, looking up there.

I didn't even get to put any food or water out.

That's because you were chitchatting.

So I did it.

So that's what I'm teaching you, is that when you get back... Nobody even asked me or let me.

They just did and I'm like, "What?"

You want to say.

Where's the food?

You're going to train your handlers to say.

Have the dishes there the water, the food, and then either you do it or have someone do it.

You've got to watch.

You've got to be watching.

I'm going to go talk to her.

Okay.

[dog whining] I'm learning, too, from this.

It was great.

You know, the girls started going on runs with Blair and Ryan came out with us to this race last year.

I mean, I think, you know, he knows that those girls, especially Kelsey, are getting to an age where he treasures the time that he can spend with them you know, now that they want to spend time with dad and they want to go out and do this stuff.

And, you know, it's very cool.

I think when the girls were so into it, he's like, okay "Let's go with it."

Hi, thank you.

I am really happy to be here.

We've got puppies, and that's their daddy.

Yeah, that's right.

They're right at the age where socialization is really important Like, you are helping them if you hold them and they're slightly timid about it.

This book is actually less about dog-sledding than the cover and this place would indicate.

It's a lot more about this former seal hunting village up in the Norwegian Arctic and living there and being one of the only women in very, very male-dominated environments.

I kept sweeping my light around me.

Dogs, dogs, dogs.

And now the guide was beside me with his rifle high, shouting something I could barely make out.

Where were the dogs looking?

And I realized that they weren't facing an approaching danger, something they'd scented on the wind.

Whatever the dogs were barking at, it was already inside the circle So I'm actually going to stop there.

[laughter] You know what happened.

I lived.

[laughter] These are Alaskan huskies, but an Alaskan husky is not a Siberian husky.

So that's where people get tripped up.

They expect them to look like your calendar dogs or like the Disney movie sled dogs.

But mushers call those guys Slowberians.

They aren't real, like pulling racing dogs.

They're bred for their looks.

They're bred to be show dogs.

These guys are bred to be athletes, and they are athletes.

They need to run like 30 miles a day to even like lie down.

This is an excellent topic because this is what makes Alaskan huskies amazing.

And what makes them special nobody bred them for appearance.

Nobody bred them for anything but health and sturdiness and durability over the long haul.

We don't have hip dysplasia It doesn't happen.

We don't even have hardly any tumors.

They don't have the health problems that the purebred dogs do because mushers, they only breed dogs that have been racing for years and have proven to be very good at what they do.

And then mushers will cooperate amongst themselves.

It's a little bit like people doing baseball player trades, or trades among professional athletes.

So that's kind of unique about this sport is people don't, generally don't keep their little specialty all to themselves.

There's co-mingling.

There's cooperation in crossing dogs.

Here we have Gollmer.

Gollmer is another four-time champion of the Bear Grease.

We've gotten a lot of dog care awards and people ask the secret and it's really durable dogs that don't get hurt.

I mean good training, good nutrition.

It's what you do before the race more than what you're doing at the race.

[Laughter] [dog squealing] Oh my gosh, Peppy.

I feel like I'm going to cry.

That was so fast.

We went outside and then there was a baby.

[puppy squealing] In less than a year, these four little guys will be able to take you anywhere you want to go.

All by themselves.

Are we looking at the future Iditarod team?

I hope so.

[Birds chirping] [car driving by, flags flapping] The 2017 CopperDog 150.

In eighth position, coming from Irma, Wisconsin, we have Martha Shouweiler.

[clapping, cheering] And the first one out of the chute for the 2017 CopperDog 80 coming from Duluth, Minnesota, is Alex LaPlante.

22, you're all set.

Have a great race.

The remaining two in the CopperDog 80, Kelsey Beaber.

How old are you?

11.

The last one is Ryan Beaber from Mountain, Wisconsin.

That rounds out the field of competitors for the CopperDog 80.

(Birds chirping) I'm figuring it out.

You know, this year was the first year I decided I'm really working toward Iditarod and qualifying for Iditarod.

I always say it that way.

My goal is to qualify for the Iditarod because it's a pretty big process even to qualify.

So that seems less daunting to me.

I mean, I read books about the Iditarod when I was a kid.

I had all these picture books.

I can't say when I first heard about it or thought about it because... it was just always in the ether.

When I was growing up my mom loved Alaska.

But, you know, I'm from California.

It was just like, you know, like Saying I was going to run the Iditarod would be like saying I'm traveling to Mars.

It's something you read stories about, but a huge leap to even begin to think of actually doing it yourself.

I want to go as far as it's still fun.

[birds chirping] Here we go.

Just once a day.

And the puppies play with it.

It becomes a really, really, really big part of your life when you have these many dogs.

And you're committed to making them really happy, you know, like the free running helps in the summertime.

Anything that we can do, you know, it's all training.

Summer's tough.

I don't like summer.

Because of bugs and heat.

So, but we just live for winter.

I don't have any years to race.

I'm not saying I won't do any, but I realize that it's less stressful and more fun to train and to do the races that we currently do than to spend three times as much money and have less fun.

Yeah, you can play.

[dogs barking] You can tell that the white and black ones are the same length.

So see here too, same thing.

So you're going to clip this white one like this, but I always turn the clipper up I don't like the clip like this.

Yeah, because then it gets too So when you clip it, you're going to do that.

And you're going to do about the same amount on the black one.

Black one.

Black one.

Okay.

Go ahead.

Like right here.

Oh, sure.

Okay, still think that's ... too much?

Yeah.

Okay, let's try it one more time Right here.

Yeah.

There we go.

There we go.

Okay, now you try.

The kids that grew up on the farms, they have some responsibility and they're into it.

So they understand that the dogs have to be taken care of every day, no matter what.

In the morning, in the night.

You've got to do certain things.

You've got to keep an eye on them.

You've got to run into the vets.

You've got to do all that.

And I think it just will make my kids better people in life, that aren't afraid to get things done or that have the motivation to to be responsible.

[dogs barking] I developed this hobby from Q and Blair.

I started at their house running about two mile loop.

And our dad, who did dogsledding before we were born, saw that we really loved it.

We were very passionate about it, and wanted to do it some more.

So we decided with a team of our own, it would be awesome to be able to race with them also.

They look like they're pretty warm.

Maybe we should water them now, Yeah.

Should we stop in the shade right here?

Yeah.

And water them?

Okay.

[engine revving] [dogs panting] Let me give these guys.

Look at the big lump I got from a mosquito.

[dogs panting] Take a little bit of the water and rub it on their bellies.

Get the spots on their bellies.

Let me just... Dad, are we dumping it in ' Just dump them.

Nope.

We're almost home.

How long does 15 bags of dog food last?

Mostly ... about one bag can fill three buckets.

And we give them three buckets.

So every ... like 15, really, 16 cause that would be 1 All those three buckets.

And so this would last tonight and then we would have these 15 more nights.

[dogs barking] We had a couple car kill bears come in this last week.

So my freezer is a little over full right now in there and the bears got set on top of all that stuff.

So we might be able to get some I have a little bit of mink meat that I'm still feeding.

Okay.

If not, I mean, we might be able to do it together if you can help me get the bear out.

I don't think I'm going to be able to get both of these out.

If you can't, I can't.

I have two bags though.

So they come in and we skin it and there's a lot of good fat on bears that the dogs really like.

And it's very good for them.

It's a benefit for both of us to because then we get rid of a lot of our scraps too.

and we don't have to try to find places to get rid of them or pay someone to take them.

Call me if you need anything.

I will.

Okay.

I will.

Thank you guys.

[dogs barking] We live in Wisconsin.

We have access to beef.

So our dogs get quite a bit of raw beef.

They have a very good diet and they're in such great shape.

These sled dogs are in such great physical shape and they can handle the running.

They can handle whatever we put at them really.

It's just, it's absolutely phenomenal.

If I can pay the dog food bill, I mean, not any other expense.

Just the dog food bill for the year from racing.

It's been a really, really good [laughs] So that's ... that's about as good as we'll do [birds chirping.

Axe chopping fish.]

Normally I might have to do like 21 pieces enough for at least one for each dog.

So it can take almost an hour to do it.

Fish chops way easier than deer heads or whatever else it might be.

Here's your piece of fish.

[birds chirping] [birds chirping, dogs chewing] [dogs barking] I had heard about the Beabers and Kelsey and they purchased three dogs from us.

about a year ago.

I was just thrilled.

Especially to see somebody as young as Kelsey.

This passion is just so good because this is what we need and it's like how many girls of her age are out there like that.

[dog barking] Bucky, hey Bucky, hey Bucky.

[dog barking] Hello sweet boy!

You're really observant to notice that that looks like Bucky.

Mm-hmm.

I know a lot of dogs look like him but it looks very much like him.

Mm-hmm.

Good, thank you.

Here's your snook.

Give me the big fat one?

You want the big fat one?

Yes.

[Martha]: She ended up being in the short CopperDog race and I'm thinking I would have been like that.

If I would have had a dog team when I was her age, I would have been right into it.

But I didn't get to do it until later in life.

So I'll be gone.

I mean, when she's my age, I won't be around.

If I think about that too much I just get sad, you know?

But then I just have to remember that when we're behind a dog team, I mean, it doesn't really get better than that.

It brings all kinds of emotions out, when you see the youth because you know that they're the future of this sport Dog booties.

You know who's going to kick some ass in this race is Martha Shouweiler.

She always does.

She won the Bear Grease.

She's my musher crush.

She's my hero.

[laughs] Oh, we're going to have fun.

It's so much to get ready for.

And then we get to be calm when we get on the trail.

So these guys got so much power.

A lot of times you'll see them on just two feet.

Two feet on the ground, they're not going to to pull you over as easy if they have all four.

So, a lot of times they're taking off, going a lot faster than you want to go.

I've been asked several times why the ... boxes are so small for the dogs.

And it's kind of a safety issue.

It's like a kid getting in a car putting on their seatbelt.

If you get in an accident, they don't get thrown around the vehicle.

The box size is a little bit bigger than the dogs.

The dogs can turn around in it.

But if you were to get in an accident, they're only going to move two inches either way.

So she's got a couple inches on each side of her.

And she's got room all the way up to here.

So she's got plenty of room.

[Music] Good luck to the mushers.

May the best team win.

And God bless all of you.

Great to be here in Calumet.

[Applause] It's already eight degrees out, so she's going to put on her overshoes over her muckluks.

So 15 minutes until the start.

[dogs barking] 15 minutes.

[Lots of dogs barking] It's way tight.

[Dogs barking] Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, four, three, two, one.

And the 8th annual CopperDog is underway.

[dogs howling, barking] [Music] From Otter Run Kennel in Irma, Wisconsin, in her 14th year of racing, Martha Shouweiler in four, three, two, one.

Go!

Enjoy your run, Martha.

[Music] From Maple Ridge Kennel in Duluth, Minnesota, got her start with sleddogs while helping out on the Bear Grease.

Lives in the Duluth area where she is equine veterinarian.

Alex's lead dogs are Lolo and Lenny, her favorite dog is her co-pilot Bruce, the Corgi.

There she goes.

Alex LaPlante.

Have a great run, Alex.

[Music] Wearing bib number 33 from the Flying K Kennel in Mountain, Wisconsin, our youngest competitor this year, Kelsey Beaber.

11 years old.

This is her fifth race.

Three, two, one.

Go!

11-year-old Kelsey Beaber.

Have a great run.

[Music] [Blair] This sport is about technical skill.

It's about running the sled.

It's about managing a dog team.

It's about strategy.

But if you're running with your dogs, it's so incredibly different.

that's not something I realized until I had my own dogs.

One of the best parts is just going through the woods with your dogs.

[Martha] When we're out on the trail, you could, you know, you hear their breaths and that's really special.

That kind of solitude.

Good dog.

Good dog.

Ha.

Ha.

Good girl.

A little girl flipped me over, of all things.

Like, oh my God, a dog team.

And I was over by the fire, she comes running over, and my dogs all go ack!

He shot that way, and I went, bam!

On the gravel road dragged on the gravel road.

Oh no!

Well, you got a story.

Yeah.

Yeah.

[sled scraping on snow] Elwood broke his tug in his shoes.

[Car engine running] Let him run first.

[Sled skidding] Ryan!

That's good.

[People cheering] They look good.

Yeah, they do.

Good job, Kelsey.

I just followed you.

You what' Kelsey, your dogs all look good, Yeah.

You'll get some later.

Calm down [Truck engine running] Kelsey...

I gotta help feed dogs.

Stop.

Stop.

Stop.

[Sled stopping] Good job, Martha!

Good dogs.

You handled that well.

[truck engine running] [Music] Five, four, three, two, one.

Go!

[People cheering] To get eight dogs and ten dogs, to be in sync and to go with each other is a challenge.

It's rewarding when they do.

It's about as magical as can be.

Hopefully I provide good energy and happiness for the dogs.

I just have this feeling that they know how I feel.

So I better be darn happy out there.

[laughs] [Wind howling] [Alex] A lot of mushers refer to this as an addiction.

There's a sort of zen mental state where you're not thinking about work.

Your full attention is on the dogs.

And you're not checking your email or tied to your smartphone.

[Music] Had a great run yesterday.

Would have been like, oh, that GoPro is on.

You could really see some great moving down the trail.

They were just, we did good.

We had the fastest leg yesterday.

[Dog barking] Yeah, Chipmunk.

It's warm.

The vets want us all to carry thermometers.

So that if we have a dog that we're suspecting is overheating, we can check their temperature.

Which means everyone else is screaming to go, while you're trying to put a thermometer in the butt of another dog.

I don't know.

[Dogs barking] The only place dogs sweat is their paw pads.

So the main way dogs cool themselves is panting and through their feet.

So because of today's temperature, we don't want to wear boots.

It'll keep them too warm.

[Dog barking.

Sled dragging] My glove!

[Dog barking.

People talking] [Music] It harks back to that time when we were all hunters and gatherers, you know, and just the rhythms of your day, the rhythms of the season, the rhythms of traveling you know.

Our first instruments were percussion instruments... And that's what I say, With dogs, there's that music when it's going right.

It really is.

It just hits you right at your center.

And it's just an incredibly, incredibly rewarding feeling, you know when you're doing that.

Traveling with dogs, you know.

It's not cerebral.

Let's say that, you know.

It's not cerebral at all.

[Music] Wow!

Those dogs are fast.

[Cheering] You're live on Facebook and people are cheering you on.

Thank you very much.

I mean, they're cheering you literally on the messages.

Yay!

Thank you, thank you.

[Whooping] [Whooping] [Cheering] Good job.

[Announcement in background] Huh?

[Cheering] [Sled skidding] Good job, kiddo, good job!

[Cheering] [dog barking] What's wrong with Epson?

Nothing, he just got a little tired.

Heart rate is 100.

Oh, yeah.

So that's good.

Yeah.

Let's see.

[Crowd chatter] His color is good.

Yeah.

He's not too dry.

Let's see what he does with some food and water.

That's a great idea.

Take a little snacky snack.

[Laughter] Look happy.

Here you go.

Good girl.

Meat snacks.

[Crowd chatter] No, I'm happy.

You did good.

Six dogs.

[Crowd chatter] Smile on your face when you came across the line.

[Crowd chatter] It's good.

All good.

I just want to say, nice job.

[chatter] [Crowd chatter] Yeah, real nice.

You did a really nice job taking care of your dog.

We said it starts with the musher, [Crowd chatter] recognizing the signs, giving him a cool down and everything else, and you did a perfect job with that.

A perfect job?

Wow.

That's better than a passing grade.

High five!

That's because you had a good teacher.

Come here.

Get this out.

You wanna get in on hugs with these guys.

Good job.

[dogs barking] She just so wants her to play with him.

She's going to have some time off now.

Sometimes you come home from this race and we get one more run and that's it.

[Crowd chatter] [applause] Young mushers and aspiring over 60 it's all about the unexpected.

[Crowd laughter] I think I probably got a really far place back because yesterday I think we got tenth.

The longest race I ran before this one was only 32 miles, so basically, the first day it was a whole other 10 miles.

Oh you're so beautiful.

Go.

So, come on.

Be quiet.

Okay, so Gee is right.

Gee is right.

Right, right Okay.

Ha is left.

Ha is left.

Then on every one of them, there is a break.

So these are also the drag pads.

They're made out of tire or so thing with just small hooks on it.

It's rubber.

Yeah, rubber kind of.

And then we have our brake, which is how we stop the team.

It's so heavy.

[Children cheering] [Children cheering] [Children cheering] Thank you.

Thank you!

This is a really big, musher area.

Designated sled dog trails.

You maintain them yourself, but designated only for sled dogs.

It's as good as it gets in Wisconsin.

[ATV revving] We're putting telephone poles in, and we're stretching shade netting over the whole entire thing.

So the dogs aren't just sitting out here in the sun, and we're getting rid of the barrels.

We're going all strictly to wood houses now.

We want to be able to make sure that we're spending time with the dogs running and training and playing.

Hi.

Did you come home?

Did you come to grandma's house?

You should do the pictures.

Her and her sister are just hanging out, in the copse, they go out and free runs I mean, like free walk, you know?

Yeah.

We're putting aside the parts of lives that don't fit in with this, and we're just taking this winter and we're saying, we're moving off the grid.

We're bringing our dogs with us.

We're going to this cabin with no running water and 30 dog houses, and that is going to be our life.

I think Musher's racing careers are as long as they're still enjoying it, and for some people that's not real long.

It really varies, and I think people sometimes aren't able to enjoy it because it's so expensive and it's causing so much stress in the rest of their life Some members of my family sort of understand it, but basically they think this is one of the more insane occupations ever.

And she decides she loves straw now too, and that's a recent thing.

You have to adjust for age the aging population.

You like me?

Just like my mom, she's getting older, and she's just had her 94th birthday, and we're making adjustments for her.

They do, look at that.

Ha, ha, Twinkie.

That's all we needed to do.

We just needed to get you up here for apple pie.

So you can imagine what it's like when I hook up eight powerhouses in front of my sled, slippery sled.

That's quite a bit.

Oh boy, a lot of work.

Mm-hmm.

That's really invigorating though.

It's fun.

They just bring out deep joy.

Something from hundreds and thousands of years ago, how people must have felt about their dog companions, and what their dogs would give them and how much they love and care and what they'll do for you It's pretty astounding.

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