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How to hydrate a Husky, pre-race?

The Trailwinds Huskies have been racing for a few years now. One of the recurring problems has been about getting our Huskies, both Alaskan and Siberian, to properly hydrate before a race. I wanted to share our method. Hopefully, this will help someone new to the sport!

Especially in sprint racing, you need to hydrate the Husky without filling their stomach. Anything high in fat may very well…

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#hydrate

Kennel building and training

The summer was long, followed by a hot autumn. September was record-breaking hot here in Finland, which meant that we had to keep the distances short and try to time the workouts to early mornings. Still, we managed to get started with the training and the dogs are progressing nicely!

The new kennels are also progressing nicely. The Jämpti MAXI elements, provided by VIPStore.fi, are a whopping…

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#Jämi #Jämi MD #Jämpti #Jämpti MAXI #kennel #VIPStore.fi #weather

Race report: Ohkola Autumn 2018

Last weekend, on Saturday 15th of September the 2018-2019 sleddog sports seasons kicked-off in Finland with the Ohkola Autumn race 2018. I had signed-up for DR4 and DCH, which mean four-dog rig class and canicross hobby class.

As I already wrote earlier, we have had limited chance to train our own dogs. Chaika has been working in Kivikko during the summer, so I knew he was strong, but without…

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#2018-2019 #Ohkola #race report

Starting up the 2018-2019 season

Oh boy, it has been a long summer! The Trailwinds mushers spent most of the summer working for Bearhill Huskies, driving teams of Alaskan Huskies at the Winter World Helsinki (an indoors Husky safari, how cool is that!). Now it is time to move our focus to the starting 2018-2019 season!

Due to working most weekends we have had limited time to train our own team. But that’s OK, considering that…

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#bearhill #conditioning #DR4 #Jämtpi #kennel #plans #VIPStore

Balancing the Fats: Omega-6 and Omega-3

The Omega fatty acids play an important role in the balanced diet of a canine athlete. The important factor is the correct balance of the Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. As canines are unable to produce these fats, they must be supplied as a part of their diet, instead.

Trailwinds Huskies has partnered up with Effe Balance to ensure that our Huskies have a balanced mix of fats. Effektri Dog…

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#diet #effektri #fatty acid #omega

VUL Club Championship scoring

Last year the Finnish Sleddog Sports Federation (VUL) had a project to try and get a couple of our sports events into public television. This required some sponsors, which were my responsibility. I had a lot of long talks with multiple parties. The sponsors all shared a common concern: The events did not appear to be related to one another in any way or have a storyline connecting them to a…

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#club championship #VUL

How can a Husky run for so long?

How can a Husky run for so long? Again and again, I am in awe of the endurance of our Huskies. The ability to run dozens of kilometres or miles on consecutive days is just wonderful, in the true essence of the word. Properly trained long distance Huskies will do over 150 km or 100 miles a day, without an issue.

Compared to humans?

Sometimes people make the claim that humans are the best endurance…

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Fear of a smell? Dog behavior

I recently came across a question of why would a dog have a fear of a smell. I answered with this story.

Years ago, I used to have this great white Samoyed dog named Rudi. We lived in the capital city area of Finland, where there is very few wildlife around for the dog to be afraid of.

One summer we went up North for hiking. We came across a steaming hot pile of bear poo (with berries and…

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#behavior #epigenetics #quora

What are the origins and history of dog sledding?

I work at an indoors skiing centre in Helsinki, where we operate an indoors Husky safari operation. The same place is the home of a robobus, an autonomous test vehicle. I tell my customers that this is thus the home of both the latest as well as the oldest mode of transportation known to man.

So how old is old? Really, really old. The latest archaeological studies on the Siberian island of Zhokhov

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#history

No musher analytics due to GDPR

One of the things that I think is missing from sleddog sports – at least here in Finland – is that there are little or no data or analysis available regarding the sport. I think that data is a key component for many sports spectators, and without it, it’s harder to break into the mainstream as a sport.

Since figuring that out I have been working on digitalizing some of the Finnish results and…

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#data #GDPR #kolyma

Book Review: Team Dog by Mike Ritland

While we were in Koskenpää conditioning our team for Gold Rush Run sleddog race I spent many hours on the trails listening to podcasts. I mentioned in one of our reports that at the time I was listening to Jocko Willink’s podcast, and that’s where I came across Mike Ritland.

Mike Ritland is a former U.S Navy SEAL and since his career in the Teams he has been training working K9 dogs for different…

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#book review #Ritland #Team Dog #training

Gold Rush Aftermath pt. VIII

This is the last part in a series of 8 lessons learned from our first medium distance sleddog race. To start from the beginning, click here.

Eventually, I think there are two ways to get better at any sport. You can train until you’ve got everything together. Or you can, with basic safeguards, help from others and responsible consideration, take your chances and learn on the race tracks.

I…

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Gold Rush Aftermath pt. VII

This is Part 7 out of 8 in a series of lessons learned from our first medium distance sleddog race. To start from the beginning, click here.

During the race, I think I had almost every dog in the lead at some point or another. It was quickly becoming evident, that our training had not been sufficient. On our way back, before the last, steep uphill section to climb to the top of Jorpulipää hill…

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Gold Rush Aftermath pt. VI

This is Part 6 out of 8 in a series of lessons learned from our first medium distance sleddog race. To start from the beginning, click here.

Once on our way, the team was working really well. It was just an absolute privilege to get to see the Huskies working in what I can only consider as their natural environment, doing the work their ancestors have been doing for thousands of years and…

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Gold Rush Aftermath pt. V

This is Part 5 out of 8 in a series of lessons learned from our first medium distance sleddog race. To start from the beginning, click here.

Early in Saturday morning, we woke up in Sodankylä, fed and hydrated the dogs, and packed our team into the van for the last 130 km. We reached the starting zone with just minutes to spare before registration was closed, but we were finally there. In…

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#GRR

Gold Rush Aftermath pt. IV This is Part 4 out of 8 in a series of lessons learned from our first medium distance sleddog race.

Gold Rush Aftermath pt. III

This is Part 3 out of 8 in a series of lessons learned from our first medium distance sleddog race. To start from the beginning, click here.

During our time in Koskenpää, our dogs lived in an old cowshed, and almost every night we set the dogs free for some free range speed training. In February, most, if not all of our dames were in heat, and while we did keep them separated from the…

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#GRR #training

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