Location: Northwest GA
Time - 5:11pm
Temperature: 37 degrees F
Conditions: Cloudy, raining
Forecast: Sleet or SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (okay, not much to speak of) tonight, partly cloudy tomorrow. Lows in the 30s
Merry Christmas from the GA Musher!
We saw our first frozen precip here at Wolf Moon this morning. Sleet! It melted as soon as it hit the ground and then turned to rain this afternoon.
For those of you in Florida - check out today’s issue of the Tallahassee Democrat! The newspaper printed an article on Tallahasee musher Sam McArthur and his German Shepherds. I’ve copied the article below
From: http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071225/BREAKINGNEWS/712250308
Dog mushing, but without the snow
Originally published December 25, 2007
By Iricka Berlinger
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
On Hunter, on Bandit, on Kassy, Shadow and Lucky.
No, Santa didn’t get a new crew this year. These are the dogs that lead Sam McArthur’s sleigh on wheels.
McArthur, 53, enjoys his hobby of dry-land dog mushing almost as much as he loves the five German shepherds that lead him through the trails in the Apalachicola Forests or the Alford Greenway.
Hunter is his lead dog, and the others follow while pulling the rig that McArthur calls Bigfoot. It’s equipped with three ATV wheels, go-kart brakes for total control of the dogs, a headlight for early-morning runs and safety equipment that, luckily, has not been needed so far.
Dry-land dog mushing is much like the sport of dog sledding commonly seen in Alaska, only without the snow.
“I really think that it’s something amazing that he’s doing,” said McArthur’s daughter, Holly. “It’s so off the beaten track.”
McArthur has trained the dogs to follow his commands. They know not to go after wild animals or be distracted by other dogs they meet on the trail.
“The dogs see me as the pack leader,” McArthur said. “I am the sixth dog.”
The five German shepherds live a good life on four acres. They eat a well-balanced diet and get their proper vitamins and medicines. They eat just as much as a normal dog, which keeps them healthy and in good shape.
“I give them pumpkin with their food,” McArthur said. “It works as a Pepto-Bismol for dogs in case they eat something strange on the trail.”
The dogs get plenty of exercise while not mushing by using the 10-foot “hamster wheel” McArthur built for them, and they always have access to the pool.
McArthur is a husband to attorney Elizabeth and father to teenagers Holly and Jason. He is a non-practicing attorney who cares for his home and family and, of course, his dogs.
“I have never seen a man so devoted to his family, and the dogs are a part of his family,” neighbor Dorothy Campbell said.
Long before McArthur took up mushing, he was a dog person. He enjoyed learning all about the animals’ health and instincts. They ran by his side while he ran or biked, and he saw their stamina and intelligence firsthand. After much research, he decided to splurge, buy a rig and give dog mushing a try.
The pack usually runs in the early morning. McArthur tries to go every day in the winter cold and a few times a week in the summer heat.
“The dogs’ core temperature operates within a narrow range. The panting keeps it that way,” McArthur said.
They average 4 to 8 mph in the summer with bursts of 24 to 25 mph. In the winter, they average 12 to 16 mph with bursts into the low 30s. They have reached 35 mph chasing the scent of a deer on the trail. Hunter, the leader, alone has been clocked at 42 mph. Their record times are four miles in 11 minutes and eight miles in 36 minutes.
“It is instinct for sled dogs to want to run until they find the horizon,” explained McArthur, “and after they find it they run to find the other horizon.”
He knows of three other dog mushers in Florida and a handful around the country. The sport has races; the closest is in Virginia.
“I haven’t really been interested in racing,” McArthur said. “So far it’s something the dogs and I enjoy as a hobby only.”
His favorite thing about the sport, he said, is “how happy it makes my dogs and what a calming effect it has on their entire life.”
Contact Iricka Berlinger at (850) 599-2157 or iberlinger@tallahassee.com.
I think it’s a really good article! Unfortunately, the Sled Dog Action Coalition jumped in and posted two LONG anti-Iditarod comments. And the article didn’t even MENTION the Iditarod!
Anyway, here is the comment I posted on the article:
As a dryland musher myself, I was excited to read this article! Sled dog sports have experienced a huge jump in popularity over the last couple of years. It’s always great when there is coverage of dryland mushing in the Southeast. Mushing is a lot of fun and more and more pet-owners are discovering that the sport can be done with their own dogs!
I was disappointed to see that the Sled Dog Action Coalition has used this article on dryland mushing as a springboard to post anti-Iditarod comments. I know several Iditarod mushers and can say right now that racers who abuse their dogs are rare exceptions. The people I know are amazingly caring and compassionate. I have also met many Iditarod dogs and they are happy, healthy and well taken care of.
Whether it be distance sled racing or dryland fun runs, the love of dogs who LOVE to run and pull is what drives us!
Alice White
Dog & Sled - http://www.dx4solutions.com/dogandsled/
Wolf Moon Dogsledding - http://sleddoggin.com/blogs/wolfmoonsleddog
To read other comments, or to post your own thank-you to the Tallahasee Democrat, click here.