The Dust Is Flying and the Dogs Are Running
October 20, 2002

Snowcrest Racing Huskies, Seeley Lake, MT
Jim Gallea, reporting for Cindy Gallea, 

The dry weather over the last few weeks has made the trails very dusty, as they were when this picture was taken during training last fall.

The dust is flying in Big Sky Country as the eager sled dogs from Snowcrest Kennel take to the foothills of the Montana Rocky Mountains!  Training has been under way for several weeks at Snowcrest (my family's racing kennel), and my mom, Cindy, will be running the upcoming Iditarod with our racing team.  Cindy is the most experienced Iditarod musher in our family, and this will be her fourth Iditarod.  

Both my mom and I are very excited about this year's team.  We have been breeding, raising, and training dogs for over 16 years, and, like many long-time mushers, many of the dogs in our current team have ancestors who have been faithfully running with us since we began our lives as mushers.  We are proud of how far we have come over the years, and we are looking at a great group of dogs that will serve us well in the months ahead.  We know that the team has a lot of potential--this is the same team that I ran last year, and we are confident that they can do even better this year.

Cindy's team trying to run over the photographer while on a training run.  Whorf and Ruby are the lead dogs.

In western Montana, the months of September and October can still be hot and dry, so training is done early in the morning or late in the evening, and, of course, the dogs pull four-wheelers rather than dog sleds.  Currently, my mom is running the dogs on ten mile runs four days a week.  (Click here to learn more about fall training)  These runs offer a great opportunity to test out the "new recruits."  These new recruits add more depth and versatility to the team and replace a few key older dogs (8 or 9 years old) that are retiring from the main team.  Additions to this year's team include eight two-year-olds that my mom ran in last year's Race to the Sky as well as two new lead dogs that we purchased in the "off season."  The young dogs have to learn that training for the Iditarod is a little more intense and slightly more serious than the wild and reckless days of their youth.  Apparently the lesson to not eat harnesses and chew on the dog next to you wasn't learned too well last year, but that seems to be the case every year.  The new lead dogs have to become accustomed to their new driver and build the all-important respect for and bond with their musher.  One of the new lead dogs is named Kubota, and according to my mom, "He pulls like a tractor!"  

But Kubota is not the only hard working member of the team.  Naturally, the rest of the dogs are pulling their own weight, but their musher is truly amazing.  Cindy is not only training for the Iditarod, but she is also working three days a week as a family nurse practitioner (sort of a cross between a doctor and a nurse) in Missoula, 60 miles south of our kennel.  When she isn't working with patients, my mom is training, feeding, and caring for 50 sled dogs.  Her lifestyle doesn't comes with little sleep and no days off.  She is driven to do this.  

Cindy pets Snickers before a training run last year.  Snickers and his brother Chips are two of the "new recruits" in this year's racing team.  (photo taken last winter)

Why do such a thing?  The answer is simple:  my mom loves her job, and she loves mushing.  She wants to do both, and, luckily, the job in Missoula comes with a regular paycheck!

Another bit of good luck is that my mom has a helper that works as hard as two regular handlers.  Brooke Delwo, a local high school student who was a huge help last year, has returned to the kennel to again this season.  In addition to helping with feeding and cleaning up after the dogs, Brooke is almost single-handedly training the yearling team this year with the intention of entering them in a few races once the snow flies.  Brooke has been raised around horses, and her good "animal sense" is evident in everything she does with the dogs.  She's a natural, and we really appreciate her help.  We'll be sure to keep an eye on Brooke and her team as winter rolls around!

Well, I think that's enough for now, but we'll be sure to keep you posted on all the goings-on at Snowcrest Kennel in Montana as well as Seavey's Iditarod Racing Kennel in Alaska as Ultimate Iditarod continues to bring a complete inside look at the mushers and dogs of the Iditarod.  

Until next time,

Jim Gallea (for Cindy Gallea, who is working late at the clinic)

© 2002 Ultimate Iditarod, Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs, Seavey's Iditarod Racing Team
Reproduction or distribution in any way or by any means prohibited without permission.
Ultimate Iditarod http://www.ultimateiditarod.com  email: dogboy@ultimateiditarod.com