Is there anyone out there?
Jan Hoy
I've just got on the net, and I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. I'm
trying to find news/discussion groups on sleddogs, and so far, this is all I
can find, but there is no news on it - surely I CANNOT be the first?
Where are all you mushers?
I have been running dogs for 5 years. I run a four dog Siberian team - all
bitches in the UK. My husband will move up from a two dog team to four dog
this season, so there will be a bit of family rivalry, and our three
children all race too. Our kennel is a real mixed bag - Zero, Seppala, Zoox
and Danish import lines, and we also have a Samoyed, that our daughter runs.
I enjoy the more competetive side of racing the dogs - my husband is less
interested in competition and more interested in the social/trekking events.
I am very open minded regarding the sport in the UK. Although I have no
intention of running open breeds myself, I have no problem with others
running them, as I can understand that with the quarantine laws changing,
new opportunities are opening up to UK mushers, and with the chance to
compete in Europe, the more competetive mushers need to compete on a level
playingfield, and in Europe this means using open breeds. However, I do
feel that certain prominent mushers in the UK are trying to ram open breeds
down the less competetive mushers throats, and this is doing the sport in
the UK no favours.
My husband is very anti-openbreeds, so we have some very heated discussions
in this house!!!
He is mostly worried about the effect that the publics perception of non
traditional sleddog breeds being used for 'pulling' will have on the sport.
Will we have problems with animal activists etc?
I know this is a much talked about issue, and you are probably sick of it.
Open breed racing is here to stay -for good or bad - anyway, but I am still
interested in your views on this and any other issues.