Life with Siberian Huskies

You hear a lot about maintaining balance in your life.

You should not overindulge in anything in life you love because it will kill you in the end. To a certain extent that is true if you are talking about drugs, booze, adrenaline, salt, food, and whatever else you love.

Some people are germaphobes, afraid of germs on almost anything. Some are afraid of pesticides, some are afraid of tainted romaine lettuce, others feel threatened by global warming. The list goes on and on depending on the person.

If all good dogs go to heaven, and all good people as well, why do we fear death? Why does every living thing cling to life with everything they have? Wouldn’t it be easier to say this road is too hard, I’m checking out and going to heaven?

When I seek answers to questions like this I turn to the dogs for an answer. They have been here for thousands of years before me, and surely they have the wisdom to enlighten me.

Dogs don’t have Gods that I know of. They have a love of life that is unprecedented by human standards. They don’t care about keeping up with the Jones family next door. They care about living each moment they have left and milk it for whatever they can get.

Does that mean there is no life after death? I don’t know but I do know that if this is the only life I get, I want to get the most out of it that I can. I want to follow the lead of those who have lived thousands of years longer than me. They appreciate each moment and each breath they get.

The problem with higher intelligence is we think too much. We miss our callings in life. We worry and complain about things that in the big scheme of life really don’t mean that much at all.

The dogs who are subject to the will of their owners are constrained by crates, rules, etc. but they take it all in stride. They live for those moments in time when they are free to be what we made them. And they love us with everything they have.

That is their calling, to live for those moments, and that is why sled dogs run. That is why Border collies herd, and that is why police dogs take down bad guys, and service dogs lead the blind. They do it because that is what they love, and what they were bred to be. And we… the creators of their breed and passions are responsible. It is a disservice to reject what we made them. We should help them fulfill their lives, not deny them the very things we created them for.

To deny the dogs their passion is the same as denying your own children education, College, and a real future. In return, these beast teach us that to deny our own passions is also a sin. If this is the only life we get what are we going to do with it?

There are those of us whose needle is more on the excessive side of life. We are driven by some passion, and won’t settle for less than to achieve it. I guess that is the balance between underachieving and overachieving. We balance each other out in the big scheme of life. You have to choose your side and be happy with it.

I happen to know what I’m going to do, do you?

May your trail be easy, and your snow packed and fast.

I find it interesting that groups like PETA prefer to try and shut down a dog sled race, but let humans kill themselves climbing Mt. Everest. It’s okay for people to die doing what they love, but not dogs.

To top this off, they prefer that all dogs should be euthanized in order to be “Free” of them of being slaves.

So if I understand this right, humans are allowed to kill themselves, but dog sledding should be banned and the dogs should be killed by PETA instead of risking a death doing what they love.

Now I may not be the smartest person on earth, but to me, that is some messed up thinking. Dog’s lives are more important than humans, but they should be killed anyway to set them free. How Fucked up is that logic?

This kind of thinking is what is ruining the world right now. In fact, it is not even thinking, its called blind faith, and fanaticism. Where an ideal or misguided concept is more important than the truth.

Number of people that have reached the summit of Mt. Everest: 4000 since 1953
Number of human deaths attempting the summit: Over 250

Number of people that have finished the Iditarod: Less than 1000 since 1973
The number of dog deaths: 143 is the best estimate I can find.
The number of human deaths: Zero that I can find.

I think Sir Edmund Hillary’s comment explains the Iditarod better than I ever could.

“People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.” ~Sir Edmund Hillary.

This is what the Iditarod is about, accomplishing an extraordinary thing with the help of their dog partners. For without them its a 1000 mile walk.

For those who believe you can force dogs to run should read this book. Everyone else should read it as well. A great story of a woman’s battle with her own loss and fears. A true story of courage in many ways besides just dogs. I thought it was so well written and tells of her two tries to finish the Iditarod at age 47. A story of human compassion, and the trials and tribulations of life both for humans and dogs.

What does thousands of years of breeding The Dogs of Winter produce?

It produces a family member who loves children, works hard, and is a true partner and family member. The lessons learned in the harshest of lands on earth brings the warmth of love and companionship. The love of a dog must never be squandered. For this is the bond they give to us forever.

You don’t want to fool a Siberian, they remember it forever.

Be this person:

Dr. Douglas Willet was born on May 25, 1937, on a farm in Adams County, North Dakota. His love of sports, animals, and the great outdoors would lead him down a trail of dog sled racing and breeding. A journey that lasted over 30 very successful years with the Seppala Siberian Sleddogs.

From 1974 – 2010 Douglas Willett, competing in over 200 races, totaling more than 12,000 miles, was a dominant force in Mid-Distance sled dog racing in the lower 48 states and Canada. With at least 79 first place, 32-second place, and 29 third place finishes in his career. Douglas and his Seppala Siberian Sleddogs, racing in the open class proved that the Alaskan Huskies could be beaten with purebred Siberians.

This book chronicles his racing and kennel breeding history. It gives you the history of the Seppalas along with his detailed breeding records (91 Litters, and over 400 Seppala dogs produced) many of which went on to other kennels to become outstanding performers.

And let’s not forget about the dogs. Over 250 photos with at least 150 of them in color showing many of these famous Racing Siberian Huskies and Seppala Siberian Sleddogs from that time period. This book is his story and legacy…a journey with the Seppala Siberians. I invite you to relive this remarkable journey.

Available on Amazon worldwide:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1725505223

Ignorant narcissists

Allodoxaphobia is the fear of opinions. The origin of the word allo is Greek (meaning different), dox is Greek (meaning opinions and phobia is Greek (meaning fear). Allodoxaphobia is considered to be a social phobia known as Social Anxiety.

What better place to build your resistance to this phobia than social media? For if you have an opinion you will find it rare that anyone agrees with you. As in most things, dogs have the answers to many of our own problems.

I can’t imagine a Siberian Husky caring what anyone thinks of them. They remain true to what they are and go their own way. For the most part this is true of all dogs not just Huskies.

Bernard Baruch put it well when he said, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

So here is my opinion today on Activist groups like PETA, VEGANS, Anti-Vaxxers etc.

They are in fact “Ignorant narcissists.”

Narcissists aren’t planned in their intent, they are planned only on their motive. Whereas, the sociopath is planned in both. Narcissists aren’t ill-intentioned per se, they’re emotionally ill-equipped to safely reach their motive without wreaking havoc on others.

What separates this mental illness from the rest of us is easy to understand. I have my opinions and you have yours. These people want to change the laws and force you to believe and live as they do.

That would be the same as me passing laws to make them eat meat, mush dogs, race horses etc. I wouldn’t care if they liked it or not because it’s all about ME!

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776:

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Stay out of my Happiness.

Now I’m not much of a churchgoer. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe, it means I don’t believe in manmade temples built on the potential profits sheared from the flock. I believe in what is real to me, what is proven to me.

And what has been proven to me is the love of a dog or dogs as the case might be is real. They have a purpose in their short lives, and that singular purpose in life is to love us.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought:

“Damn, I’m old!”
“My hair fell out!”
“I have more wrinkles”
“I’m overweight”
“I’m poor”
“I’m dumb compared to most”
“My life sucks!”

When that happens all you need to do is look at your dog. They don’t see or think that. What they see is you as the love and the purpose of their life. They see your heart, and that is all that matters to them.

That’s what they give us.

I think a lot about my dogs and yours too. I’m partial to sled dogs but I’ve owned and bred many different breeds. GSD’s are probably my second choice to Huskies because I started with them and learned how to train them to be police dogs. But comfort dogs that spend their whole lives with humans are also not forgotten by me. They provide a service just as important as the working breeds. They all have jobs of one kind or another, for work and a purpose in life is important to all living things.

The GSD’s have that built in protection gene, the need to guard something or defend something. Sled dogs have the built-in genes to pull and run for adventures that lie around the next bend in the trail. Both are fearless when it comes to doing what they do. They don’t think about it, they do it. It’s what they are.

There are so many different breeds of dogs and that fits perfectly with so many types of humans. Finding your match is what it’s all about. Grandma doesn’t need a high powered sled dog any more than I need a Yorkshire terrier to boss me around the house.

But I will tell you that when you find that match to your own persona it makes dog ownership something really special. To say that dogs should run free is akin to stupidity. They would not survive without us. Thousands of years of this partnership has been ingrained into them, they have long lost the ability to survive on their own. We have changed them into what they now are, and it’s our responsibility to honor those changes.

We need them as much as they need us. That is not going to change now because some people think that is what is best for them. Dogs are animals, not humans, to humanize them is the wrong perspective. It is, in fact, detrimental to both the human and the dog.

Breeding dogs: The difference between responsible breeding and puppy mills is easy. Responsible breeders breed dogs that they believe in. It’s not about making money, you only hope to make enough to continue to produce the best puppies that represent the breed that you can.

The responsible breeder has hope, that the next litter will produce a Grand Champion, Iditarod winning Lead dog or a service dog that will lead the blind. When you see those puppies born they are the future of the breed. You have hopeful expectations that they will become what you dream for them. Just as if they are your own children you want them to have happy fulfilled lives.

Puppy mills are about money and only money. The dogs are property and only property. These people do the minimum of care and only if it will produce profits.

The puppies have expectations of us as well.

Will my human be a good owner, or starve and beat me? Will I go to dog college or be chained and forgotten. I’ve seen this look in puppies eyes before. The look of hope and trust that I will help them to become the best that they can be. Unless you have no soul you cannot ignore that look on the face of newborn life.

Bringing dogs into the world comes with a responsibility you must assume. You must do everything in your power to give them the best life you can. Expectations are high for both dogs and the responsible breeder.

Police dogs get killed doing what they were made for, and that is to save lives much like the officer’s that partner with them. Sled dogs die as well, doing a job that they love. Service dogs help and give life to others that have lost all hope.

This is what dogs give to us in just a few of the many ways. All they want in return is to have a good life doing what they were bred for. They have enough problems without activist making them worse.

If you want to humanize dogs then do it fairly. To stop a Greyhound from racing, or to stop a GSD from guarding, or to stop a sled dog from racing, or to stop a Lab from leading the blind is the same as denying your own child college, food and shelter, medical care, and stopping them from having a happy and fulfilled life that matters.

That is what is wrong with Animal rights activist. They choose to deny these animals what they want and need, in order to fulfill some void in their own miserable lives at the expense of others. Nothing matters to them but “Them.” They really don’t care about the dogs. Dogs are just the medium they chose to make them feel better, regardless if it actually does more damage to them.

This is the world we live in now. People are gunned down at random, so what chance do the animals have? Not much except for us, the ones who haven’t lost our minds to reality TV and Celebrity BS.

We are the real Animal Rights protectors. We are the protectors of the breeds we love so much.