ALTA, Wyo. – I’m not sure who’s having more fun, musher Michael Tarver or his sled dogs as we charge on through the white wonderland.
Everything is white.
Massive trees rise in the background and the occasional skier is visible off in the distance, but the dogs are focused as they plow ahead in unison. The team can reach speeds of eight miles per hour for competition, but today’s race is just a short practice run. It’s eerily quite and peaceful.
As we cruise through the snow at Grand Targhee, the only thing for certain is that my feet are cold, and this might be the most magical sport ever invented.
Welcome to the world of dog sledding, nature’s perfect balance of competition and bliss.
For Tarver, who along with his wife Abby, owns a sled dog kennel in Driggs, bliss might be perfect word to describe his passion.
“You get a lot of fulfillment letting the dogs do what they’re bred to do,” he said. “The dogs get a lot of happiness out of running and so I get a lot of happiness by seeing how happy the dogs are.”
Yes, dog sledding is technically a competitive sport, but as Tarver noted, for most, it’s hardly a money-making business. Most mushers run kennels and make their money by taking the dogs out for tours.
Tarver, who has more than 70 dogs at his Call of the WYld kennel, takes the dogs to Targhee or Jackson six days a week to give people (and the occasional sports writer) the chance to ride along and experience dog sledding first hand.
Some kennels also breed sled dogs, but Tarver said his focus is on raising and training dogs.
While the stereotypical sled dog portrayed in movies or cartoons tends to be a big, fluffy husky with blue eyes, the reality is that most sled dogs are slender, longer and have shorter coats.
Tarver’s kennel has Alaskan huskies, Siberian huskies, Greenland huskies and Seppala Siberians.
The Seppalas might be the most interesting breed because of their background.
Quick history lesson: In 1925, Leonhard Seppala and his dog team spearheaded by lead dog Togo, transported serum hundreds of miles through rough Alaskan territory to Nome as an outbreak of diphtheria took hold in the remote area.
According to mushmain.com and the Poland Spring Seppalas site, many mushing teams formed relays across Alaska to get medicine to Nome, but “Nome residents trusted Leonhard Seppala as the fastest and most secure musher for the job, so they sent him south to intercept the relay … Most teams traveled an average of 30 to 50 miles. But the contribution of Leonhard Seppala and his team of Siberians led by Togo are unrivaled. Togo led Seppala and the team through a deadly storm and across Norton Sound twice on their trip to save time and save lives.”
It’s a heartfelt story. Enough so that Disney made a movie about it titled Togo.
Back at the kennel in Driggs, Tarver’s passion for his dogs also has a historic theme.
The Seppala lineage is rare, but Tarver has them in the kennel and features them in races.
“I like the historical significance of the Seppalas,” he said, noting that races usually hold a separate event where people can meet the mushers and interact with dogs. Spectators or just casual observers get a chance to learn some dog sledding history.
“That’s important to me to grow the sport of dog sledding,” Tarver said. “A lot of people have only heard about it maybe in a cartoon on Disney. Or they heard about the Iditarod.”
Did we mention the Iditarod?
The sport’s premier race is held annually in Alaska and covers more than a 1,000 miles through some of the state’s most beautiful, picturesque and grueling landscapes.
Some mushers might dream about competing in the Super Bowl of dog sledding, but Tarver said the local reach of his kennel is what fuels his business and his passion.
“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” – Roger Caras, American naturalist, animal welfare activist, wildlife photographer and writer.
It’s feeding time at the Call of the WYld and excited barking fills the chilled air. The ages of the dogs vary from 12 weeks to 14 years old.
The 14-year-old dogs are retired from competition, but have their own backyard area to roam and play.
One older dog has transitioned into a comfortable house dog, Tarver said, but most prefer to be outside and their boundless energy requires a lot of training from a young age.
Once they’ve mastered the harnesses and become socialized with people, then their natural instinct to run takes over. Training can be a 45-mile run on a cold morning.
“A walk around the block doesn’t cut it for them,” Tarver said.
“For the most part these dogs get fulfillment from being a sled dog,” he said. “It’s kind of what drives them. A lot of people have Labrador retrievers. How crazy they can be about a tennis ball, these guys are crazy about running. A Labrador will chase a tennis ball all day. These guys will run all day.”
The dogs can also have a competitive nature, Tarver said. If they see a team ahead of them in a race, the pace suddenly picks up and the chase is on.
As for the competitive part of the sled dog business, Tarver races occasionally and typically in 100-mile events. He’s competed in the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge last month in McCall but was unable to finish due to severe avalanche conditions. He also competed at the Race to the Sky event in Montana.
Tarver said he typically finishes in the middle of the pack or sometimes toward the end.
But it doesn’t really matter.
Tarver said he considers racing more of a hobby than a competitive endeavor.
But of course, there’s more to it.
“When traveling at night it’s a lot of fun because it’s just you and the dogs,” he said. “It’s also very peaceful when you’re out there running … It’s quiet, but when they’re running you just hear them breathing. In some of the races it snows so hard you could barely see your lead dogs. You have a lot of trust in your lead dogs. It’s fun when it all works out.”
“In tether and harness they’ll run
And the dogs think this is all such great fun
Thru the mountains and along mighty rivers
Just the thought makes most mankind shiver
-Dog Mushers Legacy by William Miller
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