Last Rally of the Season Quithel, Fetteresso, Stonehaven

Prizes won. (Minus T-Shirt)

Well, the 25th and 26th of March saw our last competitive rally of the season. The inaugural Quithel rally hosted by Wattie and Wendy McDonald within the boundaries of the sizeable Fetteresso forest 25 miles south of Aberdeen. Access to the trail and the carpark in this section of the forest had been kept open mainly to the efforts of Wattie and local farmer Bruce Begg who had been clearing snow off the trail and access routes for a week previous. If this hadn't been done, no-one would have got to the forest in the first place. It was a trial rally for this venue and it was not hosted by any of the official clubs. It was good to see such a turnout despite the weather. The rain didn't let up for the entirety of Friday and Saturday resulting in a thorough soaking for those competing, but the hard trails held up very well to the pounding. The fact that the organizers had arranged free overnight parking with the forestry commission some 50 yards from the start and finish lines was much appreciated. The efforts of those who raised sponsorship for the event resulting in the high quality and number of prizes and free food and soft drinks all day Saturday was also appreciated by all. Saturday night ended with a bonfire in the car park and the rain even went off for an hour.
Sunday morning was entirely different, clear skies and a rising temperature in contrast to Saturday. Several teams had left the day before due to other commitments, but those who remained had a much more enjoyable day due to the sunshine. Their was variety of teams on display which went down well with the many visitors throughout the day. Siberian huskies were the most prevailent , but also present were Alaskan Malamutes, Samoyeds, Scandinavian Hounds and a springer spaniel (Eh? Mr Sugars). The inclusion of a J-Zero class (well improvised Wattie) meant that there was a prize and t-shirt for every competitor, including a first time musher, Kara Thain (age 6) who enjoyed her 200yd (5 miles to her!) one dog jaunt between the finish and start line, even managing an impromptu 'scoot' much to the amusement of the spectators.. Lets hope that this event is repeated with the same success next year, not only because it was enjoyed by all but because it is the closest to our house!!

Oh, Team Finneskoe had mixed fortunes on the medal board, Jackie achieved a first place in the 2 dog class with the two youngest members of our squad, well done to them all, In the three dog class, she came 5th out of 5 and was rewarded with the wooden spoon for the event, it is claimed that that is what she was aiming for. I would like to congratulate her for her achievements in 2005-2006 where she attended most rallies unaided (unhindered) by me. Here's to 2006-2007.

How We Got Started. & Our First Dog

Otto As A Pup

In The Run


Newbies

In 2001 Jackie and I had decided that we would like a dog. Having owned a selection since we were kids, among them Collies, Labs, Retrievers, German Shepherd, we looked around. Studying various sites on the internet, we noticed that there was an established dog mushing fraternity in Scotland and having recently given up cross-country competition on horses, Jackie identified it something to look into.

We browsed the internet and read a lot of books and realised that Siberian Huskies are a special breed with their own quirks (See some of the sites on the links section for breed details). We made an approach to a musher in Edinburgh through his website (see 'Alemanias' under 'links') and without having met us, Mike and Steffi Ludwig invited us to have a blether with them and see their 'pack'. It is entirely due to the initial meeting with Mike and Steffi that our interest in the sport developed and we thank them for that. Mike and Steffi suggested that we were doing the right thing and to keep attending rallies/going to events and meeting(annoying) people as we had been doing just to get a feel for it and pick up some do's and dont's. So, there we were, travelling sometimes 400 miles just to hang around and try to speak to people in the know. This is before we got a dog but it is the best way. (It's interesting nowadays to see new people coming up to us sheepishly at rallies the way we did 5 years ago. This is why, I generally craic away with anyone, time allowing, ( the way Messrs Hogg, Shillito, Shaw, Emery, Murray, Webb, Robertson, Byrne and many others did with us in those early days.)

We had been looking for our first pup but it has been noticed since then that with husky litters , like buses there are invariably none available then a load appear at once. Anyway, Mike informed us that he was expecting a litter off Jake and Laska. It was the Ludwigs first attempt at breeding and they were as excited as us, although there were no guarantees of a pup, we requested a male.

Laska gave birth to 2 pups on 30/6/2002 and it was a boy and a girl. We were in luck. Mike and Steffi wanted to keep the bitch and decided that we could have the dog. ('Alemanias Amaruit')We visited our pup 3 or 4 times during his initial few weeks and at last, in late August 2002, we got to take him home. It was an uneventful journey, Jackie sat in the back with the pup. He shut his eyes to sleep as we crossed the Forth Bridge and headed north, only opening them at journeys end. The most memorable thing about the journey for me was having to cover over 70 miles with the windows open due to a flatulence problem the pup had. I reckon Mike had given him beans prior to our arrival. It was thoughtful of him to try and make the journey more exciting. (!)

We had decided to name our pup 'Otto' before taking him home mainly because we liked the sound of it but no doubt the Teutonic influence of his first few weeks swayed us a little. Mike spent months trying to get us to call him 'Kahn' after the German goalkeeper and kept calling Otto 'Kahn' after we had him, only stopping when he was being ignored by the dog! - For those who have seen Oliver Kahn in action, I still maintained that 'Kahn' is the German word for 'over elaborate technique'.

We were visited by 'Team Ludwig' about 3 weeks after Otto had left them and he was settling in fine. His training developed and after about a year, he was entered for his first rally, (Mike kindly lent us Laska (Otto's mum) to run with him. He is now an accomplished sled (Or rig) dog. Training him in harness with the rig for the first time was a good laugh, he just trotted along sniffing the grass. Compare that to the nitrous-oxide charged rhino who pulls us to the start line now!
Otto, as our first dog, is a bit special. He is nearly 4 now and now that we have other dogs, he is the pack leader... (for the time being!)...He is an extremely intelligent and handsome dog.

In late September 2004 we were lucky to be able to get two more pups from Mike and Steffi from the same parents as Otto. They (Baako and Donnan) performed very well in their class for their first season and look good for the future.

Alemanias website can be accessed by clicking on the link under 'Links' on this page.

(I will talk about the other dogs in other posts.)

Scottish Springtime

Donnan awaits a snowball

The heavy snow of the past week may have annoyed motorists, but not me. It covered all the holes in the garden for once making it look splendid. (It wont last) :o( Here's a few photos of the boys having a good time.