My Alaskan Adventure

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130 – February, 2024

By Edy Dykstra-Blum

About a year ago I met Tom Schonberger at a show where we were on the same judge’s panel. In our discussions, he told me he breeds Siberian Huskies and also his passion is the sport of mushing with his dogs–especially long-distance mushing. I received an invitation to judge in Alaska in November and told him my desire to go on one of his training runs and watch the dogs work in harness.

Tom shows his dogs in conformation with the same dogs that run on his sled dog team. Tom competed in the 2018 Iditarod with 16 Siberian Huskies. The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile long race that runs from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. He continues to run his dogs in harness training approximately four times a week from early September to early April.

Last November my friend, Holly Holbrook, and I flew to Alaska, where I was judging for 3 days. Tom arranged to take us out with his team. On Monday after the show, Tom picked us up from the hotel to go to his house and get the dogs ready. He showed us his fabulous kennel set-up and the dogs. To get the dogs ready, they need to be hydrated (watered) first. As soon as he came with the water bucket, the dogs got excited since they knew they would get to go play.

After the hydration, they went outside to run and do their business. They were barking, whining and ready to run; and the excitement among them was building. Tom then loaded the dogs in his dog truck. The dog truck is a 3/4 ton truck with a specially designed dog box to safely transport the dogs, sleds and gear. Each box has the same dimensions as a 400-size airline crate.

Click here to read the complete article
130 – February, 2024

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