Pippin - On The Trail
Pippin finished his Working Dog title in 2008, shortly after he turned a year old so he was doing 15 mile runs fairly early on. His only issue when he was younger was that he would pull so hard early on that he could tire himself out before the end of the run. However, with age and maturity he learned to pace himself better and turned into one of our main leaders obtaining his Working Lead Dog title in 2011. Ever since then he has been upfront of the team, first with his mother, then his daughter and grand daughters, still running in harness and leading at 10 years of age.
He is a serious, hard working boy in harness who has always been the one I rely on to get me up the hills. He is not our fastest dog anymore but we can rely on him to keep the line tight and the team going down the trail at a good steady pace. He also listens pretty well to commands, is generally excellent on his "on bys" and with the larger teams he is fairly good at keeping the team to the right side of the road. He has always been a great eater even when the girls are in season which is important in a sled dog that needs those calories for energy.
He is a serious, hard working boy in harness who has always been the one I rely on to get me up the hills. He is not our fastest dog anymore but we can rely on him to keep the line tight and the team going down the trail at a good steady pace. He also listens pretty well to commands, is generally excellent on his "on bys" and with the larger teams he is fairly good at keeping the team to the right side of the road. He has always been a great eater even when the girls are in season which is important in a sled dog that needs those calories for energy.
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Those who seriously work their dogs in harness know that it takes time to learn everything that is needed to be a good sled dog. It also takes maturity to have the toughness of mind to keep going down the trail no matter what the weather for 70-100 miles in a day. Most really good sled dogs are just starting to come into their own at 5 years of age and continue running in harness to 10-14 years of age. This is why it is such a mistake to breed for a dog for the show ring that looks mature at a young age and "over-done" by the time they are 5 years of age. Such a dog would not be physically capable of doing the work in harness just when it was gaining the knowledge and toughness needed for the work. Those who care about the Siberian's ability to work in harness know the importance of slow maturity and soundness that lasts! I have certainly learned this lesson with Pippin and Jive.
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These photos show how Pippin and Jive went from a gangling youngsters to beautiful adults. It is this slow maturing that has allowed them to continue to work in harness later in life. Pippin is still my main leader at 10 years of age and Jive still ran this past year at 12 years of age!
I also really like this video of the dogs running on the Rails to Trails trail in 2014. It is long, about 12 minutes, but you will see the difference that maturity makes in the dogs' performance, particularly as they go by some people with a dog. Pippin, who is 7 in the video is running lead with his 5 year old daughter, Ali. In the middle is 1 year old River and in wheel 9 year old Jive (black girl) beside 3 1/2 year old Crash. About 7:50 minutes into the video the dogs go past the people with the dog. Both River and the still young Crash are highly distracted and try to go to the dog. Pippin and Ali on the other hand don't even look at the dog and Jive blocks Crash from going too far in the dog's direction. Click on link to view: Run2014March1st
Pippin digging in to get the ATV moving.
