The Dog I've Always Wanted

Thanks to Danes in Distress and Bruce Jones for helping to re-home Darya

For those of you are getting excited about the Iditarod here’s a taste of last year’s. The ceremonial start of 2009 Iditarod took place today in Anchorage; the real race starts tomorrow from Willow.

You’ll like Libby Riddles after sharing the detailed account of her 1985 Iditarod victory. Essentially a trail journal, with a separate thread addressing various subjects including technical information and anecdotes, the narrative moves along with each chapter covering a separate leg of the race. The title page for chapters includes a map showing the team’s progress. Narrated in a straight ahead manner the book gives one a remarkable insight into the qualities it takes to run the Iditarod and win. It is impossible not to develop a good deal of empathy for Libby as she pushes herself on and on through levels of exhaustion that most of us can (thankfully) only imagine.

Libby Riddles hails from Madison, Wisconsin and came to Alaska at the age of sixteen and never left. In fact she became a true Alaskan. Her courage and determination fill the pages of the book. Her ability to persevere under extreme conditions is admirable. Although as she says herself, “I had never thought much about being the first woman to win the race. I thought of myself as just a sled dog racer, not a woman sled dog racer.”; she is an undeniably strong role model for young women. Mushing is an unusual sport in that men and women can compete as physical equals; to a large extent age isn’t even an issue. Perhaps the same intangible element powers both the successful mushers and their dogs, the will to keep going forward. [Read more]

Gary Paulsen is an Iditarod racer who happens also to be a writer or vice verso. This is his tale of training for and running his first Iditarod. It is an account rich in humour and profound insights into both his own nature and that of the dogs. An important component of Paulsen’s approach involved living so closely with his dogs that he essentially became a dog in his perceptions and point of view. He slept in the dog yard in a sleeping bag. This reminded me of very beautiful piece of writing by the late Canadian writer Timothy Findley who did exactly the same thing on his farm in south western Ontario. He too wanted to experience life from his dogs point of view in order to better understand them. It was important to him to see what it is that the dogs do out there alone, together at night. These are the actions of a person dedicated to a very deep relationship with dogs. Be the dog. [Read more]