American Dog Derby

Saturday dawned a beautiful blue sky day. Never mind the mountains of snow still gracing every inch of our yard and driveway. This was the perfect day for...going to the oldest dog sled race in the country. The American Dog Derby has been held every year since 1911 in Ashton, Idaho, only 25 minutes from our house. So we got up and bundled everyone in their finest snow gear and were off for Ashton. Not just to see the dogsled races. This was a family affair, including the fairest dog of them all-Jackson. While the crowds waited to cheer the dog teams onto the finish line, there were lots of activities to keep everyone and their dogs warm....


No, you are not seeing things. This really is a picture of Jackson in a harness, ready to pull Ryan in a SKIJORING race. Nifty word, eh? This event had 13 entries. The idea is for the dog to pull you while you cross country ski, or skate ski. The other competitors had sleek, trained, sled dogs that started sprinting as soon as their owner said go. Jackson is a purebred golden retriever. That about says it all. Bred to retrieve. To hang out his tongue and pant. To cuddle and nuzzle and be your best friend. To run along side you. Not to pull you, to be ahead and lead you. Ryan found that going on a nearly 4 mile ski can take a lot longer with a curious puppy who likes to sniff other dogs poo in the middle of the trail. It was fun for him though. He did pass the lady who had some sort of little chiuahua trying to pull her.



All the kids entered a snowshoe race for their age group. Here is Spencer all lined up ready to go. He did not win, but did have a fun time. Lindsey also ran and did just fine.



We found that Porter might have a talent... For the 5-6 year olds, there were 4 heats with about 5 kids in each race. He won his race (with a nice gap between him and the 2nd place kid. Actually, at the beginning of the race, he fell down, got up, caught up, and passed everyone). So each winner ran a final race to see who the top 3 were. I was totally suprised when he won the final race with ease and grace (hee hee) and got 1st place out of 19 kids!! His prize was picking out a fleece hat from the vendor who was selling outside. So I had to put on a video of the final race. He told me later that one of his snow shoes fell off in the middle of the race, which might explain how he pulled ahead a little. But of course, mommy knows he would have gone just as fast with the snowshoe on, right? You might want to push mute if you watch the video, I was kind of excited and was cheering kind of loud for him.



And last but not least, we entered the Mutt Race. Spencer, Lindsey, and Porter each took a turn racing Jackson hooked up to a sled. They weren't timing the races for competition (it was all kids), but they sure did have fun!! This shot is of Lindsey. Notice the gasps as she runs into the sled in front of her.(She forgot to put on the brake like she was supposed to).

It was also fun to cheer as the real sled dog teams crossed the finish line. They had run either a 40, 60, or 100 mile race. We read the book Call of the Wild a couple months ago, so it was cool to see an actual dog sled team, with the dogs all lined up and running.

Check out www.americandogderby.com for cool pictures and information. And as for next year...get your dog harnessed and practicing, because you have a place to stay!!