Feb 26th 2010

Well its been another awesome winter ..

This winter was all about having fun, taking the pressure off to be competitive and just trying to enjoy racing. Well it worked and we had more fun then I think we ever have before. Spring is coming close so we will do a couple of overnight camp trips with the dogs, just hang out and hopefully see some more beautiful trails together. Then its back to Australia, for real this time I promised Jeff!

It's had to accept the need for change, and I will really miss the dogs, the lifestyle and so many great people we have met over here through this sport. But our one year trip to Canada to run dogs has turned into six, it's time to go home. I hope to be back one day but only time will tell.

Life is an adventure
Whats life for, if it's not to get out there, to experience, to live your dreams?

Well our dream is sled dog racing. We are Australians living in Canada fulfilling our dream and loving every minute. We race at an international level and work with every individual dog and strive to bring out their best. We work towards putting together a team of dogs that are firing on all cylinders!

September 23rd 2009

Well finally i get around to an update. I have been living out in the bush all summer so my net time has been fairly limited. For the past couple of summers i have worked as a whitewater raft guide in the rockies, couple of hours north of Calgary. Once again i had an awesome time here are a few pics for you to check out.

Dog training is back, we have reduced our kennel size and decided to spend another winter running dogs. Things are going along well since the weather has started cooperating and we have some cooler weather, we only run when its not too humid and below 10C so the dogs dont overheat. These dogs like to work hard so we have to be a little careful. But things are going great guns, we have 15 dogs and so far they are just making it look like another day at the office. Time to up the milage next week i think and see how things go.

March 27th 2009
It is very heavy hearts that we have decided that we must sell our kennel and move on. Please check out the for sale page for a list all of the dogs and gear available. We hope you will have as much fun with these dogs as we did. They are an awesome bunch of athletes.

March 27th 2009

Fort St James
We travelled over to Fort St James BC and ended up racing in the stage race, despite having trained for the distance, but it all worked out in the end! Travelled over with some musher friends from SK, and we had a great time. The first couple of days we had some issues but on the last day we were able to pull it toegther and have a sweet run, to come in for second place. The dogs all did a great job and I told them many times how proud of was of them.

 

Jan 29th 2009

 

 

Jan 29th 2009Well we are back home safe and sound from our World Championships trip. The dogs are feeling much better, which is great, they were all happy to be home again. So things have slowed down a bit the last few days as Jeff and I both have been sick with the flu, seems its the humans turn to be sick. So we have just been trying to rest up a little and get back to feeling more normal. Not much time for rest though because it's time to get ready for the Canadian Challenge which is in two weeks where Jeff will be racing. So that is our focus now and all our energy is being focused in that direction. Jeff and I have finished second the last two years so cheer us along and hopefully we can go one better this year!

Jan 23rd 2009
8th in the world!
Well the last day things went a bit better for the team, 3 of the dogs were feeling a bit better and were more focused when they were out there. It was a intense day because we had 3 teams behind us trying to chase us down, all 3 teams were within 6 minutes of us. With about 7 miles to go I turned around and saw there was a team back in the distance. So I let the dogs know it was time to pick things up. I worked hard on the sled pushing and kicking with everything I had. They would gain a little distance on us then we would widen the gap. Then we managed to hold on and made it without being passed! i came across the finish line with a big smile and fists pumping. I was proud of the dogs, they gave me everything they had. They day ended with tears of joy and big hugs all around for the pooch.

Stay tuned for more info and pictures to come next week after we get back home.

Jan 20th 2009
What the heck happened
I am left scratching my head after todays run, the first day of the race. I have not done a training run close to that slow the whole season. It was like I was running a completely different dog team. The dogs are happy but are having some gut issues, just not wanting to run like normal. They just want to go slow, its like driving a car stuck in 4 low! We have given them some medicine and changed there feed so it will give there gut a chance to heal and recover so hopefully things will be more normal tomorrow and we can roll along! They are a much better team then the results are showing and we just want to give it our best performance, we have a lot of time to make up but will luck on our side, things will turn for the better. Hell its not over until the fat lady sings right!

Jan 19th 2009
Ready to race! We are here at the world championships and we are ready to roll! We have been here at Daaquam for 2 days now. It has been really nice to settle in and get the lay of the land before we hit the race trail. We have run the dogs twice on the training trail just to get them all stretched out and feeling good after sitting in the truck for 3 days on the drive here.

Things are looking good, the race team has been selected and will be - Roo, Wombat, Thunder, Tea, Puma and Mulga. We had to make a late change to the team. Ceduna will have to sit on the sidelines, she got a slight injury while runnning yesterday, she is doing fine now but just to be sure she will get some time off.

We have met mushers from all over the world and our really enjoying seeing more of small town Quebec. The language barrier has been challenging at times but it is neat to experience a different culture, I even picked up a few french words!

Jan 13th 2009
We are just doing the final prepartions for the team and are getting packed up and ready to leave tomorrow. Everyone is pretty excited, the dogs are happy to hit the road and cant wait to get in the truck and out of this crazy weather. Looking forward to heading over to the east where it has been much warmer then the deep cold of the prairies. Looking forward to beautiful drive along lake superior and lake huron and visiting some places we have never seen before. Looking forward to tasting some real poutine and some lovely bagels!

World Championship official site www.daquaam2009.com

 

NEWS
Jess Allen will be the first Australian to ever compete at the World Championships for sled dog sports. The World Championships will be held in Daaquam, Quebec, Canada, January 16-25. More than 400 teams and 2500 dogs from 5 continents are expected to participate this year.  Aussie Musher Jess Allen will be racing in the 6-Dog Mid distance class.
For more info