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 Husky racing started for me back in 1990 with only
two huskies and Sef my wonderful collie, who thought he was a husky.
My initiation to actually running the dogs in harness
with other teams was fantastic but scary. I followed Tony and Mick later
to become really good friends I survived the day just!
I said goodbye and off I went little did I realise
this was the beginning of a 10 year all consuming passion for me. I was
well and truly hooked, I sold my fancy car, said goodbye to normal life
and bought a van and my own rig (what you stand on to race)
 We ran the dogs Monday Wednesday Friday and Sunday
nights anything from 5- 15 miles. I travelled from Maidstone to
East Sussex after doing a full days work (roughly 60 miles each way!) I
had at least 20 mins at home before loading the dogs and starting off!.
It cost me a fortune however it was worth every penny.
 Apart from running the dogs on snow, you can not beat
the feeling off running the dogs in the dark!! Tony and Mick picked
trials in the forest at night which you could only be described as
suicidal . To start with you were travelling at speeds of 25 mile an
hour plus in the pitch black, with only a little light strapped around
your head, on a rig with brakes that didn’t work when they got wet (same
brakes as on a push bike) imagine trying to stop dogs running at 25
miles an hour with brakes that do not work.
Gradually my thirst for speed and commitment to the
sport grew and I ended up with a team of 10 dogs and an even bigger
vehicle. Over the years the tales I could tell you would make your hair
stand on end. (broken bones, being knocked out by a tree etc)
 We all used to go to race meetings all over the
winter, all round the country, mainly in forests, there was a great
friendly rivalry between us all . In training I ran my collie in lead
position, I really missed him at the races, as he would never let anyone
pass him- a good tactic for winning.
 I eventually persuaded a few other people to run
their other breeds among their teams and the Husky Club had to start a
special class for us to run in.
Once my collie could officially run, his tactic
remained the same and the trophies just kept coming.
He was an exceptional lead dog, so many memories
still very painful to even think about never mind put on paper (buried
up the agility field now chasing bunnies)
Anyway , this is how Niki and I met, at a race, she
worked for Eukanuba who sponsored the race meetings. I won’t bore you
but we hit it off.
Niki also ran her Belgians, she did ok but could not
beat me and my collie, she won in the end we got married in Scotland on
the way to a race, complete with our combined dogs of 22 - yes 22!
 By this time we had a lorry with living for us and
cages for all the dogs, we went together all over the country racing.
You need a lot of help to get 8 dogs to the start line, so you make a
lot of friends. The teams go out in 3 min intervals and the people who
help need to know where the dogs go on the line. Niki was great at
organising everyone- no surprise there!! If you got it wrong you could
lose the race or worse the dogs would fight. You could not hear yourself
talk, the dogs were mad for it, all howling and screaming to go, and
mine seemed to be the worst specially Sef the collie lovely dog at home
but with a harness on so manic he would even bit me. You had to clip him
on the line and move away he would hold the line dead tight and
straight, normally a job for two people. The race was timed and at the
start the timer would count down from 5, it was like turning the volume
up on the dogs by the time you got to go it was just hang on and
pray.
 At the start you were doing nearly 27 miles an hour
until they got into a pace , you just didn’t need anything to go wrong
in the first half a mile because the dogs were not stopping for
anything, 8 dogs very very powerful -. Niki would wait at the finish
line and call the dogs in, my dogs were so fit as soon as they heard
Niki they would run in to the finish at the same speed they started.
After 7 to 10 miles and sometimes more we were knackered and of course
it was winter so you were cold and often wet or frozen.
 As my huskies got older I went more and more with
Niki to agility shows. I used to sit outside the caravan drinking and
taking the piss out of all the handlers specially the men who looked
like a load of …. Well you know what I mean, not in my mind, at that
time a mans sport.
Well now I know what is involved I have changed my
mind. With my husky racing days over I started off in agility by
running one of Niki’s Belgian Shepherds, Kila, we really got on well
and after a few months training I went on to win the Pedigree Dogs In
Need starters Final, That was it I was hooked and the rest is history !
Agility mad Now
Den
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