Man's best friends
From the Fond du Lac Reporter
Man's best friends
Smidt teams up with sled dogs for quest
By Carlos Muñoz
The Reporter cmunoz@fdlreporter.com
Donald Smidt exercises his huskies near his Van Dyne home. The Reporter photo by Patrick Flood
Donald Smidt said he went to "hell and back" with 16 Siberian huskies during the 2007 Iditarod Trail sled dog race in March.
Six of the veteran sled dogs will race with Smidt at the Yukon Quest, which begins Feb. 9 in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.
The Van Dyne area resident gained respect for his team, which took 16 days, 11 hours, 42 minutes, 58 seconds to finish the Iditarod in 57th — second from last place.
The team never challenged for the title, which went to Kasilof, Alaska's Lance Mackey. Mackey won in 9 days, 5 hours, 8 minutes, 41 seconds.
The Smidt team moved at 2.84 mph during the 1,500-mile dog race. They faced high winds, difficult mountain passages and not enough snow, which made the trail slower than normal.
Smidt treated his huskies as equals, taking extra time to rest and care for them at checkpoints.
"The dogs and I now have a bond that is totally different," Smidt said. "It is respect. I know the dogs wake up in the morning, and they look at the world differently.
"Even starting this year out with my veteran dogs (preparing for the Yukon Quest race), they know they can accomplish anything. They trained, and they've basically been to hell and back and they can do anything. Nothing can stop them."
Twenty-six of the 83 mushers who started did not finish the Iditarod, and Smidt made it to the finish in Nome on his first try with all 16 huskies.
No rookie team has ever finished the race with 16 American Kennel club-registered Siberian huskies.
Orion, Summer, Dudley, Zelda, Lobo, Kiara, Ikon, At'um, Tasha, Bosley, Monty, Blizzard, Heart, Squire, Willie and Rider earned the right to become certified sled dogs, and a "S.D." will be tagged the end of their names forevermore.
Smidt said his huskies deserve the esteem. Many of them were show dogs before the competition.
"It's just amazing when you think of 1,500 miles, how far it is when you get in your car, or feel what you feel when you're in the car," Smidt said. "They just kept putting one foot in front of the other. They come into the checkpoint you give them their bail of straw, vet goes over them and you feed them, water them and you lay down for an hour (with them). Hour-and-a-half and get up again.
"They basically sleep during the whole time you put booties on and take the booties off. They pretty much eat and lay back down again."
The huskies remained determined after more than two weeks pulling a sled through icy terrain, which included wind chills that plunged to 80 degrees below zero.
The Smidt team camped when temperatures fell dangerously low. The team huddled together next to a fire in a tent, far from the safety and warmth of any buildings.
"It's phenomenal to see that they get that much drive into them to do that many miles," Smidt said. "Can you imagine waking up in the morning and knowing you are going to do 60 miles and then lay down for 6 hours and do another 60 miles? The athleticism and the respect you learn for the dogs — what they can endure — is phenomenal."
The Smidt team had its special personalities, including Heart, who ran like a champion and Orion, a natural leader.
"Heart, last year, was a sweetheart all through training," Smidt said. "When it came to the trail, when you threw the food down, (none of the other dogs) touched her food.
"At'um and Montie, it didn't matter how many miles we went or how many hours we sat at the checkpoint, when I said 'Go,' they started barking and yapping. They were motivators for the team. When it's time to go, it's time to go."
Most of the huskies came from Howl 'N Winds Kennels, which is co-owned by Smidt and Denise Cwiok.
Cwiok said she refers to the huskies as "her kids."
On the trail, the huskies wore more than 1,500 booties to protect the padding of their feet, and they also had on jackets to keep in their heat.
A grade school in East Troy donated Packers booties, which were worn during the start of the race. Each bootie costs a dollar to make.
"I happen to have Orion, and I know that dog will do things for me just as long as he understands what he's supposed to do," Smidt said. "He'll endure whatever it takes to get me where I need to go. That's the commitment the dogs start to pick up on you and you have with them. It's a respect back and forth.
"It's a team effort and you are basically just the coach and telling them what to do and guiding them through their difficulty. They need to have faith that you aren't going to put them some place and jeopardize them. You have to be smart and not jeopardize them."
The 1,100-mile Yukon Quest race will finish in Fairbanks, Alaska.
