Excellent post-Christmas run

With continued cool temperatures in southern California, we're able to take the dogs out on slightly longer and faster runs. Only two more weeks until the re-scheduled (not so) Great Serum Run, so we better get them up to speed, plus our local sledding season is about to get going the week after and we want the dogs to be able to handle some decent runs while we're up in the mountains.

And while large portions of the country are currently covered in snow, remember that dryland season is almost year round, so check out our carts and the reviews on our Facebook page, and get your order in today!

Here are some pictures of today's run with the six-dog-team at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa:

Southern California Urban Mushing

Cooler weather in recent days was a nice motivator to get us and the dogs out on the trails for some decent runs at local parks. On Sunday, we met with 7 other scooter teams for a 6-mile run at Aliso Creek Trail in south Orange County. It had been awhile since I ran my three puppies by themselves and it was good to see them working well together. If only our clownboy Silver would rise up to his potential and carry his weight for the entire run.

For updates on our runs, please see the calendar or the Yahoo! Group at www.urbanmushing.com

New date for 4th annual (not so) Great Serum Run

After getting feedback from the registered participants and reviewing the viable options, we have rescheduled the 4th Annual (not so) Great Serum Run to Saturday, January 9, 2010.

This is the soonest date that will work out for most participants. If you've already registered and cannot make that date, we will refund your entry fee (contact our group through info@urbanmushing.com). Of course, this also gives a chance for new dog teams to register for the races!

We'll send out a reminder again in a couple of weeks but everything else remains the same - venue, race classes, barbecue potluck, raffle and t-shirts. Oh yeah, we will once again be raffling off a grand prize --- a brand new Diggler Dirt Dawg courtesy of Diggler Scooters!!!

The Mud Factor

Winter has finally arrived in southern California!
The local mountains received plenty of snow and coastal areas had a few days of measurable rain and cooler temperatures.
Since our "(not so) Great Serum Run" had to be postponed, our "Urban Mushing" group hit the trails around Newport Beach's Back Bay for a run in the rain.
The dogs loved it and made sure to find a mud puddle at every break for extra comfort.




Speaking of mud, we recently shipped our first "mud cart":



By customer request, we added wider tires in the rear, mud guards for the back wheels and footboards that won't allow for mud to build up.
Combined with the bright metallic orange powdercoat paint job for better visibility, this cart is ready for action.

Huskies in need of good homes

We were contacted by a friend about 2 Huskies/Husky Mixes that are in need of a good forever home.

They are:


Violet: 1 year old found running on the I-5 in Sun Valley, CA. She is very sweet and gentle. Loves to be outside, house-trained and crate-trained. She is good with kids and other dogs but doesn't like the cats and feels it is her responsibility to make sure the squirrels stay out of the year. Very typical Husky! She also loves to play "chase me".





and:



Collette: 4 months old. House-trained and very smart. We didn't get one good application from our TV spot Monday. She is playful and loves her chew toys! We think Husky/Shepherd mix



If you are interested in any of these dogs, please contact Pryor's Planet
- by phone (818) 288-0241
- E-Mail admin@pryorsplanet.com
- or on the web www.pryorsplanet.com

We are not in any way affiliated with Pryor's Planet, but always like to help find a great home for a Husky in need.

Remember to check the other rescue sites on the right side of this blog for more available dogs.

4th annual (not so) Great Serum Run Postponed!

Our 4th Annual (not so) Great Serum, originally slated for this Saturday, December 12th, at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa, has been postponed.

Everything is all set --- medals, t-shirts, racing bibs, sponsors, raffle items, barbecue potluck, etc. And on top of that, we are experiencing unusually cold temperatures for this area and it would have been a wonderful and fun opportunity to run the dogs.

The City of Costa Mesa, to which we had to get permission and pay special events and usage fees to, contacted our group an hour ago and has revoked the permit for this weekend. They have determined that due to the soaking the park has received from the heavy rains this past Monday, coupled with the forecast for additional wet weather starting tomorrow (though possibly only showers/light rain), that the trails will be subject to a lot damage IF a large number of scooters and bikes were allowed on it. (FYI, they recently set up new trail systems and are continuing to do so together with a general beautification of the park).

And believe me, this is VERY disappointing as we've made all these preparations and spent all this money to get this set up but there is nothing we can do. It's not being postponed due to the weather but rather the effect past weather has had on the trails.

What are our options? I think there are only two of them at the moment: 1) move the date to Sunday, December 20th (the park is already reserved by the Boy Scouts for December 19), or 2) move the date to sometime in January, probably the January 10th. We have between 60 - 70 entries signed up so far and all will be contacted individually to get their suggestions for a new date.

Let it snow!

It's that time of the year when our friends in the northern states and higher elevations are getting their first taste of snow. Come December, the first snow races are being held in Alaska, with more states to join in the weeks after. Pretty soon, we'll be off to snow country in the Sierra Nevada to get our own fix of snow sledding.

On the weekend of December 10-12, the West Yellowstone Sled Dog Races are being held in West Yellowstone, MT.
Our friends from Jaraw Siberians (CA), R&R Huskies (CA) and Wulik Siberians (WA) will compete in this year's races and we wish them all the best!

For more information about the race, please see their website here.



In the meantime, remember that dryland season is almost year round and if you're in search for a great dryland cart for training or racing, feel free to check us out and send us an e-mail with any questions you may have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The 4th Annual (not so) Great Serum Run, Dec 12th 2009

It is time to go racing!
Our local southern California mushing group is hosting its 4th annual (not so) Great Serum Run on December 12th at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa CA.

Races will be held in a fun and friendly atmosphere in the following classes:

1-Dog / 1-Mile Junior Scooter Race
1-Dog / 1-Mile Scooter Race
2-Dog / 2-Mile Scooter Race
3-Dog / 3-Mile Scooter Race
1-Dog / 2-Mile Bikejoring Race
1-Dog / 3-Km Canicross Race

For more information, registration forms and rules, please see UrbanMushing.com
Registration deadline is December 5th!

After the races, we will have a potluck bbq, raffle and carting demonstrations with 4- 6- and 8-dog teams.

We will have some of our Arctis Carts available for test runs as well.

Fairview Park is located in the city of Costa Mesa on Placentia Ave, between Adams Ave & Victoria St. within minutes of I-405, Hwy 55 and Pacific Coast Hwy

For driving directions, see map here

The Spirit of Central Oregon Mushing Weekend on video

Here's a fantastic video from the mushing weekend in La Pine, Oregon which captured the sprit, the excitement and the madness of numerous teams getting ready to get out on the trails on a cold morning:

Husky Camp 2010 Calendars now available

Husky Camp, a southern California Siberian Husky rescue, has just published their 2010 calendars.
They'll make a great gift and you'll support Husky rescue with your purchase.

For ordering information, please see their website: Husky Camp Calendar

Great Mushing Weekend in La Pine, OR

What a blast we had!
Last weekend, we made the annual trip to central Oregon to attend the mushing weekend, organized by Karen Yeargain. Once again a nice turnout, perfect weather and wonderful people made this weekend a great event. A good sized group of our southern California "urban mushers" made the 850 mile trip to join the fun. Arctis Carts was well represented with a total of 5 carts at the event.



On our way back, Team Arctis stopped in northern California to meet up with Team Humdog for a nice run on the lush local forest trails.
Too bad, not every week consists of 5-day mushing trips.


Coming up this weekend:
Adventure Unlimited Dryland Event in Buena Vista, CO.

This event is organized by the Colorado Mountain Mushers and you can find more information on their website

Next up: Mushing events in Oregon, Washington & Utah

We're staying around the area this weekend to run the dogs locally and to keep building carts for the season.
Next weekend (Nov 7th & 8th), however, we'll be in La Pine, OR for the annual mushing weekend organized by Karen Yeargain. Come join the fun for a great weekend or running dogs in great company.
For more details, please see Karen's website here.

Also next weekend (Nov 7th & 8th), it's the Spokane Dirt Rendezvous in Spokane, WA, organized by the Inland Empire Sled Dog Association. For more information, please see their website.

Last, not least, it's the Round Valley CVM Dryland event in Park City, UT on Nov 7th. This event is organized by Utah paw Power and Cache Valley Mushers, and you can find more information here: Utah Paw Power

All good things have to come to an end, but...

Our free shipping offer has come to an end after two mushers took advantage of it and will soon enjoy their new Arctis carts on their local trails.
However, as previously mentioned, if you are anywhere in the western US and are interested in one of our carts, we can probably work out an excellent shipping rate, because we frequently attend races and other mushing events west of the Rocky Mountains.
Plus, we're now working with a different freight carrier and can offer excellent freight rates anywhere in the US & Canada and possibly overseas as well.
So get your order in and get those puppies moving!

This weekend's schedule: California Mushing Workshop & Washington Rig Race

Finally, finally...the season is well underway. Things are cooling down outside and are heating up around the shop. The tough part is to decide whether to work on the carts or go to the races/meetings...and if it's the latter, which one to go to?

This weekend, we'll be at Karen Yeargain's mushing workshop in Big Bear CA. Unfortunately, registration is closed for this event, but you can check her website for more upcoming events.

"Just up the road" NWSDA is hosting yet another race in Washington: the Roslyn Rig Race on October 24th & 25th. For more information, please contact NWSDA.

Mark your calendars:
November 7th & 8th: Oregon Mushing Weekend
December 12th: (not so) Great Serum Run, southern CA

Just announced: the 4th annual (not so) Great Serum Run

It's once again time to make preparations for our 4th Annual (not so) Great Serum Run (NSGSR - 2009)! This year, we will hold the races on December 12 (Saturday) at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa CA.

For those new to the southern California "Urban Mushing" scene, the NSGSR is our once-a-year scooter race event that is really more of a chance for most of us to get together to run our dogs in a fun, recreational, yet competitive race environment. We have the 1-mile/1-dog, 2-mile/2-dog, 3-mile/3-dog scooter races, a bikejoring class, as well as a 3-Km canicross race and a junior division. The whole point is to get motivated to run our dogs, engage in friendly competition, feel the thrill and excitement as you and your dogs anxiously await your turn to take off at the starting line (and believe me, the dogs can feel it too), and just have a day of fun on the run with your four-footed furballs!

It's a great way to promote the sport and while we mostly focus on the joy and camaraderie of participation, we do award medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place PLUS the coveted Red Flashlight Award (patterned after the Red Lantern Award, which is awarded to the last place finisher in the Iditarod).

More info and details will be posted over the next few weeks.

California Mushing Clinic & Washington Rig Race

Two items on the west coast mushing agenda for this weekend:

Sierra Nevada Dog Drivers are hosting their 12th annual mushing clinic in Truckee CA
For more information, see their website here: SNDD

North West Sled Dog Association is starting the dryland season with their Rig Rendezvous in Roslyn WA. Formore information, contact NWSDA

Mark your calendars for November 7th & 8th. Karen Yeargain of Tumnatki Siberians is organizing once again the Central Oregon Mushing Weekend. More information on her website.

Still waiting for fall to arrive

The forecast was for fall to arrive today, but as it frequently happens, it was "just slightly off". Clear blue skies and typical late summer temperatures in southern California. Nevertheless, our local Urban Mushing group got together at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa for an early morning run, albeit at slow speeds and for limited distances.
We ran three cart teams with 4, 6 and 7 dogs, plus several scooter and bike teams.

Speaking of carts...we still offer free shipping within the continental U.S., see below.

We've joined the facebook community

We finally took the plunge and joined facebook. Please see our page here and become a fan!

Time to kick start the season...free shipping offer for our cart.

Fall is here, finally. While it may not quite feel like running the dogs, yet (at least not in southern CA), we know the mushing season is just around the corner.
So, in order to get off to a great start, we're offering the first new cart to be purchased this fall with free shipping within the continental US (lower 48).
Considering, it's a good 150+ lbs (cart + crate), that's quite an irresistible value.

In addition, we're keeping our introductory price of $1995.- effective, since most (if not all) of the country is still in recovery mode.

Last, not least, if you live in the western US, we may be able to work out a good shipping deal, even if you're not the first in line for free shipping. We have several trips coming up in the next couple of months up and down the west coast and may be able to deliver a cart in person.
So if you live west of the Rocky Mountains, send us an e-mail or give us a call, and we'll try to work something out for you.

For more information about our carts, please see our website arctis-carts.com , send us an e-mail at info@arctis-carts.com or give us a call at (949) 215-1478

Now, the only tough decision is going to be the color...shiny black, candy apple red, signal orange or ... ?

October Mushing Workshop, only 2 days left to register!

Registrations for this year's mushing workshop with Karen Yeargain in Big Bear CA must be received by Sept 24th. If you're interested in attending, please see information below:


October 24th & 25th - Training Workshop with Karen Yeargain - Big Bear CA

We'll be holding a weekend training workshop with Karen on October 24-25 in the
Big Bear area.

Karen has been training and racing Siberian Huskies for many years. Check out
her website www.tumnatkisiberians.com for more info on her and her wonderful
dogs.

We'll be working with individual dogs and teams and will cover command and pull
training, training your dog to work in a team, passing, good behavior in harness
and other areas. Discussion will cover equipment, harnesses and lines, and
other topics as requested by participants.

The workshop format is flexible enough to accommodate all levels, so beginners
as well as more experienced mushers are welcome.

The cost is $175 per person with $25 for extra family members. Bring as many
dogs as you are comfortable handling.

You can get more info and a registration form here (.pdf file)

Let me know if you have any questions. Those who attended last year's
workshop got a lot out of it and I'm definitely looking forward to this year's
training.

More Dryland Dates!

NWSDA is hosting two dryland events in Roslyn WA in the month of October:

Roslyn Rig Rondezvous on Oct 10th & 11th
Pacific Northwest Dryland Championships Oct 24th & 25th

We had a great time up there in April and met a group a wonderful people.
We'll try to make it to at least one of their events this fall, too.

For all dryland events in the western U.S., please see Sleddog Central and keep checking this blog for updates.

and for more on NWSDA's events, please see their website here.

First fall dates scheduled!

While we're still dealing with quite a summer heat wave, we're looking forward to fall, cooler temperatures and being able to run the dogs again.
This is the time of year when we're making the first plans for our fall events, local and far away (road trips!).

So, here we go. The first scheduled events are:

Sunday, September 6th - Barbecue Potluck Picnic - Laguna Niguel CA

I know this is short notice but we just decided to host a barbecue potluck
picnic on September 6th (Sunday) at Laguna Niguel Regional Park.

We reserved Shelter #12 for the day, which comes equipped with 4 grills, picnic
tables, and even electrical outlets. It's also a little bit more secluded,
which is a good thing when you have a bunch of high energy dogs show up:

http://tinyurl.com/npn25t

This would be a great time to get together, specially with the long Labor Day
Weekend. It would be a chance for us to chat about plans for the coming season
and have a picnic with the dogs. Depending on how the weather shapes up, some
of us may even get there early in the morning and go for a quick scooter run.

So please join us if you can and celebrate the end of summer! The potluck
barbecue is set for noon (but we will be there starting early in the morning) so
all you need to bring is your potluck item and $5 per person to cover the
shelter reservation and use fees. (FYI, there is also a $5 parking fee per
vehicle.) Send an email to info@urbanmushing.com if you are coming and what
potluck item you will be bringing.

The address to Laguna Niguel Regional Park is

28241 La Paz Road
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

Map

Here is a link to the park layout. (.pdf file)

Hope to see you there!


October 24th & 25th - Training Workshop with Karen Yeargain - Big Bear CA

We'll be holding a weekend training workshop with Karen on October 24-25 in the
Big Bear area.

Karen has been training and racing Siberian Huskies for many years. Check out
her website www.tumnatkisiberians.com for more info on her and her wonderful
dogs.

We'll be working with individual dogs and teams and will cover command and pull
training, training your dog to work in a team, passing, good behavior in harness
and other areas. Discussion will cover equipment, harnesses and lines, and
other topics as requested by participants.

The workshop format is flexible enough to accommodate all levels, so beginners
as well as more experienced mushers are welcome.

The cost is $175 per person with $25 for extra family members. Bring as many
dogs as you are comfortable handling.

You can get more info and a registration form here (.pdf file)

Let me know if you have any questions. Those who attended last year's
workshop got a lot out of it and I'm definitely looking forward to this year's
training.


November 7th & 8th - Mushing Weekend - La Pine OR

Once again, Karen Yeargain is organizing a “fun-for-all” mushing weekend at La Pine State Park, in La Pine, Oregon.

This year’s event will be the first weekend of November, which falls on the 7th & 8^th. Some of us will arrive the afternoon of Friday the 6th, to get settled in. We will be hoping for damp trails and cool temps, but no snow. This event is a dirt run, so plan on carts, quads, bikes and scooters. Runs will be arranged to provide a variety of training opportunities, including passing (from behind and head on), team weaving, directional command training, hills, etc. There is quite a variety of nice dirt trails to choose from. The event is open to anyone regardless of mushing style and experience (or lack thereof); bikejoring and scootering teams are welcome. Trails are suitable for all functions unless we get a surprise dump of snow that makes them dangerous for bikes or scooters.

Organized runs will be on Saturday and Sunday mornings; meet for breakfast at the conference lodge at 6:30 am or at the meadow about 7:15. The meadow (staging area) is about 1/8 mile before you get to the South Loop of the Park, on your right. The event has the use of the meeting hall on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (until 1 pm on Monday). It has a refrigerator/freezer, microwave, sink with hot/cold running water, tables and a heater. We will have a potluck meal on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at about 1 pm; other meals will be informal potluck at the participants’ discretion…. We never lack for enough good food!

I will be planning a couple of presentations on Saturday and possibly on Sunday. Topics still to be determined. These will be right after the potluck, so bring a dish, join the meal and talk dogs!

Campsites at La Pine State Park are suitable for tents or R.V.’s; all have electrical hookups and water. Bathrooms with shower facilities (included in camping fee) are in our immediate area; bring your own towels and toiletries.

There are five “rustic” cabins (two double futons, a table, electricity and heat) and five “deluxe” cabins (two double futons in separate rooms, toilet/shower, heat, running water, microwave, fridge, barbecue). Rustic cabin #1 and Deluxe cabin #44 have been designated “pet friendly” this year as a pilot, meaning that up to 2 dogs are allowed in these two cabins; whether that continues and/or expands depends on how well guests manage their inside dogs. There are no dogs allowed in the other cabins, same as in the past.

Each person needs to make their own site arrangements. To make reservations for a campsite or cabin, go online to www.reserveamerica.com or call Reservations Northwest at (800) 452-5687, specify La Pine State Park, South Loop. Also, state that you are with the SLED DOG GROUP/MUSHING WEEKEND so that they can note that on your reservations. That way the reservations folks can advise non-mushing campers as they make reservations and give them the option to be close to the activities or further away, as they prefer.

Please let Karen know if you are planning to attend so that she may organize the event well and is able to provide updates as we get closer to November.

Questions, please e-mail Karen directly at tumnatki@earthlink.net.

Please cross-post and pass along to anyone who would be interested.

That's a lotta dogs!

...and that's an often repeated comment we get, when taking the dogs for a hike or run in suburban southern California. Weekday mornings, we take anywhere from 3 to 6 dogs out for an 8-10 mile hike on the local trails, including some of our friends at Three Dog Bakery.
Weekends, we usually run the trails at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa with 8 and 6-dog cart teams, as well as several scooter teams. For most park goers, it's just not a common occurrence to see a pack of 20+ Huskies coming around the corner.




For videos of our recent adventures, please click here.

Twice in a blue moon

Recent cart orders seem to indicate, that blue is the color of the summer of 2009. Two carts that were recently finished are shown here. The darker one is "Candy Blue Metallic" and the lighter one is "Jeans Blue Metallic". Either way, they're ready for the trails, be it here in California, out in Wisconsin or wherever working dogs get to run.
Happy trails to all our customers and thanks again for your business!

Super Sweet Siberian Sisters

aka the Good Girls, Gaia & Gidget


Taking a water break on our walk to the beach this morning. We invited another Husky from our friends at Three Dog Bakery to come along on our 9 mile hike to the Ritz Cove. Fortunately, it wasn't quite as warm and humid as it was the past few days, so everyone had a good time. We even got a round of applause from the Laguna Niguel Little League kids when we walked by their baseball field, and our clownboy Silver was told-off by a rattler hiding in the bushes, so he quickly hid behind his friend Coal for protection :-)

Another fun day at Fairview Park

Taking advantage of overcast skies again, a good sized group of "urban mushers" showed up at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa this morning to let the dogs go on another one or two of our short and slow training runs. Two cart teams and several scooter teams went out on the trails at a slow pace, squeezed in some training exercises and after a well deserved break went back to the parking lot. It seems like some of our training has actually paid off, since it was a rather uneventful day; no drama to report. Everyone, humans and canines alike, did their job and things ran very smooth. Now if things could cool down just a little, we could actually work on speed and endurance to get ready for winter.

Overcast skies...finally!

Yeah! The skies were overcast long enough to go out for a good 9 mile hike to the beach and back. "Team Arctis" was hooked up, along with two of their friends from Three Dog Bakery in San Clemente. Another good way to train basic commands while dealing with plenty of distractions, like rabbits, squirrels and other dogs. At the halfway mark, we took a water break at beautiful Ritz Cove.

Video of our recent training runs

Here's the video to go along with the pictures below of our recent training runs at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa. During the warmer months, we just take the dogs out on early morning runs to practice trail behavior with other teams, basic "on-by's" and "gee over's".



...and just a reminder: our dogs are well hydrated before we go out on a run. We make sure, that the runs are kept short and slow, and that the dogs get plenty of rest in the shade in between.

There's always work to do!

Even though we're currently going through a rather warm period here in southern California, we still manage to squeeze in a little bit of groundwork exercises in the early morning hours. Fortunately, we have quite a few folks that come out every weekend to work on commands, discipline, and trail behavior, plus we constantly mix and match our dogs, so we're able to put together larger teams of 6 and 8 dogs, instead of the more common 2-dog scooter teams.
For more information about our local group, please visit UrbanMushing.com

Click here and here for a few pictures of the last three weekends at Fairview Park.

Summer's Here!

Yes, summer has finally arrived in southern California. For the past week, we've been laying low, taking it easy on our walks, and just kinda hang out on cool tile floors, close to the fan with plenty of water. Unfortunately, that only worked for the canine members of our family, not the human ones; those had to keep building carts. A bit ironic to build sled dog equipment in the summer heat, don't you think?





Anyway, today was the day we went out to Fairview Park and met up with a few members of our Urban Mushing group to take the dogs out on an easy run in the early morning.
We hooked up an 8-dog team to one of the Arctis carts, and took them to the rest area, where we kept switching teams for short runs so we could work on commands and improve team work.
An impromptu mushing clinic, if you will.

More pictures are here.


Note: please keep in mind, that our dogs are well hydrated before we run. The "runs" are about 3/4 mile at a time at a slow pace with plenty of rest in the shade after each run.