A Letter from the Dog Yard

Happy Spring from the Dogyard!

My name is Relay, I am a 9 y/o female Alaskan Husky that lives and works for the Voyaguer Outward Bound School. I live in the house second from the end of the pink row. Now that it’s getting so sunny out, I like to stand on the roof and watch everyone. There’s been a lot going on this winter. For one, there’s a lot of new dogs in the yard. It’s fun to meet new dogs, and hear a bit about some of the other kennels and dogyards they’ve worked in. One of the new guys moved in at the end of the orange row, in the house next to Mia’s. His name is Turbo. I ran with him on my last trip camping with the humans. He’s nice but has a lot to learn about humans.

The thing about working with humans is, they’re a little more complicated than is good for them, and they won’t go until they’re ready. You can bark yourself hoarse, but they won’t listen – you have to be patient. Human-management is a skill, and not all dogs are cut out for it. But that’s why you have us older dogs who can help teach these newer dogs that managing humans is our job. It’s part of being a good sled dog.

Some of my friends just got back from a longer Human Trip. Pathfinder, the humans call it. I don’t really know what that means, only that you get to stay out with the humans for longer than the usual 6-day run. Camping with the humans is really fun. You get to run every day, you get fed a lot, and you get petted ALL the time. I LOVE it. I was a little jealous I didn’t get to go on a long Human Trip this year, but that’s okay. I’ve done my share of them. Plus, the teams looked a bit tired when they got back. Grey Jay was telling me that it was kind of icy, so they had to be really careful the whole time. That’s tiring work.

The other thing I’ve been watching from the roof of my house is Houdini, over in the green row. Houdini is pretty smart, he even knows how to get out of his collar if he wants to. He used to do it all the time on his Human Trips, just so he could go hang out with them while they do their human thing. But lately he’s been slipping out of his collar in the dogyard at night. The first time he did it, he went to the Alpha Human’s house. The Alpha Human is this guy they call Bud, and when Houdini showed up, Bud just opened the door to his human house and let him come right in. When Houdini got back to the yard the next day he bragged to everybody about how he got to lie on Bud’s couch and even his bed – which apparently are these big soft things that humans (or dogs, I guess) can sit or sleep on. Couches and beds are even softer than the balsam boughs the humans sometimes give us to sleep or lie on while camping. Houdini was saying he was going to keep slipping out and going over to Bud’s so that he could get himself adopted, and live in a human house all the time. Man. I knew Houdini was smart, but this idea is brilliant.

Adoption is something that’s always in the back of our minds – especially us older dogs. Which is funny, because before Houdini started sneaking out I don’t think any of us even really knew exactly what that meant, “to be adopted.” We hear the humans talk sometimes about “So-And-So is getting adopted!” and they sound really happy for us, but we didn’t know why. Now I do. It means you get to go live with a human, and they get to be yours. Your own human, forever. See, the thing about being a sled dog, is you have a really great life: you get to run a lot, you have a job and a purpose in your life, and you get to meet a lot of humans. There’s our main human pack that we take care of year after year, but there’s also what we call “Visiting Humans.” “Visiting Humans” take us camping, usually along with two of the Main Pack, for a week or so. It’s a very fulfilling life. But as all dogs do, we start to get older: our hips start hurting sometimes, or we just have less energy than we once did. The idea of retiring and going to live with a human, sounds like the thing every sled dog would want. Plus, it can be hard falling in love with all the “Visiting Humans” that come and then having them leave and we don’t ever see them again. Getting adopted means, you get to love your human – your own human! – and they don’t ever leave you.

What I’m going to teach the new dogs is this: really get to know the “Visiting Humans” that come. I know it can be hard, loving them and then they leave, but I hear that sometimes if you really love a “Visiting Human,” and you’re close enough to retirement age, the “Visiting Human” might take you with them! That happened to Brillo a couple years ago. Or, sometimes they'll wait until you’re ready to retire and then come back for you. I don’t know how they know, but I imagine it must have something to do with Bud, the Alpha Human of the Main Pack. Humans seem to have strange ways of communicating other than barking or smelling, so “Visiting Humans” must know some way to tell him they want to adopt you.

Myself, I’m not quite ready to give up the sled dog life. One more season, and maybe then I’ll see if I can find a human and a home of my own. But in the meantime, I hope our “Visiting Humans” connect with Bud. Plenty of my friends are ready to retire and I hope they find their forever humans soon.

Happy Tails!

Love, Relay

VOBS OPEN HOUSE & ANNUAL MEETING AT OUR NEW TWIN CITIES CENTER

THURSDAY, MAY 11TH | 5:30-7:30p.m.

1400 ENERGY PARK DRIVE, SUITE 18, ST. PAUL, MN 55108

You are cordially invited to come visit our new Twin Cities Center in St. Paul! We are holding an Annual Meeting and an Open House to give tours of our new space, provide program updates and feature some of our VOBS students, parents, partners and staff. Please feel free to extend the invitation to your family and friends.

5:30-6pm - Annual Meeting | 6-6:30pm - Meet & Greet

Food and Refreshments will be provided

To RSVP, email Courtney, Courtney.Kupsch@vobs.org or call (651) 401-0635.
RSVP by April 20, 2017.

Sponsor A Dog
A number of years ago we created the "Sponsor-a-Dog" program at Voyageur Outward Bound School. It is a way for alumni, dog lovers, and past staff to support the VOBS sled dog program and stay in touch with the school. Our dog sled program offers a one-of-a-kind winter wilderness experience.

While our winter program runs for just four months out of the year, we have to keep our dogs fed, happy and healthy all year round! It costs about $500 a year to care for each dog.

Our "Sponsor-a-Dog" donors mean so much to us because in the past they have helped us to cover the entire vet bill for the dogs! This outpouring of generosity means a great deal to VOBS staff (and needless to say to the dogs as well).

Thank you for considering a gift for the dogs! All dog donors will receive one of our brand-new "I support the dogs" stickers!