Joseph Robertia - Life with Forty Dogs: Misadventures with Runts, Rejects, Retirees, and Rescues

Life with Forty Dogs

MISADVENTURES WITH RUNTS, REJECTS, RETIREES, AND RESCUES

JOSEPH ROBERTIA

To Colleen,
for always understanding so much.

Text and photographs 2017 by Joseph Robertia

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Robertia, Joseph.

Title: Life with forty dogs : a memoir of Alaskan misadventures / Joseph Robertia.

Description: Portland, Oregon : Alaska Northwest Books, 2017.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016034187 (print) | LCCN 2016059900 (ebook) | ISBN 9781943328918 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781943328925 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Sled dogsAlaskaAnecdotes. | Sled dog racingAlaskaAnecdotes. | Robertia, Joseph.

Classification: LCC SF428.7 .R63 2017 (print) | LCC SF428.7 (ebook) | DDC 636.73dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016034187

Designed by Vicki Knapton

Published by Alaska Northwest Books

An imprint of

www.graphicartsbooks.com

Contents

A bone to the dog is not charity.

Charity is the bone shared with the dog,

when you are just as hungry as the dog.

JACK LONDON

Acknowledgments

W riting a first book has a lot of PARALLELS to being a freshly whelped pup. Youve spent months cramped in the same position in a tiny space; so much time has passed that when you see the sun, you squint at the light when taking those first few steps outside; and initially youre completely unclear about what is going on and how to fulfill your role in it all. Because of this, Im indebted to several people for making this process possible, or at the very least, more palatable.

The idea for this book was born when my father-in-law, Bill Morrowafter hearing so many of our misadventures and delighting in themsuggested that I compile a few into a collection for others to read and enjoy. He wasnt the first person to say I should write a book, but he was the first to truly mean it, and I will always owe him for that.

I am equally indebted to his wife, Rusty, who after I had made the decision to lay down a few stories and began pedaling them, encouraged me to find literary professionals and a publishing house that believed in my work as much as I did. I have to thank Doug Pfeiffer and Jennifer Newens, the publishing directors at Graphic Arts Books for being those people and that publisher. Editor Kathy Howard, designer Vicki Knapton, and marketer Angie Zbornik also added to my success.

I have to thank Dean Osmar and Sarah Armstrong for hiring my wife as a handler, where for three years she learned the basics of mushing. Dean never took it easy on her, or me, when we first started running dogs with him, but we became better mushers because of his tough love teaching style. Also, despite being an Iditarod champion, Dean always treated us like equals, then and now.

Mitch Michaud and Jane Fuerstenau deserve a nod for also getting us into sled dogs through their public outreach while presiding over the Peninsula Sled Dog and Racing Association, and helping us build and constantly fix sleds we battered.

I am equally indebted to Kevin and Deb Hayes, Thera and Emma Mullet, and many other family and friends who gave Lynx attention, helped with dog chores, brought by meals, or offered simple support whenever I needed to work on this book or meet a looming deadline. Jim Frates of the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank also has, for years, aided our kennel by alerting us when large quantities of freezer-burned salmon and other meat were available for donation. These added rations meant far fewer drives north to Anchorage for dog food, which provided me more time to write, and had the added benefit of always making tails wag when these meals were offered in addition to the regular kibble.

My father, Joe Robertia Sr., deserves recognition too, for planting in me as a child the seeds of literary love that eventually grew to fruition in the form of becoming a freelance writer, and now author. Exhausted from the heavy demands of being a true blue-collar workingman, my dad somehow always rallied enough energy to take me to the comic shop, local bookstore, or library instead of just plopping me in front of a TV.

I am very appreciative of the editing efforts of Monica Mullet, Emma Mullet, Travis Wright, Amanda Burg, Kyle Ferguson, Kim Morgan, Ray Lee, and other witty members of my local writing group: The Kenai Peninsula Finer Things Club. Dave Atcheson also gets credit for giving me some writing tips and answering many of my questions about navigating the long and twisty trail to finding a publisher.

My wife, Colleen, deserves the lead dogs share of credit for this book, for not only passing on so much of her mushing knowledge to me, but for always being a partner in this unorthodox lifestyle. Living with forty dogs has never been easy, but from the abysmal lows to the Everest highs, the cumulative experience has been an unforgettable journey, and one Im glad we endeavored together. I simply couldnt have survived it without such a physically and emotionally strong woman, and shes the only one I want by my side. Cole also read and edited countless drafts of all these stories, and stalwartly encouraged me to never give up on believing this book would eventually see the light of day.

Im also obliged to my daughter, Lynx, the littlest pup in our pack, for continually reinspiring me with her own love of nature, flair with all animals, and ability to enthusiastically roll with a lifestyle revolving around so many dogs and dog-related chores.

Unquestionably though, I am most grateful to our dogs, for all the adventures weve shared, for showing me so much amazing country I wouldnt have seen without them, and for inspiring me to write this book and, even before that, for revealing to me that I had a story to telltheir story.

Introduction

A laskauntamed, unrestrained, the edge of the wild. Its been said this Last Frontier is made up of people who dont fit in but fit here better than anywhere else. I cant speak for everyone, but this maxim certainly resonated with my wife, Colleen, and me. In the Lower 48 we always sensed something was wrong. Not with us, but with everyone else. The get-ahead materialism, the I-need-more consumerism; we believed life was about doingand beingso much more. We felt a calling, a hunger not satiated in a world addicted to lattes and laptops, governed by traffic and time clocks, and constructed of concrete and steel. This mutual feeling brought us north in search of something, but to what, we didnt know at the time.

Where wed settle remained undetermined, as was how long we would stay, or what we would do for income. We only knew we were drawn by a deep aspiration to live a more purposeful life, closer to nature, and filled with adventure. In a stroke of serendipity, the first place we secured was a stamp-sized cabin with no running water in a tiny town called Kasilof. Little did we know, the area we moved toand have since called homewas a mushing mecca.

Soon after settling in, we discovered teams of sled dogs blew by several times a daytheir paws churning up the fresh powder, their pink tongues dangling, and hot breath billowing into the cold air. We quickly learned that within three square miles of our new home lived half a dozen mushers, cumulatively owning more than 300 huskies between them. Sitting on our porch at dusk, the wails washing over us were more than a wave of sound; we felt flooded by the tidal surge of full-throated howls from the various dog packs.