Modern sleds may be wooden or lightweight aluminum and are steered by leaning, much like a bicycle or skis. Drivers wax the runners and stop in part with a foot brake. She s driven up with her husband, Dan, in a truck the couple uses only for hauling their dozen dogs and their sledding gear. Sled dogs at a starting line are explosions waiting to happen. In their eagerness, they bark and yelp and jump into the air against their traces and atop one another.
Most racers have three or four helpers controlling the dogs as they move to the starting line.
The job is literally one of holding back the dogs. At home in La Pine, Neumann says, the dogs know a race is coming up the instant she grabs boots or harnesses. A lead dog is the most important member of each team. Baby was trained by Topeka, Neumann s beloved lead dog of many years. She taught me a lot.