Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-02-09
DOGS OF THE
NORTHLAND
THEY HAVE WONDERFUL INTEL
LiGENCE AND ARE lNvALU-
ABLE TO FREICHTERS.

training and handling dog teams in
Alaska in the business of freighting
out of Dawson, is in Seattle.
Mr.. Miller tells some interesting
stories of northern dogs. their natur-
, al or acquired intelligence. the amount
OF work they can do, the hardsnips
they endure, and their faithfulness to
their masters if well treated.
Without an intelligent, well train
CT leader said Mr.. Miller your team
is practically useless, and The great
est care is exercised in selecting and
coaching this animal. | trained my
leaders on plan of my own, in max
Ing them understand what was meant
by gee and 'haw,' their first and
most important lesson. | ran pole
out over their backs from the front
OF tine sleigh to their collar, and TAX.
! ing hold of the handlebars at the back
would give the order and so control
the sled as to force him to go in the
direction | desired. The scheme was
the training school. The other dogs
are simply taught to follow the leader
anG pull their share of the load.
CHE VI IdVObsSC ISdOCT
MY favOrite leader was a husky
that raised from pup. called Hooch.
hl was half Russian and half Yukon
husky, the former being larger ami
stronger animal, but both being half
gray timber wolf.
THE knowing things that Hooch
would do without any previous coach.
ing, but guided entirely by his own
instincts, made MIN the pet of all
camps and gained for him the repu.
tation of being the greatest leader in
the country. It had to be an extreme.
u bad hole that he could not get him.
self and his load out of without the
assistance of his driver, and once
helped out of bad place that prov
e.. too much for him. he never again
required help either at that point or
any other place where the conditions
were similar. made special harness
for him when he was but two months
old and worked him in the team, ap.
parently to his great delight. He did.
mt do much pulling of course. but he
made great bluff and was there all
the time with all the goods he had
| III stock.
After Hooch had been promoted
to the lead of the team and had been
working at his new job for some time
| came down onto Soda Creek one
morning with him in the lead of sew
enteen dogs. During the night the
creek had overflowed and there was
about six inches of water running the
ice. Hooch walked straight into the
stream but the other dogs baked and
refused to follow. HoOch came out of
the water. studied the situation for a
moment, and then headed up along the
shore until it reached the waters
edge. where I climbed onto the load
and waited to see what scheme Hooch
had in his head When the dog had
satisfied himself that everything was
as he wanted it he made a sudden
dash for the water
The move was so unexpected that
he had seven of the dogs in the creek
with him before they realized what
had happened. Once in the cold wa
ter they were anxious to get on the
other side, and having the down hill
pull they forced the other dogs to fol.
low them. and the load including my.
self, was landed safe and dry on the
other side.
Good RustIer in Camp.
''Hooch's value as a freighter was
not confined entirely to his work on
the trail He would always pack his
share of the wood to where it would
be convenient for the cook and when
the dogs were through feeding he
would gather up their pans one by
enc and place them in a pile close to
the sled. If the other dogs got to
sIarling when they were feeding he
would butt into the middle of the dis
turbance and his appearance always
brought peace and quiet.
. whenever We were laid up for a
time in Dawson HoOch worked free
lunch route that was such good thing
; that I would have to tie him up foI
a couple of days before starting out
on trip in order to get him in con
dition. Just as they train his brother
pug for a prize fight. His scheme
was to make daily visits to various
cabins where he would gain entrance
by standing on his hind legs and
pounding on the door with his from
feet, never STOPPING to the ordinary
dog trick of scratching. In making
these trips he would never stop at 6
cabin unless he saw smoke coming
out of the chimney. The smoke
meant that there was something do
ing around the cook stove.
"'In the winter of '99, with Hooch in
the lead of nine dogs l made the rec
ord trip from Dawson to Dominion
Creek and return, ninety miles, GOV
ering the distance in thirty hours, in
Guiding six-hOur stop. On the slet
were 467 pounds of freight and WON
an that I allowed to weigh in at 10:
pounds. We had bad glacier tt
cross on the trail and the woman
knew it, and had given positive in
structions that she was to be allow
ed to walk across it. She was lash
ed into her seat in such way thai
the blankets and furs prevented hel
from seeing what class of country sh.
was travelling through.
Crosses the Glazier.
"The night was cold and as tn.
J unlashing and flashing up again woult
take time made up my mind to trus
to Hooch and run the glacier withou
saying anything. Besides she had fore
ed the dogs to haul her over man!
hare spots and l thought it was III
!, to her to take some chances. W.
| made the crossing all right, but whel
. saw the condition the trail was il
on the return trip I drew Ion,
breath and gave Hooch an extra disl
for his supper when we got home.
was said afterwards by old freighter
that no other leader in the countr.
but Hooch could have crossed tn
glacier on rim without an accident