A Tribute to Youngsters

Alaskan Huskies:

Youngsters

Youngsters are the future of the kennel. They have promise, potential, enthusiasm, and seemingly boundless energy. They are ready to learn whatever we teach them, for good or for ill, so we must use great wisdom in our interactions with them.

We start our puppies on walks as soon as they are ready to handle it, usually four to five weeks of age. They can typically outrun us by six or seven weeks of age. We free run them with the ATV as soon as they are coordinated enough to avoid the wheels. (Puppies go through a developmental stage in which they are unable to run parallel to the thing they are following but will invariably converge to it.)

Puppies are put into harness at five or six months of age, as soon as they can fit into our smallest adult harnesses. I like to start them in single file so they do not have a running mate to tangle with or try to play with. The more serious pups are ready to be paired up after just a run or two.

Included in this category are dogs who are two years old and younger. Luna's and Comet's litters are two years old and will be entering their first serious training season. Abba's litter is not quite two years old and is learning those important first lessons on how to work and behave in harness with a team. Holly's litter was just born a year ago, so they are learning how to be harnessed and pull with the team.

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