What is a dog handler? It is someone who is delusional enough to think that taking instructions from a professional (or amateur) dog musher might seem like good fun. Reality typically intervenes quickly and jarringly.
Handling dogs actually has less to do with the dog than the various things the dog leaves behind. The first thing a new handler is handed is the poop scooper. Summer or winter it is the same. There is less volume during the summer months, but it's messier.
Winter has additional challenges for the handler who would be a musher. Most musher assistants will be using a wood stove and also an outhouse. Seldom is there running water or electricity. Winters' in Alaska are dark. Cold. Lonely. Handlers most often work alone, scooping poop in the wee hours of the morning.
Why do they come? Are there really those who believe this type of existence may be rewarding? Yup. Kids come to "find themselves." Middle-aged folks come to get away from an unbearable life situation. (Chipping pee from doghouses at minus-40 is only marginally better.) Older folks come for an experience they've always wanted but never had time for while they were raising a family.
Psychiatrist turned dog hander
Our kennel has had people from all walks of life. We have had a professional psychiatrist and a research pharmacist. They were very good, but we could see they weren't here to make a career of running sled dogs.
All kennels get a fair number of Europeans who want to experience the Alaska winter. Some are good. Some are not. We had a girl show up with a snowboard. "Where can I go snowboarding?" It is a long walk to the mountain from here. She stayed for a day. A Belgian came because she had seen the movie "Balto" on TV. Our 6-week-old puppies gave her a reality check by mobbing her ski-pants. That scared her to death, but she managed a week.
A dude in his 30s, fresh from a divorce, came to get away. The first cold snap hit Paxson. "I could freeze to death out here!" He said. He didn't, but called his mom and left anyway.
Surprisingly to me, the living conditions haven't been a factor to any of our potential handlers. Our helpers have an outhouse and no running water. They do have electricity, Internet access and a very comfortable cabin. All who come to experience dogs seem to appreciate simplicity.
Love of dogs is a common thread. However, love of dogs isn't enough. One must love working with dogs. Not just for a little bit, but all day, every day. A guy from France told me he thought he would be spending a couple hours a day caring for 50 dogs. Another potential assistant said; "I love dogs, but 50 is too overwhelming." The reward for spending the dark hours shoveling poop, fixing chains, and repairing houses is the hook-up.
Why the dreamers come
The attraction of a dozen crazy dogs screaming to go and jerking at the lines is an incredible experience if one is a dog person. The sudden silence as the team is released to run is a stark contrast. Instantly you are away and alone with your animals in the stark winter landscape. Complications and cares are left behind and there are only the dogs striving to go faster in front of you. No wonder the dreamers come.
Some stay as long as they are able to stand the financial strain. Many positions pay a stipend but there is no real money for a winter handler. Instead of a job, it is more like schooling to learn how to operate a dog kennel and train sled dogs. Summer work is better. There are some paying positions available in the tourist trade giving rides to visitors.
However, the rides and the tourists are just a means to an end for handlers who stay. January marks the beginning of the race season. This is the reason there are 50 dogs to feed and care for. Apprentices who have been here since the beginning of the training season are on sleds by now, helping to train the race team. The good ones will run the second team in some of the races.
In another year, some handlers will have a dog kennel of their own. They will try to make ends meet and race on their own. Some will succeed and join the limited ranks of kennels able to field an Iditarod or Yukon Quest team. Reality strikes again. Mushing dogs is an expensive and all-consuming sport. It is addictive. Maybe that is why they come?
John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives with his family near Paxson. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and two-time winner of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.