oh how sad: Lack of interest forces cancelation of Junior Yukon Quest (Anchorage: living, costs)

[blueflames50]

whoaaa...how sad...is it becoming too expensive for young people to get into this or what??? would hate to see this become a "thing of the past" as our modern times move forward. Can any locals share insight into this?? thanks
Lack of interest forces cancellation of Junior Yukon Quest
Read more: Lack of interest forces cancellation of Junior Yukon Quest: Sled dog racing | Alaska news at adn.com

[bortstc37]

it makes sense, though- how many young people are serious mushers?
video games and MTV are hard to compete with.

[bmw335xi]

good news for dogs

[gobrien]

Dogs like to run! There has been a lot of research into dog mushing. I don't believe for one minute that men like Lance Mackey would force an animal to do something it didn't love.

[NikkiV]

Living here in Denali and getting to see the actual dog teams run was a huge education. I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself, but gobrien is right. Those dogs LOVE to run.

It isn't a chore for them, you watch their excitement when they see the sleds and harnesses come out. I've been there at the end of the trail and watched those dogs happily lay in the snow with grins on their snouts.


Dogs are no different then humans, in that they find satisfaction in a job well done. These dogs are bred and trained to run, and they do it well.

Nikki

[FreedomThroughAnarchism]

Originally Posted by blueflames50

whoaaa...how sad...is it becoming too expensive for young people to get into this or what??? would hate to see this become a "thing of the past" as our modern times move forward. Can any locals share insight into this?? thanks

That doesn't seem like a sport which would have a widespread participation by kids, anyway. Interest yes, but participation, perhaps not so much.

The sports seems a little "above" most youngsters in that:

(a) It probably costs more money than most of them have.... even if they might be interested in it, and

(b) The responsibilities entailed in keeping a team of dogs (and again, cost) seems extremely immense such that it's even beyond what many adults want to get involved with, even if they fancy the sport. A lot of parents can't even get their kid to take the (as in, one) dog for a five minute walk, or to let it outside to go to the bathroom.... even when the dog is ostensibly supposed to be the kids because they begged their parents for it, and swore they would take care of it. Taking care of an entire team of dogs, and training them, seems about fifty steps removed and beyond the aforementioned simple task.


Seems like a sport kids are only going to get into if their parents already are into the sport, and do almost all of the work for the kid anyway.

[1stimestar]

It's been cancelled lots of times. There are lots of kids who mush but not many willing or able to do distance races. Most of them just mush for fun and that is fine. The young people we do have with teams actually do most of their own work. I mean, mom and dad might feed the dogs for a night when kiddo goes on a feild trip to Anchorage, but the ones I know all take care of their own dogs. Some of their parents are in the sport and some are not.

[Metlakatla]

Good. Maybe kids are finally catching on to the fact that is a cruel so called "sport".

Don't bother answering/flaming. I won't be opening this thread again.

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by gobrien

Dogs like to run! There has been a lot of research into dog mushing. I don't believe for one minute that men like Lance Mackey would force an animal to do something it didn't love.

How does this with kids differ from adults racing other than distance?

[gobrien]

Originally Posted by Alaskapat528

How does this with kids differ from adults racing other than distance?

1stimestar knows more about mushing than I do.