I see that the Malamute club's sled pull was canceled due to the cold. Good thing that Kanook, a Siberian Husky AKA sled dog, and I didn't change our dog park plans for the day!
We first visited Minooka Park's Dog Exercise Area and there was only one car there with mine and another pulling in. In that neighboring car, out popped a Siberian Husky and her owner. We entered the park and found the sole occupant running around the fence-line to greet us. It was another Husky! The three of them had a grand time with two of them doing the nose surfing through the snow that Huskies like to do. Next Kanook was rolling in the snow. Of course, none of the Huskies showed any notion of being cold.
After a while some other hardy people showed up with their Retrievers, Collies and some other Husky mixes. The fact of the matter is the dogs don't mind the cold. It's the owners. I suspect that was the case with the sled pull event. Malamutes look identical to Huskies to most people, but are larger and stronger. The Huskies have a bit more stamina though, so are the best known sled dog breed.
After visiting with the other dog owners, Kanook and I hiked around the perimeter of the area a couple times and it was time to leave for lunch. As usual, Kanook was not ready to leave and needed a little (lot) of coaxing to leash up by the gates. By this time more people had come to the park and were still entering as we drove down the road to pass the check-in booth where the attendant must have been thinking that there are warmer ways to make some spending money on a subzero Saturday! I like to take a census when I'm in the park and as expected, the dog area was the sole host of users of the park.
After warming up with some lunch and coffee, it was time to head to Brookfield's Mitchell Park. This is the first off-leash dog area in the county. The park was devoid of people and sledders but for the few cars at the dog exercise area. After the big thaw recently, the south side of the dog park had turned to a lake. Today it was frozen and with the dusting of snow melding to the ice, it was good hiking over it. We detoured off of the trail and walked through the woods that are normally nothing much more than a junk yard of cars and trucks from some 1960's enterprise and other machinery and old tires. The snow covered it all today and it was actually a pretty respite from suburban and urban scenery. Mitchell Park is a bit more open than Minooka so the west winds were biting cold to my face once out of the woods. However, the pleasant hike through the woods made it worth it, even in the subzero temperature.
One fact about sled dogs that I learned from watching the Iditarod race shows is that the dogs can overheat when the temperature is above zero. When resting in the cold and snow, they curl up with their tails covering their faces and show no affects of the cold.
I hope the Malamute Club reschedules the pull soon. I also hope that they hold it at Minooka Park where dogs are welcomed and are helping to pay the bills.
