Robert Forto

canine training

The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Pandemonium and Home Depot

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Going to college in the Pacific Northwest and practically cutting my teeth in the music world in Seattle in the height of the Grunge Movement I have had my share of great coffee. I have been to the original Starbucks coffee cafe and every mom and pop joint from Beaverton to Key West. I am always looking for just that great cup of Joe that will keep me coming back for more.

I will admit that there is some comfort in knowing that a mega-coffee chain is in your “backyard” sort of like many kids (and parents alike) want to know what fast food places are in the new town that they are moving too. I for one cant stand Mickey D’s and paraphrasing from comedian and Radio God Adam Carolla: we are a nation of fat people and are making our kids weak because kids can no longer pick on the fat kid. For God’s sake they have apples in McDonalds. If I went into a McDonalds when I was a kid I would have had a meltdown kicking and screaming.

Yesterday as I was heading to Home Depot to price out roofing materials for the house I found the Holy Grail of coffee (at least in my opinion) it is called Pandemonium Bookstore and Cafe. They even have Sockeye salmon in the outdoor seating area and I think it has a saddle on it! I ordered a Turtle Latte and was expecting the typical white coffee cup with one of those sissy cardboard sleeves on it. I just have to ask: do places actually make the coffee so hot that someone sued someplace because of it?

The barista gave me one of those little number thingy’s that you set on your table while they prepare your coffee and I headed to a table to wait. When the waitress arrived my drink was in one of those coffee cups like you used to see on the TV show Friend’s (think HUGE fishbowl size), I took one sip and could not believe what my taste buds were experiencing. It was chocolate decadence with a hint of vanilla and a splash of carmel. It was the best D*mn cup of coffee I have had in my life and I almost experienced a moment like on that Meg Ryan movie: When Harry met Sally, well not quite but it was close to those Herbal Essences shampoo commercials anyway.

What do they say on those Folger’s commercials: Good to the Last Drop? With this cup of Joe I could practically lick the cup like little kids do the spoon when mommy is making brownies.

After my caffeine bliss started to set in I headed over across the parking lot to the Home Depot and took Raegan in with me. It was her first trip to the Mega-Lo-Mart that you can practically get lost in. By the way do you remember the old school Bevis and Butthead shows with Mr. Anderson (that soon got his own show as Hank Hill in King of the Hill), the episode I am thinking had something to do with toilet tissue. What a riot!

We priced out steel roofing panels. Way expensive and they no longer make red, and picked up a couple of things including some green paint to paint my dog houses and then headed home.

In the evening it was another night running dogs in the cool night air on some of the best trails I have ever seen and of course I was still zooming from the caffeine kick from hours before. What a treat!

I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please comment below.

Robert Forto | Team Ineka | Alaska Dog Works | Mushing Radio

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Robert Forto is the host of The Dog Works Radio Show and is the training director of Alaska Dog Works. Robert Forto can be reached through his website at www.alaskadogworks.com

The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Fall is in the Air

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What a great time to be in Alaska. The leaves are changing and the air is getting cooler. The nights are just a little longer and the mist in the wind refreshes your soul. Last night was a great day to run dogs. I helped out a couple new friends that are premiere Siberian Husky racers and I was privileged to go along while they trained three teams of 16 dogs. The dogs were remarkable. Probably the best trained Siberians I have ever seen in my life. Their leaders on all three teams responded quickly and turned on a dime. Many people train dogs for years to get their leaders to respond that well.

I arrived home about 12:15 with hopes of getting a first glimpse of the Aurora Borealis but it is still early yet and according to the forecasters as it a little north near Fairbanks. The aurora is actually the glow of solar particles blown into the earth’s magnetic field more than 60 miles above the earth’s surface at speeds up to 35,000 miles per hour.
The streams of charged solar particles surge and bulge along bends in the earth’s magnetic field. As they strike atoms in the earth’s atmosphere, they create greenish-yellow, faint blue, or even blood red curtains of color.

With such a dramatic show of force in the sky, it’s easy to see how some Alaska Native groups believed the lights had serious powers. Some believed the lights were the dancing spirits of children who died at birth. Others thought them spirits of the dead playing ball with a walrus skull. Some believed that whistling at the aurora would cause it to sweep down and take you from earth. Still others carried knives to keep it away.

Have you ever seen the aurora? Where where you and what did you think? I know things like this becomes common place to folks who experience it all the time but sometimes you just have to ‘stop and smell’ the roses because someday you might not get a chance…

I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please comment below.

Robert Forto | Team Ineka | Alaska Dog Works | Mushing Radio

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Robert Forto is the host of The Dog Works Radio Show and is the training director of Alaska Dog Works. Robert Forto can be reached through his website at www.alaskadogworks.com

The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Gone to the Dogs

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This past weekend was all about dogs. Literally and figuratively. I spent hours meeting with new friends and getting advice on every front. I ran dogs with my neighbor and met with the owners of probably the most famous Siberian Husky sled dog kennel in the world. They only live about a mile from me and I am glad to have made their acquaintance.

On Saturday night I met with Iditarod and Quest musher Hugh Neff and his girlfriend/handler/partner Tamra and had a great meal at the Roadside Inn in Meadow Lakes. We talked about the Iditarod, my goals, dreams and aspirations and the prospect of running dogs in the future. I think this may be the year for Hugh in the Yukon Quest and maybe even the Iditarod. It is rumored that a lot of the big names are getting out of the sport and I think he has a chance! Hugh is such a nice, down to earth guy and what better person to learn about the Last Great Race.

After dinner we headed over to the Redington place to pick up a dog house for my new dog, Shifter and spent a few minutes visiting. If you know anything about the sport of mushing and the Iditarod you know who the Redington’s are. What a dynasty and such much history in that family.

On Sunday night I had the pleasure of spending time with friends in the neighborhood and had a great dinner and shared stories about mushing, Alaska and living a life with dogs. Can it be any better? I don’t think so.

On Labor Day it was gorgeous! I was able to work outside for the first time in days and managed to fill up the dumpster yet again. I think that is the sixth load now and many more to go. I got the bill the other day (over $400.00) but it is a necessary expense. I managed to whip up a new recipe from a Facebook friend, a pot roast  made with a Lipton Onion Soup packet and some veggies and enjoyed the late meal watching an absolutely beautiful sunset over Denali from my living room window.

Now with the official end to summer, the leaves are quickly changing here in the North and will all fall soon. Within a month or so I hope to see snow and pray that most of my outside work on the property is wrapped up before it gets too cold.

I sure hope so because I am not very fond of working in 10 or 20 below zero. Unless its working with dogs, of course!

I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please comment below.

Robert Forto | Team Ineka | Alaska Dog Works | Mushing Radio

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Robert Forto is the host of The Dog Works Radio Show and is the training director of Alaska Dog Works. Robert Forto can be reached through his website at www.alaskadogworks.com

The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Shifter

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Yesterday I took one step closer to making all this a reality. I met with friend and Iditarod musher, Hugh Neff at Underdog Feeds in Meadow Lakes, to look at a couple of his dogs that he brought down for me to try out. One was a male that was not feeling too well from the trip and they wanted to take him to the vet right away. The other dog, also a male, named Shifter is a Yukon Quest and Iditarod (I think) finisher on both Lance Mackey and Hugh’s teams. He is four years old and as Hugh said, “full of power.”

After a quick few minutes visiting Hugh (so they could get to the vet in a hurry all the way in Palmer) I loaded up Shifter in the truck and we headed to get him a crate. I wanted to keep him inside for the night and introduce him to Raegan. Not necessary for Shifter’s sake but for the pup’s.

With Shifter on leash and Raegan not, the pup acted like she didn’t know what to do at first and she appeared a bit spooked. Her hackles were raised and there was a hint of a growl. Shifter paid her no mind. I then took the two dogs out to the yard and let them run around and they warmed up to each other quickly.

I don’t know what is in store for Shifter in terms of our future team but I do know that I will test him out right away. I will first hook him up to my bicycle and we will do a little bikejoring and as I add dogs I will see where he fits in best. He is larger than a lot of sled dogs so we will have to see. While I plan to build my team of Siberians I am in no way against running Alaskan’s to qualify for the race in 2013.

It is pouring in rain and I had hoped to do some work on the kennel to give Shifter a place to stay tonight. Hopefully the rain tapers off soon or I will be one wet pup!

I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please comment below.

Robert Forto | Team Ineka | Alaska Dog Works | Mushing Radio

___________________

Robert Forto is the host of The Dog Works Radio Show and is the training director of Alaska Dog Works. Robert Forto can be reached through his website at www.alaskadogworks.com

The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Raegan to the Vet

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The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Raegan to the Vet

Yesterday was a day all about dogs. It was Raegan’s first visit to the vet and I visited a hot dog stand that is for sale here in town. I know, I know, it is a stretch for me to be looking at a hot dog shack but not really. I have had a business concept in mind for a while called Two Guys and a Grill. The Two Guys concept was going to be a hockey themed bistro in Denver and we would serve a very basic menu of brats, burgers, garlic fries and drinks. That has changed a little bit with the finding of this hot dog stand.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, there are these little coffee shack things everywhere up here. Almost every parking lot has one. They have cool catchy little names like Aroma Borealis and the Howling Dog and Jungle Juice an things like that, but few sell food.

You maybe asking what about dog training. I plan to offer that in the coming future but I need someplace now where I can earn a buck and pay the house payment. Every guy has to have a job right? If I purchase this place I will hire a couple college-age kids to run it with me and that will afford me the time necessary to continue to work on the house and begin to build my team and run them as well.

That afternoon our new pup, Raegan had her first appointment at the veterinarian. As you can see bythe picture, she is patiently waiting for her turn. I have been told that the vet that I am seeing is one of the best in the state and they “know” sled dogs. Raegan was a trooper and got microchipped and a Rabies vaccine. I asked about heart worm and the tech said they are not a problem up here.

I headed over the the Alaska State Fair to check it out before the rain started coming down and I will say the fair lived up to all the hype that I have been reading about in the papers and hearing people talk. It was great! They had their share of livestock exhibits and petting zoo’s and tractors for sale but they also had a hilarious lumberjack show and of course FAIR FOOD! That is the reason for anyone coming right? There was funnel cakes and hot dogs and zoom-zooms and wham-whams, smoked salmon chowder and salmon quesadillas, just to name a few. I had an awesome cheesesteak sandwich with the “works” and some garlic potato chips.

It started to pour and I headed for the truck. Raegan was sound asleep in the back seat. I had left here a Kong stuffed with treats and she managed to get them all out. I made it back home in an hour after dealing with the fair traffic.

When I got home I had a message on Facebook from my neighbor asking if I had tried the chocolate covered bacon at the fair. Now I have heard of many things but chocolate covered bacon? No way.

The fair runs through Labor Day and it might be worth the ten bucks to go back and try that delicacy. What do you think?

Tomorrow: New Dogs??

I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please comment below.

Robert Forto | Team Ineka | Alaska Dog Works | Mushing Radio | Dog Doctor Radio | Denver Dog Works