 The Race to the Sky is one of America's most important Dog sled races that takes place each year in Montana. Pam Beckstrom has been a volunteer for 25 years,including being a board member and Race Secretary for 23 years. She authored a book on the Race to the Sky history (all proceeds went back to Race to the Sky), wrote the Educational Curriculum for the race and started the host family program. She is involved with the musher in the schools program and getting the educational trunk program set up. She is also co-owner, with husband, Jack (also a musher) of Adanac Sleds and Equipment, that will shortly be distributed in the UK by Spiffy Dog, their mushing supply business and has helped plan, organise, and race marshall other races. They are both integrally involved in seeing the sport grow and learn. Pam tells Waggin' Tail a bit about the history of the race.
About 66 years ago, you could hear the howling of dogs and the sounds of a military camp just outside Helena, Montana, during World War II. Camp Rimini War Dog Reception and Training Center was organized in November 1943 and was a haven for enlisted dog mushers and dogs. It was perfect for training with snowy winters, mountainous terrain, and dog mushing was spoken in the evening to knit the soldiers together.
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 Debbie with one of the trustee huskiesDebbie Collins travelled from Norway to Sweden on a husky sled, learning the skills of the musher and after her amazing 250km adventure she told Waggin' Tails about the trip. My Arctic challenge began in Gappo, Norway, and ended in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden covering over 250km in just six days. Our days were 11 or 12 hours long, standing behind the sled for 7 or more hours at a time. We only rested when we climbed into our sleeping bags in the evening. I ‘clung’ onto my sled up the steep Norwegian hills where my poor dogs sometimes stopped and looked back at me as much to say get off and help push and I had to do just that.
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UK animal welfare, behaviour, training and veterinary organisations along with organisations from around the world: Dogs Trust, The Blue Cross, Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), The Blue Dog, Wood Green Animal Shelters, World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), The Kennel Club, Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare, Canine Partners, UK , Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB), Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC), Association of Pet Dog Trainers, UK (APDT, UK), UK Registry of Canine Behaviours (UKRCB), Companion Animal Behaviour Therapy Study Group (CABTSG), British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) and British Veterinary Association (BVA). Australian Veterinary Association (AVA), Australian Veterinary Behaviour Interest Group (AVBIG), American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB), American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (ACVB), The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) and The Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, Inc. (CCPDT)(USA), European Society of Clinical Veterinary Ethology (ESCVE), European College of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine – Companion Animals (ECVBM-CA), the Flemish Veterinary Working Group on Ethology (VDWE) and Norwegian Association for Pet Behaviour (NAPB) Norsk Atferdsgruppe for Selskapsdyr (NAS). are warning of the possible dangers of using techniques for training dogs that can cause pain and fear, such as some of those seen used by Cesar Millan, who has announced a UK tour next year.
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 Having worked at Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare for the past ten and a half years, writes Denise Dubarbier, I have countless times, struggled to get an excitable, boisterous, greyhound into their harness. Inevitably, it becomes a two-man task, as one holds on to the greyhound by its collar or slip lead, and the other lays out the harness ( right way up) and attempts to put the greyhound’s two front legs through the relevant loops. No easy task and one I would like to say has improved with practice. Maybe it has, marginally, but so much depends on which dog you are trying to get into the harness, and who’s helping you!
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 House training, house breaking, potty training are words that every new dog owner hears, and many people worry about how their new addition to the family is going to destroy the carpets or the favourite rug. Historically we have been told to rub the dog's nose in it give it, a smack on the bottom and throw it outside and sooner or later it will learn. Fortunately for dogs, modern training techniques have proved that these old methods, whilst being cruel and traumatic for the new arrival, can delay the dog learining where to do his or her business. Karen Napthine from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) outlines a more effective way of house training your new dog.
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There are m any books in the market about training dogs, none so easy to read and as useful as 100 Ways To Train The Perfect Dog by Marie Miller and Sarah Fisher. As a dog owner myself this is the book that helped me understand and train my husky, Arapahoe. Alex Wilson reviews this excellent book.
Published by David and Charles
ISBN 978 -0715329413
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 A barking dog can be very annoying for the owners and more especially for their neighbours, Karen Napthine, a Companion animal behaviour practitioner and committee member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers looks at the problem and offers some useful advice in controlling your dog from excess barking
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Here at Spiffy Dog we believe in the importance of good dog training. It is also very important to chosse a trainer / behaviourist who offers kind, non-punitive training methods. That is why we recommend trainers from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT UK). Along with the APDT UK we openly condem the use of choke chains, pinch collars, shock collars etc. Click here to find out what it is doing to your dog.
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Marie Miller author, behaviourist, TTouch practitioner and a founder member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (UK) looks at separation anxiety in dogs, and how owners can lessen the problem for their dogs
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 Marie Miller,author, behaviourist, TTouch practitioner and a founder member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (UK) looks at how to stop your dog pulling using TTouch ground work and a double ended lead
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