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Explosions waiting to happen Mail Tribune photos / Jim Craven Lin Neumann of La Pine races toward the finish line with her team of six sled dogs at the Diamond Lake Sled Dog Races on Saturday. Neumann is in her 27th year of racing. Sled dogs at the Diamond Lake races can�t wait to hit the snowy trail By Bill Varble DIAMOND LAKE � Bill the sled dog gazes deeply into Lin Neumann�s eyes. "Look in his eyes," Neumann says. Bill�s brown eyes brim with unconditional love. Shortly, Neumann will drive Bill and five other dogs in an attack on the six-mile course here at the Diamond Lake Sled Dog Races. The races pay homage to an age-old means of locomotion, sure, but they also celebrate the ancient bond between man and beast. Racing continues today. Some 60 teams are on hand for the weekend to compete over courses of two to 24 miles with teams of four, six, eight and as many as 12 dogs. There�s even skijoring (cross-country skiing with the aid of one or two dogs) and junior and peewee races. The event is staged by the Southern Oregon Sled Dog Club. Equipped with big four-wheel-drive trucks, dog trailers, skimobiles and sleds that can cost more than $3,000, racers come from Central Oregon � the Bend-Sisters area is a dog-sledding hot spot � and as far as Washington and California. "Love of the dogs," explains Sandi Iverson of Jacksonville, one of the organizers. "You gotta love �em." There are dogs everywhere, hundreds of dogs. From thick-furred huskies to various hounds to border collies that Neumann brings not to race but just for companionship. Dogs roll in snowbanks, pull at harnesses and jump yelping over each other in their frenzy to run. Teams go out at one-minute intervals and race the clock. There is a gap of 20 minutes between the last finisher of an event and the start of the next race. Times are posted on a scoreboard near the starting line on the way down to Diamond Lake Resort. Not everybody is racing. "I have Siberians," says Annetta Crockett of Keno. "I like running them out and back, but I might take all day to go around the lake." Siberian huskies are not as fast as Alaskan huskies, she says. Siberians are an American Kennel Club breed, and the faster dogs have longer legs that don�t conform to the standard. Crockett�s Siberians are perfectly happy to loll about in the snow when she wants to stop and have a sandwich, unlike her redbone hounds, which never seem to want to stop. Dog sleds are thought to have originated in Siberia and spread eastward across the far north as far as Greenland. They�ve been in the New World at least 1,000 years. Traditional sleds had hollow wooden runners attached to crosspieces by sealskin thongs. The Eskimo generally used the husky that�s still popular with modern mushers. Drivers turned the sled by pushing or pulling. Modern sleds may be wooden or lightweight aluminum and are steered by leaning, much like a bicycle or skis. Drivers wax the runners and stop in part with a foot brake. Neumann, 54, is in her 27th season of racing. She�s driven up with her husband, Dan, in a truck the couple uses only for hauling their dozen dogs and their sledding gear. Sled dogs at a starting line are explosions waiting to happen. In their eagerness, they bark and yelp and jump into the air against their traces and atop one another. Most racers have three or four helpers controlling the dogs as they move to the starting line. The job is literally one of holding back the dogs. At home in La Pine, Neumann says, the dogs know a race is coming up the instant she grabs boots or harnesses. She figures her dog food bill would be $300 a month if she hadn�t picked up Hill�s Science Diet as a sponsor a few years back. A lead dog is the most important member of each team. Neumann�s lead dog is Baby, a blonde, 4-year-old Alaskan husky. Baby was trained by Topeka, Neumann�s beloved lead dog of many years. "She won a lot of races for me," Neumann says of Topeka. "She taught me a lot." When Topeka was training Baby, Neumann would see Topeka hesitate for a micro-second at each command and look at Baby as if to say, "Are you getting this?" "It was unbelievable," Neumann says. Bill, now 10 years old, was also a student of Topeka�s. The sire of many of the Neumann�s dogs, he�s now given over lead dog chores to the younger Baby. Neumann says he�s still a fine racer. "He never cheats," she says, meaning to slack off and let others do more work. "Do you, William?" When Topeka died, Neumann stayed in bed for two days, grieving, unable to get up. She plants a tree or a bush for each dog who dies. Inevitably there are puppies, new dogs, more races. Neumann figures she�s in it as long as she holds up. "I�m enjoying myself." To go to the dogs What : The Diamond Lake Sled Dog Races. When : 9 a.m. to midafternoon today. Where : Diamond Lake. Take Highway 62, then 230 and 138 to the east side of Diamond lake, then take the Diamond Lake Resort turn. Admission is free. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.