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| Zoya DeNure of Crazy Dog Kennel |
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| Saturday, 12 June 2004 | |
 Zoya grew up in a small town, 3 hours north of Madison, Wisconsin. Cats, gerbils and dogs ruled her house. You couldn’t keep her away from animals if you tried. She volunteered at the local animal shelter walking dogs on weekends or after school. She was always trying to bring home the strays. Her mother would just shake her head and either agree to foster the cat/dog for a while or help to find them homes. They had a soft spot for all animals. Eagerly offering to dog sit for friends while they traveled. When Zoya turned 9, she started working on a dairy farm just a mile from her house.
Riding her bike everyday after school to help clean stalls, milk and care for the young cows. The farm paid $90.00 a month and for a 9 year old, that was a lot of money. At one point, she purchased a young bull, thinking it was a good idea until that young bull grew horns and had an attitude. Zoya was forced to sell. At the age of 13, a model scout invited her to a modeling school and soon after began a career in modeling that would eventually change her life and lead to living and traveling to other countries for many years. But Zoya grew tired of traveling and moving around all the time, so in 1999 she came back to Madison, Wisconsin, bought a dog and decided to stay awhile. Still involved in modeling on a smaller scale, she would work in the local area and in Chicago on weekends for fun, making this more of a side thing in her life, while starting to focus on bigger more meaningful dreams.In 1999, Zoya went to a “dog pull” at the local Pet Food Warehouse. Intrigued with all the “woodsy people” coming out with their dogs and into the city; “it was really fascinating to see these people working with their dogs and seemingly so connected” says Zoya. Not long after this experience, she bought a sled & harness and practiced sledding on the lake across from her house. Her dog, “Ethan” was not going for this new activity. So she phoned the pet feed store and got the number for sprint driver, Ann Jandernoa, in Park Falls Wisconsin. They talked for nearly 2 hours that first day and Zoya took lots of notes. A week later she was driving nearly 4 hours each weekend to visit Ann and help out with her 75 dogs. It didn’t take long before she was hooked. 6 months later, Zoya sold the lake house, and rented a home in the country so she could train a small team of dogs for the 4 dog class races around Wisconsin. In 2001 Zoya made the big move to Alaska simply by answering a classified ad to be a handler for another musher. She now was in the heart and soul of dog mushing country and loving every minute of it. It wasn’t long before she was building a team of her own. Many of the dogs in Zoya’s kennel today are from local shelters. She started taking rescue & unwanted dogs in 2002. Zoya explains “I couldn’t afford those $2,000 dogs and I was getting calls from other mushers about their unwanted dogs. I was looking to put together a team I could eventually race. I learned quickly that many of these dogs were not given enough time, nor we’re they trained with a gentle hand. Often times you can learn from other people’s mistakes and over a period of time I was able to put together one heck of a team from these unwanted dogs”. “I look at age and conformation. It’s important that the dog is between 1 and 5 years of age and equally important that the dog is built to run. We can’t save them all as much as we would like to so I tend to focus on the sled dogs that I know can be retrained and either raced or placed. It’s tough to place older dogs and dogs who can’t run as well because of their physical limitations. All the other junk, like bad attitude, aggression, bad habits can all be worked out. I’ve got patience for dogs” she says with confidence. It takes time. There’s no secret formula since every dog is his or her own being with his or her own issues. Zoya treats all the dogs equal in the kennel and on the line in team. She is consistent with her dogs in training and this brings in stability and trust. If she’s got issues in the yard or on the line with aggression, she will talk only to that one dog by saying his name and dealing with the issue only, using a strong tone in her voice. Then she will change the tone back almost immediately bringing the mood back to fun. She says “It’s important to keep the energy on a positive note. There is no “bad dog” for chewing lines, looking back, or turning around. The most common bad habits work themselves out with time and repetition. It may take longer to train that one particular dog and you might get one heck of a work out doing it but In the long run you will have a better trained dog for it and a dog who is happy – working from trust. We are working towards getting all the dogs in top physical shape and in turn this keeps the dogs quite stimulated. We don’t have any dogs here in our kennel sitting on a chain without a purpose. We put the new rescue dogs on a few 6-mile runs for an evaluation. Then, we’ll quickly bump that dog up to 16’s and then 20’s. It all depends on the dog’s physical and mental ability. Time and Patience”. Not all the dogs work into her race team. Those dogs are placed with a loving family or recreational musher. Zoya says “We find good homes for the dogs once they are trained and ready to be placed. Now days I can afford to spend an adequate amount for a sled dog, but this would go against what I believe in and set unreal expectations on that dog for the price someone else had set”. Always ready for the unexpected, Zoya has been training for both sprint & distance mushing. “It is unusual to train for sprint races, since we aren’t sprint mushers but this year has been one heck of a season trying to get to the races. We really had some unfortunate happenings that would keep me from racing in previously planned races this year. Our truck broke down the night before we were to leave for the Tustumena 200 and the next day we paced the house, frustrated. We looked up races online finding only sprint races happening. Why not? I’m free that weekend and my dogs are sick of training & not racing. They’ve been training for a long time this season and we’ve got to do something this month. We’ve got some top end speed in my main team and it would be fun to participate in the Women’s races. I decided to run the Women’s World Championship races with my best loping dogs. I’ve started running fast 8’s and 12’s and nothing longer for the past 2 weeks. Normally we train long for distance. 30 mile runs, 50 mile runs and some back to back 50’s or longer. It took some sorting through our dogs to see who could hold their speed and who couldn’t. Most of our dogs break into a fast trot slowing from 20 mph to 14 and 15 mph. The dogs that didn’t make the Rondy team are still training for distance races (longer 30’s and 40’s mile runs) since we will be racing in March & April. We’re going into the races for a good time and to finish with healthy and happy dogs”. she explains. She plans to do more distance races and enter the 2007 Iditarod, with a team of rescue dogs racing competitively. With an eye focused on making a difference in the lives of unwanted dogs by reaching out and talking freely about these issues and more effectively by setting an example through her racing experiences with these dogs. Fairly new to the sport, her career in sled dog sports is just beginning. Her goal is to keep learning and a determination to get better. “I have always loved dogs and find it natural to retrain these animals for a better life. Our life with dogs is so amazing and important to me and it’s worth sharing; with shelter dogs, with our own dogs, it doesn’t matter really. A dog is a dog is a dog. They are all dogs, living, breathing, able and worthy of love and attention”. She urges people to take time to learn about dogs by spending time with them. Her advice for the new inspiring musher “ work with someone who has been successfully been involved in this sport for many years. It helps to handle dogs for a year or two before getting out on your own. Keep your expectations realistic. Keep yourself open and flexible in training; remember that every dog is different and unique. Go to your local shelter, call Second Chance League, or me, or visit petfinder.com for several good dogs waiting for a good home. Talk to someone who is rescue/mushing friendly to get advice. Today Zoya and her husband John enjoy the laid back rural life in their cozy log home surrounded by spectacular views of Alaska’s back country near Paxson with 46 happy dogs in their kennel. To learn more about Zoya & John visit their web site at www.dogsleddenali.com Comments (0)
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