THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602070417
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
There is no way you could mistake the flat countryside around David and Holly Fox's log house for the back woods of the upper Midwest. But don't tell that to Nome and Thud, LDD and Dixie, Flash and Pixie.
They're pure-bred Siberian huskies and they were born for this moment. Leaping in their traces at the scent of clean white snow, yipping at the pleasure of the moment, they tremble with anticipation as sharp as a runner blade.
``Hike!'' David demands, and they're off and running, the beauty of their muscles and shoulders translating quickly into forward motion. The sled hits a dip in the trail and for a second is airborne, returning to the hard-packed snow with a thump. Then the team is running flat out among pine trees still leaning from the ice and snow of one of this area's biggest winter storms.
Since Saturday, Fox has been putting all 14 of his sled dogs through their paces.
``It's the first time we've been able to do this in the 10 years we've been here,'' he exults as the sled heads for the first, hairpin turn.
``Gee!'' he barks, and Nome puts her right shoulder into Thud's left flank, stearing the sprint sled smartly to the right. ``Haw!'' he commands again, and the team executes a sharp left turn.
Fox, a Chesapeake native, is a naval architect by profession, but he's devoted to his hobby. He's had as many as 24 sled dogs at a time, normally training them on wheeled sleds on the twisting course through the woods at the back of their 10 acres on Hungary Road.
The dogs are imposing, but friendly and apparently gentle. A couple of them participate every other week in a group called Therapy Dogs Inc., helping bring smiles to nursing home residents.
Each January, Fox, his wife and their team travel to Minnesota to compete in the 500-mile John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, a four- to-six day ordeal that skirts danger and exhaustion and frostbite.
``I enjoy doing things with dogs that dogs are meant to do,'' he says. ``I don't like to see dogs on a chain someplace. These dogs are bred to run.''
But snow deep enough for racing in Chesapeake? It's just about a once-in-a-lifetime chance. For several days, the Foxes and several friends and neighbors have been delighting in the novelty of it all. This may be their last day.
Barking madly just moments before, the huskies are suddenly quiet as they bend to their task. The sled is cruising at about 10 mph, geeing and hawing at bends in the trail that are marked by brightly painted pie plates.
``Good dogs!'' he calls out at each turn, then ``Through!'' as they pass the barn where some of the Foxes' other animals reside, including a miniature horse, several ducks, geese, goats and turkeys.
They drop back into a steady trot, then Fox, sensing their need for a breather, puts on the brakes. The dogs' breath comes in cloudy bursts while they rest. After a few seconds, Fox calls, ``Eyes front!'' and the dogs snap their heads forward. A sharp whistle and they're off again.
The sled hits a series of jarring bumps. ``This used to be a plowed field,'' Fox says, laughing. ``Those were burrows.'' Suddenly, the team haws when it should gee and the sled leans sharply to the right, spilling its occupants in gloriously cold snow, but bouncing back easily.
Now it's time for kids. Katie, Elizabeth and Rob Mason jump on and a fresh team takes them for a stately trot through the woods. ``Hi, Mom!'' Rob calls to Kathy Mason, who watches with her youngest, Sarah, as the team jogs past.
The kids jump up and down as they step from the sled. What did they like best? ``The bumps!'' says Elizabeth. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot
David Fox and his neighbors, youngsters Rob, front, Elizabeth and
Katie Mason, go dashing through the snow Tuesday at Fox's home in
Chesapeake. Until the weekend snowfall, Fox had to train his dogs on
wheeled sleds.
by CNB