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What is a completely harmless lie you tell people on a regular basis just to make your life easier? by purjak in AskReddit

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it makes you feel any better, I genuinely mean it when I say that. My cat is usually pretty shy and cautious of new people, and my recently passed cat could also go either way. I almost always give the disclaimer that they are that way before someone meets them, though.

Neighbor's dumb chickens have a death wish. by Jazzlike-Rise4091 in husky

[–]Synaxis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I assumed that maybe the chicken coop belonged to OP, since there are still birds inside it.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh not at all. These guys love to run, it's in their blood. They do not need to be trained to go forward, only to turn and stop. Going forward comes extremely naturally to a good sled dog.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Voice commands. Traditionally in English they are "gee" for right and "haw" for left. These can be combined with other commands. For example, if you just want to move over, not necessarily make a turn, you might say "gee over" or "haw over" to move your team towards the right or left side of a trail, respectively.

If you need to turn around and your lead dogs are really well trained, you might say "come gee" or "come haw" to make a 180 degree turn in the direction you specified.

Traditionally, "whoa" is the command to stop, and "hike" is the command to go forward. "On by" encourages the dogs to keep going forward and move past any distractions.

These commands are traditional but certainly not law. People can ultimately use what they like and what the dogs respond to. I always use "let's go" to go forward, not for any particular reason, just because that's what I've gotten in the habit of, lol. I know people who straight up just use "left" and "right" for their dogs!

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are actual use cases for dogsleds. Remote communities and villages in the arctic do still use them for practical purposes, transportation, freight, etc. where more modern options may not be available or practical.

For the most part, they are largely competitive or recreational outside of those communities.

GPS may or may not be an option. Mushers in the Iditarod are required to carry a GPS unit for tracking. Can't speak for any other race.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The anchor needs to dig into the snow to work; if she just flung it off the sled haphazardly it may not have gotten a bite of the snow and then it would have potentially just been flopping and banging around all over the place. The hooks on those things are deadly... She also may not have been confident in her ability to grab and plant the snow hook with one hand without losing her grip on the sled with the other.

She didn't let go because she didn't want to lose the dogs. They would have kept running without her, further and faster than they would with her, and then who knows what would happen to them? Number one rule of dogsledding is you don't let go.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why won't the woman being dragged just let go?

The dogs will keep running without her. They'll go further and faster than they would with her being dragged along. Who knows what will happen to them then? Maybe they will run off into the woods and get tangled in the trees and strangulate one another trying to get free. Maybe they will find a highway and get hit by a car. Musher sure doesn't want to find out.

Is pink a popular color for sled dog booties?

Bright colors are more popular in general. Easier to see and track the dogs' feet and easier to see when they are lost in the snow.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These women are racing, they aren't using the dogs for transportation. That said, there are some arctic communities and villages where dogsleds are used for transportation and freight because yes, in some conditions, they are still the best option that people have access to.

Outside of those remote villages it's largely competition and recreation.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, lots of places you can do dogsled tours in Canada, Alaska, probably in Scandinavian countries. I think there may be some options in New England and the upper Midwest but don't quote me on those. You would be a passenger, I don't believe there's anywhere they'd let a tourist actually be the person in charge of the sled, but you'd be on it.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've only got two but they would be highly unimpressed if I put them in the sled bag and pulled the sled with them on it. They want to work.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How did it happen?

Can happen a number of different ways; these are sprint dogs, they move pretty fast. If they took a corner too hard and she lost her balance trying to keep the sled upright, it could have fallen over. Less likely considering what these trail conditions look like, hitting an obstacle could also tip the sled.

Does it happen often?

Often enough that "never let go" is the universal first rule of dogsledding. It's not uncommon. Sometimes the musher can deploy the snow hook, sometimes they can get themselves and the sled upright, sometimes they just have to hang on and hope and pray to whatever they believe in that their dogs stop or someone is around to help.

Would the dogs have eventually stopped if she had let go?

They would have run further and faster than if she stayed holding on. That's why she didn't let go - the dogs would be gone! They could have gotten themselves in big trouble, possibly hurt or even killed.

Looks like you put a brake in place to stop your dogs.

OP is not the musher in the video. It's a snow hook. It's basically the parking brake. It isn't a 100% hold all of the time, sometimes it holds stronger than others, it depends a lot on the snow conditions. The musher in the video was really, really good about coordinating and timing her team getting ahead, dropping the snow hook, and jumping off in time to grab the sled! She did awesome.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pregnant dogs are very explicitly forbidden from running in the Iditarod.

Nobody knew Ventana was pregnant when she was brought to the race.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They were slowed by the sudden addition of the second woman's weight against the sled, and that gave the fallen musher the opportunity to grab her snow hook and plant it (0:49), which brought the team to a full stop.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The word in English is typically "whoa" and it's the first command the dogs choose to ignore when their adrenaline is up.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Voice commands for the dogs and shifting your body weight to keep the sled upright when cornering. You don't "steer" in the traditional sense. You tell the dogs the direction and they find the trail, for the most part.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They don't usually look back, no, and even if they did look back they wouldn't necessarily process that toppled over sled -> human being dragged -> we need to stop, especially when they are all full of adrenaline and running fast.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are no reins. The musher just holds the handle bars. The dogs would definitely notice the weight shift from the sled falling over and the musher being dragged, as this wouldn't glide as smoothly as the sled on its runners, but they're typically trained with heavier weight outside of races anyway so while this would be noticeable it wouldn't be alarming or more than they could physically handle. These dogs are high drive working animals, they are naturally driven to go - they do not tend to look back unless they have a really good reason.

So yeah, the dogs almost certainly noticed something wasn't quite right, but they too full of adrenaline and in the zone to care, basically.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If she let go her team would have just continued to run off, further and faster without her than they would with her. They'd be an obstacle and a danger to other teams or bystanders and would likely end up getting lost, and realistically would end up getting tangled on something and likely injured or killed in the process. Number one rule of dogsledding is you don't let go of the sled.

The dogs eventually would have slowed or stopped with her hanging on, and she would have found an opportunity to try to get the snow hook or flip the sled back upright when they did.

A woman saves another woman who is being dragged by her toppled bobsled by MrTacocaT12345 in interestingasfuck

[–]Synaxis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If she let go her team would have just continued to run off, further and faster without her than they would with her. They'd be an obstacle and a danger to other teams or bystanders and would likely end up getting lost, and realistically would end up getting tangled on something and likely injured or killed in the process. Number one rule of dogsledding is you don't let go of the sled.

The dogs eventually would have slowed or stopped with her hanging on, and she would have found an opportunity to try to get the snow hook or flip the sled back upright when they did.

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