My Friend and Mentor

While changing and re-looking at my blog for http://siberianhusky.gotop100.com/

I noticed that over the the last 3 years or so that I have been blogging , I didn't have a picture or mention my dearest dogsleddn friend Walter Grohman . He has taught me everything that I know and I have stolen some of his training and racing tips over the years and changed them to fit me and my dogs.

I first met Walter when I had one Alaskan Husky and one Siberian husky. I was fooling around with my two dogs and a home made sled that looked like something out of the Flintstones (but it was working). I had no idea what I was doing but it was only two dogs so I hooked them up and managed to get them to run somehow.

It was interesting but I knew there was more to it than that. I found out that there was an actual race hours from my home and I took off to see it. Walter was there and he always attracted the fans for some reason with his cool painted trailer and his all Copper Bullets. Before I knew it I was in the race (2 dog race-2 miles) with my one siberian and one of Walter's older and sweetest dogs Kaluha. I was thrilled but even more than that Walter became my Canadian idol.

He showed me different trails that I could run at and let me use some of his dogs so I could get the real speed of the breed. He took me to buy my first real sled at snowmist kennels, a sled that I still have today. He took me double sleddn so I could see how he moved his feet and shifted his weight. He introduced me to other Southern/ Central Ontario racers and I followed him to races all over Ontario. At the Canadian Championships at Trillium trails Walter became my real idol. He raced his oldest and dearest Siberian's for his last time before retiring them. There were many competitive racers there to win and I knew people were looking at Walter's dogs scatching their heads wondering what he was doing. He ran those dogs and finished last each day in the 6 dog class. In the truck lot there he was coaching and praising his dogs like their old champion selves they were. Walter and his old dogs won that race no matter what and it still gives me an old tear telling the story. He is one of my dearest friends on the planet, my mentor and I'm glad to see him racing every winter especially when I see his face at my Kortright Centre race.

By the way you sure were looking good this year.....