The Dog I Got for Safety Changed My Life

A solo trail run, a stranger moment that would rattle anyone, and a big dog built for endurance all collide into a story that is equal parts funny, practical, and unexpectedly moving. We’re talking with McKenzie from Rome, Georgia about her two dogs Hazel, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Emma, a Coonhound mix, and what it really takes to live with high-drive personalities while still keeping life fun, safe, and grounded. 

We get into the details Ridgeback owners love to debate: what the “ridge” is, why some purebred ridgebacks are ridgeless, and why this breed can be a tough first dog. McKenzie shares what puppyhood looked like for Hazel, from mouthy chaos to learning that training is less about forcing obedience and more about building a partnership the dog actually wants to join. We also talk about choosing a second dog for companionship, the challenges of a rescue who had never lived indoors, and how routines can be flexible when your household needs it. 

Then things get fascinating: dryland mushing and canicross. Think sled dog racing without snow, with a pulling harness, a human hip belt, a line, and verbal cues that let your dog lead while you steer. We break down how it works for runners and bikers, what gear matters, why trails are the best place to start, and why canicross can be surprisingly welcoming even if your dog is reactive or “not trained enough.” McKenzie also explains how this sport built a true community for her and why she started organizing events through Capitolina Racing in Georgia. 

If you’ve been looking for a dog podcast that blends real-life dog ownership with trail running, dog sports, canicross basics, and practical training perspective, this conversation will give you ideas you can use right away. Subscribe for more pet stories, share this with a friend who needs a new outdoor hobby, and leave a review to help more dog people find the show.

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Transcript

Welcome And Podcast Purpose

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Every Pop Rint, Every Story. I am your host, Dan Popovic. And for you new listeners, what this podcast is about, quite simple. It's about our pets, dogs, cats. We bring in families just to share fun stories. You might listen in some of these episodes, you might laugh, you may cry on occasion. We do talk about pet loss. Hopefully you will feel inspired. I think today's episode should be a fun, interesting one, which will probably inspire you, but most importantly, to feel supported wherever you're at in your journey, you know, with your pet. So on that note, I am super excited today to welcome McKenzie from Rome, Georgia. How are you today, McKenzie?

SPEAKER_01 0:49

I'm good. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

I am doing good. And then for the listeners, we I I just stumbled upon that McKenzie and I aren't too far apart geographically. Um Rome is up in the northeast, north northwest. See, there we go. I'm messing up our northwest quadrant, not too far from uh Chattanooga, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yeah, we're about halfway between Chattanooga and Atlanta.

Meet McKenzie, Hazel, And Emma

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Awesome. Awesome. Um, so jumping into that naturally, the first question I love asking how many, how many pets do we have a part of the family today?

SPEAKER_01 1:19

I have two dogs. I've only ever had two dogs. It's my first and second dog. Um I've got a 10-year-old ridgeback and an eight and a half-year-old coon hound.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

And the ridge back is named Hazel, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Hazel, yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

So that's a that's a fun other connection or fun fact for the listeners. We've got a ridgeback as well, hazel. I know that's how you and I connected.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Uh on on Substack. So that's that's fun. Now, your hazel though is probably a normal size, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Yeah, she's about 80 pounds. Well, in her heyday, she's about 80 pounds. She's about 85, 87 in her her senior years. So um, but she's yeah, she's still a good fit girl. She's a a standard breed, regular ridgeback, except she's ridgeless, she doesn't have a ridge. Oh. Yeah, so she's a purebred ridgeback with no ridge.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Well, with no ridge, okay. And then well, I guess maybe we should explain that ridge to the listeners on the show. What does that mean, the ridge?

SPEAKER_01 2:16

A Rhodesian ridgeback has a um stripe of hair that grows backwards down their spine that comes from the the African dogs that were part of their breeding pool. Um, and most of them have it, but hazel just doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Interesting. Yeah, it's it's it's funny talking about that because our hazel does have it. Yeah. And I you I had never heard of a ridgeback before getting her. Um, and it's just it's so funny to pet her. And I I kind of tell folks when I try to explain it's almost like a skunk, right? Not to make her out like a skunk, but it's just that that line behind on the back. But to your point, it goes in a different direction. Um, and I saw someone over in the window.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Was that a cat or oh no, it's definitely not a cat. That's the coon hound.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Okay. Okay.

unknown 3:07

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

So Hazel's 11. Um, how did Hazel become a part of the family? What's the story?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Um, we got Hazel from a breeder. Um, so I've had her since she was a baby. Um, I've always been a runner. Um, and I was stopped by a naked man on the trail who asked me to help him find his pants. About the time my daughter got old enough to start asking for a dog, so I thought, let's just get a big dog that can run with me. And that's how we got Hazel.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

And any any story behind the name?

SPEAKER_01 3:41

Uh my daughter chose it. It's a character from um whatever book series she was reading at that point in time. I think it's from a Percy Jackson series.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Okay, very cool. Yeah, I think Hazel came with her name, but uh you saw we call her Crazy Hazy.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Yes, a great name.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

She's she's the sweetest. We she's a rescue, so we didn't get her from puppyhood, and she came from a horrific background, so um just beaten by men, and and so we've been able to kind of break her out of her shell. Now she's a miniature, so she's only about 50 pounds. Um go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

No, the thereafter something I was telling to stop.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Oh so both Hazel in the what is the coon hound's name again?

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Emma. Emma, Emma, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Chasing a squirrel or something.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

There's no telling. We live we live in the city, so there's a lot of people and things and squirrels, and so they stay busy all day. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

And then so Hazel's 11, still pretty active, but kind of getting up there in in seniority.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Yeah, well, she she'll be 10 in August. But she still runs with me regularly. She doesn't do harness sports anymore because those are a little more um just a little more intense than she's interested in. She can physically, she's just mentally retired. She does what she likes.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

What what does that mean? What is it you said harness boards?

SPEAKER_01 5:11

The harness sports, like the the bike drawer and the cane across and the the racing that we do. Um, she's still physically able, she just doesn't prefer that. She likes to do what she wants to do. Okay, but she's old enough to do that now.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

So gotcha. Let's hold that thought because I definitely want to come back to that. That's an exciting thing to kind of talk about too. Um, Emma is the Coon Hound. How old is Emma?

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Um, she is about eight and a half. We got her from the Humane Society. Um, and they were fairly confident about how old she was. So, so around eight and a half.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

Come with the name, or did you get the name her?

SPEAKER_01 5:46

She had the name. Um, it was one of the few things that she

What Makes A Ridgeback A Ridgeback

SPEAKER_01 5:50

was clear on. So we didn't dare change her name. She'd never lived inside before. Um, she'd not been around people very much before, but she didn't know her name, so we just kept it.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Okay. So she lives inside now?

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Yeah, yeah. Well, they they live in the house. We have a dog door, so they come and go as they please. But okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Hazel and Emma got along pretty good. Yeah, obviously. Yeah. How long did you have? Did you get Hazel and Emma kind of about the same time?

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Or uh no, Hazel was about maybe two when we brought Emma home.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Two, maybe three. Um, long enough that because I don't know how your reach back was, but mine was a journey to get from wild animal to um livable with. So so we gave her time to mature and figure out how to work with her before we dared add any other dogs to the to the mix.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Interesting. What what does that mean? Yeah, so I guess talk about that a little bit. What it would the journey.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Oh, as a as a puppy, she was she was a horrible puppy. Um ridgebacks are super mouthy, super bitey. Um, she had learned she learned bite inhibition from her ridgeback family, but it's still like ridgeback inhibition is not the same as human. Like it was like she was rough. Um, they they are in they're bred to hunt independently, so they don't have any cares for what you think or how you think it should be done. Um, and I really it took me a long time to figure out how to work with her because they're not the kind of dogs there that you can just tell them to do things and they do it. Um, you've got to convince them that that they want to do it. Like you have to really figure out how to be a partner with them um and convince them that that we want the same thing for them to even think about doing that. Um so sh and then super high energy. So add all the chaos on top of a super high energy dog. Um she was she was a challenge.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Interesting. So yeah, share some insights. You got me really peaked. Like what were some of the tactics you you did to kind of conquer those challenges, if if I can use that word.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Um, I Hazel was my first dog, and everyone will tell you that a rich back should not be your first dog, and they are completely right. Um, I don't know that I did anything except outlast it. Um, and she finally grew up and matured, and um, as she matured, you know, a year in, we had a lot of the same common interests. I wanted to run, she wanted to run, and we figured out we could do that together because we wanted to do that together. Um she's super food motivated. So if you can get the right food that she wants, if you have the right snack on you, you can get almost anything that you want from her. Um, but it it took it took, I think, I think mostly the the only thing I did was outlast her in the beginning. Yeah. Someone with better skills would probably have better insight into how you train a ridge back puppy.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Well, and so um curious, what made you get her, get a ridgeback? Is that what you wanted? Did you you were you doing some research? Or what led you?

SPEAKER_01 9:10

So I wanted a large dog to run with.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Um and I I I have always thought that dogs smell, stink. But if you Google dogs that don't stink, um ridgebacks, and and this was a debate I had with my daughter. I told her for years we can't get a dog because they stink. And she was like, just Google it. And if you Google it, it says that ridgebacks don't stink. And then a link to the farm with the breeder popped up. Like we like I'd run into the man on the trail, we were just starting to think about it. I Googled dogs that don't stink, thinking that would be the end of that. And then it popped up, and then a link to a breeder about 10 miles from us popped up also, and breeders are not super common um for ridgebacks here. So I

Surviving The Ridgeback Puppy Years

SPEAKER_01 9:55

I don't know, it just it just seemed like all the signs pointed to that being a great idea. So we I did it. I don't know if it's a great idea, but that's what I got.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Yeah, well, 10 10 years later. Um she's a great dog. That's interesting. You say because you know, you you you know, you now you're right. He's like, Yeah, I I never really have much of a she doesn't really have much of a smell or scent on her. Um so it's interesting but now the Coon dog though, I what about that one?

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Yeah, that was yeah, she definitely stinks. We do a lot of washing and bathing.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Love it. And then so what made you so you got Hazel, and then how did how did Coon, you know, how did Emma you I think you mentioned how did, yeah, what made you go in that direction?

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Um we always not always, but when uh when we got Hazel, I was aware that dogs are happier with friends, like they're social creatures like we are. So I never intended and I I'm a teacher, so I'm work 190 days, which is less than a lot of people. Um, but I never intended to just leave her here alone all the time. Um, because I have to be gone um during the day. So she is she can't come to work with me. She wouldn't enjoy going to work with me, um, even if that was an option. Um, so so we wanted a dog, something to keep her company. She's not cat friend, I and I'm cat allergic, but there were there were no other options, uh, animal-wise, you know, um she has a super high prey drive, so anything smaller is not gonna be safe in the household with her. Um but I had I had been running with her. Um, I was trying to convince my daughter to start running. Um, and the way we run, the size of the dog matters. So we got a smaller dog thinking that they it would be a friend for Hazel during the day, and it would be a smaller dog that my daughter could run with. Um, because Emma's Emma's very small for a kuna. She's half kunau and half pointer. She's about 45 pounds. She's she's fairly small for either one of those breeds.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Okay. So um, sorry, I might have felt like I cut you off.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

You're good.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Um, and then so you said Hazel, the breeder with the the breeder was here in Atlanta or the Georgia area?

SPEAKER_01 12:10

She's she was up a little bit north of us.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Okay, in Tennessee, or still in Georgia, North Georgia.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

She's still in Floyd County where we are.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Gotcha, gotcha. Okay, very cool. And all right, so yeah, this will be fun. You talked about you've mentioned running a few times. So did you were you so you were always running slash hiking before getting them? Um hence I guess the mention of running into a naked man on the trail. Um that would scare me too, I think. Um that's that's why we say that's what I was saying earlier on this podcast. Hopefully, some of these episodes will make you laugh, right? Or cry for that matter. You could probably do both on that one. Um, so do you do you run pretty regularly every day?

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Um no. I like I I enjoy running. I'm not a great runner or a skilled runner or a super fit runner. I it's just something that it makes me feel good that I like to include in my week. Um, but I also bike and I belong to a gym. Um, and with only so much time in the day, I definitely don't run every day. Um, and the girls, the dogs, um, they don't need to run every day either. When Hazel was young, we went almost every day. Um when Hazel was young, we went twice a day.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Uh yeah. Um but uh but but they don't they don't it and especially in the summer, the Emma can run every day. She would love that. Um once it gets hot, it's not as much fun for her, although she's still eager to go every single time. Um, but I I don't just in deference to their age, I don't run them every day in the heat. In the winter, it's we'll we'll in the winter we may be out every day, just depending. But um in the summer I don't work them as much.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

What about uh water? Any how do they do with water? Have they not had a chance to like experience water, beaches, or lakes or anything like that?

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Yeah, no, they are both great swimmers. Um, we kayak a lot, so I made sure both of them could swim before I put them in the boat um to make sure that we wouldn't drown each other. Um, because Hazel's definitely big enough to overbalance and tip the boat. Right. Emma bounces around all the time. Um, Emma's the only one that's ever actually tipped the boat from bouncing around. But but I made sure both of them could swim. We did a um an intro dock diving class actually with both of them because it's hard. Um, I don't know about other places, but here dogs aren't allowed on the beaches, they're not allowed in pools, and the rivers here are deep and the current strong. So it didn't seem like a good place to test it. Um so I did an intro dock diving class with both of them, but they both swam like fishes right off the bat. Neither one of them jump into the water, but they are excellent swimmers.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Okay, yeah, because I was gonna say dock diving. So I'm I'm assuming that's where they're just just jumping in, but I guess on your point, they're not really jumping in.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Yeah, no, for for our purposes, and people do is it's another dog sport people compete with and they jump

Adding A Second Dog For Company

SPEAKER_01 15:05

off the dock to see how far. Um, and neither of mine care to do that, but they'll get in and swim around.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Um, okay, cool. And then I for the for the listeners of of the show, if you don't happen to catch the the video, so wanted to give a shout out to the the shirt that you have on. So I know I'm gonna screw up the name again. Cat, but uh see what you showed what tell us the name of the shirt.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Um the the group we run with is Capitolina Racing. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

And it in the dress a dryland challenge, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:39

We host a race every year in Rome. Um, I say every year. It's it's fairly new. This will be our third year. Um, we host a race here in Rome, and and it's a full a dry land race is a full sled dog style race because we don't just run together. The dogs are trained sled dogs.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

And dry land mushing is just all the sled dog events without snow. So we use runners on feet and bicycles and three-wheeled rigs.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Oh wow, I'm just trying to think of what question to ask you next because my head's spinning. Um, because I had never heard of this. So this is what I was excited about connecting with you on because I mentioned to you, you know, I used to race a lot and I did events, but this is fascinating and completely something different.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Um, when I looked at your website, we'll definitely make sure to share a link to your website to the listeners. It looked like you guys had several events per year throughout the year, no?

SPEAKER_01 16:37

So we um I have just a social group that meets regularly. Like right now, we're meeting every Sunday morning. Um and it's hot, so all we're doing is running or walking. A lot of people will just walk as well because the biking is a lot more intense. The dogs have to work a lot harder. So we don't even pull bicycles out until it pulls off a lot more. Um, but we just meet for social meetups um weekly, sometimes during the year, it's less often. Um, but those are open to anyone that wants to come try it. We've got um our sponsors have given us a race kit with all the the cooling harnesses that the humans and the dogs wear, so people can come come out and just try it and see what they think. Um and and those are just those events are just for fun. We meet up, everyone does whatever workout they want to do. Um, a lot of people walk, a lot of people run. We usually go get coffee afterwards. And that's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

Interesting. So it too, like you said, so it's running or walking, you've got the gear. So um, yeah, because I guess where my head is going is like you said, the the the snow with the the sled, and then um I'm gonna butcher everything up because I don't know the harnesses. I'm you know, I'm sure there's right proper names for everything. Um, so that's that's kind of what you're talking about, the gear. So if I wanted to come out and do this and I just walked, um Hazel would be geared up. Um, yeah, if I'm walking, where does the sled come in?

SPEAKER_01 18:10

So there's no sled because we don't have snow. So if you're walking, the dog wears a pulling harness, but in a walk, well, actually, it depends on the dog. A lot of dogs still pull like a train if they're if you're walking, and you have to use your body. You know, that's that's the exercise you're using your body to to resist that pull. So the dog wears a sled dog harness. The human, if you're walking or running, wears a belt that wraps around your your hips and your pelvis, and you're connected by a line.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

There's there's no sled, your body is the sled.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

And then the dogs are trained with verbal cues, so all of my dogs know left and right, easy, speed up, start, stop. Um, over. They know if I say left over, they know which direction to move over. So the human who's either

Running, Heat Safety, And Swimming Skills

SPEAKER_01 18:55

walking or running steers the dog with those verbal cues, and then the dog pulls.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Okay, yeah. My one of mine would not have a problem with that because boy, she pulls like uh uh something else.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Yeah, a lot of dogs will love it.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

So walking and so then when I'm on a bike though, what's what's the difference with being on a bike?

SPEAKER_01 19:15

So with a bicycle, the only difference the dog's gear is completely the same. They wear the sled dog harness. Um, it's a very similar line, although it'd be a little longer. And then on a bicycle, there's um an antenna that you hook to your stem that that holds the line out of the wheel. Um, and the dog is hooked directly to the frame of your bicycle. Um, and then it's the same, same, same setup. They excuse me. You you give them verbal cues and they follow those cues to pull the bicycles.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

That's fascinating. What made you because this is this is yours, right? You launched this.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

I I Capitolina is mine, um, but I was mentored by other dryland mushers in the Atlanta area. There's a large active group in the Atlanta area.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Shockingly enough, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

No, I was gonna say I'm living underneath a rock, I guess. That's amazing. Um okay, yeah, I'm gonna have to check this out.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

So, but I started with I was gonna say I started the group that mentored me. Um, I started with Georgia Urban Mushing. And most of the the people who were active in that group have since moved north mostly to race dogs in the snow. Um, but but they they taught me a lot, and they're still a really big active group, especially of runners and bikers um through the Atlanta area.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

Um interesting. So, but naturally you're trying to find the the right the common locations with doing this is is uh I'm gonna guess typically your your nature trails, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:49

Yeah, it's always on trail. Uh some people will run their dogs on pavement. Um, if but if your dog's really um really intense and really working hard, it can pair up their paws because they're digging and pulling and it can really be hard on their paws. Um, plus it's more fun in nature and it's usually less traffic. Um that's every beginner wants to start somewhere with less traffic because you do have to build a lot of trust with your dog that they will actually turn left when you say and they will actually stop when they say because they're leading.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Uh yeah, you don't want to do that on the Atlanta belt line. Um a little too congested. Yeah. Um did you I'm yeah, I'm just I'm fascinated by this. This is interesting. Did you did you know of this before you got Hazel, or did you kind of look into it after you got her?

SPEAKER_01 21:42

No, I learned about it afterwards. She learned to run in heel with me. We ran for years with her just running next to me. But we live um with but I always ran on trails. I've always been a trail runner. Um, and the particular trail that is our easiest trail to get to, that I run at most of the time. Runs through a giant deer field with giant deer herds. And Hazel, her dearest dream in life is to run down deer. Like that's all she wants to do when we get there. And she she just broke everything. She broke. I brought high quality lines and harnaces and leashes. She just she would lunge and break everything. Wow. So in a Google search for indestructible dog gear, it suggested sled dog harnesses. And the group

Dryland Mushing Explained Without Snow

SPEAKER_01 22:30

that that I started with, Georgia Urban Mushing, their link popped up right underneath it, and they were super nice. Hey, come out, you can try the gear. They introduced me to sled dog harnesses, and that was that.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Fell in love, and here we go today. That's awesome. Um, but breaking leashes, wow, that she's clearly very strong then.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

Man, okay. All right. Well, I'm you're making me feel better because I haven't had those issues happen.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

But now I'm curious, does Hazel it's a fascinating breed too? Because our little hazel has a tendency to get behind me and herd me along, and she kind of nudges me with her nose. Does your hazel do that too?

SPEAKER_01 23:11

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

No, okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

No, and I think probably most ridgebacks, like like what's your dog mixed with?

SPEAKER_00 23:19

She's pure.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Oh, I thought you said told me she was a mix.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

No, no, she's a miniature ridgeback.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Oh, okay. She's just tiny.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

She's just tiny.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Okay.

unknown 23:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Just a tiny goofball that um I guess she's she's afraid of people, though, just because of her background. But I get what you're talking about. Because when we do take her out on a trail, it takes a minute. But when she finally gets focused, yes, she's pulling and she's going. Um, but then the minute she comes up to a pack of people or an open field, she kind of locks up. She's like, I don't want any of this. I need to, she she starts to freak out a little bit, um, just because she just has such a rough, she just has such a rough um background or upbringing.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Um, Hazel's almost the opposite, um, which is one of the reasons we got another dog, also, because I run in Atlanta with friends a lot, and Hazel doesn't do great in high traffic areas. She um she she she likes to intimidate other people on the trail. So so we have to um we've worked a lot on dialing that down and and managing those responses. But in a crowded trail, she's much more concerned about um being intimidating than running.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

That's fun. So she's kind of puffing up that chest and get out of my way kind of thing. Oh, I love it. That's that's funny. Um Hazel doesn't do that, but for a little 50-pound dog, she's got a big bark. I can imagine your Hazel has a big bark.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

Yeah. Yeah, she's a big girl.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

And then so you, but you're so you've also got um do you have a in like an official racing series or just you know, one race a year kind of thing?

SPEAKER_01 25:07

So we have right now we've got the race in Rome that's a full dryland race, which means we have runners, bikers, um, and rigs, and the rigs people run like six dog sled teams on them. Um so we do the the full experience, and that's in January. Um, and this year I'm looking to add um because in this in the south, especially rigs and big kennel teams, that's not really a that's not really a thing that southern racers are doing. So we have people who come down from way up north that do it. Um, but for the the southern area, I'm really interested in in more bike races and cano cross races. Um, so I'm looking to add a single track race this season um in the winter. So so that'll that'll put us at two. And there are other races in the area, um, but those are the two that that we host, or one that we host, and the second I'm still working on.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

Okay, very cool. Um you said rigs a minute ago, so you lost me on that. What does that mean?

SPEAKER_01 26:06

That a rig is instead of a bicycle, it's a three or four-wheeled cart. Um, and people it in our race course, because the turns are tight, um, it's a fairly technical trail. We only have teams up to six dogs, but in the the dryland world, people will hook eight to ten dogs up to the rigs to race. Um like a full sled dog size team.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Hooked up like I did a rod size, like two by two down the game line.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Fascinating. Yeah, I just show show my ignorance. I don't, yeah, this is fascinating. Don't know much about it. Um, that's in how how long? So you've been doing this for what what you say, like eight years?

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Uh yeah, we've been just just socially and for fun. We've been participating for eight years, yeah. We're starting with usal account too.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

Okay, very cool. And then the event, um, so it it it's timed and all that, right? Are there is it timed? Are there rewards that go out to finishers too? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

Um, they they race for cash, so cash prizes.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Okay. So then we've got some official sponsors back in all that for okay, very cool.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Um are so does this happen across the US or yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Um so the the Dryland races are sanctioned by the International Sled Dog Racing Association. If people wanted to look that up, there's a whole calendar series. Most of them, um, there are two in Georgia. There's our race, and then another race um close to Ackworth. Um, and then uh everything else is in Ohio or further north. So those are the only two races here. Um, which is why we we started the the the event, um because everyone in our community wanted to race um to compete. You have to complete three races, but there were no races south of Ohio.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

So I guess do you well it gets hot up there too, actually. I was gonna say the the heat, I could see it why in the heat, but it gets hot up there in the summertime.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Um well, and this is this is a winter sport, so we play at it all summer, but the the competitive racing all happens in the winter.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Okay. Gotcha. Then if it's happening in Ohio in the winter, you got snow on the ground.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

Which they will cancel a dryland race for snow. So um, so it's it's they they've really struggled. Like in the in the south, like like we do the dryland race, and I'm looking to add bike and cane cross races because that's what people here do. They trail run and they mountain bike. Um, but up north they were they're working this real tight window with when is it dry and when is it snow? Because they'll switch to sleds when it's snow, but there's you know, but the weather has to hit just right, and global climate change has to hit just right for their season. There was been a lot of races canceled the past few years because of weather.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

Okay, interesting. And then with you, so you you race with Hazel and Emma together?

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Just Emma.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Just Emma, okay, okay. Just yeah, okay. You used to with Hazel and Emma, and now just yeah, now just Emma. So Hazel's more of a spectator.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Yeah. Hazel, yeah. We still run, we'll still do a 5K together

Racing, Rigs, And Building Events In Georgia

SPEAKER_01 29:20

um just for fun, but um to travel and compete. Emma has the intensity to make it worth that.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Gotcha. Um, well, like you said, there's plenty of 5K's in and around the this area. You got one every weekend, you know. Fourth of July is coming up. There's plenty to, I'm sure you've got one in Rome this uh 4th of July weekend, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Probably so. I don't like to run in the heat either though, so I haven't looked.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

That's right. It is gonna be hot. Um, this is very cool. So, and then it's what's the common, is there like a common breed that's usually in these races that you see, or is it just all over the board?

SPEAKER_01 30:00

So it's it depends on how you're coming at it. Um, the dryland mushing community, a lot of those people are coming from the sled dog world. So they are racing traditional sled dogs. So either huskies or Eurohounds, which is like the houndy raced sled dog that people race.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

Um, so you see a lot of people like that's in the in the big dryland races, that's what you'll see. Um, in the south, what's growing is cane across, which is just running with your dog. I I say the south, I think probably everywhere, because that's the one that climate change has not hit. You can do it in whatever weather, whatever kind of trail. Um, and people who cane across, you will see we've raced with Dachshunds, we've raced with Great Danes. Um, so so any pet, that's the funnest thing about Cana Cross is that you can be super serious and super competitive, but any person with their pet dog can walk out the door, they can teach him left and right, and and you're good to go.

SPEAKER_00 31:00

Very cool. Okay. Yeah, hopefully we can spread that word out there and this can get some more up there for you. Um I'm trying to think where where else to go. What um in with Emma and Hazel, I guess what are some of the fun questions I always ask uh folks as well. Is like, what are some of the the funny quirks that are the funny personalities of those two?

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Oh jeez. Um they're both they're both kind of funny. They're they're very serious girls. Um Hazel looks very serious and very intense all of the time. Um, but she loves to play more than any other dog I've ever met. Like she looks like she means business all the time, but all she wants is for you to scratch her butt and give her a toy. Um she loves to play. She's she's like her her demeanor is very serious, but her insides are happy go lucky. And Emma's the opposite. Emma looks like a giant friendly dork, and she really isn't. She's very serious and intense on the inside all the time.

SPEAKER_00 32:12

Interesting. And and did do they have like a routine of they get up at the same time every morning? No.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

No, that is my favorite thing about the dog dork.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

There's there they come and go as they please. Um, and and I've been I've been a single mom for years with a full-time job and human kids, and routine has never been my strong suit. Um, so I really needed dogs that could be comfortable with like they they know when we put a harness on, we're running. They know when we're home, they can do these things, like they know what's gonna happen in the place that they're in, but they're comfortable with however it lays out, um, which I needed for my life because routine's not my strong suit.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

Gotcha. Okay. Makes sense. And then I well, I now you had me thinking on the dog door. Do they ever bring you anything um strange in?

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Um, Emma has brought a squirrel in before. Um, it was during COVID while my daughter was online in class. Emma brought her a squirrel. I was not home because I was at work and um my daughter called me and said she had to evacuate the house because Emma had brought a squirrel in. Um, but usually Emma's Hazel doesn't Hazel's not a killer. She chases things. Emma will kill anything she can catch, but she usually keeps it outside to play with it. I should cross my fingers.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

So hopefully I didn't jinx you.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

Yeah, I hate I hate to say anything is what Emma does because she's unpredictable.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

But well, at least that's good though. It's been one time in a squirrel. So um yeah. Very and then what about like in the evenings? Do they both kind of crash at the same time or not?

unknown 34:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

They're they're sundown girls. Um sundown, everyone, everyone's done and relaxed for the day. So summers are long days, winters are short days, but they're they're up at sunrise and down at sundown.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:14

Pretty much any day.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

So kind of they're ready to attack the morning, they got that energy, and then sundown at the end of the day, they're like, all right, if the sense of satisfaction, let's call it a day and crash.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

Do they do they uh all jump in bed and snuggle up with you, or do you not allow that?

SPEAKER_01 34:31

Hazel usually, if it's hot, Hazel sometimes will sleep in the bed with me. Um, as soon as it turns cold every night, she's in bed. But Emma, Emma's nervous. She was um, she was feral, she was stray,

Canicross For Any Dog And Any Human

SPEAKER_01 34:45

um, had never lived inside and raised herself in the countryside out around Blu-ray. That's how we know about how old she is because the farmers there watched her grow up before they caught animal patrol on her. Um, but but she's she's just a little more nervous. Sometimes she likes to sleep in a different room. Um, she just she can't relax next to you. So she has her own bed in my room at the foot of the bed, and I'll hear her. She sleeps there sometimes. She sleeps in different rooms sometimes. So we just let her bed down wherever she finds that she's comfortable.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

Gotcha, that makes sense. Um and then I know we're getting close to time. So time flies when you're having fun just talking about, you know, the dogs, cats, whatever. Um, but this has been really fascinating, and I'm definitely gonna check out um check out the mushing. I said that right, right? Okay. But you one question I always love to ask too, I mean, I always have a few questions I love asking, but having them in your lives, how do you think? Um, and this is really for the listeners too, but how how have they how have they helped you? Have they helped you in any ways, like physically, mentally? How have they helped you?

SPEAKER_01 35:53

They've been a huge part of my life, um in in ways that I never even expected. She knows I when I ran into the naked man on the trail, I was running alone because I I did everything alone. I didn't have any adult friends at that point in my life. Um, no one was interested in doing those kinds of things. So I was just doing things by myself. Um, and then I had Hazel, so she joined me. And then when we found Georgia Urban Mushing, um like like it became a whole community. Like the people that are left from Georgia Urban Mushing, we still see them regularly. We travel together, we meet to run together, we meet to bike together. Like, like I consider them that's my community now. So I feel like I have um a group that that that I belong to, you know, it gives me a a feeling of belonging with that group. Um, it's one of the reasons I started the race. I'm not competitive, I've never traveled to race, but I'm decent at organizing things, and my community needed that race. It's like I can I can't race much, but I can do that. Um so that's a way to give back to that community that's that's helped us belong for so many years.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

That's awesome. No, I love that. Um, and then do you like if you go out to eat? I think Rome is a fairly pet-friendly city, is it not?

SPEAKER_01 37:09

Yeah, the whole downtown has a nice row of restaurants and patios.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

You take them with you or not so much because Hazel wants to uh stare somebody down.

SPEAKER_01 37:19

Oh

How Dogs Create Belonging And Community

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Hazel loves to stare people down. Um so Hazel is great um given certain conditions. She she will um always work for food, and I know which patios are have the least traffic by them. And if she's gone for a run, she's happy to lay down and be good for bites of whatever we're eating. Um, so she's she's a kind she's the kind of dog you have to manage. We couldn't just wake up and run out to a restaurant with her. She has to be exercised and she has to be in a good place, but I know what works for her. Emma can go anywhere. So she's just she does what she does, anywhere she's at. She's just a happy girl.

SPEAKER_00 37:59

Very cool. Um well, no, I I appreciate you coming on today and and sharing, you know, a little of the story and and learning more about you know the racing and in that community. That's fascinating. So um, gosh, for the listeners of this uh of this episode, I will make sure we get your like your contact information, your website so they can go learn about this and you know the various meetups. Anything, I guess before we end it, I mean anything uh on that line you want to share or anything like that?

SPEAKER_01 38:31

Um, I first thank you for having us. I love talking about dogs. Um, it's always fun to sit and talk about them. And I hope anyone that's listening that's interested, um, like it's it's a it's a great and welcoming community. Um, a lot of people that join us are nervous about coming out because they'll tell me their dog's not trained or their dog's not good. And none of that is necessary to come out in Cana Cross. It's a great sport for reactive dogs, it's a great sport to learn. Um, like there's there's no there's no barrier to entry. You don't have to have a good dog, you don't have to be fit. We've got all the gear, just come out. And and I don't know where your listenership is, but um, there are North American Cane Across has ambassadors that host these free social meetups all around the country. Um so it might be something in their backyard

Where To Learn More And Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_01 39:20

still, even if they're not close to us.

SPEAKER_00 39:21

Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, they're they're all over. I've got a lot of, you know, in in Ireland and the UK as well. And I'm sure they've got versions of something over there as well. Um, but yeah, well, I'll definitely make sure to your point we share with the listeners. Go listeners, go look at the episode description. I'll share some links in there so you can find out about McKenzie. And then, yeah, McKenzie, definitely any other links you want to send me that can help them find a group wherever they might live, we'll definitely get that added as well. But don't go anywhere just yet. But yeah, I just thank you for being on the show today.

SPEAKER_01 39:56

Yeah, thank you so much for having me.