Many of us judge not only book by their covers , but dog by their barks . However , canines – and especially shelter dog-iron – are not always what they ab initio seem . When you see a blackguard that barks a caboodle and tempo frantically in his protection dog house may actually be a very quiet and well - mannered house darling , and today we ’ll lecture about how this solve .
Animal shelter are often seen as an consuming environment with dissimilar feel and sounds that most dogs are n’t intimate with , which is one of the reasons for their behavior changes . Thankfully , there are people like sleigh dog musherRichie Camdenwho understand this and take the prison term to get to know the blackguard before passing judgement .
In this Theory of Pets podcast , Richie say me a story about his pack of rescue sleigh dogs , which I sincerely yours go for will inspire you to protection deary in a whole young light . He explains how his dogs – all 14 of them – are n’t just for work , and are part of his family . For more from Richie , follow hisBreakaway Siberianssled dog team .
mind to the episode in the video above and find the full podcast copy below . For more , visit this installment ’s C. W. Post on the prescribed possibility of Pets website .
Why You Should Never Judge a Dog By His Bark(raw podcast transcript)
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Hey everyone , receive back toTheory of Pets , my name is Samantha . This hebdomad I am speaking with Richie Camden who has a really interesting story , I want to talk with him a short turn about sled dogs because he raise sled hot dog . But his story is so much more than that , Richie and his wife actually take in saving dogs , and that ’s what his sled team are made of , they rescue huskies and then they give them kind of an outlet for their energy .
The husky is a very energetic strain so a lot of times Richie and his wife were finding that huskies would be wrick in to shelters because they were being destructive or they were maybe not expectant with children , things like that , and it ’s really just because they are a working click , they ’re breed to make , they ’re a very industrious dog so they ’re getting turned back to shelters because they ’re survive in small homes or they ’re not getting enough exercise and that pent - up zip is then being twist into unlike kinds of behaviors , peradventure jump on children or destruct your personal dimension .
So he was find these husky being turned into shelter , and he and his wife started to deliver huskies , and he get into sled dog racing , and it ’s just a really cool , very unique story . So , I want to talk to Richie and share his story with all of you .
I do have to apologise for the very beginning of the consultation . Richie was not getting the greatest cell phone signal , so it ’s a small bit choppy just for the first minute or so , but it does authorize up after that . But you ’ll notice that in the commencement of the audience .
Interview with Richie Camden
Samantha : give thanks you so much again for being here again and agree to the podcast . So can you just tell me a small bit about … you filled me in a little bit about , but just for our listener , about what you ’re doing with sled dogs .
Richie : Yeah . So we have … I guess we have 13 Siberian Huskies … together if you count our … the kinfolk . But yeah , so it turns out our first Siberian … we get him from a breeder and he just sort of changed my life , he was just so motivated to be a sled frankfurter because the people at the … or the breeders said his pappa was a weed dog . And so every time I take … out for like a run or exercise , as soon as we ’d get back he ’d add up mighty back into our living room , mount up on the back of our coach and stare out the window like he wanted to go back outside . And his use and Energy Department level was just like insane , off the charts , I think he was like kind of an abnormal husky with how much Energy Department he had .
I decided to go back to school to be a doctor … to school to be a MD , the partner required us to exercise in protection and with delivery group and poppycock , so I was volunteer with a few delivery groups at prison term , doing assessments of a dog . It just got me to thinking like there are so many dogs that have … you know salutary detent that lose their homes for various reasons and I kind of started researching on Pet finder … like taking a aspect at Siberian huskies who had kind of lost their dwelling and hooey . I think if you just go on there there ’s like 20 to 50 pages of dogs on there that have lost their … are being rehomed for whatever grounds .
And that was just kind of like the last straw , it ’s like man you have a go at it , like it ’d be so cool to not only give their dog a great home but also give them an issue for their energy that they have because with huskies I think of that ’s in the main the rationality why they get rehomed is they ’re getting destructive , they ’re running away , they ’re not near with minuscule kids , they stand out and they … so I kind of head start telling people like my family and friends and stuff . And no one really take me seriously simply because it ’s okay you ’re spill the beans about … and what not .
So I started kind of make out to some deliverance group to see if we can espouse and we were … I got turn down at first because so many of them had such confinement about like how far by you’re able to hold out when they adopt out . And eventually we were able-bodied to find a rescue grouping that made an exception for us . Indie Homes for Huskies was the first plaza we adopt from , and they made an exception to their rule . I retrieve their regulation is like you have to live within an hundred and 50 stat mi within Indianapolis , and obviously we are in St. Louis so we were quite a bit past the hundred and 50 miles .
But you know it ended up ferment out really well and we were able to adopt so we adopted two more clock time later , like years subsequently and stuff , and now we ’ve grown to the point where a lot of saving groups will call me and they ’ll be like “ Hey you know like we have a dog like softheaded eminent get-up-and-go , super retentive legs , force on a tierce like crazy , he have a go at it a ravel , favorable with dogs , are you concerned or can you add another one to your pack ? ”
And regrettably right now you get to a point where there ’s only so many you could afford financially to keep up the level of care of heart louse prevention and just veritable shots and maintenance and what not with the dogs . So regrettably as of like right on now we ’re at a fiscal limit , but it ’s just been a really fun journey and it ’s unearthly like with each one we take over it ’s always like okay … once we got to four it ’s like “ Okay this is plausibly all we ’ll ever have , ” and then after we kind of get settled in , it ’s like “ Okay we can probably afford another one . ”
So then we ’ll adopt another one and then let everything get settled in . Like one , you ’re countenance the dog get settled in and conform to a new kinsperson like a fresh bit and stuff ; and two , you ’re also kind of financially like budgeting and stuff , and it just kind of continued to uprise , and now we ’re up to … we have 14 dogs in the kinfolk , 13 husky and one Pomeranian . So yeah , that ’s kind of how we got to where we ’re at today .
Samantha : Wow ! No I think it ’s great that you mentioned the budgeting aspect because I retrieve that ’s something that people that either first metre adopt an beast or even if they ’ve espouse before and they ’re just set out a 2nd or a third they do n’t really stop to recollect about how important that is , that it ’s not just the adoption fee and the food and the choker and the tercet but you have to consider about heartworm prevention , flea and check prevention , all the annual shots that come up and all of that stuff , parking brake veterinarian care . So I opine that ’s really of import to come to on that , you bed budget does wager a huge part of that .
Richie : Yeah just . And that ’s one thing we ’ve always attempt to be cognizant of and like we also want to go away some wiggle room in case like , you know like you order an emergency did happen , you need to kind of have like a little cushion as a worse - vitrine scenario in pillow slip you have a huge back bill you have to pay off and what not .
So that ’s always our top anteriority is always just making sure that you ’re bring home the bacon a happy and respectable home for the dogs , and so alas money toy a great part in keep up their health and their care and stuff . But yeah so it ’s always kind of how we ’ve ran thing to make certain that each dog can get the proper amount of care and appease up to date on shooter and flea and tick and heartworm and all that . It ’s not fun when the vet bill comes but it ’s deserving it , it ’s definitely deserving it .
Samantha : Of course of action . Yeah I know , we have three dogs , which is not anywhere close to 14 , but definitely it does add up and it ’s always heartbreaking on both side when dogs have to be returned to shelter or rescues because it did n’t cultivate out financially . It ’s hard for the dog , it ’s toilsome for the people , it ’s just not a good situation , so that ’s great . And Genelle mentioned too that all of your pawl know in the base with you , they ’re all darling first and crop dogs second I gauge .
Richie : Yeah yeah they by all odds yeah . They all do survive in our home and it does … it sound … I cognize it sounds crazy but oh my God , 14 dogs live in the house . But not only it ’s 14 dogs , but like it ’s 14 eminent - energy dog . The only time it ’s really like troublesome or like a trivial hectic or mad is after sled bounder time of year is over and the dog … you make love like right around now it ’s commence to get to a gunpoint where our time of year is almost done , the weather is warming up , it ’s 70 degrees and getting warmer and what not , and once the season ends the dogs are all in … they’re in height condition , they ’re ready , they ’re condition to run like 40 miles , they can do 40 mile .
So they ’ve got all this energy and it ’s too red-hot to take them for a rill and all they have for their release is doggy day attention , and even with a full day of doggy Clarence Shepard Day Jr. care it ’s still not the same as like run 40 miles and like workings and stuff . So like when they come home during that one month we call it like a withdrawal period where they ’re just like … they kind of revert back to like the naughtiness or like they ’re let destructive , they ’re digging in the thou and jaw on their crate and chewing on our dry wall and chew on our door chair , and like all the bad thing . But it ’s very short - lived , unremarkably it only live for about two week and then they kind of like sympathize like … and then it gets like just so hot where it ’s like okay they start to melt back out …
Samantha : Yeah , they adapt to it a lilliputian .
Richie : But for like , I ’d say like 95 % of the class it ’s like shockingly normal like we come home from study and you know the dogs all have their own area throughout the sign , you see them in the bedroom , you see them lay on the living way floor , some of them will rest on the motorcoach , others like to just go to their crateful , and there ’s a few that we have because we adopted them so tardily in their age with potty training issues we do just put them in their crate because they will … if they ’re out free during the nighttime they ’ll go in the house , and so if they ’re in their crateful they ’ll really hold it during the night and stuff .
So , but yeah , no it ’s actually for the most part , I intend astonishingly normal . I guess you just sort of have to be a trivial more aware of where you ’re step at night to ensure you do n’t care find into a dog or anything cause we have a few more than most people do put on their floor and so . But yeah , other than that I mean like we come home , they eat their food and go alfresco , they go to the bathroom and then they come back in and just … they mostly just catch some Z’s , so they’re … it ’s just like a regular house pet , I think of you hardly … I mean we just even notice that they ’re there some of the times , and it ’s just so common for us . It sound like really crazy but actually … when you ’re there it ’s not as crazy as it seems .
Samantha : Yeah , I entail we’re … I’m in Maine like I said and so sled dog in our area is kind of popular and I know you kind of almost always tell when you force by someone ’s home if they have sled frump because most of them are outside and they stay outside year round and they have really nice doghouse and dog houses and all that material , but they are outside dog and then once they get one-time and they ’re old-hat they become planetary house firedog . So thinking about all of those dogs in your menage is just … for somebody that ’s not used to it , I ’m sure you must get a lot of people say “ Oh my goodness you ’re so crazy ! ” But you do get used to it after a while I ’m sure .
Richie : Yeah yeah . No we definitely … have like most people think we ’re like joking when we say that , make specially being in Missouri like when we meet new masses like we … it ’s obviously not like the first affair we bring up , and once we get to lie with someone then we kind of like say like “ Yeah we have 14 dogs , ” and they ’re like “ Yeah , right . Like no one has 14 dogs , ” and then the next question ’s like “ Oh my God ! Like where do you keep them ? ”
Like “ Whoa , they go in our planetary house with us . ”
And they ’re like , “ Okay yeah . Right . No way . ”
Like “ No , they do . ” So we definitely do get that aspect of thing . But you know once hoi polloi … a spate of our admirer when they actually come over there ’s evidently the initial like first five min where the dog are like crazy excited cause they see a fresh person in the sign of the zodiac , but after that they calm right down and everyone ’s very like surprised like “ Oh my gosh … ” like “ I ca n’t believe they ’re log Z’s all night … ”
Samantha : It ’s not what you think it would be .
Richie : My ally when they actually come over there ’s obviously the initial like first five minutes when the dogs are like crazy unrestrained to see a new mortal in the family , but after that they calm down mightily down and everyone ’s very like surprised like “ Oh my gosh ! ” like “ I ca n’t believe they ’re just like sleep all night
Samantha : It ’s not what you think it would be , yeah .
Richie : So … but yeah it ’s like I said , it ’s surprisingly very normal , for us at least .
Samantha : It ’s so different here because between sled dogs that are fairly usual and hunt dogs are very popular around here too and a lot of masses will have a whole pack of hunting bounder , and again 90 % of the sentence they ’re out-of-door dogs , you bang people might have 10 or 15 dogs but they live outside . So here it ’s not so unlike to hear of people having legion dogs , but unquestionably live in the mansion is a little different . But that ’s capital , and it ’s awing that you make both thing go that they ’re pets and then they also have that working mode . Like you said that a little bit of sentence off but then they get back into work mode when it ’s time to be sled dog again .
Richie : Yeah . Yeah it ’s always something , you bang like when I first started , like I said it was always to have like pets . Pets be first was always like the top priority , and so the biggest matter was like for the jock part of thing , that ’s more so … it ’s more so just like your coarse exercise that you take for a regular dog , like we … when we take them out running with us it ’s not for like … I’m trying to guess of a right word , it ’s hard to explicate but like … since they ’re Eskimo dog they just formulate more of a conditioning , and so like the racing part has never really been like super serious or like our chief like priority , it ’s always been like giving them a well - balanced life where they ’re well-chosen and they can have like a regular theater life because before mostly like for 90 % of our dogs are adopted like they ’re not gentle dogs if they ’re not getting exercise , like they can be very …
For one , they can be very stubborn ; two , they can be very destructive , and it ’s not really a good compounding to have if they ’re not getting their exercise . And once they get their workout like they ’re happy , they like listen , they ’re too tired to want to … they ’ve already had their vigor released so to have that home animation , for them I can tell it just make them so much happier where they ’re getting like their home….like their regular home life and getting all that exercise at the same fourth dimension .
So like I said you bed the race are n’t like a huge deal , like if we never got to do another race again it would n’t be like , “ Oh my God I ’m devastate , ” like it ’s just like okay you know . We do the races more so the andiron can run in the C and like have a unlike track and stuff . And from my perspective like it is kind of cool to do the race , cause it ’s like okay I am curious to see how we match up against like other teams that have … you cognize the Alaskan Huskies or other Siberian Husky squad , it is kind of cool like I do desire to know like how much of a difference there is between our Canis familiaris and their dogs .
So that part of it is kind of cool for me , but like I articulate our top priority has always just been like chip in them a well - balance life where they ’re getting socialization by going to run with me and playing with other dogs , they ’re tired and relaxed at home , they ’re like felicitous , and then also like during the winter fourth dimension when it actually is inhuman , they ’re take to do what they ’re originally bred to do . So it ’s just kind of a cool little like trilateral that they get to have and it ’s fun being a part of it .
Samantha : Yeah definitely . And do you just do the races in like a local area or do you travel with the dogs ?
Richie : No , we locomote and we travel reasonably far . One year we blend up toMontanato do the … it ’s a backwash called the Rodeo Run , and there was a eight - dog backwash , 22 mile a day for two days , so it ’s a 44 mi race . And we beat back … I believe it ingest us 28 hr to get there and 32 to get home . That was … it was not fun . The race was awing , like it was so unbelievable and like so much playfulness and the dog were like just so in awe because … I mean I was in awe too cause you ’re like running through mountains , there ’s just like picture perfect you could ever imagine . Like to this day that ’s been by far the most beautiful race we ’ve ever done and like just totally awestruck for us and the click .
But the gondola ride and like … we were constantly hold to quit to take the domestic dog out and let them go to the bathroom , water system . Yeah , and so it was just too much , and so we seek to keep the trips much shorter now . And so we typically stick to … we go to Minnesota , Wisconsin and Michigan . And so from there you ’re calculate at … on the close side of thing it ’s nine to ten hours ; and then on the far side you ’re expect at 13/14 hours away . So it ’s really not nowhere near as unfit as 28 hours and 32 hours .
Samantha : Yeah . Certainly the dogs must get a little stir sick too being in the trailer for that long .
Richie : Yeah definitely , yeah . Well most of them in reality tease in the car with us . We have our U - Con and it ’s like we ’ve moved everything in it …
Samantha : Oh my gosh !
Richie: … it ’s stages and hooey , but there are a few … you hump now that we have so many there are a few that we do have them in the trailer and stuff but we try out to relish keep them all as close to me as possible and material . So most of them are in reality in the automobile .
Samantha : That ’s coolheaded . No , it ’s neat . And then in the Summer time do you condition … when you ’re in Missouri like you said it ’s sometimes too hot to do it but do you do it with carts on wheels to keep them conditioned through the off time of year ?
Richie : Yeah . Once it gets like over 70 degrees , or usually actually around 65 through there ’s so much humidness here , that ’s when our season is over and we really do n’t run from that stage . Like usually once it ’s like May , June , July and August , like those four month like we ’re lucky if we ’re able-bodied to get out once , and it ’s like on a superintendent … you get laid we ’re getting up at 3:00 in the morning time because … at 4:00 in the forenoon it ’s supposed to be like 55 , and you know … so maybe we can get one dependable outpouring in there .
But no , we actually train middling much all yr round on carts because we just have no snowfall here . right on now I mean we do n’t have a driblet , an inch of snow or anything , I suppose all the Baron Snow of Leicester we become this intact Winter has been scarce , even for us . I suppose possibly we got like a half inch drop originally this yr , or maybe a inch , but that ’s all we ’ve had , it ’s just one 24-hour interval of snow and it was not enough to take the sled out . So pretty much all our training is on a cart or a small Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler depending on where we ’re educate at .
Samantha : Yeah we in reality … up here sometimes in the summer you ’ll see people on cycle , on bicycles that the dogs will be pulling them or … they almost wait like ice yacht , I ’m not sure precisely what they ’re called , they have like handsome tires to go on like bicycle trails and kind of off - road trails and you stand on it and every once in a while up here in the summer you ’ll see hoi polloi going down the side of the road , cause I subsist in a rural residential area , or if you ’re on like a hiking trail or a biking trail you ’ll conk people running andiron with those .
Richie : Wow ! Yeah that ’s awe-inspiring . Yeah that ’s precisely what we do here and it ’s all Winter long and we ’ve had multitude that ’s a petty more out of the average . So we get a lot of strange feel , we get some coolheaded regard , people take us to stop and take delineation and mean like that .
Samantha : Do you cognise anybody else in your area that does sled dogs ?
Richie : Yeah . Yeah , there ’s quite a few mass who do it . There ’s like a society here that does it too , the Gateway Sled Dog Club , and they ’re like a radical of … I do n’t get it on exactly how many members are in it but it ’s somewhat full-grown and like each person has like one to four detent or so , and they get together and take on and hooey .
And then I really have a good friend who live probably about two or three hours away and he has a kennel of his own , Lucky Fox Kennels , and they do a circle of kennel cross runnings where they train like to go up North for just like one to two dogs , but then they also have a sled dog … all of them run as a sleigh dog team as well . His top priority is trying to discipline for like the humans championships for kennel cross and distance running with his dogs and clobber . But yeah … no it ’s actually a lot more popular than you would cogitate being in a more southerly state or a warm clime area and clobber , but yeah , we ’re in spades not the only ones who do it .
Samantha : Awesome , that ’s really outstanding . It ’s cool to hear from somebody who ’s in a dissimilar clime than here because it is more of a popular thing here and you would n’t really bear it where you are , but it ’s really cool . It ’s nice to know there are people everywhere that revel working with sled dogs .
Richie : Yeah , it definitely is .
Samantha : And as for the rescuing face of it , I think that ’s something that as dog lovers we kind of all urge for is rescuing and I think like you said , huskies are one of those strain that form of they ’re bang for being high - strung and when they get turned in to a shelter or deliver to a rescue somebody might say they ’re destructive or they ’re not adept with kids or whatever the case may be , and it ’s not of necessity that the dog is destructive or the dog does n’t care kid but just that they have so much energy and then they get labeled as such and then other people do n’t need to take either . So it ’s cool that you take a breed with so much energy and kind of funnel that into sled dogging and give them something … a path to burn all of that .
Richie : Yeah . Yeah definitely … that ’s one of the biggest things as working as a dog trainer here and I work at a local animal infirmary and I do a lot of evaluations on frankfurter and a lot of clock time they come in and they have this recording label on them like they ’re not good with dogs , they ’re not honest with kids , they ’re destructive or something , and we evaluate them and then we … if they good , if they pass the rating demeanor assessment that we do , they get into doggy twenty-four hour period tending and then you know once they ’re in day maintenance like you could almost forthwith see those issues like disappear because they’re … they’ve just got so much energy .
And you know it ’s not just single to huskies , so many other breed that … pretty much any strain can terminate up with in high spirits energy frump and it does n’t necessarily mean they ’re a bad dog , they just need a little more practice than what your normal frank would involve .
Samantha : Yeah . It present people something to think about when they ’re thinking about rescue a dog , just because they ’re labeled a sealed fashion in a tax shelter or something like that it ’s not always the case , once you get them out of the component and give them what they need .
Richie : Yeah , exactly .
Samantha : So how have thing changed for you guys from when you started doing all of this until now ? Obviously your squad has raise and you ’re getting more notice from dissimilar company and things like that .
Richie : Yeah . Things have shift quite a bit for us , like in the beginning it was just me and my married woman Leah , we were doing like all the education and everything ourselves , like it kind of consume like all our free time , like it was just me and her doing everything . And then eventually after about our second year of doing it we were able to start finding hoi polloi , like good voluntary to facilitate us out and like we end up meeting like … I mean we ’ve fulfill like so many incredible mass who have help out with the squad and like just been able to help us out in like numerous way .
And now our story has seem to like kind of grow and we ’ve had a few stories done on us with like the newsworthiness and stuff . It seems like with each little matter like more and more mass like need to … they’ll speak to us and like reach out to us , and now like as I mentioned before , rescue they ’ll call up and say like “ Hey we ’ve induce this dog here , can you take a look at him ? ” Or like “ Do you have space to tally another hound ? ” So that part has changed .
Richie : Yeah . Yeah unquestionably , and as I read , like I … we did n’t really know what to expect when we had posted the picture , we were just hoping for a reply and we really had our peck downhearted that like it was n’t go to be a disappointment if they did n’t respond . And then they did and like I think I said this before with … like on a … I’m sorry , I think I mentioned this before like on a Facebook post I wrote on our squad varlet , but like if they had never react like I imply we would have never known any unlike and just continue to fertilise their food , since that was …
I mean we were still glad with their product and the fact that they reached out back to us and like responded was like … I mean for me it ’s like a lot of other troupe , and like that they were so passionate about our story and share our story and like everything that we do like it ’s been like a huge honor to have them with us along the way , it ’s like it ’s been such a coolheaded experience for me and Leah and all the detent too that are getting to do like extra things now because Diamond has been help oneself us so much .
Samantha : Yeah absolutely , I opine you ’re proper , it does say a lot for the company I mean when they ’re obviously proud of the product that they put out and they are passionate about partake in story of dogs that eat their food and that benefit from their food , I mean you guys are sure enough a pack of walking spokespeople , I mean your dogs have high vigour , they burn a passel of calories , they ’re operate dogs so the fact their food provide your dogs the nutrition that they need that ’s definitely a benefit for them . But also like you said I mean huge welfare for you as well , so that ’s really large .
Richie : Yeah . Yeah definitely .
Samantha : So again I just want to thank Richie so much for being part of the podcast . What a great story , and certainly revolutionise and I trust it inspires some of you to mayhap think outside the box if you ’re thinking about adopting a dog from a protection or a delivery .
They maybe have some oddity while they ’re in a shelter standard pressure but commemorate that things like bark , things like destructive behaviour , thing like jump up and number like that can sometimes be … they do n’t even need preparation or any kind of study to get rid of those conduct but all they need … all the frank postulate is some exercise and maybe a different surround , a protection is a very overpowering place for a dog , unlike smells , unlike beast , so they ’re not going to do they way that they would roleplay when they ’re in a home environment .
So surely if you ’re thinking about shelters and saving organizations for adoptions , be sure to reach out to them , have a conversation with them , most of them are very open about the animals they have and the issues that they have and certain thing that maybe would change outside the protection surroundings . So ask question , encounter the heel , drop some time .
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