A Visit with Mary Shields

As part of our Cruise West package, we selected an optional tour with Mary Shield's. In 1974 Mary became the first woman to complete the Iditarod. Back in that day, the dogs were heavier and not the racing machines of today. Her lead female weighs around 65 lbs and her male, Crockett, weighs 90-95 lbs.  She said her dogs are freight dogs and would be clydesdales next to today's thoroughbreds.

One thing I noticed is that one of her dogs, Big Boy, had eaten a rock and was recovering from surgery.  At Aliy Zirkle's kennel, one of her dogs had done the same thing. It makes we wonder if this sort of pica is common to the northern breeds or if it comes from being chained in place?

She does things differently than I saw at Aliy's; her dogs do not get to claim a permanent house. Mary believes the dogs get too territorial if they are allowed to possess an area, so she does a sort of canine musical chairs.  When they are running loose, she tells them "find your house" and the first ones to jump on a house get a biscuit. She clearly loves her dogs.

Many of the dogs at Mary's had hot spots, which also makes me wonder if it is due to their heavier, more Malamute style coats? There is even coat there that she can gather the fur and spin it. In fact, she displayed mittens, a hat and socks made from dog fur in combination with sheep wool (so it holds shape) and using natural dyes.

Mary is 65 years old now, the epitomy of a woman comfortable in her being. And to think that she was a Waukesha, Wisconsin girl, attending UW-Madison as an English major, before she became a musher. By the way, "mush" is not a command for sled dogs. Their word for "go" is "hike".  To turn left is "haw" and to turn right is "gee", the same as it is for plowing with mules or horses.  The thought is that the first men to harness up the dogs to a sled were familiar with plowing behind horseback and so used those familiar terms.  The two dogs in front of the sled are the wheel dogs and the two behind the lead are the swing dogs. Her sled weighs 120 lbs and the dogs trot at 8-9 mph.

Mary ran the Yukon Quest in 1984,1986 and 1988. She said she did lose a dog to torsion on the trail once. She said there are 15 self-supporting musher/racers in Alaska; most do not support themselves with racing. The lead dog that won the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest was sold to Germany for $25,000. Its name? Ferlin HUSKY!  Frankly, in comparison with prices for schutzhund trained dogs, that is a pittance.

Mary Shield's blog
Mary Shield's web site
Iditarod web site

I'll take a turn away from the dogs a moment and mention that Mary was a very gracious host, as well.  She addressed us not as a lecture, but as invited guests to her home.  She was proud to show us around to her beautiful garden and to explain the dynamics of her sod-roof home. I actually made notes of the alternating layers of material, topped off by poppy seeds! When dry the roof, though highly insulating, weighs 40 lbs psf so huge wooden cross beams are required to hold it all up.

We were all invited in to Mary's home for coffee, tea and chocolate cake. She had books and videotapes available, but it never felt like a commercial venture. I sat at her kitchen table and admired the handiwork inside, the Reindeer parka she was given in Russia. Mary has a cottage approximately 30 miles from her home, where she writes in solitude and she continues to mush her dogs and educate people about the sport and the lifestyle. While it is true she may not be the face of competitive racing today, I believe she has tremendous impact on the first impression of many visitors toward mushing and the Alaskan lifestyle.