The Skiivolk Moses Trophy

This trophy is presented to the dog or team of dogs who have excelled in some way during the current race season. Dogs may have excelled in any manner of ways. It might be a rescue dog who has overcome a bad beginning to excel as a race dog; a dog who has fought its way back from illness or injury; an old dog who has led younger dogs; or dogs whose actions have avoided a disaster. The important criteria is that the dog or team have excelled in some way.

2009/2010 WINNER

Robbi (Keriquel Snow Patrol)
Owners: Sharon and Richard Sargent

Robbi was around 7 months old when a friend commented on his somewhat strange gait. He had already been running in harness but struggling slightly to keep up with his brother and sister.
We made an appointment with Eric, the head vet in the practice we use, who examined Robbi and referred him to Graham Oliver, an orthopaedic specialist near Nottingham.
Robbi spent a day having many x-rays and the news was not good. While he was growing the blood supply to his femur (thigh bone) and been cut off, and the growing bone deprived of nutrition and oxygen. The x-rays showed that that the bone was hollow like a honeycomb and crumbling away, so that the leg would eventually be unable to support Robbi.
There were two choices: Robbi could have major surgery in the form of a complete hip replacement, or be put to sleep when the bone deteriorated further.
Graham assured us that with the hip replacement the prognosis was good, so Robbi was booked in for surgery when he reached twelve months and had finished growing. In the meantime Robbi had to take painkilling drugs and avoid running around.
The new hip was to be made from titanium and imported from the USA and Robbi would need another x-ray one month before the surgery in order to determine the exact size that needed to be ordered.
The day came for Robbi’s surgery and I delivered him into the care of the expert staff at Graham’s veterinary hospital. It was a long long day but eventually the call came to say that the operation had been performed and Robbi had woken from the anaesthetic. Graham was pleased with the way things had gone. Robbi was to stay in hospital overnight and I could collect him the following afternoon.
It was a very different-looking Robbi I brought home with me; shaved and sutured down his left thigh, painted with bright blue surgical disinfectant and his back legs hobbled together with pink bandages. He was in good spirits though and settled into our spare bedroom to start his weeks of recuperation in solitary confinement. After a week or so we bought a small kennel and run for him that we built adjacent to the main run so that he could at least have contact with the rest of the pack through the bars.
Robbi was such a good patient, not crying or howling when separated from the pack, even when shut indoors, and only removed his hobbles once! He was also very good about taking his various tablets. The hobbles were removed after four weeks and he had to spend a total of twelve weeks apart from the other dogs.
We made many visits back to the orthopaedic hospital for post-op checks, suture removal and further x-rays, but Graham was very pleased with his progress and after twelve weeks advised us that Robbi could now return to living with the pack and could have unrestricted exercise, including running in harness!
We had not for one moment dreamed that Robbi would ever again be able to join his kennel mates on the trails; we had just assumed that we would be keeping him as a pet, and it was another few weeks before we plucked up courage to let him try. Bearing in mind Graham’s expert advice we decided to let him run half a mile or so in a two dog team with his mother Crystal. To our great amazement he outpulled her!
Gradually we built up the distance that Robbi was running, and then let him run in three or four dog teams at a faster speed. We always kept a close eye on him for any signs of discomfort but he absolutely loved running and it was obvious he no longer had the pain he had before the surgery. His aptitude as a lead dog was also soon apparent.
We reasoned that racing was really no different from training and Robbi’s first race was at Tentsmuir; he ran lead with his sister Maddy and we were second in the C3 class!
He has led our C3 team every season since then; winning the Silver Medal in that first season and Gold in the two subsequent seasons. We were honoured that he featured on the cover of the BSHRA brochure for 2009/10.
Robbi always runs lead as not only is he an excellent lead dog but running at the front means that he determines the pace and stays within his comfort zone.
We know of no other dog with a complete hip replacement that even runs in harness, so to us Robbi’s achievements are nothing short of miraculous. Technically he is still a disabled dog as the left leg that was operated on remains one centimetre shorter than the other and he compensates by rotating his right leg considerably. His rather unusual action means that he uses more energy than a dog with perfect construction but overcomes it with enthusiasm. However he does tire before his team-mates and would struggle to maintain a really fast speed over much more than about four miles, so three dog class distances usually suit him. There are also other things he cannot do, such as jumping on to things or standing on his hind legs. We will never be sure if this is because he is unable to do these things or if he doesn’t do them because he remembers that it was painful to do them before the operation.
Not only are we are proud of Robbi’s achievements, but we feel privileged to have him in our lives., and we believe that his bravery and determination to overcome his disability would make Robbi a very worthy winner of the Skiivolk Moses Trophy

OTHER NOMINEES:
Nick (Skiivolk R’Nick)
Owner Caroline Kisko

I would like to nominate Nick (Skiivolk R’Nick) for the Skiivolk Moses trophy. Nick came to us at the age of 3 with his brother Riva, from Jenny Littlejohn when she decided to rehome most of her huskies. The two boys fitted into the pack easily although Nick always relied heavily on Riva as his main source of companionship. The sudden loss of Riva last year was a shock to us all – not least his brother who has missed him ever since.

When they came to us, they hadn’t been in harness for some time but their fitness built quickly and Nick soon proved himself to be a fast, extremely hard worker – happy in lead or in the team – and he ran on Chris’s 6 dog team and then on my 4 dog team – leading when I won silver in the C4 championship in 2003/4 with a run of wins after Chris caught pneumonia and had to drop out of the B class part way through the season. Nick continued to be a great competitor and won silver in the 2 dog Championship with Tao in the 2005/6 season.

Nick has been prone to lameness for some years but like most truly focussed dogs he has never wanted to miss out (he is an inveterate line biter and has no patience with water stops or any other delays) and so at the age of 10, I suggested to Marina that he run in the D class with Josh – in Josh’s first full race season. Those who have seen Josh will know what a strong dog he is – so Nick has been able to rely on him for ‘muscle’ while taking full responsibility for steering! He gets on with everyone so is easy to place anywhere in a team and is a very sweet and affectionate dog – appreciating every moment of life.

For his drive and dedication particularly at the age of 10 and still competing strongly this year, his willingness to adapt to a completely new life, his flexibility running in large or small teams with any driver and in any position, I believe he is a worthy contender for this award.

Nic is nominated for leading Marina round the two dog course so successfully this year aged 10.
He came from a nicer litter where his brother tended to be more in the limelight, but he is nevertheless a well deserving dog with a super working attitude and temperament, typical of the Skiivolk kennel.

Spartacus
Owners Hugh Sym and Pauline Amphlett

My name is Spartacus and I live in the lap of luxury at the Sybasprinter kennel on the North Wales Cheshire border, my mum and dad said I should put my name forward for the Skiivolk Moses award.
Reason’s I am applying for the post are as follows.
1…. Well I believe I was the first unregistered dog to run with BSHRA, and I alone opened the door for all of us poor, unwanted and unregistered dogs to be given a chance to compete in racing. So many Siberians’ fell into the unregistered trap and never had the chance to prove their worth.
I have proved mine.
2…. I along with Shuga Babe dragged our lazy dad from just outside the top ten to inside the top ten and then later with Spliff we dragged him inside the top five in the two-dog class.
3…. I was playing Frisbee on the grassy knoll that fateful day in Dallas when JFK was shot dead, I saw the whole thing but the CIA paid me off to say nothing. I have not spoken about that day since.
4…. I have trained every new arrival and puppy in the Sybasprinter kennel to run in harness, both fast and accurately. Lately I have been training other people’s dogs to run in harness, I have four Euro hounds on my books at present.
5…. I took our mum out for a season in the six-dog class and looked after her and Shuga Babes kids every inch of the trail, even when our mum had a mishap and lost the team I brought them home safely.
6…. I once had a film made about my life, from my humble beginnings as a slave, to my rise against the might of the Roman Empire. They had Kirk Douglas play me (not my choice) I wanted Steve McQueen.
7…. I have appeared on a Christmas card in order to raise money for hearing dogs for the deaf. The cards were produced by Paperchase and sold exclusively at their store located at Tottenham Court Road/London.
8…. I‘ve got a rattlesnake suitcase under my arm, Said I’m a mean machine, been drinking gasoline, And honey you can make my motor hum, I got one chance left, in a nine life cat, I got a dog eat dog sly smile, I got a Molotov cocktail with a match to go, I smoke my cigarette with style.
9…. I simply deserve some recognition for my achievements and we do have room for it at our home, but if I am unsuccessful then I will attempt to steal it.
10…. I am an honest and truthful dog, strong, handsome and debonair to boot that can be relied on in a tight spot and have never been an active member of the Communist party….

Dakota
Owners: Paul and Sue Pateman

Hi, My name is Dakota, I'm 7 years and 2 months old and a rescue Sibe who came to the UK from Cyprus.
After a couple of false starts with families who didn't appreciate my attempts to redesign the furniture (well I thought the shredding effect was rather fashionable) I found myself back with my foster mum Barbara Stanier who decided I had to work for my living.
She expected me to wear some sort of harness contraption and suffer the indignity of running around the woods in the freezing cold, with rather small dogs who insisted they were Siberian Huskies like me.
I wasn't at all happy about all this, after all I'm not from Siberia I'm from Cyprus and I've spent most of my life so far lying in the sun developing my tan!! I sulked for a week as the blessed contraption wasn't even my colour!
However, after a bit I thought well this isn't so bad and the blonde lady and her man (who incidentally has dreadful flatulence just like me) was so kind I thought I might try and help them out a bit so I watched what these littl'uns did and fairly soon picked up the idea I was supposed to run and run and run and run when the harness came out. Then I was taken out one day by the man and introduced to another nice man who made me run with a dog I thought was much more my size and boy did we have fun. I thought wow another big dog to play with we'll go really fast. Don't quite know what happened the great big hefalump plodded round so slowly/ I've since learnt he was not one of my type at all but one of those Malamute or whatever they're called!
Anyway I digress - Mum decided this new chap might like to keep me and she sat me down gave me a really good talking to and told me NOT to chew a thing for the next two weeks if I knew what was good for me!
So that's how I came to live with the Pateman's and I did as she said long enough for them to say they weren't parting with me and then I ate Pauls first dinner the first of many!
The lolloping mal was a real problem when it came to running in the harness contraption, he didn't seem to understand that we had to run forward. each time we were on that start line he tried to go backwards.
We had a good heart to heart one day in the back of the truck and it transpired that he hated running because when he'd done it before the lady he ran with tried to bite him and constantly nagged him. He was so nervous he wasn't enjoying it anymore.
I reckoned it was time for the boys to stick together so I smartened up my own act to set an example and in Dec. 06 we won our first race at Rendlesham. We then ran together at Aviemore and came 8th. Not bad but must try harder next time. We haven't looked back since and we run together well now. I thought whilst I was at Aviemore I might have a go at the weight pull. After all I'm the same size as those freight dogs and they seem to think they can do our job. HHmmm not really my thing, but I wasn't going to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing I couldn't do it I decided to lie on my back, wave my legs in the air and play dumb.

I settled with the Pateman family and all was going well until another strange looking beast arrived. This small ginger extremely noisy bundle arrived, who strutted around the place as if he owned it. Imagine my horror when I realized I was going to be harnessed alongside it when it grew up a bit! The shame of it! Imagine my embarrassment being hooked up to this upstart who didn't have a clue what he was doing. Oh well grin and bear it I thought and eventually I helped him along and guided him round the bends. Now we run together quite a lot, only during training mostly as scaredy cat Hawks not scared anymore and they are better suited size wise and I'm not allowed to run in their class anyway, being of the leaner faster type of sled dog.
I've been running quite a number of times now and must have pleased my leader as he actually lets me take his youngest daughter out in the junior races. I'm trusted to behave like a gentleman with her. I'd take her out anyday, light as a feather she is, not hard work at all and between you and me, she's a much better musher than her dad, much calmer and doesn't shout at me at all, just spends the whole run grinning!!

Mr P decided I could do well with some strange looking two wheeled thing he calls a scooter. I like this as I get to run all on my own. At last my dignity is preserved. We've been doing really well with this and I'm hoping to win the scooter championship this season. Yes I've finally found my niche! It took a while but well I didn't have the start some of you guys had and I've had to learn the hard way.

I thought being a veteran meant I could now take it a bit easier and become a pampered pooch but no, would you believe it I'm expected to start working for my living AGAIN. I've just got used to being on my own when guess what.....another two runts have arrived. Two of those littl'uns I told you about at the beginning and I'm expected to train them from scratch this time. I wish he's make his mind up!! Well looks like my working life isn't done yet. Mind you these two seem to be naturals. See you all on the trail I've got a few years left in me yet!!! And I hope I have shown that RESCUES deserve the chance to show you what they're made of. We just need to be loved and in the right hands and perhaps a whole lot of patience.Chenko (Chekisti's Beshenko)

Owners Rhoda & Derek's Chenko
&
Nick (Skiivolk R’Nick)
Owner Caroline Kisko

I love the idea of this but it may be difficult to make the final decision. I am constantly impressed by all of our dogs but there are two dogs I have watched this season and feel they both deserve a mention. Chekisti's Beshenko ~ Rhoda & Derek's Chenko. He underwent surgery for cancer, which involved removal of part of his ear during the Summer but has continued to be the grafter he has always been.

Skiivolk Rnik ~ Caroline's Nik. Along with Marina & Josh he has been so impressive with his consistent results in the 2 dog competition. This is all the more remarkable when you consider his age. Definitely deserving of recognition.