Monday, June 3, 2013
Good morning ,
I just returned from a 10 day cruise to Alaska, and WOW, what an amazing time we had.
One of the excursions we took when we ported in Juneau, which if you know me you won’t be surprised, was a Dog Sledding Adventure. The dog camp was situated on a glacier, so the helicopter ride over to the glacier was an added bonus to get to the dog camp, and I could not even begin to do justice to the views that we were blessed to see.
As we landed on the glacier, the dogs all started to go nuts. They live to run and the helicopter landing is their cue they will be running soon. It was a beautiful sunny day on top of the glacier, about 66 degrees, no wind and not a cloud in the sky, but several feet of snow on the ground. A perfect day for us, but the trainers tell us a bit warm for the dogs. But the dogs didn’t care, it was as if each were jumping up and down yelling “pick me, pick me” as the excitement grew within them as they or their pals got picked to run that day.
As we received instructions on driving the sleds, I was asking questions about the dogs. I was intrigued about how the lead dog became the “leader” and the others followed. Each dog is tested as a leader, but not all make it. Dogs are born to lead or they are not. As simple as that. The dogs that follow are natural followers, but what I observed as I was driving the sled, was interesting.
The followers truly make up the team. They encourage each other and pick each other up. Constantly talking to each other, nipping each others ears and kissing each others noses. Communication that I couldn’t understand, but could clearly see that it was working amongst the team. We stopped for a break and the dogs would eat some snow, take a rest, and then jump right up and start talking to each other and getting the team motivated and ready to go again, while the leader quietly led.
Teamwork. We must first have a leader we can all respect and follow, but the hard work comes from the team that is willing to come together and do the work, helping and encouraging each other along the way.
Make it a great day!