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Runember Recreational Racing

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United States
Boston, MA
Runember Recreational Racing

A recreational/semi-competitive New England dog team

01/08/2026

Current snow quality

We’re just kind of… sit and wait and see I guess

01/07/2026

❄️

01/06/2026

Biking with your dog, and bikejoring, are two different things

Biking and running with your dog entails you self propelling with the dog at side, keeping stride on a slack lead. Mushing is by definition, dog-powered, with the dog out front pulling you along to some degree

These two disciplines require different gear, training and skill sets. Some dogs excel at one over the other, but some can be taught to do both

Why does it matter? Clarity of communication and guidance. So you can get started correctly to best meet your goals. Biking with your dog is NOT a lesser sport or the first step to bikejor, and treating it as such may even prevent your dog from excelling at bikejor

01/04/2026

We had fun again this morning! I was going to drive out to the larger network of forest trails just for a change of scenery, but turns out it was snowing again! Not as much this time but enough that the roads were awful, so we ran the same local trail again. The powder had set into the ice a bit since the last storm so the dogs had better traction. At this point they’re getting conditioned to dragging the rig through the bumpy resistance of snow so we did the whole 3.5mi trail

01/03/2026

Foot care is so vitally important, and it looks different for every dog. But let us not ignore the drawbacks of OVER doting on feet. Dogs, especially sled dogs, are not supposed to have baby soft, supple pads. If you over protect them, they won’t build up the natural callouses they need to protect themselves. If my dogs offer you a paw, it feels like getting raked with coarse grit sandpaper and that’s good. That’s my goal

01/01/2026

Goodbye we have been abducted on the liminal void trail 🛸

12/31/2025

Dominance Theory has been thoroughly disproven

Dominance and submission as descriptors for interaction amongst group members are still valid

Saying this because I routinely see claims that “dominance isn’t real.” It is real. In ethology dominance is defined as “individual's preferential access to resources over another.” How that applies to different species varies

Dominance Theory, is essentially Game of Thrones for dogs. While exact principles vary somewhat, the core concept is that dogs live in strictly ranked packs ruled by one alpha, and all dogs aspire to be that alpha. Alphadom is achieved and retained through the use of force and control of resources. The quest to be alpha transcends species lines, therefore you must establish yourself as alpha immediately and constantly work to retain that position for the life of your dog (and also make sure he doesn’t try to become alpha over your kids, cat, chickens, and so forth). All behavioral problems stem from attempts to obtain rank

That’s bu****it. And you get all sorts of weird stuff from it, like never allowing your dog to walk through a door unless you go through it first. Or the belief that your dog is “dominating” stuffed toys. Or the existance of Andrew Tate

Dogs DO have social structure, and it does include dominance and submission, but it’s also very fluid. And they are very well aware we are not dogs. A dog may retain control of some resources and simply not care about others, or keep access to a resource one day and just not care about it the next. They might find some individuals worth challenging and others not. Some dogs may be more likely to always stand their gound and others may almost always yield. In an ideal scenario, all this is established without aggression, or with only ritualized aggression and posturing. There is a TON that has been written about this and it’s really not possible to do it justice in on social media post. But yes, Dominance Theory is bunk. Dominance the ethological concept is not

12/30/2025

The fact that after all this rain and ice, it’s snowing a bit right now feels like a slap in the face. Maybe it means it will be ok. We’ll see

12/29/2025

“Your dogs aren’t wearing collars!”

Nope. They aren’t

Collars are a weighing of risk. They can provide containment, visibility and immediate ID. They can also strangle your dog to death in minutes

Over the course of my life with dogs, I can no longer count how many dogs I have seen hurt or killed by collars. Branches, or a playmate’s jaw slip under them and twist. They jump and catch a fence post. The hardware slips between deck slats, heating vents, or crate wires, twists and is stuck…

My dogs are in my house, in a fenced yard, supervised, microchipped and registered to me. They frequently engage in mouthy free play. If we leave the property, then the neon collars do go on

Other situations are different. Many dogs do need collars at all times. But understand the risks in both directions and make the best choice for your pack. These aren’t harmless decorations

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