Canine athletes to descend on Willow for annual symposium

WILLOW — In a place like the Valley, sometimes it seems like you can’t walk two steps without running into a dog.

That will be especially true Saturday at the Willow Community Center where the Willow Dog Mushers Association will host its annual Canine Athlete Symposium.

“We like being out with our dogs and we like being around people that want to know more about mushing or want to know more about dogs,” said the association’s Donna Quante. “The first year we kind of focused on mushers and then we realized that we wanted to bring in people that like all kinds of dogs.”

The symposium runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday at which point volunteers will clear the hall for a concert from Pamyua. Over the course of those nine hours there will be a number of activities.

First off are the mini-symposiums on mostly dog-related topics. There’s a seminar scheduled from the Anchorage Skijor Club, a “nose work” demonstration from Claudia Sihler, and a canine acupressure and massage demonstration from veterinarian Susan Whiton.

Dog massage is actually pretty common, if you didn’t know.

“Most mushers when they’re on the trail, when the dogs get sore or stiff, when they get to the checkpoints, they’ll spend a lot of time massaging dogs,” Quante said.

At mid-day, keynote speaker John Baker, winner of the 2011 Iditarod, will speak on mushing topics.

Outside at around the same time the K-9 military unit from Elmendorf Air Force Base will give a demonstration. Will Barron, 2010’s Alaska Skyhoundz Champion will do a demonstration of what he and his dog can do with a flying disc.

There’s also two auctions — one featuring life-size dogs painted and decorated by local artists — and a gear swap, plus some outdoor survival classes that aren’t even necessarily dog-related.

“We’re just trying to kind of broaden our focus,” Quante said.

The Pamyua concert is a new thing this year.

“You don’t have to come to the symposium if you want to come to the concert,” Quante said.

She said she has seen in her short time in Willow that mushing sometimes gets pushed to the edges of a community. She hopes that things like this annual symposium will help her neighbors understand the role mushers play in their communities. The Willow Dog Mushers, for example, contribute money to schools and community events throughout the year.

“We want to help out as much as we can. We’re a really small organization but we’re a non-profit organization,” she said. “We take all that money and we turn it over into other good causes.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.