'I have a hundred dogs, and they all like me'

AMY MENEREY /Frontiersman reporter

HOUSTON - Iditarod veteran Lynda Plettner lives and breathes dogs.

In the ultimate dream of mixing business with pleasure, the 55-year-old spends her days and nights sharing her more than 100 sled dogs and her mushing experience with visitors, wanna-be mushers and experienced mushers.

You could say she's in the doghouse, but there's no place she'd rather be.

"There's not anything tougher in this world than a dog," Plettner says. "They can live anywhere, eat anything, sleep anywhere."

Plettner owns and operates Plettner Kennels in Houston, where she offers dog-sled tours throughout the year and teaches people all about dog mushing.

An 11-time veteran of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and a musher since 1980, she enjoys passing along her knowledge to others, whether they are novices or have some experience behind the sled.

Last year, Wasilla High School teacher Sue Allen completed her first Iditarod under Plettner's tutelage.

"I worked with her for over five years, and she finally owned all of her own [dogs] by the time she took off," Plettner said. Allen finished 72nd in last year's race.

Currently in training for the big race at Plettner Kennels is Italian musher Dodo Perri. An experienced European musher, it is Perri's first attempt at the Iditarod, and he is using one of Plettner's teams to run the race. She calls her experienced teams "Liquid Plumber dogs."

"Some people just want to do the race, but can't do it without a dog team. With mine you just pour them in and watch them work," she said, chuckling.

Leasing her dogs allows her to rotate her teams, she said. Younger dogs are used for her own teams, and when they get to be 6 or 7 years old - and well experienced on the trail - they are moved over to the leased teams. Most of the dogs, she said, are able to stay in harness this way until they are around 15 years old.

Plettner's training programs include subjects such as dog psychology, nutrition, training techniques, trail strategies and winter survival. Prices start at $100 a day to learn to mush, and go up to $50,000 for a full year of training that includes the total cost of running the Iditarod. Programs, and payments, are tailored to the individual, she said. Kennel tours start at $20, with winter rides starting at $100.

Mushers in training for the Iditarod, like Perri, often stay at Plettner Kennels for the duration of their training. Her boarders have come from as far as Russia, Atlanta and New York, and one is expected from Norway soon. There is no doubt her business keeps her busy, but Plettner doesn't mind. There's no place she'd rather be than with her dogs.

"I have a hundred dogs," she said. "And they all

like me."

For more information about Lynda Plettner and Plettner Kennels, visit www.plettner-kennels.com.