A Tribute To Switch

Today is the one year anniversary of a very tragic event. At the time it was just too painful to blog about, and even now, a year later, I still cannot write about this without tears. During a training run, my team was struck by a car while crossing a road. High snowbanks which reduced visibility, and a very icy road surface were contributing factors. My team was stretched completely across the road, and although the car struck square in the middle, only one dog was injured, my dear, sweet Switch, who died at the scene. The driver did stop to help and transported Switch back home for me.


Here are some photos from previous years. This first series of shots from a 60 mile run show Switch at the back of the team. I sometimes put her there because she was small and agile and able to handle the tight turns and steeper tugline angle at the wheel position. Switch is the white dog on the right. She is running next to her best friend and sister, Breaker.

The next photo shows her in lead on a different day, again with her sister Breaker beside her. She was a good command leader, and I usually ran her in lead or swing. As a swing dog (right behind the leaders) she had the rather nice trait of never trying to overrun the leaders if they slacked up. Swing dogs who are too eager are continually getting tangled as they jump across the lines of the leaders whenever they slack up to take a turn or to poop or whatever. Switch was always my first choice for a swing dog because she would avoid stepping over the lines and would stay in her position. As a leader, Switch could really string the team out as she was the fastest dog in the kennel, and she never got distracted by loose dogs or people. She was also my choice for training puppies since she was never bothered by their antics behind her.

This next shot shows Switch leading at the start of a 350 mile race. My fantastic leader Fresca is having to work hard to keep up with Switch.

Finally, here is Switch as a puppy back in 2001. She was one of the brightest, liveliest pups in the litter, always the first one out of the box. As an adult, she was still sweet and playful. I miss her terribly.