She never had a dog. So when she got her own house, she got two. Big ones. The kind that pull things. Big things. Amanda Vogel had no idea how to raise or own such a large animal, so she asked the breeder what to do.
“Ten years ago I bought a Malamute and a German Shepard and I did not want them to eat my house and I’d never owned a dog before,” the Bay City native explained. “So I asked the Malamute breeder what can I do to make them well behaved and exercised and she said ‘hook them up to a kiddie sled’.”
So she did.
“And away we went. I was grinning from ear to ear and felt like a kid on Christmas morning.”
From that innocent question a decade ago, Vogel now competes as a professional “musher” with a team of 20 dogs and a few “booty” sponsors that pay her way into competitions and other sponsors that supply her with meat for her dogs. And this weekend – February 10 through 12 – she’ll be at her fourth Detroit Motown Winter Blast giving exhibitions and explaining the demanding sport to those curious enough to ask.
“I’ll be taking a few spins around downtown Detroit and answer questions and introduce the dogs,” she said. “I love taking questions.”
Now living in Ray, MN where there are perfect training conditions for the sport, Vogel is happy to spread her love of dog sledding, something the former and cheerleader saw herself doing – ever. But now she wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“There are those nights when there’s a full moon and the wind is calm and fresh snow is sparkling all over the trees and the trees are bowing down at you and the dogs are in their rhythm and you hear their breathing rhythm and their feet rhythm – and it all makes sense at that moment.”
Vogel honed her dogsledding skills through a recreational team, the Mid Union Sled Haulers or affectionately known as “MUSH.”
It’s not easy or cheap to “mush” but “all hobbies cost money. But it depends on the degree of your addiction,” she explained. “You can get reasonably dogs but if you get addicted and get the competitive bone, then you’re in trouble.”
There’s traveling and feeding that are the main costs but local trappers, hunters and taxidermists keep her dogs “well fed” with meat but she’d always welcome any and all sponsors. Her team, The Snomad Racing Sled Dogs, travel the US and Canada competing in races that are anywhere from 150 miles and up. With several top five finishes, Vogel’s goal is to make it into the top three finish and eventually get to the Super Bowl of Dog Sledding – the Iditarod. But she has to qualify in the more grueling 240-mile races to get there. But costs to be in the highest level of dog sledding can be $30,000 plus.
“People mortgage their houses to be in the Iditarod,” she said. “So I need to be a little heavier in sponsors before I can get to the starting line.”
You can check out Vogel’s racing via her Facebook page and more about the Winterblast here.
This article brought to you by the good folks at Urbane Hotels Royal Oak Michigan, Urbane Hotels Southfield Michigan, Urbane Hotels Troy Michigan, and Urbane Hotels Detroit Michigan.
