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Mush ado about dogs
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| Richard and Dawn with Pagan (left) and Zillah. Deadlinepix NK292-04 |
Dawn Ravenhill gazes lovingly across at her Siberian husky dogs lazing idly in the sun, before recounting a list of their achievements.
"They've destroyed library books and the television remote control," she said. "They've stripped the wallpaper from the hall twice and we had to redecorate twice.
"They've eaten shoes. They've dug up the garden. And oh, you can't trust them at all with food."
Given this litany of crimes, it seems madness to have anything to do with such destructive animals, let alone live alongside them day to day.
Yet, in spite of their faults, this is precisely what Dawn and partner Richard Sanders, who live in Gander Green Lane, have done by owning not one but four of the wolf-like creatures.
Indeed they are held in such affection by their owners that Dawn and Richard have transformed their lives even considering moving to Scotland to give the dogs more room to revolve around their pets.
The real problems arise because others are not prepared to give the same commitment.
"So many people want to own these dogs, but there are a lot of people whose want for them suppresses their sensible side and if you bothered to read about them you would think twice," said Dawn.
"They are pack dogs. They hate isolation and if you have only got one you become its pack. They are not the sort of dog you can buy and then go to work eight hours a day, because they will pine, howl and destroy your home."
Because of this combination of being both desirable and unsuitable as pets, many husky dogs bought for domestic homes end up in animal welfare.
This pattern is further intensified by children's films, such as 2002's Snow Dogs and this year's Eight Below, which portray the dogs as the dignified noble savages of the canine world.
In the wake of these movies, the dogs become more popular than ever and, at the same time, more of them than ever end up on the scrap heap.
This fact is borne out by Dawn and Richard's own experience as two of their dogs Pagan and Reef were rescued after being abandoned by their owners.
"If they are the right dog for you, they are very addictive," Dawn, 38, says. "We don't have holidays unless they involve the dogs and we don't leave them on their own."
Richard is even more emphatic: "They are life-changing and if that's what you want, they are great dogs and a great addition to your family. But you do have to be prepared to make big changes."
The couple, who live with Dawn's children, Luke, 14, and Sam, 10, work alternate shifts as nurses to allow one of them to be at home at all times.
This dedication to their pets is impressive, but it is at weekends when the Siberian huskies really take centre stage.
One year after the pair got their first dog, named Ghost, they competed in a dog sled race in Aviemore, Scotland.
Instantly hooked, Siberian husky dog racing has now become their chief leisure time activity and the entire family made 15 separate trips to races throughout the UK during the last racing season.
To most, the absence of snow would appear a barrier to the sport, but this hurdle is easily overcome as the dogs pull a three-wheeled rig on which the driver stands.
So smitten are the family with the sport they even have acquired a van to transport equipment and animals which bears the team name Salva Mea.
But the interest in dog racing does not stop at mere enthusiasm, as both Sam and Luke have won junior events in the sport.
"It's a sport that involves the whole family," Richard, 41, says. "For me, it has been a chance to recapture some of the feelings and aspirations I had as a younger man."
Sitting in the sun in the family's back garden in Sutton, we seem far removed from the heat and passion of sled dog racing.
On the other hand, looking at the four wolf-like creatures next to me, I get a quick reminder that the life of this family involving as it does stripped wallpaper and eaten shoes is not quite normal.
As Richard says: "It's a life less ordinary in suburbia." You can say that again.
9:59am Friday 19th May 2006
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