Dexter

I adopted Dexter when he was around 9-weeks-old from C.A.R.E. At 21-years-old, very few rescue organizations would let me adopt from them. I was living at college with a small, fenceless yard—not the ideal situation for raising a puppy. I had wanted to adopt a Siberian Husky, but that just wasn’t in the cards for me. After many phone calls and applications, I was finally offered to see Dexter, and later approved to adopt him.

Dexter was a handful as a puppy. To be fair, I had never raised a puppy on my own before. Add on college courses and a job; I could see why most rescues didn’t want to adopt to me. Despite the struggles, Dexter had a decent upbringing. He was rarely alone, living in a household with six roommates.

When I brought Dexter home, I had no intention of one day mushing with him. I never knew it was an option in the less-than-snowy state of New Jersey. His mushing “career” only began when I started looking into a second dog; this time a Siberian Husky, from a breeder. I met a breeder who was an active member of the Jersey Sands Sled Dog Racing Association—and that’s how it all began.

In 2010, I started training Dexter with mushing commands. I hiked with him in his x-back harness and eventually had him running alongside my bike. That fall, I purchased a dryland dog rig and Dexter got his first chance out in front of it. Every weekend I had available, I went down to the Pine Barrens and ran Dexter with a pair of borrowed dogs. He caught on quick and seemed to really enjoy it. Even though he looked nothing like any of the other sled dogs, I’d like to think he’s got it in him (buried deep, somewhere).

Dexter was great with commands, both in harness and out, so training him to be a sled dog was not difficult. Keeping him motivated proved to be the challenge. After several years of mushing, I realized Dexter was ready to retire. Fall of 2016 marked the end of his mushing career.

Despite retiring early from mushing, Dexter went on to live a long—very long—and full life. He started to experience some weakness in his backend at around 14, and by 15 it was clear that he wasn’t having a good time. I said good-bye to Dex, my first dog, in July of 2023.