Manky Monkey Motors

I love the winter. Odd, I know. I REALLY love winter in Norway. Just back from a ten day soujourn there courtesy of Norske Redningshonders - Norwegian Search dogs. It was a weeks training /assessment for their avalanche dogs which culminates in a big joint services excercise. The skidoo is the winter workhorse for the emergency services there. The avalanche in the pictures isn't real - it was created by a big tracked vehicle. Anyway, some pretty pictures....

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How cool is that! Looking good my friend :)

Not cool,more like COLD ! :-[

The dog looks cool in those googles.

So what exactly do you do for a living?

Great pics Iceman. I love Norway at any time of year. Stunning scenery and the folk there are so nice.

Andy, I'm a part time boat builder, part time dog handler. It's the Highland way....
Mr Olds, you are correct on both counts, the people and the country are both lovely, though I think they both really come into their own in the Winter.
Mr Stinkey - as they say up our way, no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes. It was cold, but you dress accordingly!A MMM t- shirt is the key!

Afraid to say Mr Stinkey would most likely suffocate within minutes in that cold stuff ? :-[

Ice Man -international man of mystery :)

I'm afraid the most mysterious things in my life are the workings of my teenage daughters' minds....
As per you PM, Andy, more photos!
Keeping the dogs warm when they are not working is a problem. On a couple of days we had to finish early because there was a real danger of the dogs noses and tear ducts freezing. There aren't enough mobile kennels for them all, so most dogs are simply tied up in these insulated bags, laid down on a reindeer skin, and they just go to sleep. The little booties are just to stop ice building up between their toes - they come off when they are working.

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keeping the roads open is a problem too. Ploughing duties are a combination of contracted local farmers with their big tractors fitted with snow blowers and State run snow ploughs. They don't scrape to the tarmac but leave about six inches of compacted snow. All the cars have snow tyres fitted from Nov to May by law. My hire car was a Toyota Yaris Hybrid with studded tyres. It was a hoot - like driving a go kart.

and finally....
Managed to squeeze in a visit to the Viking Ships Museum in Oslo - Mecca for any one interested in classic boats. 1200 years old and simply stunning. Amazing when you think that there was no standard for measurement and the builders were working with only very basic tools.
Cheers,
Tom

That's beautiful. I'm always amazed at what our forbears managed to achieve with such limited resources. They certainly weren't stupid were they -it's not just the physical skills needed to build these things, but the imagination to conceive them in the first place. Lovely.
I want a dog in a bag now :)
Really interesting photos Tom. Thank you :)

Great photos. I worked in Norway in 2002. I was working in a place called Dremmen , I was there for 3 weeks in january. Every day we was there the temperature was between -12 and -15. A stunning amazing place. 

When you have to put a ordinary Dog in a kennel or a bag,it makes you realize how well adapted Huskies are to living in that sort of environment. You see them curled up covered with snow and it doesn't seem to bother them at all.

Really enjoyed the pics. What a great side of your life and quite a contrast to boat building.

I really like reading about and watching the very occasional documentary about the Iditarod Trail sled dog race in Alaska. Over 1000 miles! That's one reason I don't like seeing huskies as house pets. I don't think it's fair on them.

Thanks for your post Tom, really interesting.  :)

Hello Folks, thank you for the kind comments  :)
Mr. Baychimp, I agree about huskies, hate seeing them as pets. Most dogs will make themselves comfortable when the weather's rough - see Tara my old girl. But even huskies need looking after when its that cold, especially their paws.
Andy, as a postman I bet you wish all dogs were kept in bags...
JayJay, have you read 'The Cruelest Miles'? Its about the dog relay to get serum to Nome in 1925 to stop a diptheria outbreak. This inspired the Iditerod. Absolutely riveting. Make sure you wrap up when you read it though, they were working in -57c ! And one of the poor dogs testicles froze......
On that cheery note, back to work! Tom.

Very interesting kind sir..and the huskies as pets thing..grr! Friends of ours have them..at least they have chariot type of things to exercise them with ?
I think the thought of those cold temps has frozen my danglies ? :-*

One of our Postmen was badly mauled by a dog last week. Owned by a Polish couple. It pushed past the owner when she opened the door, knocked the guy off his feet then ripped his leg open as well as biting his back. It caught an artery in his leg. The owner simply dragged the dog back indoors & shut the door.
Fortunately the Postman was able to ring his buddy, (we work in pairs, 2 Postmen to a van), & he drove him straight to the hospital. I saw his Mailbag, torn to shreds & literally dripping in blood. The van looked like something out of a horror movie. Scary stuff, but he's O.K
The dog? -a St Bernard of all things!

You are right Iceman. My last dog loved to get out in the snow,being a Collie x German Shepherd she had a double coat that would keep her warm all day. If I went out,she wouldn't stay in.

I hope they will be prosecuted especially as they did not even help the poor chap. With an injury like that he could have bled to death.  >:(

I haven't seen a St Bernard for ages, either they are less popular now or I'm in the wrong place. I've never known of one being nasty. Friends of the family, who ran a restaurent, kept 3 SBs and 2 bloodhounds and the dogs were great with people and each other. To go and say hello to them and take them a biscuit was our treat after our meal.


Some people do and that is good. A chap I knew had 2 huskies and they were kept in a very good kennel with a run in the garden. It snowed really heavily and it was cold but nowhere near the temperatures that Tom mentioned. Anyway, his neighbour reported him to the RSPCA for mistreating them by leaving them outside!  ???

He would put harnesses on them and in this (usually) snow free area he would run like a wheeled sled behind them. Not quite down the high street but in areas where they could enjoy a good run pulling him along.

No such thing as a bad dog ,,, just bad owners. And dogs take after there owners ,,,simple

Huskies are not the only dogs that are happier if they work!  Collies and spaniels are the same, also German Shepherds.  Have you seen the films of spaniels trained to detect drugs - their tail never stop wagging!

I have visually impaired friends who have guide dogs - you'd be amazed how often they get verbally abused for giving their dogs such a hard life - but the dogs are some of the happiest I've seen, and totally devoted to their owners.

Have to say, whether used to drag sleds of whatever sort (runners or wheels) most of the huskies I've met have been very happy dogs.