Huskies ready to show off their snowy skills

"Never, ever trust these dogs off a leash," Jennifer Adelman-McCarthy warns spectators about Siberian huskies, and their penchant to run.

And a few minutes later, during a dog-sledding practice at Fermilab, one named Zephyr proves her point. No sooner is he let out of the car, he takes off down a snowy path on the prairie, with owner Mike Rawaillot of Woodridge yelling, rather fruitlessly, "Come back! Zephyr, get back here. Zephyr!" Meanwhile Zephyr's running mates are howling, longing to be let out of the car to join him.

These dogs love to run. They live to run.

Adelman-McCarthy takes her own dog, Behr, out for a little sled-pulling, or some skijoring, on her lunch break at Fermilab, where she analyzes data for the Sloan Digital Sky Project in the astrophysics department. You can meet Behr and other huskies at several events this month and next, as Adopt-a-Husky and the Green Valley Dog Drivers clubs will demonstrate the talents of the dogs for the public.

Adelman-McCarthy was a graduate student at the University of Minnesota at Duluth when she responded to a call for ham radio operators to volunteer at the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, a qualifying race for the Alaskan Iditarod.

"I fell in love with sledding and the breed," she said.

Huskies need lots of exercise, she said. No problem; she's a marathon runner, and Behr goes out with her on 20-mile training runs. After a nap, he's ready to run again, she said.

The duo race in 3 to 4-mile sprints, with Behr pulling her on a sled or on cross-country skis (that's the skijoring.)

While exercising him at a dog park in Greene Valley Forest Preserve in Woodridge, she met fellow husky owners. They suggested the sled-pulling.

The dogs respond to commands of "hike" (start), "gee" (turn right) and "haw" (turn left). Sled drivers carry snow hooks that they can throw out to stop the sled if the dogs aren't obeying, and to anchor it during breaks. Skijorers have no such tool; if a dog is about to pull them in to a lake or tree, they can hit the quick-release on the harness, or use the "butt brake" - sitting down.

Rawaillot belongs to the Green Valley club. He owns four dogs - Zena, Zak, Zephyr and Zorro. They are the mascots for the Naperville North High School Huskies football team, pulling a wheeled cart around the track at games. Although he doesn't work at Fermilab, he knows about the physics of dog-sledding.

"I know the gravity party. I've fallen off quite a few times," he said, laughing.

<p class="factboxheadblack">Dogsled Spectacular</p> <p class="News"><b>When:</b> 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 24-25</p> <p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Morton Arboretum, Lisle</p> <p class="News"><b>Also:</b> Dog-sledding will be demonstrated from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 25 at Brookfield Zoo, and from noon to 6 p.m. Feb. 12-16 at Snow Days Chicago in Grant Park.</p> <p class="News"><b>More information:</b> <a href="http://www.gv-dd.com" target="new">gv-dd.com</a>; <a href="http://www.mortonarboretum.org" target="new">mortonarboretum.org</a>; <a href="http://www.explorechicago.org" target="new">explorechicago.org</a>; <a href="http://www.czs.org" target="new">czs.org</a>.</p>