One Man's Quest to Bring Dog Mushing to New York City

On a recent Sunday afternoon in Williamsburg's McCarren Park, humans ran off their hangovers around the track, dogs kicked up dust in the dog run, and about a dozen Siberian huskies stood alert in x-back harnesses, waiting their turn to pull a dryland mushing scooter around the outside path.

The humans and dogs were there for an all-day training event hosted by the NYC Dog Mushers, a new organization that teaches energetic city dogs to "discover their inner athlete" and "awaken a sense of self," as founder Tyler Hooff describes it.

The event, which was advertised through the NYC Siberian Husky Meet Up group, attracted mostly husky owners, with an occasional Samoyed and Malamute in the mix. The dogs and their people came from all over the city, Staten Island to the Bronx, and were eager to give their misplaced sled dogs a chance to try their paws at what is, ostensibly, their genetic raison d'etre. At one point, a pug found his way over and decided to hang around with the big dogs for about a half hour while its owner sat in the grass and marveled at the superior breeding. Sadly, the pug did not mush.

As most of the dogs were novices, Hooff employed a "cat and mouse technique to get the dogs used to pulling," with one person riding a bike in front in order to get the pack running. Hooff rigged the dogs together in packs of two to four, in positions of "lead" (smaller dogs that don't pull, the point guards of mushing), "mid" (medium-sized runners) and "swing" (rear dogs with the most muscle, and the ones that actually turn the 'sled') and then hooked them up to his Pawtrek dryland mushing scooter. To get them to actually pull it, he'd hold down the hand brakes, creating tension along the gangline, and then yell "Hike!"

Even among the genetically-predisposed, the actual mushing was a mixed bag, aptitude-wise. On one run, a dog team was completely derailed by a squirrel; on another, by a rogue hairless chihuahua. It could have been worse: "In the wilderness, a moose will charge a team of sled dogs," Hooff told me. (The command to refocus dogs after a distraction: "on bye.")

Kelsea Adams, who drove two and a half hours down from Albany so that her 2-year-old Siberian Husky/Tamaskan mix Kosar (@kosarthedog) could mush for the first time, was delighted by Kosar's performance running lead one lap and swing the next. "My boyfriend was like, 'he's gonna freak out and get tangled,' but he was dead wrong. Kosar was a total natural!" said Adams. Siberian Husky Instagram sensations @borisandtasha were also in attendance; Tasha outshone Boris in a tour de force performance as lead dog.

The self-taught Hooff is somewhat of a natural himself, learning as he goes along. The 33–year-old Bellingham, Washington native, who initially moved to New York ten years ago to pursue an acting career, grew up mushing his American Eskimo after school with just a skateboard and a harness. He found mushing again when the manager at the Times Square restaurant where he worked adopted a Siberian Husky named Phoenix. Hooff thought, "What's this older guy gonna do with this beautiful husky? He's not gonna run this dog." So Hooff started mushing him a few days a week in Riverside Park. A couple years in, Phoenix got pretty good, and dog owners started approaching them at the park, asking Hooff if this was something that he did for real. "Finally I said, 'yeah, ok, sure.'"

He did some research—the book Dog Driver was a big influence—stocked up on gear like the Pawtrek dryland scooter, x-back harnesses and Maine Made for Dogs recreational kick-sled, and in November of 2014, established the LLC. He saw a slow and steady stream of clients, but it wasn't until this May, when the Dogist photographed him mushing Phoenix and another husky, Wiley, on the Hudson River Greenway that the business really started to gain traction. "I got 1,000 Instagram followers overnight," he says.

In private sessions, he runs the now seven-year-old Phoenix, whom he calls the OG, alongside the rookies to show them how it's done. "Tyler changed Phoenix's life completely," says Phoenix's owner, Joao Neri. "I worked, too, long hours (at the restaurant) so when Tyler came along and started helping me it was great—now Phoenix gets more exercise, meets other dogs, now he has a pack. When I come home at night now he's calm lying waiting on the rug; before, I would open the door and he would jump on me and want to go out."

That's the goal with urban mushing, to tire out these high-energy cooped up city dogs—"a tired husky is a happy husky," Hooff says. But it's not just huskies—Hooff will mush non sled-dog breeds as long as they're 30-35 pounds minimum, and have the energy and will to pull. He's worked before with a golden doodle, a pit-bull, and a coonhound, for example. It's a case-by-case basis, and he recommends owners consult with their veterinarian if they aren't sure their dog is fit to mush. (Sometimes it's an obvious "no," like the time a dog owner approached Hooff in Carl Shultz Park asking if he would mush her shih tzu.) Same goes with a dog that might have behavioral issues—Hooff won't take on any client that could pose a threat to him or other dogs in the pack.

Breed is not the be all end all, according to New York dog trainer Viviane Arzoumanian: "Just because a dog looks a certain way does not determine its interests, temperament or abilities."

Whether you're working with a purebred Siberian or a wiry mutt, mushing takes a lot of practice and conditioning. Otherwise, there is a heightened risk of injury. "Even dogs that are bred to pull are at risk if they aren't trained for it," said Dr. Stephanie Liff, a veterinarian at Brooklyn Cares. "Just like a human who is capable of running but not in shape, you can see muscle sprains/strains, ligament injuries or paw pad injuries."

Hooff takes care to implement safety measures and eases rookie dogs into workouts. He uses Musher's Secret, a wax based salve, and emu oil to protect their paw pads, and will hold off on mushing during warmer summer months to prevent dogs from overheating. His dogs always wear x-back harnesses to ensure they pull from the chest and not the neck.

As he gains clients, he's considering restructuring the company to run compatible dogs in the same teams every week, which is how dogs traditionally learn to mush. Down the line, he might even host dog races, if there were ample interest. Skijoring appeals to him, although he grew up more of a snowboard guy. He plans to mush again with the kicksled, once New York City finally gets some snow.

When I asked him why he tags all his posts #caninecrossfit, he said it's just "a way for me to explain to people in New York what I'm doing," rather than an actual analogy to the popular fitness. "Recreational mushing is not an original idea, it's just new to the city," he says. So far, human Crossfitters-with-dogs have yet to get a whiff of the operation, although it's not hard to imagine folks who lean Paleo getting excited about their dog roleplaying The Call of the Wild.

Hooff, ironically, doesn't have his own dog. "I don't think I could give a dog a good life out here," he says. "I wouldn't be able to run the same dog every day." But he's here for yours.