How to bring up a husky dog in the city? Wataha Domowych Wilków Association will help you with this.
Snow, frost and a sled drawn by an indefatigable team of huskies – these are the scenes that we usually can watch in adventure films or nature documentaries. However, it turns out that we may also come across dog-drawn vehicles when walking along the Oder, and not only in winter!
Brought together by their love for Northern-type dogs
Fans of Northern-type dogs began to get together and created their own organisation, which they called Wataha Domowych Wilków. They meet every weekend to exercise together and expand their knowledge of the Siberian Husky breed.
”Everything started three years ago, when we bought a husky puppy,” says Barbara Dolecka, the founder of the Wataha association. ”We fell for its sweet mouth and blue eyes,” she admits with laughter, "but when we began to read about this breed, we were a little bit scared. It turned out that these are not domestic dogs that can be trained only with simple commands like "heel!" or "stay!"
They teach, bring up and run
During meetings, they teach positive co-operation with animals, socialise them and make use of commands and catchwords. Currently the pack consists of 17 dogs, including also young dogs which are a few months' old. The primary goal of the association is to promote active leisure with dog carting teams. Initially, the animals pulled car tyres, and then the association invested in special carts. Currently they have two at their disposal: the heavier one pulled by up to 12 dogs and the smaller one that can be pulled by up to 6 dogs.
”We also have a push scooter for individualistic dogs,” says Jolanta Bar from Wataha. “I have two huskies that don’t like running in large teams, so I use a push scooter, for which only two dogs are sufficient.”
Meeting with Wataha
Meetings take place every weekend. In the autumn-winter season, they start at 9.00 a.m., but now, as the days are getting warmer, members of Wataha meet already at 8.00 a.m.
”The rain and snow doesn’t put us off, but the temperature may be an obstacle," says Dolecka. “When it is too warm, dogs quickly become tired, so we don't run on such days.”
Their starting point is the Stanica Scouting Water Centre at ul. Kożuchowska 13. Routes are diverse and range from several to a few dozen kilometres.
Picnics, exhibitions and competitions
Wataha members are also present at various kinds of events. "In the nearest future, we are going to support the Wroclaw Motoserce event that will take place near the Magnolia Park Shopping Centre on the 26th of April; this will be the second time we have supported this event. Our association is still open to new members. Anyone who would like to join us with their dog is welcome. For more details, visit: www.facebook.com/watahawilkow.
UL
