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CalliOf The Wild Bruce Langmaid’s dogs are his only companion as he races hundreds of miles across frozen lakes and barren land and along with the family’s two Chesapeake Bay Retrievers and the setter, Bruce had his first dog sled team. “We needed a fourth to round it out ganis acquired Alone with a team of sled dogs, gliding over miles of a husky and we had a pretty good te: white, pristine snow, calculating every moment to ensure Since then Bruce has never ad ited the safety of the team — is what dog sledding is all about. His first race took place in Minden in the early No one knows this better than Scugog’s own Bruce Lang- eighties and he fared well. It didn’t take long to real- maid, a ‘musher’ for the past 30 years. ized that sledding was an expensive sport so Bruce Asa youngster, Bruce was raised in a family of dentists, | moved to Coates Road, south of Port Perry, and but his fate presented a different route. After completing opened a kennel. Oshawa High DSchool he set his sights west, to work on the Bruce has an uncanny ability to communicate with TransCanada Pipeline system. dogs and training them comes naturally. It is for that A year or two later he returned to Oshawa to re- reason the kennel was a great success and after a few acquaint himself with his girlfriend, whom he later married. _ years they outgrew their location and moved to the The couple then moved to Ashburn, where Bruce began south end of West Quarter Line in Blackstock. investigating the sport of dog sledding. There, on a 100 acres of tall pines, his dogs and “We had a ‘setter’, which was our family pet,” Bruce ex- _ those boarded, seem to truly enjoy their stay and have plained, “but there was no reason you couldn’t harness him _ for the past 13 years. and turn him into a sled dog... so I did” he said chuckling Mushers (the people who lead the team of dogs) as he spoke. are constantly breeding different varieties to create the Soon thereafter he split the cost of a sled witha friend, perfect balance between speed and endurance. Bruce 14 FOCUS - DECEMBER 2010