Sled Dogs Meet & Greet

Catherine Bass • Library Director, Jericho Town Library, Jericho

When: Dec 16, 2023, 1 to 2 PM

Where: Jericho Town Library, Jericho Center Circle, Jericho, VT

Milagro Turner of Cambridge, VT, came to the Jericho Town Green with her dogs for folks to meet and learn all about sled dogs. Milagro's pups are very people-friendly and love to meet new human friends.

by Bernie Paquette

Jericho, Vermont

Catherine Bass • Library Director, Jericho Town Library, Jericho introduced Milagro Turner

I took a few notes as Milagro spoke to us about the Siberian Sled dogs she and her husband have as part of their family.

Milagro is from Honduras. She came to live in Vermont about five years ago. She witnessed snow for the first time during her first year in Vermont. Now winter is her favorite season. Friends refer to her as the queen of the snow. She especially likes to be outside when it is cold, as do the dogs. That is when nature is most beautiful, and surprisingly few people are outside.

Sometimes Milagro will take a nap outside with the dogs.

Drogo is the grandpa (reddish-colored). 'Axe' is a one-year-old boy and all white. Denali is a girl. Axe and Denali are siblings. Crixus is B&W colored with parti-colored eyes. The fourth dog was at home.

Axe

Denali

Drogo

Crixus

The dogs insist on being outside every day. They pull a bicycle with Milagro sitting for the ride during the warm season. In the wintertime, the dogs barely want to come in at the end of the day.

Drogos's fur turns from a brownish color to bright red when it is very cold outside. 'Axe' is a (rare) white husky and easily gets muddy.

Siberian dogs are very intelligent but can be destructive if not given enough jobs or tasks to do. They like to feel productive and they love attention. Siberian Huskies can travel one hundred miles in twenty-four hours.

Their dogs like fruit to play with (apples) and some to eat like blueberries. They love to play. They are curious about everything. They will open packages to see what is inside and look under the hood of the car if it is open. They also dig a lot, sometimes finding things that Milagro did not even know were lost. True treasure hunters!

They also like to go along for rides in the kayak, content to watch the world go by and let someone else do the paddling.

This breed of dog sheds mountains of hair every day. They have a double coat; an inside coat of hair keeps them warm on cold days, and the outside coat of hair helps keep them cool off on summer days.

Milagro decided we might as well find something useful to make with all that excess shedding hair. She makes hats, dog toys, and even framed three-dimensional dogs in a frame. She uses food coloring to add some additional color to the art. She is now experimenting with a spinning wheel.