He's one of my top dogs, but most people don't get to see him at his best. At 75 pounds, he is a monster in harness. Bing can move some serious weight. Also one of my best trail breaking leaders, he enjoys plowing through snow, blazing his own trail, and seeing new country. Usually I'm the only one on the sled when we're doing that though. During races or mushing on a road, he is shy around people and aggressive around strange dogs. He's easily distracted.
If I were mushing this country 50 years ago, I'd want a few dogs like Bing. He's most at home in the wilderness. Hard packed trails don't do him justice. You don't realize how good of a dog he is until your knee deep in snow with a heavy load. He's got the long legs, deep chest, solid coat, and iron feet that all working dogs should have.
Bing, being the way he is, will start the Kusko 300 in the middle of the team. The starting line chaos won't be his thing. Once we get out on the trail, he'll take his turn in lead and keep us moving forward. And if, just if, we get 2 feet of snow dumped on us, I'll be glad Bing's on my team.
Bing with his bad ear. It's not a naturally floppy ear. I think he got in a fight when he was young because the little band that holds a dog's ear up is broken. So his ear doesn't flop down, it just leans to the side. One of the only ways to tell him from his brothers.
Wanna know what a true working sled dog looks like? That's it. He loves his job and does it well.
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