Sled Dog
Dogs
Sled Dog
Mushing | Dog Sled | Dogsled Racing | Freighting | SnoPeak Siberian Huskies | Yukon Quest
Sled dogs, known also as sleigh dogs, sledge dogs
or sleddogs are
dogs that are
used to pull a wheel-less vehicle on runners (a
sled or
sleigh)
over snow
or ice, by
means of
harnesses and lines. It is not certain when this unique form of
transport was first thought of by humankind nor where it originated,
but it may well have been in eastern
Siberia,
whose tribes have a long history of nomadic winter travel.
A ten-dog team of Seppala Siberian Sleddogs in tandem hitch on a frozen Yukon
lake (Photo by Isa Boucher)
Several distinct dog breeds are in common use as sleddogs, although any
medium-sized breed may be used to pull a sled. Purebred sleddog breeds range
from the well-known
Siberian Husky to rarer breeds such as the
Mackenzie River husky. Dog drivers, however, have a long history of using
other breeds or crossbreds as sleddogs. In the days of the
Gold Rush in
Alaska, mongrel teams were the rule, but there were also teams of
Foxhounds
and
Staghounds. Today the unregistered hybridised
Alaskan husky is preferred for dogsled racing, along with a variety of
crossbreds, the
German Shorthaired Pointer often being chosen as the basis for
crossbreeding. Some years ago, a team of Standard
Poodles
participated in the
Iditarod
long-distance race.
Sleddogs are expected to demonstrate two major qualities in their work (apart
from basic physical capability to pull the sled). Endurance is needed to travel
the distances demanded in dogsled travel, which may be anything from five to
eighty miles (8 to 130 km) or more a day. Speed is needed to travel the distance
in a reasonable length of time. Racing sleddogs will travel up to an average
twenty miles per hour (32.2 km/h) over distances up to 25 miles (40 km). Over
longer distances, average travelling speed declines to 10 to 14 miles per hour
(16 to 22 km/h). In poor trail conditions, sleddogs can still usually average 6
or 7 miles per hour (10 or 11 km/h).
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.) hitching sled dogs into their
harness
Sleddogs pull various sorts of sleds, from the small 25 pound (11 kg)
sprint-racing sleds, through the larger plastic-bottomed distance racing
toboggan
sleds, to traditional ash freighting sleds and the trapper's high-fronted narrow
toboggan. Sleddogs are also used to pull skiers and to draw wheeled rigs when
there is no snow. A team of sleddogs may consist of anywhere from three to two
dozen animals. Modern teams are usually hitched in tandem, with harnessed pairs
of sleddogs pulling on tuglines attached to a central gangline. Trappers in deep
snow conditions using the toboggan will hitch their dogs in single file with
traces on either side of the line of dogs. Dog teams of arctic natives are
usually run in "fan hitch", each dog having its own tow line tied directly to
the sled.
Driving sleddogs has become a popular winter recreation and sport in North
America and Europe; sleddogs are now found even in such unlikely places as
Australia and Patagonia.
A typical sled dog breed, such as the
Greenland Dog, has a very dense double coat, wide padded feet, erect ears, a
curled tail, and a muscular build.
Sled dog breeds
See also
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