Learning The Basics Of Dog Sledding

Learning the Basics of Dog Sledding

by

Philippa Westwood

Dog sledding, or mushing , has been around for centuries as one of the main means of travel in the frozen and arctic areas of the world. Recent archaeological finds have estimated that dogs and people have had a working relationship for the past 4,000 years.

By 1873, Canadian patrols were using sled dogs as a means of patrolling the frozen areas, and the first dog sled race was documented in 1850 along a trail from Winnipeg, Manitoba to St. Paul, Minnesota. Since then, the sport of dog sledding has risen in popularity, with some famous races such as the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod, and with a boost from the Disney movie, Iron Will. But dog sledding isn t about just hooking up some Huskies to a sled and yelling mush . It requires a lot of knowledge and some basic understanding of the sport.

The set up

One of the first things you need to understand about dog sledding is the set up of the team and sled. The dog team members are given a name according to their positions; these include leaders, swing dogs, team dogs and wheel dogs. The lead dogs come either singly or in pairs and are the dogs that lead the team and set the pace. The swing dogs or point dogs are hitched directly behind the leaders and are the dogs that swing the whole team around corners and curves while on the trail. The team dogs are those that are behind the swing dogs and are the real power of the team, providing the pull and harnessing the momentum of the sled. Finally, closest to the sled you have the wheel dogs, which are the rocks of the team and the ones that can handle the sled right behind them while guiding it around the curves. These groups of dogs are attached to each other and the sled via harnesses that fit snugly, but not too tightly, around the dogs chests. A group of dogs hooked up in a line is called a gangline , and can be added to as needed.

The Gear

The most obvious part of a dog sledding set up is the sled. Sleds have been in use since antiquity, and the most common ones are made from wood and have to be carefully made to be waterproof and sturdy. There are also basket-style sleds and modern race-special sleds made from materials such as aluminium and fibreglass. Next you need the ganglines, which are the lines and connections that hook the dogs to the each other an the sled, and finally, there are sled bags, dog collars and extras such as booties for the dogs paws.

The Calls

Everyone knows the

dog sledding

call mush : but there are others that are important too, such as:

Come gee turn right

Come haw turn left

Line out the command to the lead dog to pull the team straight out from the sled

Trail a request for the right of way on a trail

Whoa command used to stop the dogs

Philippa Westwood is Marketing Manager at Windows on the Wild, a specialist of wildlife watching tours and

dog sledding

holidays. Destinations include Canada, Lapland and Sweden where

dog sledding

holidays can take you on adventurous experiences across the world.

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