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Sled dogs were once one of the main methods of transportation in the Arctic regions of the world, long before snowmobiles and airplanes. Hundreds of years ago, dogs were used to pull cargo and people through the deep snows of many lands. Many researchers believe that life in these regions would not have even been possible without sled dogs. According to the International Federation of Sleddog Sports, "sled dog activities may have existed for almost as long as the relationship between dogs and humans, in the regions where snow was a seasonal probability." People used sled dogs to transport everything from mail to medicine.

Dog sledding was not only used for occupational activities but also recreational. One of the first dog sled races occurred sometime in the mid to late 1800's. In 1886 a sled dog race was featured at a Winter Carnival in Minnesota and continues even today. The Walt Disney movie Iron Will was based on the 1917 Winter Carnival race from Winnipeg to Saint Paul. With the Gold Rush in Alaska and the Yukon, the sled dog races in the north started attracting world wide attention. The first of these races, the All-Alaska Sweepstakes, was organized in Nome, Alaska.

In the 1920's returning gold miners brought sled dog racing to New England where it became very popular. The 1920's and 30's were the glory years for sled dog racing; business sponsorship helped to fund top professional mushers and allowed teams to travel across North America competing. The popularity of mushing and the news media coverage it attracted helped the development of the sport. In the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Olympic games Sled Dog Racing was featured as a demonstration sport and again at the 1952 Oslo Olympics. However, this time it was featured as a pulka race where the driver accompanies the dogs on skis behind a toboggan or pulka. In 1992, the International Federation of Sleddog Sports was officially incorporated as a way to focus the efforts of many national, local and international organizations on the goal of Olympic recognition and organization with other mainstream sports.

SOURCE:International Federation of Sleddog Sports

Sled dog From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sled dogs, known also as sleigh dogs, sledge dogs or sleddogs are a group of 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. The origins of this arrangement are unknown.

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 and Alaskan Malamute 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 The Yukon, 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. From 1988 through 1991, a team of Standard Poodles competed in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog 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). Sled dogs have been known to travel over 100 miles in a 24 hour period.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.) hitching sled dogs into their harnessSleddogs 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 some Arctic natives are 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 Fairbanks, Australia and Patagonia.