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Sled Dogs
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.
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 240 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 (30 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).
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.
Sled dog breeds:
Alaskan husky
Alaskan Malamute
Canadian Eskimo (or Inuit) Dog
Chinook
Eurohound
Greenland Dog
Mackenzie River husky
Samoyed
Seppala Siberian Sleddog
Siberian Husky (or Arctic Husky)
Multipurpose breeds such as the Newfoundland and the
Chow Chow were also
used as sled dogs
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from
Wikipedia and from
Wag-Dog.com
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