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Tag: dog sledding

Dog Sledding- Dogs and sports; what’s not to love?

Harry McArthur

 

The rules and equipment required for dog sledding are available at the bottom of the article, so if you are unsure on any of the technical terms used have a look down there!

 

I would have been shocked if a matter of weeks ago someone told me that they could blend together two of my favourite things in life. After some searching I found it; a combination of sports and dogs. Dog sledding. To find out more about dog sledding I caught up with the social media manager of the SDAS (Sled Dog Association of Scotland), Ashleigh Dean, for some details on the sport.

“Dog sledding is not one of the first sports you think of in Scotland or the UK, but over the last few years it has grown a lot. In many other countries, dog sled sports are recognized and for some countries it is part of their culture and history.

“Many people are under the impression that the sport is only done on a sled, on snow, for miles and miles, so can’t really be done in Britain. In Scotland we get a chance to do some of our training using a sled on snow, but the majority of our races are completed on a rig. In Britain we mostly focus on sprint distances. So speed more than mileage, as trails for distance are hard to come by.”

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Sport of the Day- Dog Sledding

Ailsa Harvey

The sport of dog sledding involves racing on sleds pulled by dogs, usually over snowy cross-country courses.

The dogs in the dog sled teams have different roles when racing. Lead dogs, at the front of the pack, must have common sense and be able to find route in bad weather. ‘Swing’ dogs and ‘point’ dogs are responsible for guiding the rest of the team through curves in the trail. They run directly behind the leader. ‘Team’ dogs are primarily used for their power, running in the middle and ‘wheel’ dogs stay close to the sled to pull it out of deep snow.

When practising the sport in countries without constant snow, wheeled carts are used instead of the sleds.  The person who races the dogs on the sled is called the ‘musher’. Their main roles come before the race in taking care of the dogs, preparing them and training them to perform at their best. Continue reading

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