Sled dog racing

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A ten-dog team of Seppala Siberian
Sleddogs in tandem hitch on a frozen Mud Lake, a small lake west of Lake Laberge and the
Klondike Highway

Sled dog racing (sometimes termed dog sled racing) is a winter
dog sport most
popular in the Arctic regions
of the United States,
Canada, Russia, and some European countries[1]
. It involves the timed competition of teams of sleddogs that
pull a sled
with the dog driver or musher standing on the
runners. The team completing the marked course in the least time is judged the
winner.

A sled dog race was a demonstration sport at the 1932 Winter
Olympics in Lake Placid, New
York and again at the Olympics in Oslo, but it did not gain official
event status.[2]

Sled dogs, known also as sleighman dogs, sledge dogs, or sleddogs, are a
highly trained dog type that
are used to pull a dog sled,
a wheel-less vehicle on runners, over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines.

Contents

1 Races

2 Iditarod

3 The dog
sled

4 See also

5 References

6 External
links

[edit]
Races

Sled dog races include "sprint" races over relatively short distances of 4 to
25 miles, mid-distance races from 28 to 200 miles, or long-distance races of 200
to over 1000 miles. Sprint races frequently are two or three-day events with
heats run on successive days with the same dogs over the same course.
Mid-distance races are either heat races of 14 to 80 miles per day, or
continuous races' of 100 to 200 miles. (These categories are informal and may
overlap to a certain extent.) Long-distance races may be continuous or stage
races, in which participants run a different course each day, usually from a
central staging location.

Races are categorized not only by distance, but by the maximum number of dogs
allowed in each team. The most usual categories are four-dog, six-dog,
eight-dog, ten-dog, and unlimited (also called open), although other team size
categories can be found.

One example of a dog race is the American Dog Derby, which was first started
in 1917. Competitors enter a 20, 40, 60 or 100-mile category. The race starts in
Ashton, Idaho.[3]

Races are organized either as "timed starts", or "mass start". In a timed
start, teams start one after another in equal time intervals, competing against
the clock rather than directly against one another. This simplifies some
logistical considerations such as that of getting many teams of excited sleddogs
to the starting line simultaneously. In mass starts, all of the dog teams start
simultaneously. Mass starts are popular in Europe and many parts of Canada. Some
mass start events can have up to 30 teams (300 dogs) start all at once.

Although some races are unsanctioned, held under the sole guidance of a local
club, many races fall under one of three international organizations. In the
United States and Canada, ISDRA (International Sled Dog Racing Association)
sanctions many races. In Europe ESDRA (European Sled Dog Racing Association)
provides sanctioning, and the IFSS (International Federation of Sleddog Sports)
sanctions World Cup races all over the world, as well as a world championship
race every two years.

For the race to be sanctioned, a variety of rules must be followed. For
example, the ISDRA sanctioning rules specify that all hazards must be avoided,
distances must be reported correctly,and the trail must be clearly described to
the competitors. The racers have a duty to treat their dogs humanely, and
performance enhancing substances are strictly forbidden.[4]

Dryland Dog Sled Racing is a variant where competitors use a rig (3–4-wheeled
cart with a locking brake and handle/steering wheel) or a scooter, a bicycle (Bikejoring), and on foot (Canicross) usually on packed
dirt trails instead of a sled on snow. Another mode of dogsled racing is the
freight race, in which a specified weight per dog is carried in the sled. This
type of race only has about 1 to 5 dogs pulling the sled or scooter at one
time.

[edit]
Iditarod

The most famous long-distance race is the Iditarod Trail
Sled Dog Race. Also known as the "Last Great Race on Earth", the Iditarod is
over 1150 miles of some of the roughest and most beautiful terrain in the world.
The race consists of fierce mountains, frozen rivers, thick forests, and
desolate tundras. Each team of 12–16 dogs must go from Anchorage all the way to
Nome.[5]

Although each musher has different strategies, each team must have certain
pieces of equipment, such as an arctic parka, an ax, snowshoes, and boots for
each dog's feet to protect against cutting ice and hard packed snow
injuries.

[edit]
The dog sled

Racing sleddogs wear individual harnesses to which
"tuglines" are snapped, pulling from a loop near the root of the tail. The dogs
are hooked in pairs, their tuglines being attached in turn to a central
"gangline". The lines usually include short "necklines" snapped to each dog's
collar, just to keep the dogs in proper position. It is unusual ever to see more
than 22 dogs hooked at once in a racing team, and that number is usually seen
only on the first day of the most highly competitive sprint events. Dogs may be
omitted from the teams on subsequent days, but none may be added. Many other
rules apply, most of which have been in effect since the beginning of organized
dogsled racing in the city of Nome, Alaska, in 1908.

[edit]
See also

American Dog
Derby

Iditarod
Trail Sled Dog Race

List of sled
dog races

Yukon Quest

Sled
dogs

[edit]
References

^ "Dog
Sled Races Around The World." Dogs. Terrificpets.com, Web. 9 Feb 2010.
<index2.php?reqstyleid=0&start=#>.

^
"History." Mush for the Rush. 2003. Library Thinkquest, Web. 4 Feb 2010.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312758/history.htm>.

^ "TerrificPets.com." Dog Sled Races Around The World. 09 Jan. 2010.
Web. 9 Feb 2010.Link text, additional text.

^
"Safety." ISDRA Sled Dog Racing. 1 1 2007. ISDRA, Web. 9 Feb 2010.
<index2.php?reqstyleid=0&start=#>.

^ "Learn
about the Iditarod." The Official Site of the Iditarod. 25 Jan. 2010. Web.
9 Feb 2010.

[edit]
External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sled dog
racing

Sled dog racing at the Open Directory
Project

v ·
d ·
eMajor dog
sports

Agility · Carting · Conformation
shows · Disc dog · Dock
jumping · Dogsled
racing · Earthdog
trials · Field
trials · Flyball · Greyhound
racing · Junior
Showmanship · Lure
coursing · Musical
canine freestyle ·
Mushing · Obedience · Rally
obedience · Schutzhund · Service
Dogs Of America · Sheepdog
trials · Skijoring
· Tracking
· Weight
pulling

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sled_dog_racing"

Categories: Dog
sledding | Dog
sports

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