DOG MUSHING
The warm fuzzy winter sport
by Libby Riddles
photos by Bob Woodall
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Skiers can almost imagine what dog mushing’s like: it’s the thrill of bombing down a slope on skis, a thrill multiplied by the power and enthusiasm of a dozen of their best furry friends.
But dog mushing’s hard to learn, and so much work that only the very dedicated should even think about having their own team. The joy of gliding over the snow behind a well-trained group of sled dogs, though, is an experience most people aren’t likely to forget. For those who love the winter, and love dogs, what’s not to like about dog mushing?
The bond that develops between musher and the half-wild sled dogs is one of the most amazing animal-human relationships imaginable. Mushers (from the French “marche”) take dogs that are just one step up from wolves and learn to travel together with them as a team. Sometimes the dogs find the way, sometimes the musher does. But the musher must know every member of the canine team, earn their trust, and consistently explain to them what needs to be done. Genetics, nutrition, and veterinary medicine are just a few things the musher, as coach of the team, needs to know. And to survive in sub zero temperatures, the traditional skills of the trail must be mastered.
Getting across country with a dog team is a bit more complicated than skiing. A sled is less maneuverable than skis, and the speed is less easily controlled, because the dogs are pulling the sled and its driver. Trails are often quite rough, and sometimes it’s all a musher can do to hang on.
Strange as it may seem, the dogs have to be taught team manners, and the lead dogs learn to steer the team with the musher giving them voice commands. Developing the relationship between the musher and the lead dogs can take months, even years of training. But once a team is established, old leaders actually take over much of the training of younger leaders.
And mushing can be dangerous. Riding down a rough trail, the musher needs to have great balance and skill just to stay on the sled. If the sled is tipped over, the musher is supposed to hang on and drag until she can stop. After all, the dogs won’t stop if the musher falls off. This might leave the musher miles from home and get the dogs in a big tangle and fight. And sled dogs are known to love a good dogfight!
It’s a big job having a dog team. These animals must be cared for all year-round. But it is great fun seeing the dogs all barking to say hello every day and all the wagging tails, and the time spent with the dogs is often some of the best part of any day. Because mushers get a base amount of exercise every day caring for their dogs, they stay in shape all year.
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So all of this is great to know, but it doesn’t really matter, since all the dog teams, even if you wanted to see them, are in Alaska and northern Canada, right? Guess again! There may be mushers in your neighborhood. Two of the biggest races in the sport are in the “Lower 48,” The International Pedigree Stage Stop Race in Jackson Hole and the Atta Boy 300 World Cup Stage Race in Bend Oregon. Minnesota, though, have held races for years, and so have Pennsylvania and California, among other states.
This tiny but growing sport has competitors all over Europe. Russia, Japan, South America, Australia, and New Zealand all having mushing clubs as well.
Of all the people involved with sled dogs, though, only about half involved are racers. Many run dogs for fun, and some people still use them for traditional work, like getting firewood. But only a hundred years ago, in remote places like Nome, Alaska, these teams were the main means of transportation. Sled dogs carried the Diphtheria Serum to Nome in the 1920s when there was no other way to safely get it there. And well before that, Native people of the north, who were the first to use sled dogs, migrated all over the Polar regions with them.
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Maintaining a sled dog kennel is expensive, which may explain why so few folks do it. At one time many mushers used to spend the summer putting up fish for their dogs. Now a few racers make a living from prize money and sponsorships, although it’s an elite group. Many racers now support their mushing habit by exhibiting the dogs and the mushing experience to those who have always wanted to try it, but who didn’t want to go to the extent of taking care of a bunch of sled dogs year-round.
This is a win-win situation for everyone. The rider gets the thrill-of-a-lifetime experience and a chance to meet some of the magnificent huskies that are one of the closest breeds to the wild wolf. The rider also develops an appreciation for the complicated art of molding a group of jazzed up sled dogs into a team that works together as one on the trails.
When mushers share the experience with newcomers, it’s a reminder how wonderfully lucky we are to be able to have the dogs and the lifestyle that goes with it. We get to work every day with the happy huskies, out in the clean air, learning how to share what we know with others. Best of all, we get to do what we love—and so do the dogs!
Fans who help out at races also get a great experience, and learn a lot about the excitement the sport generates for spectators. Race schedules and sled dog club information can be found in resources like Mushing magazine and the sleddogcentral.com site. Parents who want to learn something about it, can ask their kids—chances are good they’ve followed the Iditarod in school and know all about it.
It really is a lot of work having a dog team, and it’s certainly not for everyone. But at the end of the day, getting to kick back with their furry teammates makes it all seem worthwhile for the devoted crowd of mushers.
Libby Riddles is a professional sled dog racer, a lecturer, and the author of Race Across Alaska, a journal of how she mushed out into a blizzard to win the legendary Iditarod sled dog race in 1985 and became the race’s first woman champion. She has written two children’s books, Danger the Dog Yard Cat and Storm Run. An Alaskan for 30 years, she lives in Fritz Creek and has a kennel of 40 dogs.
The Jackson Hole Skier is a free visitors’ guide published annually and distributed at hundreds of locations throughout Jackson Hole, Cody, and other regional communities. To receive a copy in the mail, send $5 to Jackson Hole SKier, P.O. Box 1930, Jackson, Wyoming 83001.
Copyright 2004 by FPI (Focus Productions, Inc)., P.O. Box 1930, Jackson, Wyoming 83001. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publishers.
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