Sled dog teams today have three primary uses: recreation, racing, and working. Recreational teams range from a group of purebred Malamutes pulling tourists around the Rocky Mountains to a child with a shepherd mix hooked to a plastic sled. Some go to the mailbox; others explore the wilderness. Racing dogs are intense, competitive athletes whose care and training must be considered down to the most minute detail. From Siberia to Greenland, Alaska, and northern Canada, some dog teams still work for their dinner. Dogs can cross country that machines cannot: cliffs, thin ice, overflow, logs spanning open water, deadfall, and more. Bush dogs might take the kids to school, haul fuel from an air-drop, pull firewood from the forest, or run a ten-day trapline circuit. Working sled dogs are generally larger, calmer and more powerful. Miki and Julie Collins of Lake Minchumina, Alaska, use their dogs for work and for trips through remote backcountry. The Collins twins have written numerous articles and books about their challenging adventures, as well as an immensely practical guide to dog sledding—Dog Driver: A Guide for the Serious Musher. Throughout the pages you will find a common theme: always know your dogs. Know them physically and mentally, as individuals and as team members. Study them, interact with them, learn what’s normal, what motivates them, how they react to stresses. Dogs perform better when their psychological needs as well as their physical needs are met. These include a relationship with humans, play, a sense of security, and a sense of hierarchy. Investing the time to really get to know your dogs isn’t always easy, much less remembering it all, but it pays off in the long run. It might even save your life in a crisis situation. “If you take anything away from this book,” say the Collins, “it is that you must understand dog behavior in general and your dogs’ behavior in particular.” Long distance sled dog racing teams are preparing for the famous Iditarod, from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, in March. For details about this year’s race and other information, you can check out the official race website at  http://www.iditarod.com . Learn about the history of the race, the Iditarod Trail, the dogs, the volunteers, and more in http://www.alpinepub.com/iditarod.html
A Fan’s Guide to the Iditarod by Mary Hood.