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Bragg, Jeffery. “How to Train Sled Dogs.” Seppala Kennels, Jeffery Bragg, 1998, www.seppalakennels.com/articles/sled-dog-training.htm. Accessed May 10 2017.

Brooks, Jk. “Mushing in Detail.” 1 Apr. 2009..

“Champions & Record Holders.” The Iditarod, Iditarod Trail Committee Inc., 10 May 2017, iditarod.com/about/champions-records/. Accessed 10 May 2017.

“Current Race Standings.” Iditarod The Last Great Race, Iditarod Trail Committee, Inc., 18 Mar. 2017, iditarod.com/race/2017/standings/. Accessed 10 May 2017.

“Diphtheria.” Diphtheria, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Apr. 2015, www.vaccines.gov/diseases/diphtheria/. Accessed 10 May 2017.

Houdek, Jennifer. “The Serum Run of 1925.” LitSite, U of Alaska Anchorage, www.litsite.org/index.cfm?section=Digital-Archives&page=Land-Sea-Air&cat=Dog-Mushing&viewpost=2&ContentId=2559. Accessed 10 May 2017.

Klein, Christopher. “The Sled Dog Relay That Inspired the Iditarod.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, LLC., 10 Mar. 2014, www.history.com/news/the-sled-dog-relay-that-inspired-the-iditarod. Accessed 10 May 2017.

Lee, Jane. “What Makes a Great Sled Dog? Breed, Ambition, Tough Feet.” National Geographic, 31 Jan. 2015, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/01/150131-sled-dog-alaskan-husky-racing-iditarod-winter-video-culture/. Accessed 2015.

Mansourian, Erika. “Sled-Dog Breeds: Mushing for Millennia.” American Kennel Club, 1 May 2015, www.akc.org/content/entertainment/articles/celebrate-purebred-sled-dogs/. Accessed 10 May 2017.

“Mushing Terminology.” Iditarod the Last Great Race, Iditarod Trail Committee, Inc., 10 May 2017, iditarod.com/about/mushing-terminology/. Accessed 10 May 2017.

Sass, Brent. “The Gear You Need to Race the Iditarod.” Outside Online, Mariah Media Network LLC., 4 Mar. 2014. Accessed 10 May 2017.

“Sled Dog Breeder.” Tv.com, uploaded by CBS Interactive, CBS Interactive, 12 Apr. 2009, www.tv.com/shows/dirty-jobs/sled-dog-breeder-1262510/.

Swanny. “Historical Sled Dog Harnesses (part 1).” Old School AK, Swanny, 29 Nov. 2009, oldschoolak.blogspot.com/2009/11/historical-sled-dog-harnesses-part-1.html. Accessed 10 May 2017.

“Training New Sled Dog.” Youtube, uploaded by Nathan Radtke, Youtube Inc., 7 Jan. 2013. Accessed 10 May 2017.

Turning Heads Kennel. Dr.Tim Hunt, turningheadskennel.com/sled-dog-care-part-2/.

Uprety, Hima. Diphtheria Symptoms. KULLABS.com, International Pediatric Association Publication, 1992, www.kullabs.com/classes/subjects/units/lessons/notes/note-detail/5001. Accessed 11 May 2017.

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This article talks about the symptoms of diphtheria. It includes some facts about diphtheria and a treatment for diphtheria. This article is really good because it gives great details about the disease.

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Diphtheria facts

Diphtheria is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that usually produce exotoxins that damage human tissue.

The initial symptoms of diphtheria are flu-like but worsen to include fever, swallowing problems, hoarseness, enlarged lymph nodes, coughing, and shortness of breath; some patients may have skin involvement, producing skin ulcers.

The history of diphtheria dates back to Hippocrates; once the organisms were identified and found to produce exotoxins, the development of vaccines have markedly reduced diphtheria worldwide.

The cause of diphtheria is an infection by Corynebacterium species; the most severe infections are due to those Corynebacterium strains that produce exotoxins.

The highest risk factor for developing diphtheria is not getting immunized against the disease; other factors include crowding, immunosuppression, and direct or indirect contact with an infected individual.

Diphtheria is diagnosed by the patient's history and physical examination; culture of Corynebacterium from the patient yields a definitive diagnosis although patient should be treated if diphtheria is even suspected.

The treatment of diphtheria involves early administration of antibiotics; the use of antitoxin, made in horses, is done to neutralize Corynebacterium exotoxin that has not bound to human tissue.

Complications of diphtheria include heart-rhythm problems, sepsis, organ damage, and breathing problems that can be severe enough to cause death.

If treated appropriately and early in the infection, the prognosis for diphtheria is usually good; however, if complications develop, the prognosis decreases, especially if sepsis and/or cardiac involvement occurs.

It is possible to prevent diphtheria; the main way is to appropriately vaccinate individuals with one of the four major vaccine types available.

What is diphtheria?

Diphtheria is an infectious disease caused by the Corynebacterium species of bacteria and is most often associated with a sore throat, fever, and the development of an adherent membrane on the tonsils and/or nasopharynx. Severe infections can affect other organ systems such as the heart and the nervous system. In addition, some patients with diphtheria can also have skin infections. Exotoxin produced by the bacteria is an important component in causing diphtheria's more severe symptoms.

What are the symptoms and signs of diphtheria?

Initially the symptoms of diphtheria may be similar to a viral upper respiratory infection but symptoms worsen over about two to five days. The symptoms may include:

As the disease progresses, an adherent membrane (pseudomembrane) may begin to cover the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal tissues. If untreated, the pseudomembrane can extend into the larynx and trachea and obstruct the airway; this can lead to death.

Cutaneous diphtheria symptoms include initial reddish lesions that are painful and that may develop into nonhealing ulcers. Some ulcers may be covered by a gray-colored membrane.

What is the history of diphtheria?

Diphtheria has been infecting humans for centuries. Hippocrates produced the first documented description of diphtheria in the fifth century BC. The disease has been a leader in causing death, especially in children, for many centuries. The bacteria were first identified in the 1880s by F. Loffler. In the 1890s, exotoxins were discovered. The first diphtheria toxoid vaccine was produced in the 1920s. Vaccination programs have decreased the incidence of diphtheria worldwide, however, when vaccination rates drop, infection rates of diphtheria rise and, occasionally, serious outbreaks of the disease occur. For example, in the 1990s, an epidemic in Russia caused about 5,000 deaths according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) statistics, and from about 1993-2003, Latvia reported 101 deaths from diphtheria.

Before the diphtheria vaccination program, there were 100,000 to 200,000 cases of diphtheria each year in the U.S., leading to approximately 15,000 to 20,000 deaths. According to the CDC, less than five cases have been reported in the U.S. in the last 10 years.

What causes diphtheria?

The cause of diphtheria is bacterial species termed Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a gram-positive bacillus that usually produces exotoxins. There are four main strains (biotypes) of C. diphtheriae: gravis, intermedius, mitis, and belfanti. The strain termed intermedius is most often associated with exotoxin production although all three strains are capable of producing exotoxin. The organisms easily invade the tissue lining the throat, and during that invasion, they produce exotoxins that destroy the tissue and lead to the development of a pseudomembrane. Non-toxin-producing strains and other Corynebacterium species such as C. ulcerans can still cause infection, but infection is less severe and sometimes remains only in the skin (cutaneous infection).

What are risk factors for diphtheria?

Because human carriers or symptomatic individuals are the main reservoir for infection, situations such as overcrowding (dormitories, institutional housing, poor living conditions), incomplete immunization, and people who are immunocompromised are at higher risk for getting diphtheria. Diphtheria is transmitted by inhalation of airborne droplets or by direct contact with infected patients by mucous secretions or skin ulcerations. Some people may carry the bacteria in their respiratory tracts (termed carriers) but do not exhibit disease. However, such individuals can still transmit the organisms to uninfected individuals.

How do physicians diagnose diphtheria?

Preliminary diagnosis of diphtheria is usually made from the patient's history and physical exam and the presence of a pseudomembrane formation in the throat. Confirmation is based on isolation of the organism from swab specimens taken from the throat or from skin lesions. However, because diphtheria can be lethal, the CDC recommends immediate treatment if diphtheria suspected; do not wait for laboratory confirmation.

What is the treatment for diphtheria?

There are two treatment strategies that are used for patients diagnosed with diphtheria. Both are most effective when utilized early in the disease process. The first treatment is antibiotics. The CDC recommends erythromycin as the first-line therapy for patients older than 6 months of age. For patients who are younger or who cannot take erythromycin, the CDC recommends intramuscular penicillin. Patients usually become noninfectious after about 48 hours of antibiotic treatment and should be held in isolation until that time to prevent spread of the disease.

The second treatment is administration of diphtheria antitoxin. However, this antitoxin is only available from the CDC. Diphtheria antitoxin reduces the progression of the disease by binding diphtheria toxin that has not yet attached to the body's cells. The antitoxin is derived from horses, so recipients should not be treated if they are allergic. Your doctor will make the decision if you need only antibiotics or antibiotics plus antitoxin based on your symptoms, immunization status, and disease progression.

What are possible complications of diphtheria?

The worst possible complication of diphtheria is respiratory failure or death due to pseudomembrane formation that blocks the airway. Other possible complications include cardiac problems such as rhythm disturbances, myocarditis, heart block, secondary pneumonia, septic shock, and infection of other organs such as the spleen, central nervous system, or heart tissue.

What is the prognosis of diphtheria?

The prognosis of diphtheria ranges from good to poor, depending upon how early in the infection the patient is treated, and how the patient responds to treatment. If the patient develops sepsis or bacteremia, or if there's cardiac involvement, the prognosis is usually poor. The mortality (death) rate is highest in patients less than 5 years old and in patients that are older than 40. The average rate of death from is about 5%-10%.

Is it possible to prevent diphtheria? Is there a diphtheria vaccine?

It is possible to prevent diphtheria; the most effective way is to vaccinate people (infants, see below) early in their lives and to prevent infected individuals from coming in contact with uninfected people. In addition, individuals who are carriers of the bacteria can be treated with antibiotics to eliminate the bacteria and thus reduce the chance of carriers transmitting bacteria to others.

There are vaccines available to protect individuals from diphtheria and all formulations contain toxoid concentrations that stimulate antibody production against diphtheria toxin (D or d). These toxoid vaccinations also may contain acellular pertussis (aP or ap) and tetanus (T) vaccine. They are as follows: DTaP, Tdap, DT, and Td. DTaP is the childhood vaccine while Tdap is the adult vaccine. Perhaps the most important vaccine is DTaP, given at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months, and 4-6 years of age.

DT does not contain pertussis and is given to children who have reacted to pertussis vaccine; Td is a vaccine for adolescents and adults given every 10 years as a booster for tetanus. Tdap has several formulations; the CDC in 2012 recommended that Tdap formulations be used as a booster to cover pertussis instead of just the Td formulation against tetanus and diphtheria only.

The side effects of these vaccines are usually mild such as pain or soreness at the injection site and/or a mild fever. These effects usually go away within a day. However, some patients do develop more severe symptoms; although this is infrequent, patients that do so should be aware of the reaction and inform any medical caregiver that they may have an allergy (for example, an allergy to tetanus or pertussis vaccine).

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Medically reviewed by Robert Cox, MD; American Board of Internal Medicine with subspecialty in Infectious Disease

REFERENCES:

Lo, Bruce M. "Diphtheria." Medscape.com. Dec. 11, 2013. <http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/782051-overview>.

United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Diphtheria." May 13, 2013. <http://www.cdc.gov/diphtheria/>.

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Hoarseness (abnormal deep, harsh, raspy voice) is caused by a variety of conditions in which the larynx (voice box and vocal chords) are irritated or injured. Examples of causes of hoarseness include:

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Diphtheria Disease: Symptoms, Treatment & Vaccine

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Diphtheria facts Diphtheria is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that usually produce exotoxins that damage human tissue. The initial symptoms of diphtheria are flu-like but worsen to include fever, swallowing problems, hoarseness, enlarged lymph nodes, coughing, and shortness of breath; some patients may have skin involvement, producing skin ulcers.

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Diphtheria hasn't affected someone in the united states in a long time. This image shows some of the causes and the treatments of diphtheria.

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This site talks about the vaccine for diphtheria. It gives instructions about how and when to take. The site also talks about what they put into the vaccine. The site also talks about what diphtheria actually consists. Also lists potential side effects.

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There are four vaccines used to prevent diphtheria, often combined with protection against tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough): DTaP, Tdap, DT, and Td.

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This site talks about the 150 dogs that helped save the lives. The lives of those who lived in Nome, Alaska in 1925 and outlining rural communities. The serum it self is talked about. The importance of it and the courage of the man who had to take it to them. The site also talks about the symptoms of diphtheria and about the cure that was made.

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LitSite Alaska | Land Sea Air > Dog Mushing > The Serum Run of 1925

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In the same year as the serum run, 1925, the Kelly Act was signed into law as well. This bill allowed private aviation companies to bid on mail delivery contracts; however, a decade later, technology had improved and air mail routes were established throughout all of Alaska.

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This image includes symptoms for diphtheria. Such as a sore throat, mild fever, chills, and many others. It also includes which other body can be affected. It can also cause a swollen neck and throat. It causes a thick coating in the back of the throat. Making it difficult and nearly impossible to breathe or swallow

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This article tells about the different types of breeds that are good sled dogs. It also gives some history into the different breeds.

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What does it take to run hundreds of miles across packed ice and frozen terrain, for days and weeks on end, in arctic temperatures? That's easy: A lot. A lot of grit, guts, and a laser-like focus on getting where you're going. The Samoyed, Alaskan Malamute, Siberian Husky, Chinook are some of the most well-known of the sled-dog breeds, and with good reason.

Sled dogs probably evolved in Mongolia between 35,000 and 30,000 years ago. Scientists think that humans migrated north of the Arctic Circle with their dogs about 25,000 years ago, and began using them to pull sleds roughly 3,000 years ago.

There are historical references to dogs used by Native American cultures dating back to before the first Europeans made land. There were two main types of sled dogs: one kept by coastal cultures and the other by people living in the interior. In the mid-1800s Russian traders following the Yukon River inland and acquired sled dogs from the villages along its shores.

The Alaskan Gold Rush saw the use of these breeds, since most camps were accessible only by dogsled in the winter. They were also put to work for the exploration of the poles, and to deliver mail in Alaska, resulting in the late 1800s and early 1900s being nicknamed the "Era of the Sled Dog."

After that the hearty breeds worked at a variety of jobs, until airplanes, highways, trucks, and snowmobiles effectively put them out of work. (Sled dogs today are still used by some rural communities, especially in areas of Alaska and Canada, and throughout Greenland).

But they didn't stop mushing once their jobs dried up. Sled-dog breeds and their outdoors-y owners mush for recreational purposes, and the fanatically devoted teams participate in events like the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. Billed as the "World Series of mushing events" the Iditarod is 1,100 miles of sheer endurance, spanning about 10 or 11 days, depending on the weather.

It begins with a ceremonial launch in Anchorage, Alaska, the morning of the first Saturday in March, with mushers running 20 miles to Eagle River along the Alaskan Highway, giving spectators a chance to see the dogs and their mushers. The teams are then loaded onto trucks and driven 30 miles to Wasilla for the official start of the race. The winning team takes home a $50,000 prize. That's a lot of premium kibble.

Perhaps the most famous sled dog of all was Balto, a jet black Siberian Husky, who was the lead dog of the sled dog team that carried diphtheria serum on the last leg of the relay to Nome during the 1925 diphtheria epidemic. There was serum in Nenana, but the town was 700 miles away, and inaccessible except by dog sled. A relay was set up, and 20 teams pulled together. Six days later the lifesaving serum reached Nome.

In 1995, Universal Pictures released the movie "Balto," based on his life. It earned three out of four stars from the most famous film critic of the day, Roger Ebert.

Today a bronze statue in Balto's honor stands in Central Park. It's probably the only statue in the park that children attempt to ride. The plaque at its base reads "Endurance · Fidelity · Intelligence."

That pretty much says everything there is to know about the noble sled-dog breeds.

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What does it take to run hundreds of miles across packed ice and frozen terrain, for days and weeks on end, in arctic temperatures? That's easy: A lot. A lot of grit, guts, and a laser-like focus on getting where you're going.

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This shows the standings in the race that happened this year. It shows how long it takes for the first place winner to finish. It also shows how many dogs that was entered.

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Current Race Standings - 2017 Iditarod - Iditarod

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row indicates change since last update * indicates a correction to a previous stat (r) indicates a rookie musher * indicates a period that occurred during Daylight Savings Print standings: Click here or select print from browser's menu. Video banners will hide automatically. Please refresh the page for latest standings.

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ES - The Sled Dog Relay That Inspired the Iditarod

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ES - The Sled Dog Relay That Inspired the Iditarod

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This site talks about the story behind the Iditarod. The heroic story of a man and his dog. A man with a big heart. Who had mercy on those with a deadly disease. It also talks about the monument that was created for this man and his dog.

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In 1925, a daring sled dog relay through the savage Alaskan winter delivered life-saving medicine to the remote village of Nome, an event commemorated each March by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Although the furious dash involved 20 drivers and more than 150 dogs, the "Great Race of Mercy" made a superstar out of one particular canine-Balto.

The children of Nome were dying in January 1925. Infected with diphtheria, they wheezed and gasped for air, and every day brought a new case of the lethal respiratory disease. Nome's lone physician, Dr. Curtis Welch, feared an epidemic that could put the entire village of 1,400 at risk. He ordered a quarantine but knew that only an antitoxin serum could ward off the fast-spreading disease.

The nearest batch of the life-saving medicine, however, rested more than 1,000 miles away in Anchorage. Nome's ice-choked harbor made sea transport impossible, and open-cockpit airplanes could not fly in Alaska's subzero temperatures. With the nearest train station nearly 700 miles away in Nenana, canine power offered Nome its best hope for a speedy delivery.

Sled dogs regularly beat Alaska's snowy trails to deliver mail, and the territory's governor, Scott C. Bone, recruited the best drivers and dog teams to stage a round-the-clock relay to transport the serum from Nenana to Nome. On the night of January 27, 1925, a train whistle pierced Nenana's stillness as it arrived with the precious cargo-a 20-pound package of serum wrapped in protective fur. Musher "Wild Bill" Shannon tied the parcel to his sled. As he gave the signal, the paws of Shannon's nine malamutes pounded the snow-packed trail on the first steps of a 674-mile "Great Race of Mercy" through rugged wilderness, across frozen waterways and over treeless tundra.

Even by Alaskan standards, this winter night packed extra bite, with temperatures plummeting to 60 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Although every second was precious as the number of confirmed cases in Nome mounted, Shannon knew he needed to control his speed. If his dogs ran too fast and breathed too deeply in such frigid conditions, they could frost their lungs and die of exposure. Although Shannon ran next to the sled to raise his own body temperature, he still developed hypothermia and frostbite on the 52-mile leg to Tolovana before handing off the serum to the second dog team.

With moonlight and even the northern lights illuminating the dark Alaskan winter days, the relay raced at an average speed of six miles per hour. While each leg averaged 30 miles, the country's most famous musher, Norwegian-born Leonhard Seppala, departed Shaktoolik on January 31 on an epic 91-mile leg. Having already rushed 170 miles from Nome to intercept the relay, Seppala decided on a risky shortcut over the frozen Norton Sound in the teeth of a gale that dropped wind chills to 85 degrees below zero. Seppala's lead dog, 12-year-old Siberian Husky Togo, had logged tens of thousands of miles, but none as important as these. Togo and his 19 fellow dogs struggled for traction on Norton Sound's glassy skin, and the fierce winds threatened to break apart the ice and send the team adrift to sea. The team made it safely to the coastline only hours before the ice cracked. Gusts continued to batter the team as it hugged the coastline before meeting the next musher, Charlie Olson, who after 25 miles handed off the serum to Gunnar Kaasen for the scheduled second-to-last leg of the relay.

As Kaasen set off into a blizzard, the pelting snow grew so fierce that his squinting eyes could not see any of his team, let alone his trusted lead dog, Balto. On loan from Seppala's kennel, Balto relied on scent, rather than sight, to lead the 13-dog team over the beaten trail as ice began to crust the long hairs of his brown coat. Suddenly, a massive gust upwards of 80 miles per hour flipped the sled and launched the antidote into a snow bank. Panic coursed through Kaasen's frostbitten body as he tore off his mitts and rummaged through the snow with his numb hands before locating the serum.

Kaasen arrived in Port Safety in the early morning hours of February 2, but when the next team was not ready to leave, the driver decided to forge on to Nome himself. After covering 53 miles, Balto was the first sign of Nome's salvation as the sled dogs yipped and yapped down Front Street at 5:30 A.M. to deliver the valuable package to Dr. Welch.

The relay had taken five-and-a-half days, cutting the previous speed record nearly in half. Four dogs died from exposure, giving their lives so that others could live. Three weeks after injecting the residents of Nome, Dr. Crosby lifted the quarantine.

Although more than 150 dogs and 20 drivers participated in the relay, it was the canine that led the final miles that became a media superstar. Within weeks, Balto was inked to a Hollywood contract to star in a 30-minute film, "Balto's Race to Nome." After a nine-month vaudeville tour, Balto was present in December 1925 as a bronze statue of his likeness was unveiled in New York's Central Park.

Seppala and his Siberians also toured the country and even appeared in an advertising campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes, but the famous driver resented the glory lavished on Balto at the expense of Togo, who had guided the relay's longest and most arduous stretch. "It was almost more than I could bear when the 'newspaper dog' Balto received a statue for his 'glorious achievements,'" Seppala remarked.

The serum run was Togo's last long-distance feat. He died in 1929, and his preserved body is on view at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska. After the limelight faded, Balto lived out his final days at the Cleveland Zoo, and his body is on display at the Cleveland Natural History Museum. Since 1973, the memory of the serum run has lived on in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which is held each March and is run on some of the same trails beaten by Balto, Togo and dozens of other sled dogs in a furious race against time nearly 90 years ago.

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The Sled Dog Relay That Inspired the Iditarod

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In 1925, a daring sled dog relay through the savage Alaskan winter delivered life-saving medicine to the remote village of Nome, an event commemorated each March by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Although the furious dash involved 20 drivers and more than 150 dogs, the "Great Race of Mercy" made a superstar out of one particular canine-Balto.

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SD - Champions & Record Holders – Iditarod

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SD - Champions & Record Holders – Iditarod

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This article has the winners of the iditarod. It also has the multiple winners and the winner of the red lantern. There are also other awards given out. The give out the red lantern for the people who come in last place. It has the times they finished, names, and the years they complete the iditarod.

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2017 Iditarod Conference for Educators - February 28 - March 3 - Anchorage

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This image shows where each dog is in the pack when racing. It also gives some detail on why each dog or part of the sled is important. It also says what they do.

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This article tells about taking care of sled dogs. It tells about care before, during and after a race.

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This is the second article in a two part series on sled dog care. Learn about how we take care of our dogs when they are in the kennel in: Sled Dog Care Part 1 - A look at Dog Care in the Kennel.
We provide sled dog care out on the trail every time we train by assessing our dogs and their abilities. Good sled dog care in training translates to good sled dog care in races. While good sled dog care doesn't necessarily equate to a first place finish, in order to finish well you must have good dog care.

Being the recipient for a humanitarian award is one of the highest honors a musher can be given while racing. The humanitarian award is given to the musher who demonstrates the best dog care on the trail. It is generally voted on by the vets and race officials. Travis has now been the recipient of two such awards by both the Tustumena 200 and the Copper Basin 300 races.

We have tremendous respect for all of our fellow mushers out on the trail who share a willingness to talk and teach about great sled dog care. We also have tremendous respect for all the vets who volunteer their time at races. Not only do the vets assess dogs but they also play a vital role in educating mushers on ways to improve their dog care. Check out Jodi Bailey of Dew Claw Kennel's great post " My Not So Secret Love Affair With Veterinarians " to learn more about the wonderful thing trail vets help mushers with.

Sled dog care during training can be broken down into three distinct parts: the care and assessment you do before a run, the care and assessment you do during a run, and the care and assessment you do after a run.

Sled Dog Care: Before A Run

Good dog care starts by assessing trail conditions, the overall health of your dogs and looking at the temperature.

Trail Conditions

One of the most important things we need to take into consideration before heading out on a run are trail conditions. Depending on the time of year and weather, sometimes the trail can present conditions that force us to adjust our traveling speed so that we reduce the likelihood of a dog pulling a muscle.

Hard-Pack Trail

Hard-packed trail, especially early on in the season, can cause more strain on a dog's muscles and joints - this however makes some sense. Imagine if you train for 3 or 4 months on dirt roads or grass for a marathon and then suddenly switch to running on hard pavement. Your legs would not be used to it and you would feel some soreness the next day.

Fresh Snow

New snowfall also forces the dogs to break trail. Depending on the depth of the snow, mushers may not go as far. Breaking trail through two feet of snow is incredibly tough and may only be done for 10-20 miles, whereas breaking trail through 6 inches of snow may warrant further progress.

Fall Training: Dirt & Ice

Early on in the season, we have to worry about how frozen dirt will effect feet. Do we booty to protect feet from abrasive gravel or should we leave the booties off for better traction on ice? Sometimes, trail conditions are poor enough that it warrants sitting the dogs or finding alternative methods of exercising them.

These decisions are up to the musher but are important to take into account. Mushers often try to train in all the conditions they would encounter on a race so that their dogs are adequately prepared.
Trail conditions play an important part in our decision making for the overall length of a training run. Because of this, assessing trail conditions is the first step in having great sled dog care.

Foot Care

Our on-the-trail dog care starts before we leave on a run by paying attention to our dogs feet.

Booties

Each and every run from Mid-November on, we put booties on our dogs to help protect their feet. In the summer, our dogs working on Godwin Glacier doing summer dog sled tours also wear booties.

Dog booties come in four sizes. Some sled dogs actually wear different sizes on their front and back feet. The booties are made out of a thin material and are one of our most expensive training costs aside from food - it costs us almost $1 per booty. It terms of usefulness, however, they are invaluable as they help prevent the dogs from getting cuts on their feet.

Booties are changed regularly when we are out on the trail or racing. Whenever we stop the dog team to rest for a few hours, we remove their booties. I don't know about you, but when I lay down for a rest I enjoy taking my shoes off.

Booties help protect our dogs feet from getting cut or abrasions on the pads of their feet and inbetween the webbing of the toes.

Trimming Nails

Making sure our dogs have short nails is also a key part to having a successful run. Long toenails effect our dogs posture and gait and can lead to more frequent injuries. Ideally, the nails should be kept short. During fall training, the nails generally wear down on their own due to running on dirt. In the winter, however, we must routinely trim nails to keep them short. Long nails can result in shoulder and wrist injuries. Occasionally, long nails can also get torn off.

Health

Besides feet, we also have to look at the overall health of the dog. How does the dog look? Have they had diarrhea or do they look sore or perhaps lethargic? Are they in a good working weight? These are all considerations we have to take in to account when we decide to run (or not to run) a dog.

Before Iditarod, our dogs also have to undergo EKG's and blood work to look for underlying health issues that may impact their performance and health on the trail.

Assessing Temperature

Temperature also plays a role in sled dog care. During the early parts of fall training, mushers must be cautious not to run their dogs too far during warm temperatures. Later in the season, mushers must watch the temperature to assess their dogs need for dog jackets and male wraps.

Cold Training Conditions

When we begin training or racing in colder conditions, we must help our dogs stay warm. We must also be keenly aware of each dog's unique needs and metabolism during colder events.
Dog Jackets
Dog jackets are an important way to keep dogs warm when it is cold out. Although our dogs are adapted to the cold they do need help staying warm when the temperature reaches about -25F.
Male Wraps & Belly Warmers
When cold, mushers often put male wraps on their male dogs and belly warmers on their females. These important pieces of gear help the dogs stay warm in cold temperatures. The wraps are specifically designed out of fur or another waterproof fabric so that the dogs can urinate on them without the urine sticking. These help our dogs keep their undersides warm where dogs sometimes have less hair.

Warm Training Conditions

Generally warm training conditions are much harder to overcome. Warm conditions require constant stopping to allow dogs to get rid of any excess heat and lots of water. Good hydration in warmer temperatures is imperative. Generally, mushers choose to run shorter distances in warmer weather.

Sled Dog Care: During A Run

Out on the trail we must constantly assess our dogs performance to make sure they are able to continue running. Fluke injuries, muscle strains, fatigue, and illness are all things that can impact a dog's performance during a run. We are able to assess our dogs during a run in a multitude of ways: we look at their gait, we monitor their behavior, we assess their attitudes, and we judge their performance. Our job is to constantly assess our dogs. When assessing a dog we look at their gait, behavior, and attitude as ways to judge their overall performance.

Gait

Once out on the trail with our team, we watch the gait of our dogs relentlessly. We tune in to the rhythm of our dogs movement. Over the course of a run, we may find one dog falls out of sync with the rest of the team. Unlike his teammates, this dog is no longer moving completely smoothly. This subtle change in gait could indicate a muscle strain or soreness starting up.

Gait is indicative of many things. Although gaits can vary widely between dogs, a musher training for a mid-distance or long-distance race has to spend so much time with their dogs that they can easily spot a change in gait. You'd notice, wouldn't you, if your friend was walking funny because they stubbed a toe? Although this is a gross exaggeration, this is a great comparison for how a musher sees their team.

Behavior

We also monitor the dogs behavior while they're running- Are they eating snow a lot? Is one dog pooping a lot? Is a dog looking back at me a lot? - as another way to assess our dogs overall physical condition.

Generally, when fully trained, our dogs will run anywhere from 30-80 miles at a time, stopping only for a quick snack of fish, chicken, or beef. If, however, we see a dog eating snow a lot (an indication they are getting hot) we will stop and rest the team, allowing the dogs to cool off. If a dog has been having lots of loose stools, we would check to make sure they were staying properly hydrated and adjust their feeding. If we were on a race, we would consult a vet. At home, if we notice a dog feeling under the weather it may warrant the dog spending a night or two inside and taking a few days off from training.

Attitude

Attitude is an important way we can assess our dogs while out on the trail and is easiest to do while stopped. Are the dogs barking to go? Is one dog getting cranky whenever we stop? We look at our dogs attitude as a great indication of how they are doing on the run.

Judging Performance

Overall during a run we are looking for changes in behavior, gait, and attitude as a way to look at our dogs overall performance and determine their eligibility to continue running. This is a subject that is quite complicated as, generally speaking, a musher does not wait for a dog to stop pulling to remove it from their team.

Sled Dog Care: After a Run

When we complete a long run, whether we are on a race or at home training, there are certain things we do to help keep our dogs in tip-top shape. Because of this, it is after a run that the the work for the musher really begins. The musher has many tools to assess their sled dogs. One of the acronyms mushers and vets use in looking at dogs is H.A.W.L. - this is easily remembered because "Haw" is the command for left.

H: Heart / Hydrartion

A: Attitude/ Appetite

W: Weight

L: Lungs

Heart

During races, vets will often take stethoscopes to our dogs to listen to their hearts to make sure they sound normal. Mushers may also carry stethoscopes.

Hydration

Hydration is crucial for a sled dog. Dogs, like humans, have are composed of a majority of water. The Yukon Quest provides the staggering fact in their article " Water, Water Everywher e" that:

Over the course of 10 to 15 days, the Alaskan sled dogs and huskies racing the Yukon Quest will require roughly 6 liters (or quarts) every day. That's 1.5 gallons of water for a 50-pound dog. A 150-pound human would have to drink 4.5 gallons, or 72 glasses, of water every day to keep up.

Fortunately, sled dogs are able to get a lot of their water from food that they eat. Mushers try to get water in their dogs by feeding lots of fish, frozen meats, and soaked kibble. In fact, a majority of the water sled dogs drink is actually in their food!

Checking hydration can be done by observing the color of urine. Well hydrated sled dogs have a very light yellow to clear colored urine whereas dehydrated sled dogs will have bright yellow urine.

Skin elasticity or the "Skin Tent Test" is another way to check for hydration in dogs. By lifting the skin on the back shoulder blades of the dog, one can quickly tell if a dog is dehydrated. In a well hydrated dog, the skin will snap back quickly. In a dehydrated dog, it will do so slowly causing a "skin tent." Here is a short video about ways to determine hydration in dogs:

Appetite

Appetite is a great way to assess a team's overall condition - this is why you will generally see race commentators noting how the dogs are eating. A team's appetite hugely influences the amount of rest a musher will take during a race.

If a team is eating well, a musher may be able to afford resting less. A team with a voracious appetite will have plenty of fuel to help them get further down the trail once it's time to take off. Getting food and water into a dog team is crucial for success.

A team that is not eating well needs to rest until they are up to eating again. A team that is not eating well may be sick or tired.

Attitude

How do the dogs look when they come in? A team that is barking and screaming to continue down the trail paints an entirely different picture than a team that comes in slow and tired. Ideally, dogs look alert, confident, and ready to go.

Weight

How do the dogs look? Do they have enough fat reserve should the weather turn? Are they able to stay adequately warm? During the demands of an endurance race such as Iditarod, maintaining good body weight is key for overall success.

Lungs

How do the lungs sound? Lungs should sound clear. Dogs should not wheeze.

Foot Care

Foot care is, without a doubt, one of the most crucial aspects of our dog care. If a dog's feet are not in tip-top shape, there is no way they will be able to run!

The first thing we do after every run is remove booties and check feet. When looking at feet, we look for splits in between the toes of our dogs, check for abrasions on the pad of the foot, and also look at the individual toes to make sure there is no soreness. Nails are also assessed as long nails or cracked nails can be painful!

Generally, we put ointment on our dogs feet to aid in the healing of any splits (think canine blister) and gently massage it in. The The ointment is more or less a Neosporin for dogs.

Massage

After massaging the feet, we also massage the dog's front wrist joints and check for tenderness. Every sport has an injury that it's athletes are more likely to receive - skiers worry about their ACL, football players concussions, runner's ankle and knee problems - and for sled dogs its problems in their wrists. We proactively take care of wrist injuries through massage and wraps.

We also massage the shoulders of our dogs and stretch them out. We thoroughly work over each dog, massaging, stretching, and, of course, loving the dog. The Yukon Quest wrote a great article on the use of massage therapy on sled dogs - it's definitely worth a read.

Generally, if we are on a race or series of runs, the dogs would then eat a meal and rest for a few hours before going out on another run and the cycle of observe, react, care and rest would repeat itself.

Why Sled Dog Care On The Trail is Important

During training, musher pay close attention to their dogs, analyzing their gaits, their habits, and their normal routines. Learning the intricacies of our dogs helps us recognize when things aren't right so that we can take the best possible care of our dogs. Good dog care leads to dog results!

During races, we work closely with the trail vets to assess our dogs. Dr. Tim Hunt has a great two-part article about Dr. Stu Nelson: The Work of an Iditarod Trail Vet Part 1 and Stu Nelson - Part 2: Who is Stu Nelson, What He Does In His Free Time, And What you Can Do To Keep Your Pet Health Dr. Tim is the maker of premium dog food Dr. Tim's as well as being a veterinarian and Iditarod racer. Stu Nelson is the Chief vet on Iditarod - it's definitely worth a quick read.

We hope you enjoyed this blog post going over the basics of sled dog care out on the trail. Hopefully, we will be able to provide more in depth articles on sled dog care in the future!

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Sled Dog Care Part 2 -- A look at Caring for Sled Dogs on the Trail Sled Dog Care: What We Do On The Trail This is the second article in a two part ...

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This article goes over what is required to have a successful sled dog team. Including the gear needed for racing.

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Running a 1,000-mile sled dog race across Alaska is no small feat. Like any professional who performs at the highest level, dog mushers must be dedicated and focused in order to be competitive and successful. Raising, training, and racing sled dogs is more than a sport-it's a lifestyle.

As owner and operator of Wild and Free Mushing Kennel, I live with my dogs in Eureka, a remote Alaskan mining town that's 150 miles from the nearest city. I've traveled through country that's as rugged as it is beautiful, and I've encountered some of the harshest conditions on the planet-including gale-force winds, negative 50-degree temperatures, and freak blizzards.

Having the right equipment is essential to a musher's success. Here's a list of the most important gear we use to keep our dogs and ourselves happy, healthy, and safe along the trail.

Race-Mandated Gear

We're required to carry some gear with us at all times: a cold-weather sleeping bag; an axe; a pair of snowshoes; fuel; cooker and pot; and dog booties and harnesses. If I camp along the trail, I need a good sleeping bag, and I've found Feathered Friends makes a high-quality product.

I use the axe throughout the season to chop meat for the dogs' meals and collect firewood for camp. All mushers carry methanol and a specialized cooker large enough to heat at least three gallons of water. The hot water comes in handy when I need to heat my frozen, vacuum-sealed meals and make the dogs' food. Iditarod mushers are allowed to pick up methanol and water at each checkpoint.

I've rarely used snowshoes during a race, but when I need them to break trail, I'm happy to have them along.

The Sled

The sleds used in the Iditarod need to be lightweight, strong, and durable. We use "runner plastic"-essentially ski wax designed for different temperatures and conditions-on the runners to help the sled glide quickly over the snow.

Every musher has a preferred sled design-some competitors even build their own rigs. Cody Strathe of DogPaddle Designs builds my sleds, which tend to be small and maneuverable.

Small sleds also prevent me from carrying gear I don't need. All my equipment has to fit in the sled bag, a durable, custom-made pack that attaches to the sled. It stores everything I need. I use a Becker Sewing and Design bag, which I found can withstand a lot of wear and tear.

Dog Booties, Jackets, and Harnesses

I pack 3,000 dog booties to run the Iditarod. Made of lightweight cordura, this is easily the most important piece of dog gear I use. Over the course of 1,000 miles, my dogs will race over bare ground, ice, fresh snow, and open water-and booties are the best way to prevent injury.

Harnesses aim to capture as much energy from the dogs as possible while still keeping the animals comfortable. I use the traditional "x-back" style that crisscrosses across the dog's back.

Finally, there are the dog jackets. I use outerwear from ManMat to help dogs conserve their energy when we're travelling in extremely cold temperatures. The jackets also keep the pups warm and comfortable when we're resting for the night.

iPod

If this doesn't sound like essential gear, then you've never tried staying awake and focused during a 1,000-mile dog race.

Mushers get very little rest, and there are sections of the Iditarod trail that are extremely monotonous, so most of us carry a music player. You won't find me out there without an iPod. I listen to music, podcasts, audio books, and even movies to help keep myself entertained.

And while I admit I'm not famous for my vocal talent, I do sing along to the songs. The dogs pick up on the energy you put out, and it helps keep their spirits up, too.

Layers

Every musher wears a wicking next-to-skin base layer. The outer layers come down to personal preference and conditions, and are made from merino, fleece, silk, down, or other synthetic fibers. We need to stay warm and dry, and when we do get soaked in sweat, we need quick-drying gear that will wick the moisture away from our bodies.

My go-to layers are Patagonia Capilene tops and bottoms, a one-piece full-body Polartec fleece suit by Carol Davis Sportswear, windstopper fleece shorts, a wool long-sleeve shirt, down vest, down jacket, and a Helly Hansen insulated softshell.

Parka

I wouldn't survive these races without a good parka-a durable, wind-resistant, well-insulated shell. It's so vital to the Iditarod that most mushers have these jackets custom-made to fit their exact specifications. I turn to Apocalypse Design to make my parkas-each of which have a fur ruff.

Sometimes there's no competing with nature, especially when it comes to warmth. When I need to stay warm in temperatures 50 degrees below zero, I use fur in my jacket from the animals that have evolved to survive these harsh conditions.

Every musher has a fur hat, fur mittens, and a fur parka ruff. You'll see beaver fur-known for its warmth, softness, and wind- and frost resistance-in the hats, mittens, and parkas of most mushers. You might also spot pelts from muskrats, wolves, and wolverines.

The fur ruff around the hood is the most important piece of the parka because it helps protect and insulate my face. Mushers typically use beaver or wolverine fur to line the inside of the ruff-these materials shed frost-and wolf fur along the outer rim.

Gloves and Mittens

So how do I keep my hands warm in frigid temperatures? A combination of beaver fur, wool, and hand warmers. For traveling on the trail, there is nothing that compares to the warmth and wind-protection of beaver mitts. Inside of the mittens, mushers usually wear a pair of thick wool or fleece gloves.

When I'm taking care of the dogs-bootying, massaging, snacking, feeding-I need more dexterity, and for those tasks I wear tight-fitting liner gloves, or half-gloves that only cover the palm of my hand. I use hand warmers all the time.

Footwear

In addition to taking care of 64 paws, I have to make sure my feet stay as warm and dry as possible. I'll usually wear a lightweight merino wool liner under thick alpaca socks from Pure Country Alpacas.

Some mushers also pack extra boot liners. There are different boot options, but mainly mushers are looking for efficiency-we need a boot that's as light as possible while still being warm, durable, and wind- and water-resistant. A thick sole or insole helps insulate our feet from the cold ground. I'll wear an aftermarket boot liner inside a pair of Lobbens-a tall felt boot from Norway-which in turn fit inside a pair of Neos overshoes.

Ski Poles

Toward the end of a race when the teams are moving slower, a musher can help his team by kicking behind the sled or poling. Most mushers carry a sturdy, lightweight ski pole for this purpose.

During the 2014 Yukon Quest, I also discovered that the poles come in handy for fending off moose, although I don't recommend anyone try that at home.

GoPro

I love sharing my races with my fans and friends, so I always carry a GoPro to capture the incredible moments along the way. Enough said.

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In 2012, Brent Sass won Rookie of the Year at the Iditarod, one of the planet's most extreme races. The dog musher has run almost a dozen 1,000-mile races and he knows the right gear can mean the difference between life and death. These are the items he deems worthy of going on his sled.

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Mushers and Dog Drivers have their own language when it comes to training their dogs.  A lot of it sounds ridiculous and doesn't make any sense.  This website gives meaning to the words that the trainers use every day.  This will also shed some light on to how mushers train their dogs for the ultimate task; The Iditarod.

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Common Terminology

ATV: All terrain vehicle

Big Su: Refers to the Big Susitna River

Booties: A type of sock that is made to protect the dog's feet from small cuts and sores. These are made out of various materials, i.e., denim, polar fleece, trigger cloth, etc.

Burled Arch: The finish line in Nome

By-Pass Mail: Service provided by US Mail System for remote villages to get mail and goods delivered. By-Pass Mail has been used to ship everything from toilet paper to refrigerators. Service only in Alaska provided by US mail System.

Come Gee! Come Haw! Commands for 180 degree turns in either direction.

Dog in Basket: Tired or injured dog carried in the sled

Double Lead: Two dogs who lead the team side by side.

Dropped Dog: A dog that the musher has dropped from his team at a checkpoint. The dog is cared for at the checkpoint until it is flown back to Anchorage to the musher's handlers.

Gee: Command for right turn

Haw: Command for left turn

Heet: Alcohol based fuel used by mushers in their cook stoves on the trail.

Husky: Any northern type dog.

Last Frontier: Alaska's State motto. Alaska was the last frontier in the United States

Lead Dog or Leader: Dog who runs in front of others. Generally must be both intelligent and fast.

Line Out! Command to lead dog to pull the team out straight from the sled. Used mostly while hooking dogs into team or unhooking them.

Mush! Hike! All Right! Let's Go! Commands to start the team

Neck Line: Line that connects dog's collar to tow line and between the two collars of a double lead.

Outside: Any place in the lower 48 states.

Overflow: When the ice gets so thick that the water has nowhere to go, it pushes up and over the ice. This overflow often gets a thin layer of ice when the temperature drops making it dangerous to cross.

Pacing: Leading a team with some sort of motorized vehicle that can set the 'pace' at a specific speed.

Pedaling: Pushing the sled with one foot while the other remains on the runner

Picket Line: A long chain with shorter pieces of chain extending from it. Used to stake out a team when stakes aren't available

Rigging: Collection of lines to which dogs are attached. Includes tow line, tug lines and neck lines

Rookie: A musher who is running the race for the first time or who has never completed the race.

Runners: The two bottom pieces of the sled which come in contact with the snow. They extend back of the basket for the driver to stand on. Runner bottoms are usually wood, covered with plastic or Teflon. This plastic or Teflon is usually replaced at least once during the race.

Siberian Husky: Medium sized (average 50 pounds) northern breed of dog, recognized by the American Kennel Club. Siberians usually have blue eyes.

Slats: Thin strips of wood which make up the bottom of a wooden sled basket. Note: Toboggan sleds have a sheet of plastic as the bottom for their basket

Snow Hook or Ice Hook: Heavy piece of metal attached to sled by line. The snow hook is embedded in the snow in order to hold the team and sled for a short period of time.

Snub Line: Rope attached to the sled which is used to tie the sled to a tree or other object.

Stake: Metal or wooden post driven into the ground to which dog is tied

Swing Dog or Dogs: Dog that runs directly behind the leader. Further identified as right or left swing depending on which side of the tow line he is positioned on. His job is to help "swing" the team in the turns or curves.

Team Dog: Any dog other than those described above.

Termination Dust: The first snow that covers the top of the mountain in the fall. So called because this is a sign of the termination of summer in Alaska.

Toggles: Small pieces of ivory used by Eskimos to fasten tug lines to harnesses

Trail!: Request for right-of-way on the trail.

Tug Line: Line that connects dog's harness to the tow line.

Wheel Dogs or Wheelers: Dogs placed directly in front of the sled. Their job is to pull the sled out and around corners or trees.

Whoa!: Command used to halt the team, accompanied by heavy pressure on the brake.

*Checkpoint Pronunciations can be found at this link.

Note: It should be thoroughly understood that as dogs are not driven with reins, but by spoken commands, the leader of the team must understand all that is said to him and guide the others accordingly. An intelligent leader is therefore an absolute necessity. At times it appears that there is ESP between musher and lead dog. Don't be surprised if you hear a musher have an in-depth conversation with his lead dog.

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ATV: All terrain vehicle Big Su: Refers to the Big Susitna River Booties: A type of sock that is made to protect the dog's feet from small cuts and sores. These are made out of various materials, i.e., denim, polar fleece, trigger cloth, etc.

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SD - What Makes a Great Sled Dog? Breed, Ambition, Tough Feet

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SD - What Makes a Great Sled Dog? Breed, Ambition, Tough Feet

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Sled dogs were born and bred to work and live in the cold climates. This article tells about what traits and characteristic are necessary for a dog to become a sled dog. They must have a healthy appetite to keep their bodies working. They also need to have tough feet to endure the constant use of their feet. The article covers other details about how what dogs make great sled dogs.

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Explore National Geographic. A world leader in geography, cartography and exploration.

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In this episode Mike goes to Alaska and visits a sled dog camp. He learns how the camp is kept nice, by keeping the camp clean.

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Watch Dirty Jobs - Season 4, Episode 21 - Sled Dog Breeder: Mike once again ventures out to Alaska discovery what it takes to work in this state. This time he heads out to Happy Tr...

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ES - Old School Alaskan: Historical Sled Dog

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ES - Old School Alaskan: Historical Sled Dog

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Sled dogs have been around for a long time.  They were popular among Native Americans and Eskimos before European contact.  They were mainly breed for size, strength,and stamina.
They were also used for many other uses such as mail delivery and to deliver supplies to rural communities, and for recreational uses like sled dog races.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sled_dog

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Earlier this year my friend Dave Lukosik loaned me an antique dog harness that originally came from Dawson and was used during the gold rush. To show how generous Dave is, he even gave me permission to disassemble it if necessary to learn how it was originally constructed, though I refused to do so. Now he has given me the artifact as a wonderful early Christmas give. Dave also referred me to a book that provides excellent information on the construction of those old time harnesses. This explains why there is no significant difference between equipment used by Natives of the boreal forests and the Whites who also mushed dogs. The historical harnesses consisted of a single, circular hame of metal or other flexible but rigid material, sewn into a padded leather collar. Most harnesses made by Whites used an iron rod as the hame, but many Native collars used willow or other flexible hardwood. A pair of more modern freighting harnesses I acquired just two nights ago apparently use bamboo, like that in this image of a dog harness drawn in 1889.

The resources Dave provided allowed me to finally understand how those old historical harnesses were built, so I can reproduce them for my Stardancer Historical Freight Dogs team. Meanwhile, Dave recently send me an Email asking me to share some of what I've learned.

Apparently the harnesses used throughout the fur trade and well into the 20th century were patterned after historical horse tack. In 1748 Peter Kalm wrote "They had neat harness, like horses." In 1820 Doty wrote "Their harness is made something like the common dray harness." Although some earlier paintings depict dogs in harness, the most reliable historical image of these harnesses I've found is a field sketch, drawn by artist Frekerick Kurz in about 1846.
Historical horse harnesses used a pair of hames, metal or wooden strips which take the full force of the pull, padded by the collar.

In most early harnesses the traces were attached directly to the hame and held in place with one or more back bands. On many harnesses the hame tugs extended from the collar to a metal ring at the back band, and traces were then attached to that ring using a toggle or snap hook.

Once introduced to the Natives, dog mushing technology spread faster than the trade itself as Natives who traded with whites brought the practices home from the trading posts on Hudson's Bay and the St. Lawrence River, and adopted the use of sled dogs for themselves.
The earliest records we have of dog mushing outside of the arctic region comes from the French colonies of Canada. The best available evidence (and it is admittedly scanty) is that the practice of dog mushing spread into the boreal regions along with the European fur trade. According to Dr. Patricia A. McCormick there is no evidence that Indians (American Native / First Nations) people routinely used dog teams until after the introduction of the European fur trade.
First, some historical background. The first people to use dogs to draw sleds in North America were ancestors of the various Eskimo peoples. Historically there was not a lot of interaction between the Eskimo and Indian peoples, and what interaction there was was limited to warfare.
Being capable to taking almost anything to extremes I decided it would be a great opportunity to use this blog as an historical education tool. In this series I'll provide a bit of historical information to help put the "Lukosik Harness" in context, and explore the basic construction of these early types of dog harnesses. In the next installment I'll post some photos of the harness Dave gave me, and offer some comments on the construction and especially hardware.
Details of a very similar type of harness constructed by Bruce Bachelor in the 1960s is shown below: It's time for me to water and tend my dogs. You'll have to wait until the next installment to see the photos of an actual artifact, used during the gold rush.

Doty, James Duane "Northern Wisconsin in 1820" (written in 1820) and published in the Wisconsin Historical Collections vol. VII

Kalm , P: Travels Into North America: J. Forester, translator: The Imprint Society; Barre , MA: 1972: ISBN 0-87636-025-8.

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Earlier this year my friend Dave Lukosik loaned me an antique dog harness that originally came from Dawson and was used during the gold rush...

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Training sled dogs is not as easy as it might seem. It takes a lot of work and determination on the part of the dogs and the people. This article covers some of the basic things you need to begin training. It also covers the basics of training a sled dog team. It tells about what sled dogs are trained for based on if they are competitive or hauling.

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Equipment for Dogsledding -- What Do You Need?

SLEDDOG DRIVING certainly is a sport that requires the right equipment. That said, it need not be terribly expensive as far as the hardware goes. (The real money goes into the dogs and their maintenance!) The tricky part is acquiring the right gear; there is a lot of rubbish sold to unsuspecting novices. There is a great temptation for the beginner in sleddogs to rush out and buy a shiny new dogsled complete with ganglines and harnesses, from the nearest place that stocks such exotic items! The temptation ought to be resisted, because almost never does the beginner acquire the right kind of gear that will serve him well, cause few problems, and withstand the stresses and strains of dog driving. Sad, but true. A dogsled can be an expensive item, so you want to make sure you don't make a purchase you'll regret.

DON'T BUY YOUR SLED from the nearest pet or sporting goods store that happens to have one! In fact, don't buy any equipment at all until you have visited several experienced dog drivers and asked them what you need and where you should go to get it. Unless you definitely intend to race a lot, you may be better off with a stout polyethylene-bottomed toboggan sled of the "Tim White" type instead of a beautiful, traditional, varnished ashwood racing sled. The wooden sled is more vulnerable to damage from collisions with trailside obstacles and requires a lot of maintenance -- regular varnishing and re-lashing -- just to preserve your investment. The poly-bottom toboggan will stand up to any amount of abuse and requires relatively little maintenance.
Beware the sled that is price-engineered for sale to novices! This kind of sled can turn out to be too heavy, badly balanced, too narrow -- any number of things may be wrong in the design department without the novice realising the fact. (Once a novice who handled for a winter at Seppala Kennels acquired such a sled, bought for her by her partner -- against advice. The first few times she took teams out on it, she overturned quite hard on the first and second turns in our training trail, losing the team and acquiring a truly lurid collection of deep bruises. Her new sled was about four inches too narrow, with a high centre of gravity that invited upsets on turns. You DON'T want a sled like that one!)
Sleds that swivel or that have unusual hinges or suspension systems should be avoided by the novice. They are needlessly complex and of little aid to the recreational driver -- they are meant for big, high-speed racing teams usually.

HARNESSES are critically important even for the novice driver. Please, for your dogs' sake, don't make the mistake of thinking you can make them yourself! The proper construction of dog harnesses so that they actually fit the dogs is an art that is attempted by many but mastered by very few.
I think that the common X-back racing harness is NOT the best choice for recreational teams! Readily available, yes; easy to put on and take off, yes; best choice for small teams of hard-working dogs, no. X-back harnesses fit too loosely and are easy for the dogs to back out of. Often they are made of materials that are too lightweight; they may look nice when purchased, but after a bit of use, the lightweight webbing seems to lose its flexibility and get curly. Most of the time, the 'racing harnesses' that are so easily available locally, perhaps made by a local musher, will turn out to have weak or inferior stitching; in that case, after a year or so the harness is worthless because its sewn joints rip out under strain.
For years we have used the H-back harnesses made by Windigo Outfitters in Iron River, Wisconsin. We have never had to throw one of Deb Serbousek's Windigo harnesses away due to wear; we still use every single harness we ever bought from her, except for one that a dog chewed beyond salvage. We think they are the best bargain available in harnesses. You might need a few extra H-back harnesses, because they are designed to fit tightly and the fit is critical. Thus if a dog gains or loses too much weight, or goes in or out of coat, he may need a different size harness. That is a small price to pay for a harness that is very comfortable for the dogs, efficient in pulling and that will last for years.
I've been asked by Windigo Outfitters to explain to novice readers of this section that H-back harnesses are for drivers who know what they are doing and have some experience. As mentioned, FIT is critical and they are not the easiest harnesses to get on and off the dog. So if you are just starting out, without prior experience, you may have an easier time with the X-back harness, which is more generally available, more forgiving as to fit, and easier to put on and take off your dog. The tight fit of the H-back means that you must know what you're doing when you take your dog's forelegs in and out of the harness; otherwise you can easily cause sprains or strains. (I'll never forget the supposedly "experienced" musher/handler visiting at Seppala Kennels who, when given an H-back and told to harness a dog, after a fifteen-minute effort somehow managed to get the harness on the dog -- UPSIDE DOWN!)
COLLARS, too, are important. They should be adjustable with a buckle, NEVER the semi-slip tabbed style. They should have a large welded O-ring 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter to snap the neckline or stakeout chain onto. Thin collars with chintzy bent-wire D-rings are no use at all! Collars should be made of the same thick webbing that the Windigo harnesses are made from. I shouldn't even need to say this, but NEVER USE A CHAIN CHOKE COLLAR on a working sleddog in the team; the practice serves no possible purpose and may result in the death of the dog in a tangle. Some mushers, anxious to cut corners on equipment costs, make up single-size collars from plastic rope. This is an expedient worthy of Ebenezer Scrooge! Sleddogs need to have their collars loosened and tightened as they grow a coat and blow it, or gain weight and lose it, or grow and mature. Plastic rope is abrasive, hard on the dog's coat and skin, and single size collars often result in a collar that is too tight much of the time, in extreme cases causing open sores on the neck. If you can't even afford adjustable collars, how can you possibly afford to keep sleddogs?

GANGLINES can be made up by the driver IF he can get exactly the right kind and grade of hollow, diamond-braid poly rope, and IF he has the necessary fids to facilitate the construction job, and IF he has a gangline plan with good, tried-and-tested dimensions, and IF he knows exactly what he is doing! IF you are a novice, don't attempt this exacting job -- you are better off to buy your ganglines from Windigo or another REPUTABLE outfitter. Watch it, though, because some highly-advertised firms sell ganglines to the unsuspecting, the dimensions of which will cause untold misery to the driver and his dogs. Don't get ganglines that have insufficient spacing between dogs, or necklines and tuglines that are too short. (Hard to believe, but gear of this kind intended for novices is often deliberately made much too short just to economise on materials, and often it's made out of twisted rope instead of diamond-braid. Buyer beware!) Tuglines should be about 56 inches for wheel dogs, 48 inches for team dogs, and 30 to 36 inches for the leaders. Don't buy sectional ganglines that rely on quick-links and steel O-rings to connect the sections -- this is unnecessary and can cause problems. The neckline and tugline snaps should be the ONLY metal hardware in a gangline! Sectional ganglines are okay, provided they just have looped ends which can be threaded one through the other; that way they can never come loose at a bad moment. (Is there ever a good moment for a gangline to come apart on its own?) Gangline spacing between team pairs can vary somewhat to suit your terrain, trails, and mushing style. In general, sleddogs move better and work more efficiently if they have room to run in -- this means eight or nine feet per pair. Back in the 1950s you used to see dog teams all scrunched up together, very closely spaced. Not any more. It may be more convenient for the driver, maybe it LOOKS more impressive as well, but it makes life too difficult for the dogs. (Maybe that's why teams of the 1950s were so much slower than today.) MAKE SURE YOUR GANGLINES HAVE BRASS SNAPS! Cheap steel snaps will freeze solid and you may not be able to thaw them with your hands out on the trail on a cold day. It's nice if the neckline snaps are small and the tugline snaps are bigger. Cable-filled ganglines are necessary only if your dogs chew the lines; you should train them not to do that.

A PICKET LINE is virtually a necessity. You need a place to tie your team close to where you hook them up; you can't take sleddogs straight out of your car or truck and into the ganglines. Make up your picket for a few more dogs than you think you'll usually hook at once. A twelve or fourteen place picket line is good. The line itself can be either of chain or of aircraft cable. It has to have heavy-duty quick links on the ends so that they can be wrapped around a tree or a post and fastened securely. The individual drop-lines on your picket line should ideally be made of light passing-link chain (not twisted-link), and should be about eighteen inches long. Space them out so that the dogs cannot possibly tangle with one another. If the whole thing seems hopelessly too long for your hookup area and you can't stretch it around a corner, then shorten the drops slightly, but the minimum is about fourteen inches. Your dogs need enough freedom to move around and relieve themselves before their run. If your picket is made of cable, chain sections at either end are a good idea, as they make it easier to fasten the picket line securely to trees, car bumpers, etc. QUICK-LINKS are a mushing necessity (these are like individual links of chain with a hex-nut section on one side that screws open or shut); so are BRASS snaps.

A BIG STRONG MOUNTAINEER'S CARABINER is needed. What on earth for? You use this ESSENTIAL item to fasten the gangline to the sled bridle; it will also be the fastening-point for your snub rope (to hold the sled tied to a post or to your truck at hookup), the six-foot rope to your snow hook, and your shock absorber. Get the oval shaped carabiner with a gate protected by a locking sleeve that screws down over it, and make sure it's a heavy-duty model; never use a lightweight carabiner or one with an unprotected gate -- you risk losing your entire team if it should snag and open up. Don't try to make do without a good carabiner, because with bridle, gangline, snub rope and snow hook, there are too many items to connect safely in one place by any other method. By the way, NEVER do what I saw one klutzy person do, which was to lead the gangline OVER the top side of the sled's brush bow to attach it to the bridle -- I caught it in time, fortunately -- it's something you won't do more than once!

A STRONG, WELL-DESIGNED SNOW HOOK or anchor is a wonderful thing to have. Ask a very experienced musher to show you a good one. Some snow hooks look just fine, but are actually almost useless, and most of those on the market are inferior. The differences are subtle and hard to understand. A good snow hook digs in deeper as the dogs pull against it; a poor one pulls out. The best snow hook you can find is only just good enough much of the time. Get experienced help to find the best in your area, or order a good one from Windigo. (I keep mentioning them because these folks are long-time dog drivers, KNOW good gear, have a reputation to protect, and just will not sell junk; that can be said of few suppliers, unfortunately.)

A SNUB ROPE with a horse-trainer's 'panic snap' or quick-release is helpful, to get you away cleanly once all your dogs are hooked up and rarin' to go. Don't just try to tie the rope to a post, because chances are you'll have a real struggle loosing the knot with the entire team pulling hard against it; if it comes loose suddenly, you may be left standing in the hookup area while your team streaks away down the trail without you. NEVER tie your snub rope to a stanchion of your sled; that's just asking to break something. It's the dogs that you want to restrain, not the sled, so at the opposite end from the panic snap your snub-rope should have a spliced-in loop, which goes into the carabiner that also joins the sled bridle, the near end of the gangline, and the rope on your snow hook. It's essential to get all this right! A dog team is very powerful; a snub rope tied to any part of your sled will probably result in a broken sled and a loose team.

A SMALL SAFETY ROPE from the driver's waist to the driving bow of the sled is worn by many drivers, including Jeffrey. Some mushers will argue about this one. Yes, it could get you dragged, if you are driving a big team that you can't control. Yes, mushers have occasionally been injured in this way (usually with teams that were too big for them to control in the first place). But I think for the recreational driver with a team that doesn't exceed eight dogs, it's going to give you some peace of mind. You will bless that safety rope the first time you upset on a bad turn and lose your grip on the driving bow. You might drag a few yards in the snow, but your dogs will know something's wrong and will slow or even stop, particularly if it has happened before. A safety rope gives you a way not to lose your team. Even if you can't stop entirely, if you are tied on with a short rope, you can get hold of the sled, get a knee on a footboard, then get back on your feet. Everybody loses his team sooner or later; but it's always a traumatic experience and it can result in injury or even death among the dogs. Avoid it by using a safety rope. I've seen some folks dragging a long rope behind the sled as a so-called "last-chance line"! What a joke! A trailing rope is virtually useless and even dangerous if it should snag on something at speed; anyway, you'll never be able to grab it in time if you fall off. The safety rope has to be attached to your mid-body, either to a stout wide belt (a skijorer's belt, a lineman's belt, even a weight-lifter's belt will do) or else in a loop that will not collapse or draw tight (if you know how to tie a bowline, that works well, but never tie a loop around your body with a knot that can slip, collapse or draw tight).

A DOG BOX OR DOG TRAILER may be needed to transport your team if you can't hook up in your back yard and train on trails that start right there, and few beginning dog drivers can. (Later, you'll probably move to the boonies, once dog-driving has you hooked!) MAKE SURE that the doors of individual boxes on a dog truck, trailer, or truck box have LARGE windows securely meshed with very heavy-duty welded steel mesh or expanded metal, attached in such a way that the dogs cannot possibly remove it from within. Little cutesy-pie cutouts in the doors are dangerous. Dogs have suffocated in dog boxes, time and again. Your dog is not going to freeze because the window's too large; it should be big enough that a dog can't cover the whole window if he leans against it with his back or side. It doesn't sound possible that dogs could suffocate like that. It is, though. Many a sled dog has died that way.
Your dog box or truck should have adequate tie-down points -- ring-bolts, preferably -- so that it is an easy matter to secure two or three sleds to the top of it using rubber tie-downs. Better too many tie-down points than too few.
However, if you are just starting out with a team of three to six dogs, you can quite easily transport that many Seppalas in the back bay of an SUV or a mini-van. We have successfully transported up to eleven Seppalas on three- to four-hour drives in the roomy back bay of a Toyota Land Cruiser wagon. This is a big advantage of Seppalas' ability to get along easily with one another -- don't try this if you have quarrelsome dogs. But don't just walk off and leave a big mob in the back of your vehicle unattended for a long while; that could be asking too much. You can, however, transport your three-dog or five-dog team in this way as a temporary expedient until you have a proper dog box, provided your dogs all know how to get along with one another.

WATER PANS and buckets or cubes. Your dogs will need and appreciate a drink immediately after their training runs. This is ESSENTIAL, not optional. Don't worry, sleddogs are not like horses; it isn't dangerous to water them when they are hot, there's no way it can hurt them. If they drink too much, they'll just bring it back up and no harm done. They need the water to cool down and rehydrate. Watering your sleddogs should be the FIRST THING YOU DO after a run, while they are still standing in the ganglines. Don't forget those water pans and a 5-gallon water carrier if there's no clean water source handy to your hookup area.

Did I mention a WHIP? No, I didn't! That's because you don't need one. I have never come across a situation driving Seppalas that would be made the least bit better by the use of a whip, whether of the three-foot "signal" size or the ten-foot variety. Seppalas don't respond well to being whipped or beaten on, nor do they run any better if you make sudden loud noises. Save your money, don't buy a dog whip. I know -- just about every novice dog driver buys one the instant he decides to "get serious" about training. And it's a total waste of money. Nevertheless, if you already have one, hang it on the wall for atmosphere if you must, but leave it at home when you train! Physical abuse, force-training, making loud noises or fear training are all unnecessary and counter-productive with Seppala Siberian Sleddogs.

WHEELED RIGS are necessary for training before the snow flies. There's a wide variety of these around, but relatively few are much good. There are some very expensive models available that are pretty useless. We are great believers in using a mountain bike (or, alternatively, a kids' BMX bike) for training sleddogs one or two at a time. But the bike won't help you condition an entire team; you should never hook more than two dogs to a bicycle. We have three-wheeled training rigs at Seppala Kennels, built up from a dirt bike (i.e. motorcycle) front end; these have drum brakes on all three wheels and a foot pedal that applies the brakes to the back wheels. You stand on a platform that's situated low to the ground ahead of the rear axle point. They are stable and highly manoeuvrable; we love this design.
Many mushers use ATVs -- I don't recommend this for recreational or beginning drivers. ATVs are not very stable and usually so heavy that with a small team the use of the engine is necessary; that will usually cause lots of problems. Dogs quickly learn to rely on the engine to help them! Plenty of fools insist on training always in twelve and sixteen-dog hookups with a big ATV, even when they are trying to break pups or yearlings to harness! It might work all right most of the time with experienced dogs, but I've heard plenty of tales about "the run from hell" in which the driver's insistence on hooking large teams of green dogs resulted in absolute chaos, tuglines and ganglines chewed apart, loose dogs, loose teams, dragged dogs, you name it! Often the driver tries to make it sound like it was a big joke -- but that is how stupid drivers ruin sleddogs! YOU DON'T WANT TO HOOK BIG TEAMS FOR FALL TRAINING, AND YOU DON'T WANT TO GO FAST! Sleddogs need time in the fall to muscle up; early season speed runs are only a source of injuries. Some folks use a stripped-down small auto chassis, such as the Austin Mini or even a Volkswagen. It may be difficult to find a chassis that is small and light enough, but it is a safe, secure way to wheel-train even a big team. Unlike an ATV, it can't upset. It's good and heavy so the team has to work hard and can't go very fast. You can set the emergency brake and get off to fix tangles. And there's no temptation to use the motor to rip and tear around, because you already had to remove it to lighten the beast. Yep, a chassis rig beats an ATV for sane, safe training on wheels. A golf cart is a possibility, if you can get one. In general, though, it's better if your wheel rig is smaller and lighter, so that you can train in smaller teams of four to six. That way you keep control, you maintain a good watch on every dog so nobody gets away with anything he shouldn't, and everything stays cool. Trying to run too many dogs at once is a high-pressure experience nobody really needs; if things go wrong, it can kill a dog -- or a driver. The guy who said, "If you're not scared s---less, you aren't hooking enough dogs!" is an ass. Dog sport should be safe for the dogs and for you.

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How to train sleddogs, a guide for the novice musher

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This video shows how you can start training your sled dogs. It only shows how to start training only one dog though. He says to start with just running with the dog downhill. After you can work with the harness. The video also shows that training dogs takes work and patience.