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Our Dogs
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Our Huskies |
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| When people hear the term "sled-dog",
they often picture the classic purebred Samoyed, Malamute or
Siberian huskies. |
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| In reality very few mushers use purebred huskies
for long-distance touring or sled-dog racing. And some sled
dogs do not resemble traditional huskies at all. |
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| Sled dogs are bred for performance - strength,
endurance, speed and attitude. It is much more important to
have a dog from a line of fast, strong champions than a purebred
dog. When breeding, you try to get the best qualities from different
lines. |
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| Attitude is the first thing we look for in a dog.
Our dogs are really well-known for strength, will-power and
determination – and for their friendliness. |
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Please see our Dog
Gallery for images of some
of our dogs! For direct links, see the bottom of this
page. |
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| Sled dogs are run in many different arrangements, depending
on terrain and the type of trip.
In the high Arctic and Siberia, for example, mushers
run their dogs in a sort of fan, each dog on a separate
line. Elsewhere dogs are run in pairs on a single gangline.
Teams can range in size from four to twenty-four dogs
– there is an awful lot of power in a twenty-four-dog
team, and you have to deal with a very long gangline!
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| Sometimes dogs are run in single file on a gangline.
And these days dogs are also hooked up to joggers, skiers,
bicycles, four-wheelers, and carts - who knows what they
will be pulling next.For touring we use six to ten dogs.
As in any sports team, each dog has a particular job.
So dogs are placed in whatever positions suit their individual
strengths; we also try to place them next to their best
buddy.
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| The dogs at the front of the team are the LEAD dogs
and they are the ones who set the pace (run fast), follow
commands well, and read trail markers and trails in general.
Dogs immediately behind the leaders are SWING dogs;
usually they can also run in lead and they back up the
main leaders.
The dogs immediately in front of the sled are WHEEL
dogs; their position is more physically demanding, so
they are often the biggest, strongest dogs in the team.
The rest of the dogs take turns in lead, swing or wheel
positions, though dogs that run in lead seldom run in
wheel. |
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| For the Yukon Quest, and wilderness touring, we run
our dogs in pairs on a single gangline. For the Quest,
we use fourteen dogs, the maximum allowed. To find out
more about Muktuk's racing team, check out our Racing
Page. To find out more about wilderness touring with Muktuk,
please visit our Tours
Page. |
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