After staying indoors for so long, I just had to get out! I got the opportunity to visit a dog sledding center with friends. They raise Alaskans, which are, so far, a mix of various breeds that each has at least one characteristic that makes them good sledding dogs. No Siberian huskies here, although you can tell there were some in their ancestry. Surprisingly longhaired dogs are not good because they get too hot when they race…. in the North Pole no less! They must be well fed but not fat, as they would not run fast enough. I learnt that the lead dogs do not pull, they “look”, they are the musher’s eyes. I got to see first hand that the dogs enjoy running and cannot wait to get going. I already knew that being a musher is hard work, but sitting in the sled is more relaxed unless it overturns…After staying indoors for so long, I just had to get out! I got the opportunity to visit a dog sledding center with friends. They raise Alaskans, which are, so far, a mix of various breeds that each has at least one characteristic that makes them good sledding dogs. No Siberian huskies here, although you can tell there were some in their ancestry. Surprisingly longhaired dogs are not good because they get too hot when they race…. in the North Pole no less! They must be well fed but not fat, as they would not run fast enough. I learnt that the lead dogs do not pull, they “look”, they are the musher’s eyes. I got to see first hand that the dogs enjoy running and cannot wait to get going. I already knew that being a musher is hard work, but sitting in the sled is more relaxed unless it overturns…
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