What clothing will I need to go dog sledding?

For all our dog sledding holidays in Sweden, Norway or Finland, specialist winter outer clothing you will need for your tour is included, which normally consists of warm outer layer (in many cases a snowmobile suit), warm boots, hat and gloves. Clothing provided varies slightly depending on the tour - see tour information for details.

Participants will normally need to bring only their own base and mid-layer clothing. A detailed recommended packing list will be included in your booking documentation. For your clothing, we recommend you use the layer principle:

• Closest to your body an inner layer that transports humidity away from the body, such as a woollen base layer top and long-johns.
• Then a second layer that keeps in the warmth your body generates and absorbs the humidity from the inner layer, such as a fleece or jumper.
• Then a second layer that keeps in the warmth your body generates and absorbs the humidity from the inner layer, such as a fleece or jumper.
• The outer layer should protect you from weather and wind and be wind- and waterproof. This clothing is provided as standard.

You should also have something to cover your face, such as a scarf or Buff, and ski glasses or goggles to protect your eyes and improve vision. Do not use cotton on the inner layers closest to your body, as cotton collects the humidity your body generates. The clothing gets heavy and chills you. Better materials to use are synthetics, wool etc.

Dog team members are given titles according to their position in the team relative to the sled. These include leaders or lead dogs, swing dogs, team dogs, and wheelers or wheel dogs. Lead dogs steer the rest of the team and set the pace.

Leaders may be single or double; the latter is more common now, though single leaders used to be more common during the mid-20th century. Sometimes a leader may be unhitched (a loose or free leader) to find the trail for the rest of the team, but the practice is uncommon and is not allowed at races. Qualities for a good lead dog are intelligence, initiative, common sense, and the ability to find a trail in bad conditions.

Swing dogs or point dogs are directly behind the leader (one dog if the team is in single hitch). They swing the rest of the team behind them in turns or curves on the trail. (Some mushers use the term swag dog to denote a team dog.)

Team dogs are those between the wheelers and the swing dogs, and add power to the team. A small team may not have dogs in this position. Alternatively, the term may be used to describe any dog in a dog team. Wheel dogs are those nearest the sled and musher, and a good wheeler must have a relatively calm temperament so as not to be startled by the sled moving just behind it. Strength, steadiness, and ability to help guide the sled around tight curves are qualities valued in "wheelers."

The Alaskan Husky is a mongrel that is bred for one specific purpose—to pull a sled for as long as possible. Due to their mixed bloodlines, their appearance and temperament varies highly from dog to dog, but generally they are very friendly toward humans and have loyal pack instincts.Breeding sled dogs is still a fine art today. A good lead dog can sell for as much as $5,000, and some kennel owners will lease out race dogs to mushers for as much as $1,000 per dog.

Diet: Alaskan Huskies bred for racing require significantly more protein and calories than your average domestic dog—they burn as many as 10,000-to-14,000 calories on the trail a day, compared to the 1,000 calories a typical house dog burns in a day. A standard diet is raw meat and kibble mixed with water to help them stay hysrated. (Despite the enormous amount of energy that the dogs use while running, they tend to be reluctant to drink plain water, especially when tired.)

Exercise: The Alaskan Husky is an incredibly energetic animal that needs to be run often. In the summer offseason, Iditarod mushers often send their dogs to run commercial tours on the glaciers in northern Alaska to keep fit. They will also harness their dogs to a vehicle other than a sled—an ATV in neutral, for example—to run the dogs when there isn’t enough snow on the trails, according to Dana Grant. Iditarod racers will generally start running their dogs on a strict training routine in September or October to prepare for the race. During the winter race season, canine competitors generally run harnessed to a sled for about five hours, five or six days a week. In the Iditarod, they will run much more than that, clocking 12 or more hours a day with three- to six-hour breaks, and one 24-hour rest at some point during the week-and-a-half-long race.

Training: Mushers typically train dozens of dogs before settling on a core team. They start training at about nine months of age, and the best of dogs can race until they are nine or ten years old. Before they are ready to run in a harness, some trainers will run the pups through obstacle courses or encourage them to chase vehicles like ATVs. By two years old, dogs are ready to race in the Iditarod, and a trainer will put together a team of 16 dogs that run well together. It’s particularly important during training to find a lead dog that is smart, can hear commands from the musher on the sled (“gee” means left; “haw” means right), and is not easily distracted by wildlife or other dog sleds.

The strongest dogs are generally placed closer to the sled, in the rear of the pack, but for the wheel position right next to the sled, smaller dogs are required so they do not get rubbed raw by their harnesses. Fights occasionally erupt during a long race, but they rarely last long, because race dogs are trained to respond quickly to a musher’s commands. To prevent fights, some mushers believe in placing males and females side by side. Most mushers run a combination of male and female dogs, but some mushers believe that single-sex teams work best. Out on the trail, mushers are unquestionably the alpha of the pack, and that means more than just telling the dogs what to do and when to turn. If a musher turns frustrated or disheartened, which is easy to do in a frigid 10-day race, it can affect the dynamic of the whole team.