Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most commonly a specialized type of dog sled on snow, or a rig on dry land.
The practice of using dogs to pull sleds dates back to at least 6000 BC. Remnants of sleds and harnesses has been found with canine remains in Siberia which carbon-dated to 7800–8000 years ago. [1] Native American cultures also used dogs to pull loads. [2]
For the better part of the 1600s, the Iroquois and French clashed in a series of attacks and reprisals. [3] For this reason, Samuel de Champlain arranged to have young French men live with the natives, to learn their language and customs and help the French adapt to life in North America. These men, known as coureurs des bois (runners of the woods), were the first European mushers in North America, extended French influence south and west and in 1609, New France controlled all the Canadian Shield. In 1680, the intendant of New France, Jacques Duchesneau de la Doussinière et d'Ambault, estimated that there was not one family in New France who did not have a "son, brother, uncle or nephew" among the coureurs des bois . [4] During the winter, sled became the ordinary transportation in the north of New France. [5]
In 1760, the British Army completed the conquest of Canada and gained control of the Canadian Shield. Many coureurs des bois accepted British rule and continued to use the sled dog. The French term Marche! became Mush! in English.
During the Klondike Gold Rush, many prospectors came in the Yukon with sled dogs. This "Last Great Gold Rush" has been immortalized by American author Jack London in The Call of the Wild . Sled-dog became the common mode of transportation in Yukon and in the new US Territory of Alaska.
In 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen used sled dogs in a race to become the first person to reach the South Pole. He succeeded, while his competitor Robert Falcon Scott, who had instead used Siberian ponies, died. [6]
By the time of the First World War, mushing had spread to European countries such as Norway, where dog sleds were used for nature tours, as ambulances in the woodlands and mountains, and to bring supplies to soldiers in the field. [7]
During the 1925 serum run to Nome, 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs relayed diphtheria antitoxin 674 miles (1,085 km) by dog sled across the U.S. territory of Alaska in five and a half days, saving the small city of Nome and the surrounding communities from an incipient epidemic.
France was the first European power established in the Canadian Shield; accordingly, the coureurs des bois and the voyageurs of New France used the French word marche!, meaning "walk" or "move", to command to the team to commence pulling. Marche! became "mush!" for English Canadians. [8] "Mush!" is rarely used in modern parlance.[ citation needed ]
Mushing can be utilitarian, recreational, or competitive. Mushing as a sport is practiced worldwide, but primarily in North America, northern Europe and the Alps. Racing associations such as the International Federation of Sleddog Sports (IFSS) and the International Sled Dog Racing Association (ISDRA) are working toward organizing the sport and in gaining Olympic recognition for mushing. It is the state sport of Alaska. The most famous sled dog races in the world are:
Although dogsled racing gets more publicity and is seen now as the primary form of mushing, recreational mushing thrives as an unorganized sport providing a healthy outdoor form of winter exercise for families.
Mushing for utilitarian purposes includes anything from hauling wood or delivering milk or the mail to rural travel and equipment hauling. Dogs have been replaced by snowmobiles in many places, but some trappers and other isolated users have gone back to sled dogs, finding them safer and more dependable in extreme weather conditions.
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."
Originally, sled dogs would run in either one or two straight lines, depending on how many people were driving the sled (two lines if there was one person, one line if there were two people). However, now, all dogs run in two lines, even if there is more than one person.[ citation needed ]
Many pieces of equipment are useful or necessary for driving sled dogs, depending on the sled or vehicle, terrain, weather conditions, size of the team and dogs, speed of the run, and other factors.
Harnesses are worn by dogs used in mushing to allow them to run and pull with freedom of movement. They are designed to distribute pulling weight evenly over the body, and are made of material that is durable and lightweight to varying degrees. Many different styles of sled dog harnesses exist for specialized styles of mushing and dogs, with many outfitters evolving and updating designs and materials to fit the needs of different mushers. The most commonly used styles include X-back (also referred to as racing harnesses), half-back (used more commonly in mushing where the line angle is steeper such as canicross and bikejoring), and spreader-bar/freighting (used for hauling heavy loads low to the ground, or by wheel dogs on teams). [9] [10] Harnesses have certain requirements for some competitions such as weight pull, to ensure the safety of the dog in their task. [11]
Dogsleds can be a variety of styles, ranging from highly traditional wooden sleds lashed with twine, to modern lightweight racing sleds made of carbon fiber or aluminum and outfitted with utilities such as steering mechanisms. The nomadic tribes of Siberia such as the Chukchi used sleds which rode low to the ground (known as a "narta"), and sat or lie down to ride them while the dogs pulled [12] - today most mushers use a standing style sled with a handlebar, and foot grips on top of the runners. Sleds range in length, with longer toboggan-style sleds used for expedition and long-distance mushing in order to carry more needed supplies, and "basket" sleds used more commonly in racing and on groomed trails. [13] Kicksleds can be used as a small recreational dog sled, pulled by one or two dogs.
Sleds normally have some form of braking system, the most common of which are a metal brake (a metal bar or claw) and a rubber drag-mat made of tire or snowmobile track; many sleds have both, for controlling speed in different conditions. [14] [9] [13] Full-sized sleds are typically outfitted with a sled bag used for carrying equipment or injured/tired dogs in the sled basket. For racing competitions, sled bags are often required to have ventilation for dog safety. [15]
Other gear used in mushing includes but may not be limited to:
Bikejoring is dog mushing similar to skijoring, canicross, and dog scootering. A dog or team of dogs is attached with a towline to a bicycle. Bikejoring and canicross probably developed from skijoring and dogsled racing. Bikejoring is also sometimes used to train racing sled-dogs out of season. Beginning in the early 1990's, a hybrid of traditional bikejoring developed where riders use devices attached the side of their bikes (vs traditional front mounted attachments). [16] [17] [18]
Dog scootering uses one or more dogs to pull a human riding an unmotorized kick scooter. It is similar to mushing, which is done in the winter, but generally with fewer dogs and with a scooter instead of a dogsled. The dogs wear the same harnesses that sled dogs wear, and are hooked to the scooter with a gangline. The gangline usually incorporates a bungee cord to smooth out the shocks of speeding up and takeoff. Dog scooterers get together for fun runs, where a number of dog scooterers run their dogs and scooters on the same trails. Fun runs may be just a morning run, or can be a weekend-long activity with multiple runs scheduled. This is still a maturing activity, but there are a few formal dog races that include scooter events. [19]
The Siberian Husky is a medium-sized working sled dog breed. The breed belongs to the Spitz genetic family. It is recognizable by its thickly furred double coat, erect triangular ears, and distinctive markings, and is smaller than the similar-looking Alaskan Malamute.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at least 5 must be on the towline at the finish line, cover the distance in 8–15 days or more. The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams but evolved into today's highly competitive race.
A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in harness, most commonly a sled over snow.
Sled dog racing is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sled dogs that pull a sled with the dog driver or musher standing on the runners. The team completing the marked course in the least time is judged the winner.
A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing. Traditionally in Greenland and the eastern Canadian Arctic the Inuit had the dogs pull in a fan shape in front of the sled, while in other regions, such as Alaska and the western part of Northern Canada the dogs pull side by side in pairs.
The Yukon Quest, formally the Yukon Quest 1,000-mile International Sled Dog Race, is a sled dog race scheduled every February since 1984 between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon, switching directions each year. Because of the harsh winter conditions, difficult trail, and the limited support that competitors are allowed, it is considered the "most difficult sled dog race in the world", or even the "toughest race in the world"—"even tougher, more selective and less attention-seeking than the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race." The originator envisioned it as "a race so rugged that only purists would participate."
A Eurohound is a type of dog bred for sled dog racing. The eurohound is crossbred from the Alaskan husky and any of a number of pointing breeds ("pointers"), but most often the German Shorthair Pointer,
Jeff King is an American musher and sled dog racer. He is generally credited with introducing the sit-down sled which has largely replaced the standing sled traditionally used by distance mushers.
Togo was the lead sled dog of musher Leonhard Seppala and his dog sled team in the 1925 serum run to Nome across central and northern Alaska. Despite covering a far greater distance than any other lead dogs on the run, over some of the most dangerous parts of the trail, his role was left out of contemporary news of the event at the time, in favor of the lead dog for the last leg of the relay, Balto, whom Seppala also owned and had bred.
Skijoring is a winter sport in which a person on skis is pulled by a horse, a dog, another animal, or a motor vehicle. The name is derived from the Norwegian word skikjøring, meaning "ski driving". Although skijoring is said to have originated as a mode of winter travel, it is currently primarily a competitive sport.
The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy for Childerns lives and The Serum Run, was a transport of diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled relay across the US territory of Alaska by 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs across 674 miles (1,085 km) in 5+1⁄2 days, saving the small town of Nome and the surrounding communities from a developing epidemic of diphtheria.
Leonhard "Sepp" Seppala was a Norwegian-Kven-American sled dog breeder, trainer and musher who with his dogs played a pivotal role in the 1925 serum run to Nome, and participated in the 1932 Winter Olympics. Seppala introduced the work dogs used by Native Siberians at the time to the American public; the breed came to be known as the Siberian Husky in the English-speaking world. The Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award, which honors excellence in sled dog care, is named in honour of him.
Canicross is the sport of cross country running with dogs. Originating in Europe as off-season training for the mushing (sledding) community, it has become popular as a stand-alone sport all over Europe, especially in the UK, and the United States.
Newton Marshall is a professional independent dogsled musher.
The Jamaica Dogsled Team is a team of sled dogs and mushers headquartered at Chukka Caribbean Adventures in Ocho Rios, located in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. The dog team is made up of strays rescued by the Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and offers dryland dogsled rides, along with the adventure center's other outdoor experiences. In addition, the two mushers Newton Marshall and Damion Robb, compete in sled races throughout the US and Canada, using leased dog teams. Country music singer Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville is the team's major sponsor.
Dog racing commonly refers to greyhound racing.
The International Federation of Sleddog Sports is the global governing/sanctioning body of sleddog sports. It represents 49 national sleddog sport federations and organizations that are overseen by the board and six continental directors.
Brent Sass is an American dog musher who is one of only six people to have won both the Iditarod and Yukon Quest sled dog races.
A dog harness is a piece of equipment consisting in part of straps that surround the dog’s torso. It is used to guide, hold, and lift the dog or to utilise its pulling power. It reduces tension on the neck when they pull, and provides free breathing during daily walks. In sports such as mushing and skijoring, where the dog's pulling power is utilized, the harness provides effective use of force while maintaining freedom of movement. These aforementioned kinds of harnesses differ from pet harnesses in that they are specifically designed in order to allow or support a dog in the completion of a working task.
Major annual long-distance sled dog races (Mushing) | ||
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| Europe |  | |
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