The Sport

  • The Sleddog sport

The sleddog sport was "invented" in North-America.

The Inuït (Eskimo's) and the Indians where for a long time dependable on the sleddog, especially during long and cold winters. Also in the Gold Rush day's dogs where used for transporting freight and mail.
These team's followed the Iditarod Trail, that was used by the gold diggers. Later on, these people went to test in a form of competition, who had the fasted dogs. .

An example of a useful run was the so-called.... Serum race, from Anchorage to Nome in Alaska. In 1925 many lives where saved because of this run. Because of a virus out-break in Nome, there almost was no medication present. Sled dogs where used to get it there a.s.a.p. Everybody knows the Walt Disney movie "Balto", this movie is about this story.

Balto statue Central Park New York

Balto
This was one of the leaddogs of the serumteam, and is the only sleddog ever to get a statue.
You can find it  in Central Park, New York

 

The serum race was later transformed in "The Iditarod Trail Race", and is still run each year from Anchorage to Nome.

The sport was introduced in Europe in the late 60's, with the arrival of the first sled dogs, and is mostly performed in Germany, France Italy Austria and the Swiss.

Because of the less heavy quarantine rules, also the Scandinavian Country's are easier to visit.

Unless the dogs now are used for racing, the sleddog is in emergency situations, polar expeditions, the most relayeble form of transport.

 

 

  • The Sleddog sport the Netherlands

Like every Dutchmen knows, it hardly snows in Holland. Never the less Holland counts about 250 sleddog teams.

Here the dogs are trained with special rigs who are mostly are self-build.

Photo of my training rig

In the beginning  of the season, we also organize so called "rig races". On these races we can check out our training-programs, and if the yearlings can handle the stress.

From January until march, many Dutch teams travel to South-Europe for the snow races.

Polestep team during the "E3-strand" rig race, Eersel 1999

 

  • The dogs

There are some different breeds that can be used:

 -The Siberian Husky, this is the most used dog in Holland, and is one of the fasted dogs. They have a very nice character.
-The Alaskan Husky, this is the fasted dog amongst all, but is really an "assembled" breed. It has lines of fast and intelligent breeds. There are many kind of variations of it. In the Netherlands it's not allowed to race with this breed, because of animal laws.

The Netherlands is the ONLY country where these dogs may not be used for the sport, just because they don't have a FCI pedigree.

-The Alaska Malamute, this is the big and strong dog, that is nicknamed "the freight train of the north", and has a mind of his one, so the owner must be hard, but justified. There are not many Malamute's in the Netherlands.
-The Greenland dog, this one is not likely seen in the Netherlands, but is a very hard headed sleddog.

-The Samoyed, the white longhaired Jack of all trades. They are used as well as a sheep-, defend dog as well as a pet, and in front of a sled they also can do well, but are not so fast.

 

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