Sled dog

Sled dog teams delivered mail to rural communities in Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Sled dogs are used in countries and regions such as Canada, Greenland, Siberia, Russia, Norway, Sweden, and Alaska.

[2] A 2017 study showed that 9,000 years ago, the domestic dog was present at what is now Zhokhov Island, northeastern Siberia, which at that time was connected to the mainland.

Reasons for their decline include After World War II, skijor and pulka style dog sled racing gained rapidly in popularity in Norway and neighboring Scandinavian countries.

[8] These styles of racing required small, fast teams of 1–4 dogs who competed over short, hilly distances of 15–30 km (9.3–18.6 mi).

[10] Sled dogs and husky safaris are not native to Sápmi (Lapland) and Finland and are considered a major nuisance by reindeer herders as they directly impact their livelihoods.

A number of projects have been initiated in an attempt of ensuring that Greenland's dog sledding culture, knowledge and use are not lost.

[22] However, in 1967, Dorothy Page, who was conducting Alaska's centennial celebration, ordered 14 km (9 mi) of the trail to be cleared for a dog sled race.

[26] The teams are then loaded onto trucks and driven 48 km (30 mi) to Wasilla for the official race start in the afternoon.

[29] Carsten Borchgrevink used either Sámi sled dogs or Samoyeds with Finnish handlers in Antarctica during his Southern Cross Expedition (1898–1900), but it was much colder than expected at Cape Adare.

[29] In 1910, Scott returned with 33 Sakhalin huskies but noted that they performed poorly in deep snow and their docked tails prevented them from curling up to keep warm.

[29] Douglas Mawson and Xavier Mertz were part of the Far Eastern Party, a three-man sledging team with Lieutenant B.E.S.

Each animal yielded very little, and the major part was fed to the surviving dogs, which ate the meat, skin and bones until nothing remained.

Unfortunately eating the liver of sled dogs produces the condition hypervitaminosis A because canines have a much higher tolerance for vitamin A than humans do.

[29] On the return trip, a man skied ahead of the dogs and hid meat in the cairns to encourage them to run.

[2] Alaskan Malamutes are thought to be one of the first domesticated breeds of dogs, originating in the Kotzebue Sound region of Alaska.

[48] The term Mackenzie River husky describes several overlapping local populations of Arctic and sub-Arctic sled dog-type dogs, none of which constitutes a breed.

[49] The Samoyed is a laika developed by the Samoyede people of Siberia, who used them to herd reindeer and hunt, in addition to hauling sleds.

Sakhalin huskies are prized for their hardiness, great temperaments and easy trainability, even being the preferred dog used by the Soviet army for hauling gear in harsh condition prior to World War II.

[7] Unfortunately with the advent of mechanized travel, Soviet officials determined that the cost of maintaining Sakhalins was wasteful and exterminated them, with only a handful residing in Japan surviving.

[52] They later became widely bred by recreational mushers and show-dog fanciers in the United States and Canada as the Siberian Husky, after the popularity garnered from the 1925 serum run to Nome.

[55] The Yakutian Laika (Russian: Якутская лайка) is an ancient working dog breed that originated in the Arctic seashore of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.

The Yakutian Laika is recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI)[56] and the AKC's Foundation Stock Service.

[57] The Yakutian Laika is a medium size, strong and compact dog, with powerful muscles and thick double coat to handle bitter Arctic temperatures.

FSS held the first World Championships in Saint Moritz, Switzerland in 1990 with classes in only Sled Sprint (10-Dog, 8-Dog, and 6-Dog) and Skidog Pulka for men and women.

[61] In 1925, 10 months after Balto completed his run,[62] a bronze statue was erected in his honour in Central Park near the Tisch Children's Zoo.

His journey, fraught with white-out storms, was the longest by 200 miles and included a traverse across perilous Norton Sound — where he saved his team and driver in a courageous swim through ice floes.

[66] In 2019, Walt Disney Pictures released Togo, a film starring Willelm Dafoe as Leonard Seppala.

[67] In 1958, an ill-fated Japanese research expedition to Antarctica made an emergency evacuation, leaving behind 15 sled dogs.

[69] Anna was a small sled dog who ran on Pam Flower's team during her expedition to become the first woman to cross the Arctic alone.