Sled Dog Races in the White Mountains of Arizona

This past weekend found Fido and his friends up at the Sunrise Ski area where there was still snow to be found...and the dogs were running!  Yep.  Sled dog races.  We had no idea that this dog sport could be so fun!  So many things we learned as we watched the teams compete this weekend:

First of all, sled dog racing is definitely a family affair.  It takes more than one person to get the dogs hooked up and to bring the teams out to the start.  Depending on the size of the team, mom, dad, sons, daughters all had a hand in gettting the dogs to the start.  Additionally, young mushers can compete in a junior musher division where they compete against other young mushers. 
Another thing we learned was that any breed of dog can participate...all that's needed is a willingness to run and the fitness and training to pull the sled with a person on it.  The fastest team we saw this weekend was made up of hound mixes.  These dogs were eager to run and didn't seem to tire!  There were, of course the huskies and malamutes, but the team that really turned heads was the team with the 2 beautiful white Samoyeds.  These dogs, it turned out, are show dogs...meaning they show in the breed ring...but they were here at the races to prove that they were more than a couple pretty faces.  These 2 dogs ran their very first novice course and completed it in style!
The races are run in heats.  The teams don't all start together at the start line.  I imagine because the teams and harnesses could conceivably get all tangled if someone got off to a rough start.  The teams come up to the start line one at a time, a count down is started, and the team is off and running.  The next team comes up within a certain time frame and the routine is repeated.  And so on until all the teams are running.  The heat is completed when the last team crosses the finish line.  Depending on the level or division that is running, the course is measured in miles and each team is timed.  The team with the fastest time wins the heat. 

The spectators always cheer when each team starts off...when the teams are out of sight, we all turn to idle chatter until someone will suddenly call out "Team coming in!"  Or "Here comes a team!"  Everyone turns to cheer the teams into the finish line.  At the finish line, each musher dismounts, and heads his or her team off for immediate nutrition and hydration after working so hard.

There are multiple divisions...such as 6 dog team, 4 dog team, 3 dog, etc.  And there are multiple levels and level of courses.  There was a novice course that was a mile long and basically one loop.  There were the junior mushers, and the more experienced mushers who had more turns and more miles on their courses.

Fido says that bundling up and going on up to the higher elevation was well worth it this weekend.  If you are interested in finding out more about participating in sled dog racing we found a couple websites you might want to check out.  Arizona Mountain Mushers has information about other competitions scheduled this year and the organization that sanctions sled dog races can be found at ISDRA Sled Dog Racing.  These couple links just might get you and your fido started on a whole new adventure!