The icy air that burns your eyes, stings the skin on your face and fills your lungs with a breath of fresh air. The feeling of solitude in the middle of nature, with only the soundtrack of your dogs' jerky breathing, the sound of the sled's runners gliding over the snow and the distant crackling of branches. The feeling of being one with your team. To this day, it's our passion for dog sledding that keeps us eagerly awaiting the first flurries of snow.
When we had our dog shelter, we used to have fun harnessing 4 to 6 dogs in front of an old wooden sled and sinew found on a classified ads site to spend them all together. It all began in 2008 with a motley crew of stray dogs of unknown breeds with no experience of dog sledding. Yet we covered several hundred kilometers with them every winter.
Dog sledding is an activity that, at first glance, may seem inaccessible and straight out of a movie. However, this discipline is more accessible than you might think, and is actually gaining in popularity in Canada. With the general craze for harnessed dog sports in recent years, “micro-mushing” (referring to small kennels of 3 to 6 dogs) is becoming increasingly popular. In general, as soon as 3 or more dogs are harnessed, we can talk about dog sledding, since with this size of team, a snow scooter would be too light and less safe.
Before harnessing so many dogs in front of a sled, you need to make sure that they have a minimum of harnessing experience, or that you have at least one good lead dog who will be able to guide them and get them to maintain a good rhythm. Harnessing more than 3 dogs with no previous experience of dog sledding can quickly turn your outing into a real headache.
What equipment do you need to enter the wonderful world of dog sledding? Actually, you don't need a lot of equipment, but there are a few essentials that will simplify your life and allow you to practice this activity safely:
Dog pulling harness
In dog sledding, the attachment point of the hitching system is much lower than the dog's back, so the pulling force exerts direct pressure on the dog's hips. As a result, it's essential to have a harness that's suitable for pulling and that offers good support for the back (strap that forms an “X”) to distribute this pressure and free the hips. Dog sledding is a fairly intense harnessed canine sport, so good padding is essential to offer your dog maximum comfort - our dog pulling harness uses dense, closed-cell foam padding that's waterproof and very low in abrasion compared to many harnesses on the market.
Dog sledding
Of course, otherwise you won't get very far! There are a huge number of models available on the market, depending on your budget, the size of your team and the type of outings you want to do (sprint, trek or distance). The materials used are equally diverse, ranging from wood to plastic, aluminum and carbon. Our SIGMA dog sled has been specifically developed for teams of 2 to 4 dogs. Made entirely of aluminum, it combines lightness, strength and durability. It's a hybrid model, since its low weight (21 lbs) and handling make it an excellent sled for sprinting, but it has also proved its worth on long rides in powder snow where tracks were sometimes absent.
Bungee
The pulling dynamics of dog sledding are very different from other harnessed dog sports such as skijoring or bikejoring. Most of the time, you'll be standing on the dog sled and letting your dog(s) pull. The load pulled by the dog(s) is therefore much more static than in bikejoring, where the rider is dynamic and propels himself forward by pedaling. These factors mean that a regular bungee line cannot be used for dog sledding. The bungee needs to be very stiff so as not to create excessive energy loss by constantly stretching when the dogs are pulling, but still absorb impacts to protect the dog. Our bungee for dog sled has been developed. It will stretch and absorb impact when starting off, resuming on a slope or braking suddenly, but will not stretch constantly with each dog's stride.
Team section(s)
This is the sled dog team that allows you to keep your dogs together as a team. The larger your team, the more successive team sections you'll need. For example, with 4 dogs, you'll only need one team section and add 2 tuglines at the front (for the 2 lead dogs). If you're harnessing 6 dogs, you'll need 2 successive team sections and add 2 draft lines to the front (for the 2 lead dogs). The use of a neckline is recommended.
Tugline(s)
As previously mentioned, the draft line is located at the very front of your team, and is used to harness the lead dog(s). If you wish to have 1 or 2 dogs at the front of your team, you'll need to adjust the number of draft lines accordingly. These lines are always at the front of your hitch system, regardless of whether you have more than one team section.
Proudly made in Canada
Proudly made in Canada
Tugline12.99$
Dog pulling harness74.99$
Dog pulling harness | PIGMA89.99$• P I G M A •
Dog collar | Harness sports 19.99$
Dog collar | Buckle 24.99$
Dog collar | Reflective 29.99$
Neckline14.99$
Dog boot | Snowy surface5.49$
