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VIDEO: Hardest Working Dogs on the Planet

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Link to a 2.5 minute video of a documentary on sled dogs called PULL.

Looks like it might be a really interesting video.

http://vimeo.com/117012882

“Dogsledding lives at the intersection of skill and chaos…”

PULL is a short documentary film that delves into reflections on journeying the cold Northern Canadian landscape by dog sled.

_ _ _
Musher / Trapper: Burton Penner @ Borealis Dog Sled Adventures
Director / DP: Goh Iromoto
Camera Operators: Goh Iromoto & Courtney Boyd


Producer: Courtney Boyd @ Kith & Kin


Editor: Tom Mountain Jr. @ Upstate Post
Motion Design: Jason Smith @ Upstate Post
Colour: Goh Iromoto


Post Mixing & Sound Design: Quewin Warnasuriya @ Toronto Sound
Music Composition: Aaron Gaistman & Cory Revesz @ Reverie Music Group
Special Thanks: Paul Pepe @ Northwestern Ontario Tourism
 

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Enjoyed the video.

I love working dogs, gundogs, livestock protection dogs and herding dogs. I have never seen sled dogs work except on TV but one thing that surprised me was that most of them were not pure bred huskies which is what I would have expected. They may have been husky mixes but there were not many pure breds.
 
speaking from a background of almost 4 decades of owning, training, breeding, and racing sleddogs, many of the dogs used in the sport/passion of dog sledding are bred specifically for the sport - yes, they may be thought of as cross breeds, but a DNA study done at the University of Alaska 2 or 3 years ago on the "alaskan husky", the breed most often used for racing, shows higher DNA markers than either siberians or malamutes, who's "DNA markers tend to be confusing", according to the study - the study was able to determine the difference in the markers between alaskans bred for distance racing and sprint racing, ( which is what I do ) - it's very common in sprint races to have separate classes for the "purebreds" ( usually siberians or malamutes, but occasionally samoyeds ) because the purebreds aren't competitive with the alaskans - the separate classes were designed to encourage the purebred owners to continue to compete with their dogs - most of the alaskan huskies trace their heritage to the northern Indian village dogs, to which a variety of breeds have been added - many breeders have their own idea of how to create their custom " canine hotrod", but because the dogs are bred for a purpose, rather than a pet market or appearance, the satellite markers collected are the same
 

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Yup, they are amazing animals.

I watched a program on TV this week about a guy who kept sled dogs. They weren't kept for racing just work. He didn't work them too much during the summer and said that it took about a 1,000 miles at the start of winter to get them in to "fighting shape". After the first good snow, he'd run them out from his place for about 5 hours, stop, he'd get a snack and he'd run them 5 hours back home. After 10 hours of solid running and pulling they'd arrive back home with their tails wagging and energy to spare. Amazing animals.
 
I'll say they are - the sprint alaskans are born with a higher than normal red cell count - the distance bred alaskans are able to get their energy directly from fat, avoiding the lactic acid buildup that happens when a body gets it's energy from glucose ( blood sugars ) according to a $1.4 million US Army research, it's the only land animal capable of doing that - a dog has the largest heart to body size of any animal and the alaskan husky has the largest heart to body size of any dog - there are no other land animals capable of the endurance/speed of the alaskan husky
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
I have a friend who is a former Iditarod racer who now just breeds. he owned the team which took libby riddles to the first female win of the Iditarod. he looks for dogs with a good respiratory system to bread into his kennel there are a lot of other things he has to take in to account like how straight they walk but if the dog is too large or doesn't walk straight they aren't a canadate . big dreads like my old dog like Macarthur. made for good weight dogs but too big and too thick of a coat will promote over heating and make it expensive to feed on a long trip think of it like trying to tour the us in a super bee.
 
exactly - think of human marathon runners - the big skookum guy, 250 lbs with muscles on his muscles gets left far behind by the guys that look like they are starving refuges from the deserts of Africa - I know of the fellow you speak of Don - had one of his ex's here for a short while as a handler - he's a very good dog man
 
she did that for sure - took off into a severe, life threatening storm that had everyone seeking shelter - turned out she soon mushed out of the storm into good weather and was able to take a huge lead by the time the "big names" could get moving - they gained on her once they were moving, but couldn't catch her - first woman to win the Iditarod
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
an interesting fact other than Joe's many ex's from his younger years is that lobbies team had gone on strike and refused to run joe swapped teams with her, had he kept his team he might have won. as it was I think he was in the top 15 that year libby was also his main squeeze at the time. the things us guys do for a piece of you all know what. Hugh Neff is also a good friend of mine he has many stories to tell that never made the news too.
 
“Dogsledding lives at the intersection of skill and chaos…” - ( quote from the video description )
- a young lady I was mentoring described mushing as "The razor's edge between Nirvana and disaster"
 
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