Denali Sled Dogs

Best Buddies

The Puppies - One litter a year for the 37 dogs to maintain the dogs which normally pull sleds in Denali for 10 years and travel 3,000 miles each year. The puppies will be on the teams next winter.

You can view the puppies on the webcam

These are Alaskan Huskies and are bred to haul supplies and equipment while Susan Butchers dogs shown earlier are smaller and faster and are used for sled racing. Typically each dog will haul 50 pounds while the largest one can actually pull 1000 pounds by himself. Sled dogs are the only means of transportation in Denali during the winter as no vehicles including snowmobiles are allowed to protect the environment.

The ideal temperature for the dogs is -10 degrees and they are warm at 10 degrees. Imagine how they feel today at 55 degrees. But give them -10, a sled and they like to run all day, day after day. The western post in Kantishna is 90 miles from the kennels and that's only one trail.

A demonstration for us

At the end two of the dogs that like to eat rocks are returned to their cement pad kennel.

And this one decided to bury his treat which he got for the run

Sled dogs have saved mushers lives with their sense of feel of dangerous ice or smell in total white out conditions. As shown in the first picture dogs and mushers develop a bond that benefits both.

BTW when the rope holding the sled is released the dogs are off running and the musher better be on the sled!