Cross Breeds

My friend wants to start her own sled dog team. What should she buy?

Like what breed of dog is best just for little recreational races? How many dogs does she need? How much will one cost? Where should she find one? Should she start out with puppies or adult dogs? What should she look for in one?

Public Comments

1. i think huskies and alaskan malamutes are the bestsleddogds
2. about 12-14 sled dogs with experience, i good sled harnesses for the 12 dogs. A good quality dog sled outfit. boots for all of the dogs a place to house them and a trailer to haul all of these dogs and a truck to pull it and carry sled. ok then she must have food and water for all of these dogs a vet. cant think of anything else, oh insurance in case dogs get hurt. each dog will cost about $1,000, or more if trained. sled aboud $5,000, harnesses about $500 per dog trailer 20,000 dollars,truck 25,000, insurance 2,000 per year, food and vet about 10,000 a year. boots about 50 dollars a pair and each dog needs 2 pair.
3. Ask Gov. Sarah Palin's husband. I understand he won quite a few dog races. LOL.
4. first of all she needs two malamute huskies for the back of the pack then she will need four siberian huskies for the front of the sled. now the prices a malamute cost any where from 600.00-1000.00 and the siberian cost anywhere from 600.00-1000.00. she can find them on the internet looking up breeders of these dogs in the area. she sould start with adult dogs that are already trained for sledding. she should want a dog that is committed to running and loves doing it. The dog sled and accessories can cost alote two because you need all the equipment as well as first aid items incase one of the dogs gets an injured foot which is very common in dog sledding and you need the proper grooming suppies for spring when they are losing winter fur so that they don't get a bunch of knots. another type of dog that is good for sledding is the akita and it has the same price range as the other two. hope this help you out
5. For fun, recreational races, she can easily find suitable dogs in the pound. Common sprint race dogs are whippet, border collie, jack russel and husky type mixes. She should find some dogs over two years of age (or nearly that old) and train them herselves. Four would do. They should be hyperactive dogs, that want to pull on the leash all the time. You'll need a sled for the snow, and boots for all the dogs. An ATV for practice in the off season, harnesses, which will cost about $60-$150 each, the line for running the dogs off of (these can be made yourself... I talked to someone who ran the Iditarod and he had made his own). Good quality food. Something like high-fat, high-protien. Vet checkups for all the dogs -they need to be physically fit to be able to pull a sled. this is just what I can think of right now... and I'm tired
6. Whatever breed or type of dog she can stand to live with. Most people who run small recreational teams also keep those dogs as pets. I have seen people run recreational teams made up entirely of rescue dogs (Siberians, Malamutes, mixes of the two, whatever they adopted). I have seen people run their pet Siberians, pet Malamutes, etc. I have seen people running small teams of Alaskan huskies -- although your friend needs to understand that Alaskans do not make the best pets. She could adopt retired racing dogs from mushers in her area; that would probably be the easiest and cheapest way to begin. She would really do best trying to find a musher to mentor her -- the equipment and dogs can be expensive, but if you can borrow or buy used equipment from someone, it cuts the costs. Puppies she would have to train -- and being a novice, she could very easily screw it up. She would be better off buying older dogs who know what they're doing. I'd seriously recommend finding people in her area who run dogs and learning from them. If she is in North America, this site might help: http://www.sleddogcentral.com/beginners/welcome.htm Note the links at the bottom of the page to books, mentor opportunities, and clubs. Hope this helps!