Dog Sled

A dog sled is a sledge pulled by one or more trained sled dogs over snow and ice, a practice known as mushing, built in a range of designs suited to different loads and terrain. Sled dogs have been used by humans for hunting and travel for more than 9,000 years, and different Arctic peoples developed distinct harnessing traditions: Inuit communities in Greenland and eastern Canada traditionally arranged their dogs in a fan formation, while Alaskan and northern Canadian mushers more commonly positioned dogs in side-by-side pairs. Dog sledding remains an active, practical means of transport in remote Arctic and sub-Arctic settlements, including Qaanaaq and Ittoqqortoormiit in Greenland, where communities continue to depend on it for hunting and fishing, and it also persists as organized competitive and recreational mushing, run chiefly with Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes and Alaskan huskies bred for strength, endurance and cold-weather resilience.