We are a team of UK based mushers and dog sled racing fans who have come together to put on races in our area of the country.
We aim to put on 2 - 3 races a year in the Gloucestershire area namely in the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean, to a high standard with great trails, well organised races and to promote our local area as a great place to race dogs!
Most of us have been organising races for many years, owning and running dogs and are life time fans of the sport. We love running and living with our dogs and even though we enjoy traveling to races its nice to have one on your doorstep. So we came together and set up www.wyedean-mushing.com to organise and advertise our races, give mushers somewhere for information leading up to them and to educate people about the sport in our area.
SLED DOG RACING IN THE UK
Sled dog racing or Mushing as it is known is gaining popularity in the UK and races are held over most weekends from September to March in some of the countries most beautiful areas, from the forests of Scotland, the heath land of the South Coast and the hills of the boarder counties. Its not often that we get snow so we tend to use 3 or 4 wheeled custom designed dryland rigs, rather than the tradtional wooden dog sleds more readily seen in Alaska, Canada or Scandinavia, but on the odd weekend we get snow UK mushers can be found sliently running dogs to the sound of swishing runners and the padding of dogs paws in the snow, when it happens its magical...then again any time we run our dogs is magica!
Mushers (dog drivers) in the UK tend to run along the sprint racing lines rather than the long distance races found in the arctic regions of the world, trails are typicaly 3 - 8 miles rather than the 200, 300 or 1000 miles of the famous Alaskan races, but we are still as competitive and still get the same thrill standing on the runners behind a smooth loping team of huskies, malamutes or any of the other sled dog breeds. Our team maybe a little smaller too, classes are put on for teams as small as 2 dogs or even one dog freight breeds to as big as 8 dog teams that can reach speeds nearing 30 mph!
The races are held in the winter time due to the temperatures, the dogs love running best in minus 20C, something we dont get very often in the UK though it has been known in the valleys of Scotland on cold clear winter days. We train and run our dogs under 15c max, so as the dogs dont over heat, the welfare of our dogs is absoultley paramount in our minds and is always the mushers forst priority! Its a technical sport involving not just top level dog care but also maintainance of your team, training often in the cold dead of night after long days at work, or before.
The Rigs have to be in fully working order, harnesses well fitting on the dogs, lines clean and safe. Things like feeding and watering routines before and after races training trails, who will run where on the team, when can i get the dogs out next? is often in the mushers minds during time spent in the office or at work. Which all has to be fitted in and around most peoples busy lives.
Its an expensive hobby, its fun with just 2 dogs but soon folks want more so they can run a bigger team or the wife husband and kids can race, so that equals more dogs, equals more food, more harnesses, more leads and collars, more vet visits, race entry fees, fuel to get there, specailist winter clothing, an extra rig for training on or a lighter one for racing, arctic sleeping bags for sleeping in the van with the dogs at a soggy cold race site, a bigger van or specialist dog truck...even a bigger house to fit it all in! But its all worth it! just to see these amazing atheletes doing whay 4000+ years of breeding has produced! these dogs are the true heros and atheletes of our sport!!! why not come to one of our races and see for yourself!
SLED DOG BREEDS
The breeds most commonly found running in the UK are the Siberian Husky and the Alaskan Malamute although Eskimo dogs, Greenland dogs and Samoyeds can be seen racing alongside. Dogs have to be over 1 year in age and have to be of a pedigree breed. Some races do allow you to run your collie next to your husky as long as it is physically fit and able to do the job in hand. In some cases rescue sled dogs and some sled dog cross breeds are allowed under strict rules, certification and vetting, but are not accepted as a matter of course. (We do not condon the breeding of non-kennel club or un-registered dogs, puppy farming or the breeding of so called 'northern innuit' dogs).
So you have a husky and want to run it... the best place to start is by joining the Siberain Husky Club of Great Britain (a link can be found on the links page), or the Alaskan Malamute Working Association. From there you can gain mountains of information and advice on how to get started in the sport, both hold regular 'teach in' weekends for those wishing to get started. Or you might be able to find a team or musher local to you to help get you going. Often attending a race is a good place to get some information and you will be able to see how the dogs are run, the work invloved and have a great day out, most mushers are approachable and are willing to talk, just be polite an be prepared to listen...lots! The race organisors are foten the best port of call, drop them a line and ask if you can attened their race, and can they introduce you to some helpful experienced mushers.
In the UK we have the unique system of having to obtain a permit to train and run sled dog.This is due to the fact that most forests and land is privatly owned, it is often hard work to find an area suitable for running dogs, public park land pavements and roads are not a good place to start and are probably best avoided! Once you have been to a teach in or have some experience from helping out or training with a local musher you might want to buy some of your own equpiment and start training, ebay is often not the best place to buy stuff for the dogs as you need to find the right fitting harness, lines etc. most races will have someone selling harnesses and will cutsom fit out your team. or you might like to try www.culpeppers.co.uk. As for finding a permit, thats the hard bit, trying a local forest is a good idea, they might have mushers running their already, and you might be able to get in contact with them through the local forestry commsion office, but be prepared to go on a waiting list or be turned down a few times before you get one.
What ever you do, do not run a team with out a permit, you might be jepodising someone elses training area and the sport as a whole in your local area! The best advice is to attend a mushing 'teach in' via the Siberian Husky Club GB or Alaskan Malamute Working Association, learn how to run dogs properly and safely before you venture out. The SHCGB has some fantastic advice and question and answer pages!
If you want to come along to one of our races either as a spectator or as a prospective musher, please get in contact and we can advise you on what to do next!.
