DOG SLEDDING

How much does it cost?

Go along for the ride...

Dog sledding holidays are offered all over the World. They are of course, more popular and commonly found over the winter period and are often very popular. Excursions can range from a single hour or half day trip as part of a larer holiday, or could be a day of your holiday, or perhaps upto 2 weeks if you want to take part in a long excursion, take in more of nature and go places where man doesn't normally get the chance to go!
The price of these packages varies of course from location to location. Chances are you'll manage to find an option to suit your needs and your budget somewhere. For an excursion of 3-5 days prices are usually around £300- £500 and include food, transport, all your equiptment (including of course your own dog team) as well as tuition and accomodation.

Want to buy your own?

If you want to go all the way and run have your own dog sledding team for either fun or to compete in events then it will cost a lot of money. Pure breed Alaskan Malamues and Siberian Huskies from good racing lines can cost in excess of £850 each.
Sleddog driving is certainly a sport that requires the right equipment. That said, it need not be terribly expensive as far as the hardware goes. (The real money goes into the dogs and their maintenance!) The tricky part is acquiring the right gear; there is a lot of rubbish sold to unsuspecting novices. There is a great temptation for the beginner in sleddogs to rush out and buy a shiny new dogsled complete with ganglines and harnesses, from the nearest place that stocks such exotic items! The temptation ought to be resisted, because almost never does the beginner acquire the right kind of gear that will serve him well, cause few problems, and withstand the stresses and strains of dog driving. Sad, but true. A dogsled can be an expensive item, so you want to make sure you don't make a purchase you'll regret.
Huskies ready to race Don't buy any equipment at all until you have visited several experienced dog drivers and asked them what you need and where you should go to get it. Harnesses are critically important even for the novice driver. Please, for your dogs' sake, don't make the mistake of thinking you can make them yourself! The proper construction of dog harnesses so that they actually fit the dogs is an art that is attempted by many but mastered by very few.
Wheeled Rigs are necessary for training before the snow flies or if a country does not get much snow. There's a wide variety of these around, but relatively few are much good. There are some very expensive models available that are pretty useless. One option is to use a mountain bike (or, alternatively, a kids' BMX bike) for training sleddogs one or two at a time. But the bike won't help you condition an entire team; you should never hook more than two dogs to a bicycle.