Last summer of 2017, when I was 10, my family and I went to Alaska. We did a lot of things there, but my favorite thing to do was go dog sledding. We rode a dog sled on snow and one on land, but I’m going to talk about our dog sled on land.
We rode a tour bus going to the dog sled camp which is owned by Mitch Seavey. Mitch Seavey is a dog musher who has won lots of Iditarod races. His father Dan is one of the founders of the Iditarod. The Iditarod is a special event in Alaska. It’s a dog sled race on snow. It’s a 346-mile race, from Anchorage to Nome.
When we got there, after learning more about the Iditarod, one of the trainers who is called a musher first showed us her husky named Cogo. Cogo also happens to be a movie star! She showed us Cogo to tell us that the real race dogs aren’t huskies like Cogo, but are smaller and thinner.
And then she showed us their race dogs. My mom asked why some of them look thin, and not big and strong. The musher said, “We don’t look for the size and strength, but their desire to run.”
After the talk, we finally got ready to sled! On the sled, there were eight of us on board. But first, the musher got around 12 dogs to pull our sled. When she was done, she yelled “Ready!” to make the dogs go.
We rode through the woods and passed lots of trees, bushes, and even a glacier river! The ride was also a bit bumpy because of the rocks on the ground. The ride was a bit long because the dogs always took breaks along the trail. But to pass the time, the musher told us facts about the dogs.
The first pair of dogs, called the lead dogs, were named Susan and Dixen. Their job was to lead the way. Behind them were the next pair called the substitute dogs. Their job was to fill in for the leaders, just in case they get tired or injured. The third pair is the supportive dogs. One of them is named Rorry. He’s my favorite dog because he always jumps up and down when the musher yells, “Ready!” He’s always excited, energetic, and ready to go.
Rorry and his buddy’s job is to help support the first two pairs pull the sled so they won’t get tired easily. The fourth and fifth pairs also helped add more support to pull the sled. And finally, the last pair were called the wheel dogs, who helped turn the sled.
I was a bit disappointed because the ride wasn’t as fast as I thought it would be, but I was still happy we got to ride the sled. I also felt proud of the dogs because they’re very skillful, disciplined, and well trained. They know how to dodge the trees without stopping or slowing down. When the musher asks them to do something, they always obey. When we came back, the musher let us pet the tired dogs. For the dogs, petting them felt like a reward for pulling the sled for us.
After that, we went to see the puppies where you can pet them. My sister and I cuddled them – they were so soft and cute! Their eyes were half-open, and they shivered from the cold. Their ears were also flat on their head, and not perked up like the adults.
After we pet the puppies, we went inside a small room where all the racing stuff were. There was a racing sled, dog clothing, musher’s tools, snow clothes, and of course trophies that they won from dog sledding. She also brought in a dog who was retired from his work, and he helped demonstrate what the dog clothes were for. I was amazed by all those stuff for Iditarod racing!
And that was the end of our tour.
It was a very fun experience and I learned so much from it. Now I know why the mushers like joining races and why they go through hard work and training. It’s because they enjoy racing so much and they want to win. Riding a dog sled was so fun I’ll never forget it.
