Determining Your Needs

Any trainable dog can be a sled dog, depending on what you want to do with it. A musher must use appropriate care when asking any dog to work. A team of beagles can pull a sled, but they couldn't break trail in 2 feet of snow. A team of 30-pound border collies might pull well, but they should be outfitted with booties to protect their long-haired feet. A team of poodles can make good sled dogs, but it isn't wise to ask them to camp out in severe weather. Some dogs have a head start for some types of mushing. Northern breeds are closer to their wild ancestors, the wolves, and they have the physical adaptations that keep them comfortable in very cold weather. Hundreds of years of selective breeding have given them a strong instinct to run and pull.

When thinking about how many dogs you should have, take into account what you can afford in time and money, what your zoning/living situation will allow, and what it will take to do what you want. All sled dogs are not the same, and you will need fewer dogs if all of the ones you have are suitable for what you want to do. If you keep fewer dogs, your costs will be lower, and you can give more attention and better care to the ones you have. Keep your kennel the size you can care for properly-don't let numbers creep up to the point that neither you nor the dogs are happy.

Preventing Breeding

If you own any female dogs that aren't spayed, you must have at least one heat pen. It must be roomy enough to hold all of the dogs in heat comfortably and tall enough or roofed so that dogs can't get in or out. Although you must also keep your male dogs secure and under control, the heat pen is also important to prevent matings with stray dogs. (See The Dog Yard and Housing section for further considerations for heat pen design.)

Pills and shots are available to terminate pregnancy if given within a few days of breeding. This only works, of course, if you have seen the breeding and know to give the treatment. Abortions can cause complications and aren't a substitute for prevention. Consult your veterinarian for details.

Spaying (ovariohysterectomy) or neutering (removal of the testicles) are good options for dealing with heat cycles and for preventing unwanted litters. Sterilization can also make it easier to run females and males together and can save money by reducing dog fights, health problems, and food requirements.

Some mushers are under the false impression that spaying or neutering will reduce the drive of the racing sled dog, but this is rarely the case. Many top long-distance and sprint mushers have successfully run neutered and spayed dogs in their racing teams with no decrease in performance.

Reasons for spaying a female include to:

Reasons for neutering a male are to:

Note that a vasectomy in the male dog will only sterilize the dog. It will not have any other benefits.

The best time to spay female dogs is before their first heats; this does not seem to affect their development. Veterinarians recommend about 4 months old or later for spaying or neutering.

For the small kennel, especially for a recreational team, spaying and neutering can save a tremendous amount of frustration, energy, and money in the long run. One unwanted litter or one serious dog fight is much more expensive than the cost of the surgery.

What to Do with Dogs You Don't Want to Keep

It is unfair to the dogs to own more than you can handle. Any musher only has so much time, space, and money, and those are divided by the number of dogs in the yard. Sled dogs are born to run and should not be kept on their chains all their lives. Don't keep them if you don't have the time to exercise them. Review your needs; honestly evaluate the dogs you have; and then figure out what to do.

The most difficult part of owning dogs is figuring out what to do with dogs you can't keep. One option is to give them away to interested, reliable people-consider recreational or junior mushers, skijorers, mushers competing in less demanding classes, or pet owners looking for a companion. Be sure to fit the dog to the right person. Be honest with the prospective owner. Many sled dogs do not make good pets; some have an instinct to roam or kill livestock and are often more independent than some pet owners expect. Keep in mind that dogs that have been properly cared for and socialized have the best chances to be placed.

You might be able to sell your extra dogs. The market is very limited except for sellers with top-notch kennel records, so don't assume that you will be able to sell extra animals. If you do sell dogs, be honest and try to make the right matches; make sure that the new owner will care for the dog properly.

If you do all the other things right, euthanasia of unwanted dogs should rarely be needed, but in some circumstances, it may be the most humane alternative. Such circumstances include deformities, serious injuries or sickness, old age, and dogs that do not perform as sled dogs and are behaviorally unsuitable to be pets (note that if puppies are properly socialized, this should not be the case). Whenever possible, animal control shelters or veterinarians should be used to perform euthanasia. However, in rural areas, such facilities may not be available, but you must still make sure the dogs are killed humanely, with no suffering. Consult a veterinarian or animal control officer for advice. Euthanasia is not a substitute for a proper breeding and birth control program.

If rabies is suspected and you are in Alaska, quarantine the dog and call the State Virology Laboratory at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Monday through Friday, 8 A.M. to 4 P.M., at 907-474-7017 or at other times at 907-456-5974, or call your local animal control office or veterinarian. Outside of Alaska, contact the animal control office in your area. Note that all bite cases should be reported.

Acquiring Dogs

When you decide to acquire a dog or dogs, consider your options. Animal shelter and give-away dogs will suit some purposes-for some beginning recreational mushers or junior mushers, for instance-but use caution. This may be a good source, but it takes luck, patience, and some ability to look at dogs to pick one that will be a good sled dog.

Leasing or borrowing dogs may be an option if you aren't sure how committed you are or if you need extra dogs for only one race or one season. Shop carefully, as there are many options. Make sure your lease agreement is clear on who is financially responsible for illnesses or injuries, and remember that borrowed dogs need the same good care as the ones you own.

When purchasing dogs, be sure of what you want and need before shopping. There are very good dogs for sale, but you have to be careful to make sure what you buy is right for you. Think hard about what you want your dogs to do. Don't buy a dog just because it comes from a well-known musher. For help in evaluating the health of the dog you are considering purchasing, see the Basic Health Care: Prepurchase Exam section.

Another option for building a team is raising puppies yourself if you're sure you have the time and energy for this process. Good dogs are easier and probably less expensive to buy than to raise; however, raising puppies is a fulfilling experience if you can afford to do it and have homes for each of the puppies if you aren't keeping them all yourself. Breeding sled dogs should be viewed as a way to produce better dogs, not just more dogs. A quick look at the number of dogs destroyed at animal control shelters should convince anyone that more than enough dogs of all breeds are being born.

The Mechanics of Breeding

If you do decide to breed dogs, remember that in less than six months you will have essentially full-grown dogs, which need a house and chain or a pen of their own-they don't stay small for long. For Alaskan huskies, plan on more than six pups per litter; however, a litter can easily include as many as ten or as few as one or two. If you breed four females, be prepared for as many as forty new dogs!

Before you breed dogs, you must do two things: (1) make a realistic plan for what you will do with every pup that is born and (2) ensure that the dogs you breed have all the essential attributes for being sled dogs and that they have all the characteristics you want (not just the best dogs you yourself own or the ones you like the most). If you don't have the right dogs, buy a good female, buy the service of a good stud, or offer to raise pups for a musher who has high-quality dogs. Never breed dogs with genetic defects.

Choose the female and male for the special qualities you most want. Think carefully about what is most important to you because you can rarely have everything: speed, good feet, great attitude, ravenous eater, size, leader-type head, fast trotter, and so forth. These factors are all genetically related. If a certain size is very important to you, make sure both parents are the size you want. If you only want 40-pound dogs, don't pick a 60-pound stud just because he's fast-you won't be happy with the litter. Instead, find an equally fast 40-pound stud. If size is of no concern, but good feet are a must in your kennel, breed only parents with good feet. It is important to realize, however, that if you breed two dogs with good feet, you will not positively get a litter with all perfect feet, but you will greatly increase your chances. While you are evaluating the parents, find out as much as you can about the grandparents as well.

Remember that genetics make up only a portion of what the final results will be. Producing good sled dogs takes a lot of good physical care, mental conditioning, and education. The more time you spend with the pups, the better they will be.

Both male and female dogs become fertile at 6 to 12 months of age. Although a female may be bred in her first heat, many breeders prefer not to because it interrupts her growth and because young dogs can be poor mothers. It is also a good idea not to breed very young dogs so that you can be sure they have the traits you want. Older dogs can be bred as long as they are willing, but fertility generally declines after about 8 to 10 years of age. Also be cautious about breeding females over 6 years old that have not been bred for two or three years, as they more frequently have problems with whelping.

The timing of breeding is determined entirely by the heat cycle of the female, which can vary widely. The average interval between heats is about six months, but it is not uncommon for dogs to come into heat every three to four months or once a year. A female dog will usually be receptive to a male seven to ten days after she has begun bleeding. When she is receptive, she should flag her tail and stand to allow the male to mount. Although one breeding is all that is necessary to produce a full litter of pups, dogs are commonly allowed to mate every other day until they have bred about three times. Getting dogs to breed is usually an easy proposition, especially if they are experienced. If complications arise, a veterinarian can assist by testing the female for ovulation or the male for fertility and performing artificial insemination if necessary.

Be sure the female is adequately vaccinated and wormed before breeding. Also be sure to disinfect the puppy pen and house and the whelping box before the pups arrive.

Pups are usually born 60 to 65 days after the breeding that resulted in conception. An experienced veterinarian can often tell if a dog is pregnant by palpating the abdomen 21 to 28 days after breeding. Also, International Canine Genetics has a 95 percent reliable pregnancy test using blood taken 27 to 38 days after the last breeding. For more information, consult your veterinarian.

A pregnant female will need more food for at least the last third (three weeks) of her pregnancy. The female should be a little overweight, but be careful not to let her get obese, as this can cause trouble during whelping. See the Feeding and Watering section for more information.