Trip Planning & Visitor Info

The Role of Tourism in Racing the Iditarod

Sarah · April 18, 2018 ·

The role of Alaska Tourism in Racing the Iditarod — The Role of Tourism in Racing the Iditarod. Original Photo by Kalani Woodlock

It seems strange to think that a little over a month ago, we were in Nome completing a 1,000-mile journey with our dogs. While we work on organizing Travis’ stories from the trail we thought we’d write about the migratory lives that many in the mushing world live in order to fund this crazy lifestyle.

Dog sledding in Alaska is not a cheap sport to participate in and running Iditarod, makes dog sledding much more expensive. Racing a 1,000-mile endurance race requires lots of additional training which in turn requires the dogs to eat a lot more food and go through lots of booties. We go through approximately 6,000 booties over the course of a training season. Our dog food bill is more than our mortgage, utility payment, and truck payment combined! On the low end of the scale, mushers spender approximately $30,000 dollars to train and race a team capable of reaching the finish line in Nome. Lots more, if you plan on running competitively. Of course, regardless of what is said by animal right’s activists, the financials of racing Iditarod do not make sense. Teams finishing in the top 20 are, at best, breaking even. We participate in the Iditarod because we love traveling the trail with our dogs: nothing is more remarkable than going on a 1,000 mile journey with your best friends!

Although many mushers hope for large sponsorships to materialize to offset the heavy financial burden running an Iditarod kennel entails, the majority of Iditarod mushers and their handlers have to figure out how to finance the high cost of running dogs on their own. Many mushers look to Alaska’s booming tourism economy to make their winter dreams a reality. Alaska dog sledding tours help turn many mushers’ Iditarod dreams into realities.

Because the tourism industry allows mushers to continue to work with our dogs, it is heavily favorited by dog mushers. Mushers pursue dog sledding because they love to be around dogs and working in tourism allows this. Other popular occupations for Iditarod racers include construction as well as fishing which are also seasonal occupations here in Alaska.

For our kennel and our Iditarod ambitions, we rely on tourism. We operate two different dog sled tours out of our hometown of Seward, Alaska. At our kennel, we operate a dog sled tour that focuses on providing hands-on experiences to small groups of guests. Our goal is to share our passion for dog mushing and also to educate the public on dog sled racing and sled dog care. The tour includes a fun dog sled ride on a wheeled car through wooded trails where we perform a one-of-a-kind lead dog demonstration, showing off our dogs’ training and intelligence. We love this tour because it focuses on training new lead dogs and takes our guests “behind the scenes” to show how we use positive reinforcement to teach our sled dogs our dog mushing commands.

We also offer a dog sled tour up on Godwin glacier for those seeking a winter-like experience and wanting to experience Alaska dog sledding on snow in the summer. Guests take a helicopter ride up to Godwin glacier, mush for two miles, and enjoy the amazing scenery. It’s really incredible how you can go from a summer landscape to a winter landscape in just a short helicopter ride! Alaska’s beauty constantly amazes us and this tour has been described as “life-changing” and “the trip of a lifetime!” Our dogs certainly enjoy getting to go on a winter vacation and we frequently rotate the dogs between our kennel and our remote glacier camp.

Our tour operation gives us lots of freedom not only in how our tours are conducted but also in how our dogs are cared for. For us, our livelihood also allows us to work with our dogs day in and day out which has major training benefits. We believe our summer dog sled tours really help us as a competitive racing kennel as we can continue to work with dogs and train lead dogs, work on developing young talent, and building a cohesive team. Tourism is also a really great way to introduce people to our sport and teach visitors all about how we care for our sled dogs.

With this to look forward to after returning home from Nome, we slowly began packing up our Willow residence. It almost seemed like we couldn’t leave Willow quick enough — the snow in Willow was melting and after having been gone from Seward for over 6 months, we were ready to return home. So we began the long arduous process of moving.

The process has taken weeks and is slowly coming to an end with the final dogs arriving in Seward. We couldn’t be happier in returning home: our local community has supported us in every conceivable way — from throwing fundraisers, to recommending our tours, to even helping prepare our food drops.

We are excited for summer to begin and for the opportunities that await us. We look forward to meeting new friends and sharing our passion for mushing with our guests. In between, we will enjoy the sunshine, barbeques, gardening, and friends that only home can offer.

We are so grateful for all the support our kennel receives from visitors to Alaska. Thanks for helping turn our dream into a reality and allowing us to live this wonderful lifestyle with our dogs.

Bring on the summer! We can’t wait!

Letting Hair Fly: Why We Chose to Groom Our Sled Dogs

Sarah · May 22, 2015 ·

This year we decided to have our entire kennel of sled dogs groomed. This is something we have never done before and something we absolutely loved. Amber Travis of Bully & Bug Grooming, a local dog groomer here in Seward, Alaska came out to our kennel to help us tackle the enormous project of grooming our dogs.

We first decided to have our kennel groomed after we took our older german shepherd, Betty, in to see Amber. I was sick of finding Betty’s hair everywhere as she was heavily shedding and she looked like a hot mess. Betty, however, did not enjoy me brushing her and, running two businesses, I had very little time that I could dedicate to the project. Upon advise from friends, I called Amber up and we set a date. Betty went in to Amber’s grooming facility and emerged nearly 4 hours later sleek and gorgeous. Her thick undercoat was entirely gone.

Amber had special combs and blow out tools that she used to help get rid of the fur Betty was trying to shed. We talked and after thinking about it for a few days I decided that this was something I wanted to do for our sled dogs.

Why Groom Sled Dogs?

Most mushers would say that they don’t groom their sled dogs and that they rarely give their dogs baths. We, however, decided that grooming our dogs would be beneficial for several important reasons:

Our dogs work hard and they deserve to be pampered.
Getting rid of their heavy undercoat would help them run tours in the warm summer temperatures.
When dogs have problems shedding their coat in can lead to skin irritation and infection; by having their coats blown out we avoid this problem all together.

When we looked at these reasons, we decided that they really aligned with our kennel’s mission to provide consistently excellent dog care. We were also able to help another local business which, in our book, is always a great thing to do. We can help be a part of our local community by hosting events like Paint-A-Palooza and we can also be a part of our local community by supporting local businesses, such as Amber’s.

Looking back, I can’t believe we hadn’t done something like this before because it really has significantly impacted our dogs overall well being. Not only did they (mostly) enjoy being blown and brushed out, they are also now much more comfortable as temperatures continue to climb as we enter the warm summer months.

Here is a short video of the dogs being groomed:

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKJ1vV2VTWc&feature=youtu.be”]

The Hair of 40 Sled Dogs — Just some of the hair of 40 sled dogs

Because our dogs do tours, they will retain less of their body heat and will be better at keeping themselves cool. It also significantly impacts the dogs who will go up on Godwin Glacier for the summer as by blowing them out, they will now shed significantly less on the glacier meaning our crew will have less work. Believe it or not, we have to rake up dog hair on the glacier all summer long!

We are really happy with our decision to have our dogs groomed and will be looking forward to letting their hair fly again next year!

What To Expect When Visiting a Sled Dog Kennel in Alaska

Sarah · May 13, 2015 ·

Dog sledding is a must-do activity in Alaska no matter what time of year you happen to visit. There are three main types of summer dog sled tours that we covered in our last post Everything You Need To Know About Alaska Dog Sled Tours that you should certainly read over if you are considering a trip to Alaska. Once you decide to go on a dog sled tour, what exactly should you expect and how should you plan ahead?

What To Expect When Visiting A Dog Sled Kennel

Sled dogs are working dogs that live outside year-round. They are a high-energy dog that are bred to endure cold arctic conditions. Today’s racing sled dogs have lean athletic frames and are built for speed and endurance. Because of their high energy demands, mushers generally run their dogs on a consistent schedule. When they are not running, sled dogs are kept at their own individual house with their own private space. These houses are arranged in organized rows. This setup is commonly referred to as a “dog yard.”

Seeing a dog yard for the first time can be quite strange to people who are used to owning one dog that lives inside and goes everywhere with them. Most people are not used to seeing so many dogs tied up. Keeping our dogs on swivel posts and chains allows them to run in their circle and get exercise to their hearts’ content.

It’s important to remember that the main function of a dog yard is to give our dogs time to rest. During the height of training, our sled dogs will run up to 120 miles at a time. Even though our sled dogs live outside, our lives revolve entirely around their well-being so they get plenty of one-on-one attention too. We even bring our sled dogs inside for short supervised visits. If they are inside for too long, sled dogs get hot and anxious — not to mention our cat gets very offended!

Older sled dogs sometimes retire to inside homes. If you are interested in adopting a retired sled dog, you can fill out our adopt a dog questionnaire. We don’t have any retirees available at the moment but we do like to keep a list of interested people. Placing our older dogs in loving homes is extraordinarily important to us.

Kennel Behavior

A common misconception is that sled dog kennels are loud. While at times a kennel can be loud, for the most part, sled dogs should be quiet. Our guests are often amazed at how quiet our dogs are, even once they enter our kennel. Sled dogs who live and work in a tour environment should be used to seeing people come and go.

In general, sled dogs who are well taken care of and have their needs met, should be relatively quiet. Sled dogs need food, water, love, and most importantly, the ability to run and pull, to live fulfilling lives.

Our dogs do get noisy when it’s time to run because they love to share and vocalize their excitement. All the barking is a big chorus of “pick me!” and “I want to run!” If you do not like dogs barking, or have sensitive ears, consider bringing earplugs as they can get loud!

Sled Dog Behavior

Because sled dogs are working dogs, they don’t always react to people the same way a pet dog does. Always make sure you ask the owner or person in charge of your dog sled tour if it is ok for your to approach or pet a dog. It’s important to understand that each dog has its own unique personality. Some dogs are shy and do not like meeting strangers whereas some sled dogs want to meet everyone. Some of our best athletes are shy around guests! Although we do try to work with our shy dogs, we also respect their personalities.

Sled dogs may also jump or be overly excited when meeting new people. If you are uncertain about approaching a certain dog, always ask. Some kennels do not like guests petting or approaching their team; if this is important to you on your dog sled tour make sure you ask at the time of booking.

What To Wear On Your Dog Sled Tour

When visiting a kennel, it’s important to dress appropriately. Because sled dogs are working dogs they behave differently than pet dogs. Many mushers encourage their dogs to jump up and “hug” them. If you want to interact with sled dogs, you should expect some jumping. Wear a jacket that you do not mind getting a little dog hair or dirt on.

Dog yards are working facilities. We strongly encourage guests to wear pants and sneakers or hiking boots. Although we keep our dogs and our facility clean, if you choose to interact with sled dogs then there is a chance you could get some dirt on your clothes. Most people are not bothered by this but a great solution, if you are worried about getting your jeans dirty from the dogs, is to wear rain gear — which you should already be packing for your trip. Invest in rain jackets and rain pants for everyone in your group because when it rains in Alaska, it pours. Rain gear can also provide great protection from mosquitos in the interior part of Alaska.

Check Out These Great Dog Sledding Resources

Dog sledding is a fascinating sport. Although modern-day racing takes the stage at many kennels, the history of dog sledding is extremely interesting. We love writing about sled dogs here on our blog and have started putting together some great resources to increase awareness and understanding of our sport. Check out these great blog posts.

These are some great blog posts giving an overview of mushing. If you want to delve deeper, we strongly suggest checking out these books: