Dogs Pull Their Weight

April 21st, 2016

Sled dogs and their owners are getting ready to hit the track as the annual sledding season is set to begin.

Almost 100 owners and their canine companions competed at the season' first 100m dry land sled sprint held at Birkenhead Reserve Semaphore.

Drivers are behind their animals on either a bike or scooter, and race across a variety of distances from the short 100m sprint to an extended 3km race.

Teams can use just one dog or compete with up to six in a stunning display of the power of beautiful animals that share special relationships with their owners.

Sam Gilbert has always been interested in the sport, after a Google search nine years ago yielded interesting results.

“I had been thinking about it since then but only got involved two years ago after I finally got out there and tried it for myself,” she said.

“The sport has only been around in South Australia for about 15 years so it is still quite new.”

Sam competes with her three huskies - Freya, Rohn and Kassy. Each has a different personality.

“Kassy is quite laid back and will go with the flow of things,” Sam said.

“Freya throws her whole body into it and will give it everything she has and Rohn is a mixture of both personalities.”

The welfare of the dogs is the most important aspect of the sport with races and other events cancelled if the temperature exceeds 15 degrees.

Drivers and their dogs navigate their way through a marked course with communication playing an important part in a team's success.

Voice commands are used to navigate the dogs as well as to indicate speed to allow faster teams to overtake.

Sam says that sledding is the ultimate sport for dog lovers and said that it is truly a sport like no other.

“Sledding is an awesome way to spend time with your dogs and one of the best experiences I have ever had,” she said.

“The sport is always about having fun and it is a great way to meet new people and have a really different experience.”

Weight pulling is another event that has been a constant on the dog sled calendar.

Dogs are harnessed up to a wheeled cart loaded with sandbags and are encouraged by voice and hand signals from their owners to pull the cart over a distance of five metres.

The dogs have one minute to complete the task and during the pull, handlers must not touch the dog, or the cart.

There are four classes which the dogs can compete in and any medium to large dog over twelve months of age is eligible.

The winner is determined by which dogs have achieved the highest weight-to-weight ratio of the day.

Like sledding, Sam has been competing in weight pull events with her pooches competitively for the past twelve months.

“We started training for weight pull two years ago and now my 22 kilogram dog is pulling 730 kilograms,” Sam said.

“We have a number of weight pull events throughout the season.”

The next event will be held on August 28 at Paracombe Oval.

The South Australian Sled Dog club are also holding a training day for sled racers on May 1 through Kuitpo forest near Meadows.

The first racing meet of the season will then be held three weeks later on May 21 at Mount Crawford.

For more information, visit http://www.sasleddog.org.au or visit their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/sasleddog

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