Dog Sledding- You haven’t worked hard until you have “worked like a dog.”

I recently had the fabulous experience of dog sledding near Whitefish, MT, with Dog Sled Adventures, 406-881-BARK (www.dogsledadventuresmontana.com). Seven hundred pounds of individuals and sled and cold weather gear being pulled by 10 small, athletic dogs at 15-20 miles per hour over a 12-mile icy terrain is no small feat.

These canine athletes are coaxed to stop for adjustment in their gear, removal of snowballs from between their paw pads, etc. just three or four times over the entire course. You wouldn’t believe how excited they were to try and keep going to resume the trek!

Dogs with Team Spirit

Even when one dog towards the latter part of the course was freed of the pulling gear, i.e. basically let loose because of a problem with its foreleg, thus leaving the pulling to the nine dogs that were left, demonstrated the ultimate in team spirit. This hard-core team member tried to run in place in its old position keeping pace even though it was not attached to the pulling gear.

Dog Sled Adventures - My Recommendation

Though I had a fabulous time skiing the nearby Whitefish, MT, ski resort with excellent snow conditions and low altitudes (higher oxygen content), clearly the highlight of this trip was traveling at the speed of dogs. You have never worked as hard as these dogs and if you need some team spirit or motivation, consider contacting Dog Sled Adventures.

P.S. With weather of about 0-5 degrees surrounded by the hot chocolate, the very high quality, tasty hot chocolate was quite the reward but perhaps the raw meat fed the dog team was equally rewarding to them!