Quote Originally Posted by Glacier
Yes, they love it. There is no way to force a dog to run. They either want to or they don't do it. My main lead dog is almost 12 years old and if I leave her at home, she follows me around and tells me off for the rest of the day. There is no more serious affront to a sled dog than leaving them behind.

Only one of my dogs is a malamute and he's not a working dog. That gene skipped Heyoka. He makes it very, very clear that he does not want to pull. He's perfectly healthy, extremely powerful and could run all day. He just chooses not to bother.

Malamutes and Siberians were both bred to work. Siberians were bred to pull a lighter load a long way at a moderate speed. Malamutes were bred to pull very heavy loads a long way at a slower speed. If you wanted to go visit your friends in the next village, you took Siberians. If you wanted to move your entire village, you took Malamutes.

In modern mushing, especially competitive mushing, very few people use purebreds of either breed. Most mushers use much smaller, lighter, faster mixes. The current most popular mix is the German Short-Haired Pointer, especially on sprint teams where the dogs don't have to brave the elements for days on end in races. Even distance racing dogs have a high percentage of GSP and hound in them now.

oh ok i did not know this and thank you for the information

I bet that its funny when she tells you off for not taking her with
I hope that you did not think it was a flame or i thought that you were being mean cause i wasn't..

I look forward to more photo's oh ur beauitful dogs