How Do Mushers Drive Their Dogs?

Mushers or drivers of sled dog teams control their sled dogs by issuing commands to them. Today's mushers mostly drive their dogs in competitive races or as part of tourist adventures.

  1. Procedure

    • To drive a sled dog team, mushers first hitch themselves to a sled, according to Adventure Sports Holidays. The mushers then issue verbal commands to the dogs hitched to the front of the sled to make the dogs start, stop, change speed or turn.

    Training

    • Mushers must train their dog teams for several months to get them working together as a team before trying to drive them during the sledding season. Off-season training includes roping the dogs to wheeled "chariots," so they can learn how to pull and accept commands from the driver.

    Commands

    • Mushers issue a variety of simple commands to communicate with their sled dogs. "Gee" and "Haw" order right and left turns, respectively, while "Hike" commands the dogs to speed up and "Whoa" brings them to a stop, according to Sleddoggin. "On by" tells the dogs to ignore a nearby distraction and keep going.