Dog Sledding

 
 

Mush! Revised: A Beginner's Manual of Sled Dog Training by Charlene G. LaBelle Paperback from Barkleigh Productions ISBN: 097906760X The complete book of Sled Dog Racing, MUSH! is more thorough and reliable than any other source of mushing wisdom. MUSH! is indispensable to anyone who is thinking about this exciting sport. Starting with basic considerations such as buying dogs and equipment, MUSH! leads the reader through every consideration. Training, riding, traveling, race strategy, and more are discussed and illustrated. The reader is presented with step-by-step assistance and clearly drawn plans. MUSH! is tailored to sled doggers of all levels of interest and experience. The beginner will appreciate the clear cut instructions for assembling his own equipment. The old pros will find its encyclopedic format of great and lasting value. MUSH! will help you understand what it takes to be successful in sled dogging, and is designed to give the reader a book for quick reference. Mistakes will be avoided and success will come sooner. MUSH! could be that necessary link between the desire and the trophy. MUSH! is the result of years of hard work by generations of people devoted to sled dog sports. The SIERRA NEVADA DOG DRIVERS Inc., a group of California mushers, first published some of this material in booklet form as an aid to beginners. The demand for this first effort prompted them to produce a book that would answer all questions. SNDD lifetime member, Bella Levorsen, worked with club members and mushing greats to produce the first three editions of MUSH! Recently, Charlene G. LaBelle, also a lifetime member of SNDD, worked with club members to update MUSH! to this current volume. SNDD members, the Internet and her own personal experiences as a dog driver, plus her love for this sport, all went into this latest effort.

Be the Lead Dog - 7 Life-Changing Lessons Taught By Sled Dogs by Liz Parrish, Barbara Schaefer Paperback from Life…Through Dogs ISBN: 0984125418 Brought to you be renowned mushers, speakers and entrepreneurs Liz Parrish and Barb Schaefer, Be the Lead Dog lays out the foundational lessons you need to be your best. Use these strategies and tips to achieve your full potential...in leadership, teambuilding, communications and life! Decades of training, racing and being guided by their champion dogs have given Liz and Barb a wealth of experience from which to draw their insider secrets of the relationship of sled dogs and their people, and how those can be applied to everyday life. This knowledge and insight is crucial to understand and implement what it takes to accomplish your goals in every facet of your professional and personal spheres. Through their stories, explanations and action tips, they lay out a powerful and inspiring case for utilizing the empowering life lessons taught by their sled dogs. This easily digested yet profound book also references additional educational and practical materials on the website included as part of the book. This bonus material helps the reader engage with the lessons and apply them immediately to their own lives and situations.

Dogteam by Gary Paulsen Paperback from Dragonfly Books Media Published: 1995- ISBN: 0440411300 On a moonlit winter night, a team of dogs pulls a sled, taking the narrator and readers on a wondrous ride through the snow, into and out of the woods. It is a ride you'll wish would never end. Through this exquisite prose poem, Gary Paulsen shares the joy, the beauty, and the grandeur of the outdoors. With his joyous text and Ruth Wright Paulsen's exuberant and expressive illustrations, Dogteam is a celebration of nature, a dance that invites everyone to join in.

Snow Dogs! Racers of the North (DK READERS) by Ian Whitelaw Paperback from DK CHILDREN ISBN: 0756640814 Photographs combine with lively illustrations and engaging, age-appropriate stories in DK Readers, a multilevel reading program guaranteed to capture children's interest while developing their reading skills and general knowledge. Snow Dogs! Racers of the North takes readers into the exciting world of dogsled racing, revealing what it takes to be the leader of the pack.

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen Paperback from Mariner Books ISBN: 0156001454 Paulsen and his team of dogs endured snowstorms, frostbite, dogfights, moose attacks, sleeplessness, and hallucinations in the relentless push to go on. Map and color photographs.Fueled by a passion for running dogs, Gary Paulsen entered the Iditarod--the 1150-mile winter sled-dog race between Anchorage and Nome-- in dangerous ignorance and with a fierce determination. Winterdance is his account of this seventeen-day battle against Nature's worst elements and his own frailty.

Mush: A Beginner's Manual of Sled Dog Training by Sierra Nevada Dog Drivers Inc Paperback from Barkleigh Productions ISBN: 0914124064 The Complete Book of Sled Dog Racing! More thorough and reliable than any other source of mushing wisdom. MUSH! is indispensable to anyone who is thinking of becoming active in this exciting sport! · Dog Selection · Equipment · Commands · Where to Run · When to Run · Housing · Driver Training · Puppy Training · Racing Obedience and more!

Lure of the Quest: One Man's Story of the 1025-mile Dog-sled Race Across North America's Frozen Wastes by John Balzar Paperback from Headline Book Publishing ISBN: 0747271453 Every year, equipped with specialist equipment and a team of huskies, an intrepid group of highly-skilled competitors penetrates a porcelain world. It is winter in the sub-Arctic, a season of extreme cold, storms and 17-hour nights, where the snow underfoot is so crystalline that it chafes like sandpaper. This is the Yukon Territory, the start of the annual Yukon Quest, a 1025-mile dog-sled race which ends in the heart of Alaska. Award-winning journalist John Balzar decides that he too must take part in this epic event, and this book tells the story of his adventures, dramatically depicting the wild country, the extreme cold and the solitary ordeal of the drivers and dogs who commit to the race.

Tracks Across Alaska: A Dog Sled Journey (Traveler) by Alastair Scott Paperback from Atlantic Monthly Press ISBN: 0871134705 The story of Alastair Scott's journey across Alaska, which tested his self-reliance and endurance. The book also acts as a portrait of the beautiful, empty, often murderous land and the people who choose to live there.

The Alaskan Malamute: Yesterday and Today
by Barbara A. Brooks, Sherry E. Wallis
Listed under Alaskan Malamutes

Back of the Pack: An Iditarod Rookie Musher's Alaska Pilgrimage to Nome
by Don Bowers
(Paperback -- January 1, )

Adventures of the Iditarod Air Force: True Stories About the Pilots Who Fly for Alaska's Famous Sled Dog Race
by Ted Mattson, Sandy Jamieson (Illustrator)
Paperback: Epicenter Press
ISBN: 0945397593;

Father of the Iditarod: The Joe Redington Story
by Lewis Freedman, Lew Freedman
(Paperback -- October )

Iditarod: The Great Race to Nome
by Bill Sherwonit, et al
(Paperback -- January )

Race Across Alaska: First Woman to Win the Iditarod Tells Her Story
by Libby Riddles, Tim Jones
(Paperback -- March 1988)
 

	Balto and the Great Race (Stepping Stone) by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, Nora Koerber (Illustrator) (Paperback -- December )

My Lead Dog Was a Lesbian: Mushing Across Alaska in the Iditarod-The World's Most Grueling Race (Vintage Departures)
by Brian Patrick O'Donoghue
(Paperback -- March )

The Iditarod Fact Book: A Complete Guide to the Last Great Race
by Sue Mattson (Editor)
Book Description: This entertaining and informative guide to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race(r) reveals the dramatic history of distance racing, listing the canine breeds that run from Anchorage to Nome, the rules refined over many years, the rigorous training regimes of mushers and dogs, the equipment, and the village checkpoints. Some content is drawn from IDITAROD SILVER, the best-selling twenty-fifth anniversary book now out of print. But THE IDITAROD FACT BOOK contains much new and updated content in a more affordable format with information about the champions, the dogs, organizers, volunteers, and sponsors who make this great race possible.
(Paperback -- February )
 

	Yukon Alone: The World's Toughest Adventure Race by John Balzar, et al (Hardcover -- January )

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod
by Gary Paulsen
Hardcover: 256 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.95 x 9.27 x 6.09
Harcourt; ISBN: 0151262276; (March 1, )

The Speed Mushing Manual: How to Train Racing Sled Dogs
by Jim Welch
(Paperback -- October 1989)

Storm Run: The Story of the First Woman to Win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race
by Libby Riddles, Shannon Cartwright (Illustrator)
(Paperback -- January 10, )

Fan's Guide to the Iditarod
by Mary H. Hood, et al
(Hardcover -- November )
Special Order

The Last Great Race: The Iditarod
by Tim Jones
(Paperback -- August 1988)

Adventure in Alaska: An Amazing True Story of the World's Longest, Toughest Dog Sled Race (Read It to Believe It)
by Karen Meyer (Illustrator), Sydelle A. Kramer
(Paperback -- November 1993)

Iditarod Dreams: A Year in the Life of Alaskan Sled Dog Racer Deedee Jonrowe
by Lew Freedman, et al
(Paperback -- February )

Iditarod Country: Exploring the Route of the Last Great Race
by Tricia Brown, et al
(Hardcover -- February )
Out of Print - Try Used Books

Lessons My Sled Dog Taught Me: Humor and Heartwarming Tails from Alaska's Mushers
by Tricia Brown (Editor)
(Hardcover -- September )
 

Iditarod Classics: Tales of the Trail from the Men and Women Who Race Across Alaska
by Lew Freedman, et al
(Paperback -- February 1992)

Yukon Alone : The World's Toughest Adventure Race
by John Balzar
Twelve dogs, a sled, and your wits versus 1,023 miles of danger, snow, ice, and wilderness. The Yukon Quest is possibly the toughest race on earth. Held earlier, farther inland, and at a more northerly latitude than its famous cousin, the Iditarod, mushers on the Yukon Quest routinely experience temperatures dropping to 40 below zero, with 50 below not uncommon. Winning isn't everything; just finishing is an achievement in itself. John Balzar tells the story of the Quest, the dogs, and the mushers in Yukon Alone.

Balzar, a roving correspondent for The Los Angeles Times, volunteered to act as the press liaison for the 1998 Yukon Quest. As such, he traveled the length of the trail, sharing cabin floors with resting mushers, shivering as temperatures dropped to 50 below, and becoming somewhat delirious from sleep deprivation. Balzar does an excellent job of capturing the frozen feel of the race: 

The visibility worsens and now Bruce cannot see his leaders in the swirling merger of snowpack and wind. He searches anxiously for a glimpse of a wooden stake that will tell him that his dogs have not wandered off the trail, perhaps to the edge of a cliff. Bruce is not conscious of time or of distance, but only of the wind in his face. The dogs appear to be moving forward, but there is no way to measure progress.

He also paints warm portraits of the mushers--men and women like Mike King, a 37-year-old biker with a Harley-Davidson patch on his sled bag and a tattoo of the Quest trail covering one third of his back; William Kleedehn, who finished seventh in the 1998 race despite his prosthetic leg; Aliy Zirkle, a rookie musher who recovered from losing a dog to finish the race.

Balzar describes the Quest as "a mixture of celebration and ordeal"; Yukon Alone will inspire a mixture of envy, admiration, and relief. Envy of the free-spirited mushers, admiration of their strength and dedication, and relief that they're the ones fighting their way up American Summit in a blizzard with a 70-below wind chill. A gripping read. Mush on! --Sunny Delaney - Amazon.com

Yukon Quest : The 1,000-Mile Dog Sled Race Through the Yukon and Alaska
by John Firth, Lost Moose
 
 
 

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