We have no snow and no sleds but the Canberra Sled Dog Club has dogs champing at the bit for its annual 2023 Classic competition in August. The club’s 25 members are preparing for the race, which has been running at Kowen Forest since 1997.
Canberra Sled Dog Club treasurer, Samantha Taylor, is probably the only person I know who thinks Canberra’s “lucky” to have colder morning for so many months.
“We need to be training in the cold weather because if it gets above 15 degrees the dogs can’t run, so it is a winter sport,” Samantha says.
The course for the Classic competition is a 3.5km dirt track and the sleds are kickbikes (like mountain bikes except you stand on them). Competitors can clock up to 35km/h and the race categories cover one-dog entries up to eight-dog teams. The only hazards are pitch invaders.
“The races are timed but I couldn’t care less about times, I like to have fun with no incidents – no kangaroos,” Samantha says. “They do jump on the track. It happened to me once and I did fall off and get a few bruises but the dogs just wanted to keep going.”
Samantha is the club’s longest-running member, joining 18 years ago, but she says numbers are dwindling and it’s a nationwide trend. When the Canberra Sled Dog Club started 26 years ago, it had 60 members.
“People’s lifestyles are changing,” Samantha says.
“When we first started we had members with large teams – four and 12 dogs. As their kids got older and their dogs got older, they retired. Now we find that most people who come out just have the one dog.”
Samantha will be racing in the Canberra Classic with her two dogs (Millie and Archer) and all they care about is the grand prize – 20kg of premium dog food! Humans get a trophy.
There are some competitors, who Samantha calls “crazy people”, who compete in the Canicross category with the dog lead tied around their waist. Instead of the dogs pulling sleds, the dogs pull them.
If you have a hyperactive pooch (Alaskan Malamute, Siberian Husky, Labrador, Newfoundlands, English Pointers) come and try it out, equipment can be loaned for a test-run. Visit www.canberrasleddogclub.com
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