There is just so much equipment and gear involved in running dogs! It is hard to know where to start!

But what we will do is break it up by a few simple questions... What's it take to train and condition the dogs? Race them? Care for them? And what does the musher need?

To be warm, dry, hydrated, and fed!

The inner layers to stay warm!

Long Undearware: Good quality, synthetic or non-cotton material, tops and bottoms, that dry quickly.

Fleece: Mid to heavy weight synthetic sweater (with a hood) and pants

Hat and gloves: High quality, warm, synthetic, dry quickly, that are wind and water proof!

Socks: High quality, very warm, synthetic, dry quickly.

The outer layer to stay dry!

Insulated snow bibs and parka: High quality, warm, synthetic, dry quickly, that are wind and water proof!

Over mitts: High quality, warm, synthetic, dry quickly, wind and water proof!

Boots: Very, very warm and water proof!

And a spare set of everything kept in a waterproof bag in the sled!

Food and water are really importantant, too! It takes a lot human energy to be out in the cold (food) and the cold air also sucks moister from our bodies (the need for water).

Food: Good trail food is anything you can eat on the go... trail mix, a granola bar, energy bar, candy bar, smoked fish, etc.. It should be packed in calories and energy to keep your strength up!

Water: This is sort of self explanatory, but in the cold water freezes so you will need a good insulated thermos. Some musher prefer to add powdered drink mixes with their water to help add energy.

Care for them?

This is the stuff you need in your kennel to keep good care of your dogs!

Dog houses: A constant chore to repair old ones (dogs love to chew on their houses) and build new ones.

Dog Dishes/ pans for feeding.

Nail Clippers: For trimming the dogs nails in the summer.

A Shovel and Hoe for picking up dog poop!

Buckets! Lots of 5 gal. buckets. They are used for everything from poop duty to mixing dog food (not the same ones of course :)

An Axe for cutting up meet.

A propane cooker for heating and cooking dog food.

A laddle for scooping out dog food.

A chain tool and chain for tethering the dogs.

Vaccines for general dog vetcare.

Worm medicines for general dog vetcare.

A dog truck for going to races, new trails, the vet, etc...

Brass snaps for tethers.

And I am sure there are a ton of other little, individual, things that every musher finds indespesble to how she or he runs her or is own kennel.

What's it take to train and condition the dogs?

A sled with a good brake.

A four wheel atv, or other style cart for pre-snow running.

A Hook: This is a big metal claw-like thing that is slamned into the snow, ice, or ground to keep the team anchored when the musher need to get off the sled.

A sled bag: This is a big bag that is formed to the shape of the sled it helps hold everything in, it's not really needed to just run down the trail but it does make things simplier that always tying every little thing on.

Ganglines: This is the center line that runs up from the sled to the front of the dogteam. All the dogs combined pulling power is transfered to the sled trhough this line.

Tuglines: These lines go from each dog to the gangline and are the lines that transfer each individual dogs pulling power to the gangline.

Necklines: These lines go from the dogs collar to the gangline and help keep the dogs from getting tangled up... they do not pull on these lines and they are very thin so they break easily if snagged on something, this keeps the dogs from injuring themselves.

Harnesses: each dog has his own and the tuglines snap onto them to distribute the pulling force evenly across the dogs body.

Brass snaps: These are just like the ones used to tether the dogs in the kennel. They connect the tuglines to the harnesses and the necklines to the collars (these snaps are smaller).

It is also a good idea to keep the following items with you on every run:

A staight-balde knife for cutting lines in an emergency or any number of other things.

A small "boy's axe" for clearing trail, chopping holes in ice for water, etc..

A dry bag with a spare set of clotheing from boots to bibs (just in case you fall in a river!)

Spare lines, A headlight, Chemical hand-warmers, Snowshoes, a first aid kit, and probably a few other things, too!

Race them?

What does it take to race dogs?

Well pretty much everything that is listed above... plus a few other things that mostly have to do with increasing the care dogs recieve when they are under the increased strain of a race.

Ankle wraps: neopreme wraps to help keep the ankle joint warm and loose.

Coats (shoulder and full body): These are ussually made out of fleece and nylon and are intended to help conserve energy and keep joints warm and loose.

Muscle Oitments: Creams that help keep joints loose and subtle... like Bengay or Tiger Balm

Booties: made out of all types of fabric, they slip over the dogs paws to protect the pads from wear.

Foot Creams: To help keep the pads and webbing between the toes from cracking.

If it is a distance race you are doing you will also need...

A Trail Cooker: Light weight that can melt and heat to near boiling (from snow or ice) at least 3 gals of water. Modern cookers are almost always home-made by the musher and burn "Heat" (the fuel additive people put in the cars when it gets cold).

An Arctic Sleeping Bag that weighs at least 5 pounds.

Snowshoes of at least 256 square inches.

A Mushing Store

But the truth is that, as your getting into the sport, talking to other mushers, and learning the ropes... musher after musher will say something like... "oh hey! I got a couple of old harnesses I never use you can have..." or... "here is a bunch of lines you can use..." And before you know it you have all the basics and ...whusssssh... you are slidding down the trail! Hooked for life!