| There are different types of sled dog sports. If one knows how to cross-country ski, SKIJORING could be explored. If one wants to use a sled and a team of dogs, than training could be done for sprint, long distance or freight races. The goal of SPRINT races is to go as fast as possible over a short course. Many race events have a Junior Musher race designed for the younger racers and they use one to two dogs. The Senior Musher sprint races are for 4, 6, 8 or an unlimited number of dogs (could be as many as 20). The LONG DISTANCE races range from 20 miles to over 1,000 miles in length. FREIGHT races are when teams haul heavy sleds over the course. The weight of the sled and the distance depends on the number of dogs on the team. In WEIGHT PULLING EVENTS the dog pulls a special sled or cart for a distance of 16 feet in under 60 seconds. To get a WWPD (Working Weight Pull Dog) title a dog must pull 8 times its weight on snow or dirt or 12 times its weight on concrete or carpet, etc. It must do this in four separate events. The winner of the entire event is the dog pulling the most weight.
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