A Dog Sledder’s Journey: Dog Sledding in Minnesota!
In total, there are about 60 dog sledding races in the United States each year, but more than half of them were canceled this year due to the lack of snow.
For some people, dog sledding is a fun, leisure activity, but for others competing is the fun aspect of it. Some people compete to win and some compete to beat their own personal goal.
All dog sledders are very passionate about it no matter the reason they decided to join — especially Mike Bestgen and Billie Thompson. Bestgen is a dog sledder from St.Cloud, Minnesota, and Thompson is from Cloquet, Minnesota, but does races in the Duluth area.
Competing with the Weather
This winter has been pretty calm with us not having a lot of snow around Minnesota, this led to the cancellation of races which has affected the dogs and the community.
Thompson said, “This year was a bummer because we weren’t able to do any races, but the dogs don’t care about races, so they were still happy with just training with the side-by-side. As long as they can run, they’re happy.”
Bestgen said there were many challenges that the community has faced because of the lack of snow, “The lack of snow this winter affected the whole dog sledding community. Many teams never got to race due to the cancellation of races. All Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan races were canceled.”
That didn’t stop Bestgen though. He said he still went to races in Wyoming and northern Manitoba, Canada, just to race in the snow.
Family Life and Past Races
Thompson has three kids and she dog sleds with her family as a family sport or activity. Her kids are still pretty young so they don’t compete. But if they want to compete, she would fully support them.
She is a neurotrauma nurse and does mushing on the side. Whatever time she has outside of work, she is outdoors with her dogs.
She has done the John Beargrease races for many years; she has also been a board member for the Beargrease race and a volunteer. In 2021, Thompson got 3rd place in the Beargrease 40.
Bestgen (The great-uncle of the author of this article) is 65 years old and has done many races and still plans to keep doing them. He is a three-time winner of the WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog Race, runner-up of the Klondike Sled Dog Derby, and two-time winner of the Midnight Run. In 2021, Bestgen placed 2nd in the Beargrease 120.
Although Bestgen and Thompson live about three hours away from each other, they have competed against each other in local races around Minnesota.
Bestgen is very competitive so of course he loves to race: “ I love dogs and I love being outside. I am competitive. I played hockey, baseball, and football and I just love to compete. I like to breed my own dogs, train them, race them, and see how I do stacked up to my own competition.”
Thompson grew up with dog sledding so she loves a good competition, “I grew up with dog sledding, my mom was actually the one who got me into it. But I did it growing up and have loved it ever since.”
Even though the two dog sledders have very different reasons for joining they both love the sport equally the same. Thompson’s mom was the one who got her into dog sledding so her family is most important to her.
Family Support
Bestgen loves it when his family comes to watch his races, “ they all support me, they don’t understand all the time being out there in the cold weather, Vicky (his wife) doesn’t do much with it but she does support me, it’s my hobby, not hers.”
Bestgen’s grandkids love to watch him race, “All of my grandkids have probably seen me race before, but to have a younger grandkid race there has to be a commitment on their half. They need to put the time in to get to know the dogs and know how to handle the situation. You can’t just hop on a dog team and race, there are risks and you need to recognize that and know what to do.”
Thompson has a big support system as well, “Well, since my mom was the one who got me into it she has come to watch me and support me through my races. But I have had many other family members come and support me.”
Bestgen states that there are three things you need to win a race: good dogs, good nutrition, and good training. He says, “If you miss one of those you won’t win. You could have the best dogs but if you don’t feed them or train them you’re not going to win”
Good Dogs
Dog sledding is all about the dogs whether that be the training, the racing, or the breeding. Thompson and Bestgen both said they have Alaskan huskies that they use for racing but sometimes people use Siberian huskies because they are purebred dogs.
The are more breeds commonly associated with dog sledding such as Alaskan Malamute, Samoyed, Eskimo dog, and Laika. They are all large dogs with a thick fur coats so they are good to use in dog sledding.
You can only race a dog for so long before they retire. Bestgen said he has raced a few dogs up to 12 years old before retiring them, but he often starts them at about 18 months old. He said, “Depending on the size or how old they are, it depends on when we retire them from racing.”
To keep old dogs in shape, you have to keep them consistent whether that is being active or keeping up with their nutrition.
Good Nutrition
Good nutrition is important to keep your dogs healthy and ready for races. Sled dogs need dog food with a high amount of protein, so the brand doesn’t matter but the protein level does.
According to Hetta Huskies, “While a normal dog might get by on 1,500 calories a day, sled dogs can easily consume up to 10,000 calories per day.” (summarize) Dogs normally have dry food but sled dogs have a mix of dry food and water in the winter and in the summer they have dry food.
On race days, dogs don’t get a lot of food. According to Bestgen, “I give them a really light meal. Not a lot of kibble, more of a soup, and then take them for a walk.”
Thompson follows a similar routine to Bestgen: “I normally give the dogs a light meal on a race day because you don’t want to overstuff the dogs before the race.”
If you overstuff the dogs it leads to them not moving very fast or they have to go to the bathroom more often during the race. However, having good nutrition and keeping up with a dog’s health leads to the training they get.
Good Training
They start training the dogs when they are pups. They start with basic training such as commands and then they set a good diet for the dogs.
“As they get older, we harness train them and once they are harness trained, we put them in teams and start training especially when the weather turns 50 degrees or cooler,” Bestgen said. “We start training at 3 miles and then gradually work the distance up depending on what race they are doing. You also train them to do the speed you want to win that race.”
Having a good harness for the dogs is important, according to Joring with Dogs: Dog Powered Sports website: “Harnesses that do not fit well will cause issues in the dog, including muscle soreness, skin rubbed raw, breathing restriction, or a reduced desire to run. A bad fitting harness can make a dog reluctant to pull at all or cause them to run in an awkward gait.”
In the summer, the dogs get to relax. “We train them in the winter for the races but once it hits summer, we let them play, let the dogs be dogs, and let them run loose in our yard to stay active,” Thompson stated.
It gets too hot in the summer for the dogs to train so they don’t, otherwise they would overheat. The dogs still have their normal eating habits with their meals because it keeps them consistent.
In September, when it starts to cool down, the dogs can start training again. They get hooked up to the sleds and start pulling them, so they can get used to it, in hopes that by their next race, they will keep up.
Race Day
Race day is the day that they have all been preparing for, they must do everything to their schedule so they have a good race.
Thompson and Bestgen both have their routine schedules that they use to prepare for race day, but their schedules are very similar.
Depending on when the race starts, they get up around 6–8 am to wake up the dogs and let them get up to go to the bathroom.
The dogs are given a light meal for the day of kibble mixed with water, which is like a soup for them. The dogs then head up to where they will race and once there, go on a small walk with the dogs and then let them go to the bathroom again.
Once all that is done, the dogs harnesses are put on and they are hooked up to the sled. Then sometimes if needed booties are put on the dog’s paws. The dogs wear the booties based on issues they have or based on trail conditions.
“If you put booties on and they are running on gravel then they just rip them apart anyways, so why put them on?” Bestgen said, “If you are running in slush or water they will get too wet and that’s not good either. But on a cold day and the snow is kind of icy then we put booties on, so it’s important to have their nails trimmed so they don’t rip through or make holes in the booties.”
Before hooking the dogs up to the sled, they are put in order, and double-check to make sure they are in the right order. Once all is done, the dogs are taken to the starting line.
Mid-race things could happen where the dogs get tired or injured, which means they are taken out of the race.
Bestgen said his favorite part about racing is “to know that my plan turned out, when I say plan I mean from breeding the proper dog to, to training them properly, to feeding them properly, and then winning the race. Then to know that everything I did was right. If I finish tenth place then I can say why did I finish tenth was it the dogs, was it the feeding, or the training? Figure out the bad parts and then fix it.”
Thompson’s favorite part is the trails: “ I like taking the trails with my dogs, especially if they are new trails that we haven’t taken yet. They can be so much fun to explore.”
Thompson shows that competing isn’t all about winning but it’s about having fun along the way.
Commitment
“If you’re going to race sled dogs, it’s a big commitment time-wise and financially. If you’re going to run for recreation or on your own time, you could do that with a golden retriever, poodle, or a black lab, or something,” said Bestgen.
Dog sledding can be a fun leisure activity, but it is still a big commitment money-wise. Always make sure to take great care of the dogs whether that be eating habits, activities, or vet appointments to check on the dogs. Dogs are your best friend in this sport and remember there is no dog sledding without the dogs, otherwise, it’s just sledding.
Editor Note: Mike Bestgen is the great uncle of the author of this article.
