What do sled dogs eat

The equivalent amount for a pound human would be approximately 50 Big Macs per day. Of course, dogs don't have opposable thumbs and they can't operate the TV remote control. So, sled dogs running winter miles per day can thrive on such a lard-laden diet where human couch potatoes never could -- although more and more of us are trying.

What about snow? There's certainly enough of it up here in the North. There are three reasons why most sled dogs are not allowed to eat snow--we call it "dipping," "grabbing," or "scooping. And, it throws off the rhythm of the teammates. This is especially important as the speed of the team increases.

Second, snow is mostly air. That is, if you melt 20 inches of fresh snow you'll get as little as one inch of water. So, if a racing marathon sled dog needs to consume six quarts of water per day, it would have to eat quarts, or 30 gallons, of freshly fallen snow every day to get enough liquid water. Third, water has a high energy requirement for melting. It takes 80 little calories to melt a single gram of ice to water without raising its temperature at all.

Yet, it only takes one calorie to raise that gram of water one degree from freezing point to one degree Celsius. Thus, it takes 80 times as much energy to melt snow as it takes to warm it one degree. Now, a dog's body temperature is 39 degrees Celsius. So it takes 39 calories to raise one tiny gram of water from melting to body temperature, yet it takes over twice that much just to melt the snow to water without heating it at all! And remember, the dogs already need roughly 10, kilocalories per day just to run the race.

Mushers can't afford to waste food calories melting snow in a dog's body. Snow is a very wasteful way to water a dog. A dish of cold water is not much better. Many mushers feed their dogs commercial kibble for ease of storage and use. Particularly during the off-season when a sled dog may only need to 1, calories a day, kibble is cost effective and time efficient. Because sled dogs need a high-calorie diet primarily comprised of fat and protein, kibble doesn't always provide the best balance of nutrients during the mushing season.

Raw meat forms a staple food in many sled-dog kennels. Not only is it extremely rich in fat, protein and nutrients, it's high calorie, packed with water for extra hydration and easy to feed. The average sled dog may eat between 3 and 5 pounds of meat a day -- while running at maximum capacity, those numbers may double. When it's particularly cold or a dog is working especially hard, a musher may add raw lard or fat to the rations.

Those who operate sustainable and ethical dog sled operations can see that dogs love to run. When well cared for, the dogs enjoy the dog sledding as much as we do. Sure, mushers bring the usual beef, beef blend, chicken thighs, chicken fat, salmon, sheefish, multiple kinds of kibble and so on — and often all of the above, because different meats provide optimum nutrition and palatability under different conditions fish for warm days; fatty beef for cold.

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Articles What do sled dogs eat and drink How do they get their food? Ben Davis February 18, What do sled dogs eat and drink How do they get their food? What do the mushers eat? How do sled dogs eat? Do Huskies like to eat snow?