Who Needs Reindeer? 3 Real-Life Sled Dogs – American Kennel Club
As you sit around your tree enjoying the presents delivered overnight, we can’t help but think Santa’s reindeer have it kind of easy.
Fine, so one night a week, they lead Santa’s sleigh around the globe, but these breeds of sled dogs reliably pull their weight all year round in some parts of the world.
Sure, more rapid than eagles his coursers they came,” but really, those eight tiny reindeer have nothing on these breeds of sled dogs.
Alaskan Malamute
North Pole is actually a city in Alaska, the country where this breed of sled dogs originated. They were bred to haul heavy loads at low speeds over long distances in Artic weather. Hmmm, sound familiar?
Siberian Husky
These powerful dogs are known for their speed and endurance in sled races. They may not carry gifts and candy, but they’ve got velocity that would make Rudolph look like a tortoise. You may be familiar with the story of Balto, a Husky who with a team of dogs rushed a lifesaving serum to Nome, Alaska, where an epidemic of diphtheria had broken out.
Samoyed
Fortunately for Santa’s crew, this breed is no longer used for its original purpose, which was to (gasp) hunt reindeer. The semi-nomadic people who brought these dogs when they migrated from Asia to Siberia instead trained them to herd reindeer as well as carry heavy loaded sleds across the snowy landscape.
More like this:
See 10 dogs who are dreaming of a white Christmas.
See bloopers of holiday cards with dogs.
