The art of dogsledding

The art of controlling a Greenlandic dogsled
Controlling a dogsled may look effortless when sitting safe and sound as a passenger, but a skilful dogsled driver requires many years of experience and countless hours of training with the dogs, as well as a thorough knowledge of the different roles the dogs have within the team.

The experienced sled driver

The majority of dogsled drivers have driven dogsleds since childhood. They are therefore totally familiar with how to control the dogs and how to teach the dogs to obey every command.

Commands to the sled dogs
The dogsled driver has many commands – and each and every dogsled driver has his own “language” with which he communicates with his dogs. Some commands are universal, however:

ili, ili – means that the dogs must turn right
iu, iu – means that the dogs must turn left
ajaaj – means that the dogs must lie down
unigiit – means that the dogs must stop
amma – means that the dogs must start 

In addition, the dogsled driver also uses a whip to guide the dogs by cracking the whip to the left or to the right of the dogs. The whip is individually tailored with a whiplash of up to eight metres (26 feet) in length and a whip handle whose length corresponds to the distance between the armpit and the fingertips of the person using it.

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