Tri-Service
Army Training Ground Goes To The Dogs
As the Armed Forces took a festive break from training, or deployed tackling floods across the North of England, Salisbury Plain went to the dogs.
With not a tank in sight, or the distant thud of artillery to be heard, Alaskan Malamute's howled, barked and ran unhindered across the wilderness.
The civilian event attracted over 30 entries over the two days with up to 100 sled dogs, with some competitors travelling from as far as Ireland, Birmingham and Essex to compete.
The organiser, John Binding said, ‘Salisbury Plain is an ideal venue with its wide range of terrain and conditions. It is the perfect place to learn about the dogs’ abilities and to work together as a team. The weather once more was ideal for our canine competitors’.
‘The purpose of the Trek which is not timed is to allow competitors who go out in groups, the opportunity to work their dogs in harness over longer distances which is really what they are bred to do. There were a choice of four distances – 7.5, 13, 16.5 or 25 miles. There was also a night run which was set to be a minimum of 10 miles. Potentially teams could cover a minimum of 60 miles over the two days’.
‘The dogs do genuinely enjoy working in harness. They tend to get very excited and at times noisy and just want to go. It’s the stopping that can be fun. It is however, about knowing you dogs and their capabilities. You work as a team, competitor and dog alike’.
AMWA Working Dog weekend events are held at number of venues throughout the UK between November and March. They are open to recognised purebred sled dog breeds such as the Alaskan Malamute, Siberian Husky, Canadian Eskimo and Greenland dogs.
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