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The Costs of Dog Sledding

Dog sledding, like most activities comes with plenty of different hidden costs but these tend to be much less than the upfront costs that is immediately discernable. The most expensive investment a dog sled team owner has is the team itself. Dog sled teams can be as small as four to six dogs or as large as sixteen dogs. While some sled dogs from semi-legitimate breeders can cost only a few hundred dollars as pups, most of the pure bred sled dogs can be worth thousands of dollars. If you decide to buy trained dogs the expense can quickly get out of hand, requiring an initial investment of as much as $200,000 for a small team of dogs. In addition to buying the dogs you also have to take care of them on a daily basis and as you can imagine feeding a team of large sled dogs every day isn’t going to be cheap.
Of course along with a sled team you will also have to purchase a sled yourself, unless you have the skills to make one by hand. A very basic wooden basket sled will probably cost you a few hundred dollars at the very least but the top end sleds for racing and long distance travels are much more. If you are just starting out save some money with a basic sled until you feel you need to upgrade. Along with your new sled and sled team you will also have to factor in all of the different equipment that you will need. In addition to all of the normal stuff you would have to buy for a team of 4-16 dogs, such as collars and toys, you will also have to buy sledding specific equipment, such as harnesses, gang lines, sled bags and all the other little things that are required to go dog sledding.
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