Sled dog the decline of the working sled dog. Recreational mushing came into place to maintain the tradition of dog mushing. The desire for larger, stronger, load-pulling dogs changed to one for faster dogs with high endurance used in racing, which caused the dogs to become lighter than they were historically. Americans then began to import Siberian Huskies to increase the speed of their own dogs, presenting "a direct contrast to the idea that Russian traders sought heavier draft-type sled dogs from the Interior regions of Alaska and the Yukon less than a century earlier to increase the hauling capacity of their
Sled dog racing at the 1932 Winter Olympics Sled dog racing at the 1932 Winter Olympics A sled dog race was included as a demonstration event at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. 5 contestants from Canada and 7 contestants from the United States competed. The event, run under the rules of the New England Sled Dog Club, ran twice over a 25.1 mile (40.5 km) long course. With six dogs per sled, each sled took off at three-minute intervals, and intermediate times were given to the mushers at 4 miles (6.44 km), 10.6 miles (17.06 km), and 22.46 miles (36.14 km). Norman D. Vaughan qualified for