by Nicole Taylor - Nicole Taylor is a senior studying writing and journalism at Northern Michigan University.
The musher way of life is an expensive one. But despite the time, effort, and financial sacrifices involved, the sport of dog sledding keeps people coming back for more year after year.
Purchasing the bare minimum of equipment needed to get started could cost well over $10,000. Dog truck boxes can cost $1,000 or more, depending on how many dogs they are designed to carry. Beginner sleds are around $500, and racing sleds can set a musher back $1,200-$3,000. But that’s not all. A musher is not a musher without their dogs. A team dog can cost $400-$1,500, while the cost of a proven leader can range anywhere from $1,000-$10,000. These figures show that this is a sport not for the faint of heart (or wallet).
By day, Darlene Walch is the Dean of Academic Information Services at Northern Michigan University. She spends her scant free time caring for her 21 dogs, 12 of which are active racers, and preparing to compete as a musher. She forks out thousands of dollars annually on travel and accommodations for each race she competes in, not to mention food and vet bills.
Her dogs need special food with a high ratio of protein and fat, and the Momentum dog food she buys from Dr. Tim’s Pet Food Company in Marquette is costly. Each 40 pound bag costs $30, and she goes through 2-2.5 bags per week. She estimates her annual spending on dog food to be a whopping $3,180. Her racing dogs also get raw meat from November through March, and one day they got a meat buffet from heaven.
“My home freezer broke down and all the meat thawed a bit, so that year the dogs had chicken, venison, ducks, turkey, pork, shrimp, fish, hamburger, and goose. They haven’t had that kind of smorgasbord since,” says Walch.
Vet bills are the second most costly necessity to care for the dogs. The vet comes to her kennel twice a year to distribute vaccinations (about $300-$500 per visit), and complete parasite checks and deworming. Walch estimates she pays between $1,000 and $1,200 per year on vet bills, after a 10% discount. Unplanned vet visits are usually $80-$100 each.
Like Walch, fellow musher Ward Wallin and his family travel the Midwest to compete in 4-5 dog sled races per year. He offsets the cost of competing by giving sled dog rides and lecturing to kids 2-3 times a year in Minneapolis. He also sells about 7-10 dogs or puppies annually.
Wallin doesn’t want to know what he spends on food for his dogs in any given year – he couldn’t bear it - which is understandable considering the price. He estimates his annual race expenses to be around $3,500. Vet bills are around $1,000 per year, as well as miscellaneous expenses equaling about another $1,000. But his dogs don’t always eat strictly dog food.
“We also feed a lot of fish from lake Superior (Herring – which is spendy) and lots of beaver that we get from trappers. In fact, we grind our own meat to save on cost – we usually [store] 10-12 tons of beaver each spring. Needless to say, we have a large walk-in freezer,” says Wallin.
His wife races about as much as he does, and his sons, 5 and 9, have each driven a dog team and enjoy being in the woods. Like many, the Wallin family doesn’t put all the time and effort required into race preparation and the care of their dogs to make money.
“Some years we might win some money at the races, some years we don’t – I never plan on winning any cash, if it happens, great,” says Wallin.
For his family, the satisfaction of competing outweighs the cost of racing.
“For us it’s not a hobby, but a way of life,” says Wallin.