I don’t photograph sporting events as a rule, however, there is one event that I love to photograph. The sled dog races in the mountains. There is something so special about the human and dog interaction that is so amazing. These dogs are so loved by their humans and they in return love their humans and the sport passionately.

Before the race, the dogs are so excited to get out and run that it takes a team of people to help hold back the dogs at the starting line, if they didn’t hold them back, they would shoot out before the clock had started.

There are many events at the sled dog races,  6 dog sled for 6 miles, the 4 dog sled for 4 miles and similar variations regarding number of dogs and distance. Skiijoring is also in the lineup.  Skijoring is where the dog(s) pull a person who is skiing. How fun is that? I would like to try that one day but I need to work on my balance and skiing ability! I would probably spend more time in the snow than racing on top of it!

These are a few of my favorites taken from several sled dog races on the Western Slope of Colorado.

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Anticipation

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Grand Mesa Starting Line

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Focused

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Passing Lane

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In Sync

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