I've been dog-sledding in the Canmore area a couple of times.  What fun I had watching the excitement build in the dogs when they saw the harnesses coming out. 

Today, I drove out to Pigeon Lake to watch some dog sled races.  The local sled dog club hosted a weekend race.  There was quite the assortment of dogs but they all had one thing in common.  They LOVED to run!

The race began with a ski-joring event.  It looked like such fun.  I do believe if that was me on the skis, the dogs would have been dragging me behind them.

In the sled categories, there were two-dog (juniors), four-dog, six-dog and eight-dog races.  The dogs were so excited to race.  They howled and jumped and barked until the starter gave the go ahead to begin.

As the sleds came in through the finish gate, the dogs were grabbing mouthfuls of snow to quench their thirst before getting some nice bowls of water back at their kennels.  There were a lot of very long tongues hanging out as they ran by. 

The youngest racer on a sled was only 4 years old.  She had a smile from ear to ear when the starter gave her the go ahead.  What a little trooper!

The sun was shining in the blue Alberta sky.  The temperature was great.  The dogs were entertaining.  What a great way to spend the day!