While Bedfordale might not have the size or snowfall of a European mountain range it is the home of a pack of sleddogs raring for competition this winter.
Markus Israng and his six rescued Siberian Huskies are emerging as serious contenders in national sleddog competitions and are en route to compete in the Mount Buller Sleddog Quest in Victoria next week.
Mr Israng gained an interest in the sport after adopting his first arctic breed dog five years ago and he has been obsessed ever since.
“We’re originally from Switzerland and we saw quite a bit of dog sledding over there,” he said.
“When we came to Australia we adopted Siberian Huskies and we wanted to see what was available to train them and exercise them so they don’t get bored and destructive.
“We stumbled across the WA Sleddog Sports Association and one year we went to Dinner Plain and helped the WA teams and found it was actually quite interesting and so we bought a dry land sled.”
Mr Israng’s obsession is turning into results after placing fourth for the four-dog race in the national competition last year but he said he does it more for the dogs.
“It’s something we pretty much live for, all our holidays and annual leave go into the sport,” he said.
“There’s no prize money involved, you’re pretty much doing it for the dogs, doing it for the enjoyment.
“Primarily our dogs are pets and only as a secondary thing do they become athletes and racing dogs.
“We’re proud if they place in the race but we’re not disappointed if they don’t.”
In WA, dog sledding competitions are raced with chariot-style wheeled sleds.
Mr Israng said he was looking forward to the Mount Buller race because his dogs loved the snow.
“The dogs seem to be more in their element when they’re in the snow, it’s quite a different race to the dry land,” he said.
“We look forward to this race as we have been part of the inaugural demo race last year, Mount Buller has beautiful tracks to run on.”
Mr Israng encouraged people looking at owning an arctic breed for sledding to visit Arctic Breed Rescue in Sydney where he found his dogs.
Visit abrinc.org.au for more information.
