Dogsled team racing in the Redstone Classic, Redstone, Colo. - Worldwide 
Dogsled racing - SPORT - Definition
Dogsled racing, also called sled dog racing, sport of racing sleds pulled by dogs, usually over snow-covered cross-country courses. In warmer climates, wheeled carts are substituted for the sleds. Dogsledding was developed from a principal Eskimo method of transportation. The gold rushes in Alaska and the Yukon Territory (now Yukon) at the turn of the 20th century brought greater global attention to sled dogs, which were used at that time for freight hauling and mail delivery, as well as by fur trappers to travel between their traps. At first dogs were individually tethered to the sled in a fan hitch. This was ideal in open country, but, as the use of sled dogs expanded, the tandem hitch, for running dogs in pairs, became the standard. Sled dogs are still used for transportation and working purposes in some Arctic and subarctic areas, though they have largely been replaced by aircraft and snowmobiles. Most dog teams today are kept for recreation or racing rather than for working.