1 70 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



each sledge and they pulled 650 Ibs. This was rather too much 

 for each dog, but we preferred to use as few dogs as possible, 

 instead of putting an inferior animal into the team, knowing 

 that one of those animals would do no good, but only cause 

 everlasting trouble. 



Driving dogs is an art, and many people will never succeed in 

 making them do their utmost. Sledge dogs must be driven 

 with the whip, and they will soon discover if their driver is 

 slow in making use of it. But, on the other hand, a driver must 

 be careful not to break a dog's spirit by constant nagging with 

 the whip or hard words. If a dog has deserved punishment, let 

 him have it, good and hard, for the dog knows the reason very 

 well and will pull better after it ; but if he is in constant fear of 

 being whipped, not hard, only just touched, he becomes nervous, 

 keeps looking round him, pulls in an uneven way, and, by jump- 

 ing backwards and forwards in his endeavours to avoid the lash, 

 is apt to get the traces tangled. Some dogs cannot be whipped 

 at all, as they will be so frightened that for a long time they will 

 pull wildly and toil so hard that they will hurt themselves ; or 

 they may go to the other extreme, not pulling at all, for fear of 

 the driver. Such dogs must be put ahead out of the reach of 

 the whip, as the mere cracking of it and the mention of their 

 names will usually be quite sufficient to make them pull. 



Other dogs can be whipped all day long without making any 

 impression on them. Those are really the best sledge dogs, as 

 they are not so excitable as the others and pull more evenly, 

 although it may sometimes be difficult to make them pull harder 

 than usual, if the occasion should happen to require it. 



A good team ought not to be whipped at all, but the whip 

 must be constantly in the driver's hand, and by cracking it 

 frequently he must remind the dog of its existence. 



Kindness in wor4 or deed will sometimes be of great use in 

 dealing with dogs, and some of the native dogs will pull with 

 all their might for those who have been kind to them from 

 the days when they were mere pups, and never do any work 

 whatever for other men. If a man has had a team for some 

 time, the dogs will get to know him, and if he understands the 

 ways of dogs and takes proper care of them, they will be very 

 faithful to him, follow him wherever he goes, and pull with a 

 good will. 



