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Mushing glossary — 40 terms of canine pulling sport
If "gee", "haw" and "hike" are foreign to you, this glossary is for you. All the essential terms of canine pulling sport, organized by category: vocal commands, team positions, equipment, breeding, training metrics.
Vocal commands
- Gee /dʒiː/
- Vocal command ordering the lead dog to turn right. Anglo-Saxon livestock-driving heritage. Issued alone, firm voice — the dog must commit within a second.
- Haw /hɔː/
- Command for left turn. Same rules as gee: firm voice, no hesitation. A dog who flips between gee and haw must return to fundamentals.
- Hike /haɪk/
- Start or accelerate command. The real-world equivalent of the cinematic "mush", which is rarely used in real competition (too phonetically ambiguous).
- Whoa /woʊ/
- Full team stop. Pronounced loud, two drawn-out syllables. Must be the FIRST command taught: a dog who won't whoa is a danger.
- On by
- Continue straight, ignore the distraction (other dog, wildlife, intersection). Essential in racing.
- Easy
- Slow down without stopping. Used on technical descent or to temper a dog starting too fast.
- Line out
- Lead dog keeps the line taut and waits, team stationary. Essential at race start when hooking up dogs one by one.
- Leave it
- Ignore the object/scent you just noticed. Not mushing-specific but critical for managing trail distractions.
Team positions
- Lead dog
- The dog in front, first position. Takes commands directly from the musher and pulls the rest along. Must be experienced, reliable on gee/haw, and able to make decisions (avoid ice, route around an obstacle).
- Swing dog
- Right behind the leaders, in 6+ teams. Support the leader-initiated turn and dampen direction changes. Often a transition spot for future leaders.
- Team dog
- Mid-team dogs providing most of the raw power. Recruited for motor strength and consistency, not strategic intelligence.
- Wheel dog
- The two dogs directly attached to the sled (or scooter). Most physically demanding position: all the traction at start, all the mass on descents. Robust, heavy, calm.
Disciplines
- Canicross
- Discipline practiced running: runner is connected to their dog by a belt, 2 m shock-absorbing line, and a harness. Year-round practicable. The entry point to canine pulling. See the complete guide.
- Bikejoring
- Mountain bike pulled by 1-2 dogs. Cruise 25-40 km/h. Requires a rigid antenna to prevent the dog cutting in front of the wheel. See the complete guide.
- Scooterjoring
- Off-road dirt scooter pulled by 1-2 dogs. Intermediate between canicross and sled, fastest-growing dryland discipline.
- Ski-joring
- Winter discipline, skier pulled by 1-3 dogs. Practiced mainly in Scandinavia and Canada.
- Sled
- Historic mushing discipline, 4-16 dogs. Three sub-categories: sprint (<25 km), mid (30-90 km), long-distance (Iditarod 1800 km, Yukon Quest 1600 km).
Equipment
- X-back harness
- Most common pulling harness. Straps form an X on the dog's back and continue to the base of the tail. Suits most morphologies, especially long-bodied dogs.
- H-back harness
- Parallel straps on the back instead of X. Better for broad-chested dogs (Alaskan, Malamute, Samoyed). Often preferred for long-distance.
- Antenna
- Rigid metal or fiber tube holding the tug line away from the front wheel in bikejor and scooterjor. Without an antenna, the dog can cut in front and go under the wheel. Non-negotiable.
- Bungee (shock-absorbing line)
- Elastic section that absorbs shocks. Saves the musher's shoulder and the dog's back. Standard on any serious canicross line.
- Bootie
- Cordura or technical fabric boot protecting paw pads on abrasive ground. Four per dog. Treated as consumables in long-distance.
Sporting breeding
- Pedigree
- Official ancestry tree, 4-5 generations. Central document for COI calculation and breeding planning.
- COI Coefficient of Inbreeding
- Inbreeding coefficient. Computed from pedigree across 5-10 generations. Below 6.25% genetic diversity remains healthy. Above 12.5% hereditary defect risks explode.
- Heat (estrous cycle)
- Female cycle, approximately every 6 months post-puberty. For a breeder, tracking heats is the foundation of breeding planning.
- Mating
- Stud's coupling with the female. Often planned in two matings 24-48h apart to maximize fertilization.
- Whelping
- Female's delivery. Average gestation 63 days. Body temperature drop below 37 °C / 98.6 °F predicts whelping within 12-24h.
Breeds and types
- Greyster
- Greyhound × German shorthaired pointer cross, selectively bred since the 1980s for pure speed. Dominates sprint podiums for 15 years. Not an FCI breed.
- Alaskan husky
- Type (not an FCI breed) resulting from open crossbreeding between Siberian huskies, pointers, hounds and other racing lines. Dominates long-distance for 50 years.
Training metrics
- ACR Acute-to-chronic ratio
- Training load metric comparing last 7 days volume to 28-day average. Sweet spot 0.8-1.3: progress without injury. Above 1.5: injury risk x2-3.
- Z2 Zone 2
- Moderate aerobic pace — 60-70% of HRmax. Main training pace (80% of total volume), where aerobic base is built.
- Z4 Zone 4
- Sustained pace, just under anaerobic threshold. 80-90% HRmax. Used 1-2× per week on short intervals (3-6 min) to push the threshold.
- HRmax
- Dog's maximum heart rate. ~220-230 bpm in a healthy adult dog at short effort. All training zones (Z1-Z5) are percentage of this HRmax.
Legendary races
- Iditarod
- Legendary Alaska sled race, 1800 km from Anchorage to Nome, 8-14 days for the winner. Reserved for professional mushers. First edition 1973, commemorating the 1925 Nome serum run.
- Yukon Quest
- The other major sled race, 1600 km between Whitehorse (Yukon) and Fairbanks (Alaska), reputed even more demanding than Iditarod (-50 °C / -58 °F).
- Sprint race
- Short format of sled and bikejor: under 25 km, teams of 4-8 dogs in sled, pair or solo in bikejor. Average speeds 25-32 km/h on groomed trail. Greysters and Alaskans dominate.
General terms
- Mush
- Generic term for canine pulling sport. From the French marche (walk), used by 19th-century French-Canadian voyageurs. Today rarely used as a command but gave its name to the discipline.
- Musher
- The team driver. Refers equally to the canicross runner with their dog and the pilot of a 16-dog Iditarod team.
- Kennel
- The set of dogs of a musher or breeder, often grouped on a single site with individual housing, exercise area, breeding zone. Also by extension the kennel name appearing in pedigrees.
- Go/no-go
- Pre-session weather verdict. Combines temperature, humidity, wind, UV, ground state. gogeehaw automates this calculation. Above 15 °C / 59 °F felt: postpone.