Learning Center €” Located near the access road to our 140 acre dog center, nestled in 3000 acres of pristine, protected Vermont wilderness, our large, beautiful barn has been converted into a creative learning center where we host the educational portions of our year-round dog-centered activities. Our Discovery Channel type winter sled tours and Dog-sledding-On Wheels tours in Spring, Summer and Fall provide an experience that teaches the history and fun of the sport of dog sledding. Our dog powered sport provides hands on experience for children and adults. You will learn how the sleds work, the equipment involved, how to choose dogs for a team, harnessing and hitching the team before you go off on a fun filled adventure over our specially built, custom trails. In the colder months relax in our lounge by the wood fire, sip hot chocolate and watch videos after your tour. In the warmer months you are free to bring a snack or picnic and enjoy the beautiful views as you ask any further questions that you might have. The barn has rest room facilities and changing areas for your convenience. We are hands-on kid friendly so bring your children or your inner child and mush with our kennel of loving, huggable, joyful dogs! For more information call 802-635-9070.
For people who want a more in depth experience for learning how to be a musher, skijoring and/or training your own dogs for pulling, book a few nights, a week or longer in our comfortable accommodations and take part in a dog sledding adventure each day. In private mushing lessons you will leave you knowing all about snow-hooks, tug-lines, verbal commands and the joy of the sport. We will match you with a team each day, teaching you, guiding you and answering all of your questions. We work with each person on an individual basis so that you will gain the confidence and skill that you need to really handle a fast team of Alaskan Huskies. Immersed in this beautiful setting and learning experience you, by the time you leave you will be able to call yourself a musher!
We also offer Corporate Teambuilding and Intensives for Executives and others who find the challenge of spending a few days or a week involved in the dog sledding or Dog-Sledding-On-Wheels sends them home or back to work with a new perspective. The challenge of learning a new skill set in our pristine, natural setting can be life affirming as it gets you in touch with your inner strengths and releases stress. Our clients report a new sense ability to accomplish and of inner peace that they take back into the their home lives and work environments. Please call us at 802-635-9070 to discuss your needs.
U -Drive lessonsWe require that guests learning the sport take at least two lessons. The first lesson will educate you on all of the functioning parts of the team; you will ride in the sled and get a sense of the trails' terrain, the speed of the dogs and the feel of the sled. During that lesson you will have opportunities to ride the runners. On the second lesson we will give you your own team to drive with the background you gained in your first day's experience. You will drive either a 3-4 dog team behind the guide's lead sled, or a larger team with your guide riding as your passenger. No guests are allowed to ride in sleds driven by our students; those passengers can ride in the guide's lead sled. The two lesson series may be done on consecutive days, or on a single day with a mid-day break for lunch.
For those coming with their own dogs to learn the sport we require two lessons, and we highly recommend three. The first day is a real acclimating experience for your dog. By the second day they are often just beginning to catch on. It is on the third day that we generally see things really "click" for those dogs who do show potential for success. Call us at 802-635-9070 for any questions that you may have.