non-excursion sled dog visit in Alaska

[cmph]

Next in my line of questions that googling hasn't helped me with regarding Alaska... is there any way to see sled dogs in Alaska in a less formal fashion than an official excursion? Any place that we can take a taxi to, near any of the ports? We can't fit another excursion in without a lot of effort, but we could fit in a visit that doesn't involve all of the time commitment that a formal excursion requires. I'm stumped, can only find the usual booked excursions, aside from Caribou Crossing - which is not possible b/c it's too far away and we already have a mid-day excursion.

 

[Shanti]

Next in my line of questions that googling hasn't helped me with regarding Alaska... is there any way to see sled dogs in Alaska in a less formal fashion than an official excursion? Any place that we can take a taxi to, near any of the ports? We can't fit another excursion in without a lot of effort, but we could fit in a visit that doesn't involve all of the time commitment that a formal excursion requires. I'm stumped, can only find the usual booked excursions, aside from Caribou Crossing - which is not possible b/c it's too far away and we already have a mid-day excursion.

The sled dog outfits in southeast Alaska exist to make money from excursion tourists, so probably not.

 

[cmph]

The sled dog outfits in southeast Alaska exist to make money from excursion tourists, so probably not.

I don't have much hope... but it would be a smart business venture to open up a little sled dog visiting center near one of the towns, wouldn't it?? Just to pet a few dogs/puppies and talk to a musher for an entrance fee. We have one child in our party who really wants to see the sled dogs. We have pet dogs though, so putting the time and money into a dog-based excursion is not high priority for any adults. (Esp for my immediate family, b/c one place has photos of all these dogs that look like ours, distinctly NOT very husky-looking).

Side note: it's been quite something to see where priorities lie in Alaskan excursions! We are all over the place! Sled dogs, whales, sea kayaking, beer, bears, ziplining... I think we needed to book a back-to-back in order to satisfy everyone, and that's even with splitting up the extended family in various fashions.

 

[Shanti]

I don't have much hope... but it would be a smart business venture to open up a little sled dog visiting center near one of the towns, wouldn't it?? Just to pet a few dogs/puppies and talk to a musher for an entrance fee.

That would make very little money, so I don't think it would be a smart business move. People aren't going to pay much to pat a few dogs on the head- they can do that at home. And a small, drop-in operation would have no economy of size.

The regular sled dog operations are large and loud and people often don't like being exposed to the actual living conditions of the dogs (round the clock tethering), so they function better away from towns.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I'm not sure which ports you are going to in Alaska or which excursions you have booked, but I have to say our dog sledding excursion was the highlight of our Alaska cruise (we did NCL not DCL). It had nothing to do with petting dogs. We took a helicopter to the top of a glacier (which could have been an excursion unto itself) and sledded with a gentleman who had grown up in a town in Alaska where that was their only means of transportation. He was training for a number of races and he even let my son do the sledding with him. At the end, we got to meet the puppies. It wasn't about petting dogs at all. We've been on a lot of cruises in many areas of the world and that excursion is definitely in my top 3.

 

[Pens Fan]

Unfortunately I can't answer your question (Caribou Crossing was the only one I could think of). It seems, however, that you have the unenviable task of doing a lot of the planning for a group with a wide range of interests, so I thought I'd offer this tip. You may have already found this website, but if not it's Alaska.org. I used it quite a bit while planning our last land/sea Alaska trip. It's full of great information.

For the record, I agree with you on the puppy stop. If we weren't going to actually go dog sledding, making a special trek just to see puppies wouldn't be worth it to me. There are so many cool things to do in Alaska, and we can pet our own pooch for free whenever we want!!

 

[cmph]

Unfortunately I can't answer your question (Caribou Crossing was the only one I could think of). It seems, however, that you have the unenviable task of doing a lot of the planning for a group with a wide range of interests, so I thought I'd offer this tip. You may have already found this website, but if not it's Alaska.org. I used it quite a bit while planning our last land/sea Alaska trip. It's full of great information.

For the record, I agree with you on the puppy stop. If we weren't going to actually go dog sledding, making a special trek just to see puppies wouldn't be worth it to me. There are so many cool things to do in Alaska, and we can pet our own pooch for free whenever we want!!

Thank you, yes, it's complicated! And glancing at my browser history, I have been all over alaska.org, LOL! We range from barely age 2 to seniors and everything in between. While all of these helicopter things sound amazing, they're either impractical or not possible (per age restrictions) for most of the group, so that leaves the less exciting dog-centered excursions. Trying to puzzle together all of the pieces (which excursion type, who is going on it, are all the kids covered with the right ratio of accompanying adults for each activity, which company to book with, etc., all with cost in consideration for those of us with kids) - we ended up with a spreadsheet, unsurprisingly. There just isn't a slot to devote to the dog excursions.

And yeah, I would totally pay $25pp for 15min to pet some puppies and see a sled contraption, b/c that's pretty much what the child in question is thinking about. She doesn't care about the educational aspect, really (and could read books on it if she really did). The entire rest of the group prioritized private whale watching over the dogs that day, and it's the only thing we're all doing together. In any case, this kiddo wants to do absolutely everything, so she's not being short-changed in missing out on the one thing she wanted to do!

 

[Pens Fan]

I feel for you. I really do. You are trying to do the right thing for a lot of people with a wide range of interests and abilities. I'll offer you this consolation. We are blessed to have been able to travel with our son to a lot of amazing places. If you asked him what his favorites were he'd tell you it was our two Alaskan trips and Iceland. Alaska is incredible. It just is. If you don't see sled dogs you might see a bear - or a moose - or a glacier - or whales - or seals (I think you get my drift here ). There is so much to experience that I can't imagine anyone not having a good time. Whatever you decide will be a hit. If you have to split your group up due to age restrictions there are plenty of things to keep all groups happy. (Have you checked out Cruise Critic's Alaska forum - lots of good stuff there).

Enjoy Alaska! It's amazing and we can't wait to go back.