Maryland Sled Dog Adventures LLC offers two official Girl Scout badges and a fun patch which may be of interest to our Girl Scout participants. We offer a dog sledding fun patch, a Girl Scout Brownie Dog Mushing Try it, and a Girl Scout Junior Dog Sledding Badge.

Girl Scout and Boy Scout Patch Program includes a fun patch for each youth participant. Additional patches are available for purchase at $3.00 per patch.

Calling all Girl Scout Brownies! Come take a ride with our friendly sled dogs and earn your Dog Mushing Try It badge. Many of the requirements can be completed through Maryland Sled Dog Adventures LLC's Girl Scout and Boy Scout Patch Program. This badge is NOT included in the price of our Girl Scout and Boy Scout Patch Program. This badge is an optional add on at $4.00 per badge. This badge is available only for a limited time and only as long as supplies last. Email catherine@marylanddogsledding.com to add this to your dog sledding experience.

Level: Brownie

Requirements: Complete 4 of the following activities. The activities that can be completed during our Girl Scout and Boy Scout Patch Program are shown in italics.

1. Talk with a musher or visit a kennel. Learn about what is involved in caring for, raising and training sled dogs (or read the entire book: Born to Pull).

2. Read a mushing book or have one read to you. Suggested reading: Born to Pull (an excellent resource on mushing at a kid’s level.), Kiana’s Iditarod, Balto, Storm Run (Libby Riddles), Danger, The Dog Yard Cat, North Country Christmas.

3. See a movie about mushing. Suggestions: Balto or Iron Will.

4. Attend a dog sled race (such as the start of the Iditarod, or the Fur Rendezvous races) or follow the Iditarod race progress daily on a map or the Internet. There are some dog sledding races that are in the Maryland area.

5. Learn about the parts of a dog sled and basic mushing equipment.

6. View, ride on or mush a dog sled. Learn simple mushing commands ( i.e. Gee, Haw, On-By)

7. Learn about dog safety. (Anchorage Animal Control has an excellent hand out.)

8. Write a story or a poem about mushing, draw a picture or make a model of a sled dog team.

Attention Junior Girl Scouts! Come meet our friendly Siberian Husky sled dogs and learn all about dog sledding. Face kisses are optional. Many of the activities can be completed through Maryland Sled Dog Adventures LLC's Girl Scout and Boy Scout Patch Program. This badge is not included in the price of our Girl Scout and Boy Scout Patch Program. This badge is an option al add-on at $4.00 per badge. This badge is available while supplies last. Email catherine@marylanddogsledding.com to add this to your dog sledding experience.

Level: Junior

Requirements: Complete six activities. The activities that can be completed during our Girl Scout and Boy Scout Patch Program are shown in italics.

1. Visit a kennel where sled dogs are raised. Learn about

• How to care for a dog and what it costs
• When training begins and when dogs retire
• What the dogs eat and how much
• What is involved in the upkeep of a kennel

2. Interview a musher and find out:

• What the dogs have to learn and how they are trained
• Which breed makes the best sled dogs

3. Learn about what happens on the trail:

• First aid for injured animals
• What dogs eat on the trail?
• What a person wears on a trail?
• How weather influences sledding?
• How many dogs are on a team?
• How you rest on the trail and how fast can you travel?
• What is packed in a sled ?

4. Read a book about dog mushing or a famous dog musher. Or, see a movie about mushing.

5. Write an original story about dog mushing. Or, draw a picture, make a mural, or make a model of a dog sled and team.

6. Ride on a dog sled. Learn commands. Drive it yourself, if possible. (note: Driving a sled is not possible during Maryland Sled Dog Adventures LLC Girl Scout and Boy Scout Patch Programs).

7. Watch a sled dog race.

8. Sponsor a musher for the Iditarod. Or, do a service project (make booties, collect food)

9. Learn the parts of a sled and dog-mushing vocabulary.

10. Learn all about the Iditarod Dog Sled Race:

• When did it start and why?
• Where does it go?
• When is it held?
• Who has won it recently?
• How much can you win?
• Or, draw a map of the Iditarod Trail. Label checkpoints; include a short description of the race.