The ground is covered with snow from October until mid-June, and there were still big banks of it all over when we arrived in mid-August. Young sled dogs wander at will and we were greeted at the boat launch where our Zodiacs arrived by an enthusiastic pup who enjoyed belly rubs. One of the highlights was going to a “dog yard” where we got to handle the still-nursing puppies of two very relaxed mama dogs.

I hadn’t heard of Greenland Dogs until this trip. Draft animals with a lineage that stretches back thousands of years, these sled dogs are highly prized possessions, able to work in conditions with which mechanical snow machines just cannot cope. They are not tied to the sled in joined harnesses like the dogs that run the Iditarod, but instead each is attached by it’s own long lead. This makes it easier for the sled driver to release all the dogs if there’s come kind of emergency — falling into a crack in the pack ice, for example — or to release selected dogs to keep a polar bear at bay.

I was surprised to learn that no dogs can be imported to Greenland to protect the breed from having its characteristics watered down. In fact, if a Greenland Dog has to be taken abroad for medical treatment, it is not allowed to return. That’s a big problem in an isolated community that doesn’t have a vet, let alone the kind of veterinary specialists my dog Boomer is all too familiar with! (If you know of a vet interested in making a volunteer visit to Ittoqqortoormiit, have them contact ittartshop@yahoo.com.)