Since 2006 Matt Hodgson has been competing in Sleddog Sports
Great Britain’s first ever on snow Sleddog World Champion
Where the Dream Began
As a young boy Matt loved nature and all things wild. A love of Dinosaurs and a pocket full of frogs is how many would remember him. As a boy he once told his mum he didn’t need to learn to write only enough to sign his name on a gun licence so he could go and live in the Rocky Mountians.
Where it gained nurture
Despite his protestations learn to read and write he did and that led to discovering books where his world was expanded through other peoples stories. The book that stands out most in his mind is Jack London’s Call of the Wild and to this day that love it kindled of dogs of the far north remains.
Long Years Past
Matt completed education through A levels and then studied at Agricultural College for a HND in landscape design and Management. After working in the UK and Holland in horticulture Matt, switched careers and spent several years installing and then training people in installation of structured cabling systems. A job with took him as far a afield as Africa and the Middle East. His passion for dogs remained however.
The Malamutes
Another change in employment allowed Matt to finally be in a position to be able to look after a dog properly and the first Sleddog entered his life as a puppy in Early 2005 after many years of dreaming. Ranger taught him so much about Sleddogs and 18 months later a second Malamute Ria joined the pack. She was followed by Rebel and then Eventually Fury. Sadly Matt’s last malamute Fury passed away suddenly in January 2019. “I will be ever grateful for the time I spent with each of these awesome dogs, every one amazing and different in their own ways, who gave me so much pleasure and I learned so much from. Each will always carry a piece of my heart.”
Canadian Eskimo Dogs
In 2013 Invi joined the pack, the first Canadian Eskimo dog, a rare breed of Arctic dog from as the name suggests the far north of Canada. He was followed by Ira his half sister a couple of years later and the first few international races were powered by this great pairing. Although Rebel and Fury were there on the trips as well they had by this point retired from racing and were happy as team cheer leaders.
Ira and Invi have achieved Silver and. Bronze medals individually as well as being part of the team which took Gold for GB in November 2019. As they head towards their later years they still love to run in harness but no longer compete at the highest level.
Greenland Dogs
Realising that to compete at the very highest level Matt new he needed the best dogs and eventually settled on two Greenland Dog puppies from Germany, after driving out to meet the breeder and passing the stringent questioning Matt eventually brought Lux and Ava back to the UK. This was a real game changer in terms of performance and both dogs remain to this day unbeaten in any freight category Sleddog class they have competed in and have won Gold Medals in both Dryland and Snow events at international level gaining world Championship status in the process.
Matt bred his only litter of Greenland Dogs in 2020 and two of those pups have gone on to join Lux and Ava in becoming World Champions both in Dryland and Snow. Pride and Nimis were both part of the team winning both the 4 dog 2 World Championship classes on Dryland and Snow. Rogue a 3rd pup from the litter won silver in the 2 dog 2 category.
All Matt’s Dogs are first and foremost much loved family members.
“The fact that there is a sport out there where someone and their dogs can take part together as a single team and work for each other is simply incredible, I can think of no other activity where they and their dogs can traverse the land with such pleasure yet impact so few”
