AN Army captain from the North-East is attempting to become the European sled dog racing champion.

Graeme Scott, who is involved in training the Army, Navy and Air Force officers of the future, has already won the European dry land title with his pack of Scandinavian hounds.

Now, he is in Norway acclimatising his 16 dogs for the continent's winter championship on snow next month.

Captain Scott, 35, leads the training programme for the Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS), in Newcastle, with particular responsibility for delivering adventurous training.

The scheme is based on HMS Calliope and supports students in both Newcastle and Northumbria universities.

Capt Scott said: "It is not just a matter of finding snow and hitching your dogs up, the tracks have to be prepared and compacted in order to protect the hounds from injury.

"I draw the analogy between a human training on a dry ski slope and then going straight out and trying to ski on real snow.

"The dogs must also get acclimatised as their kennels in the van are warmer than the cab. They each have individually-tailored running coats, but temperatures can be extreme and we need to train before the race in order to stand a chance of victory."

A 12-strong dog team will be carrying Capt Scott and his 10kg racing cart during the main event in Norway.