OT - Iditarod Athletes in Action Video

[Hector]

The 2006 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is now in progress. The mushers and dogs race 1112 miles from Willow Alaska to Nome Alaska in a time of about 9 days.

 

Once the race starts the clock is always ticking. However there are two mandatory 8-hour rest stops and one mandatory 24-hour rest stop. Normal practice is for the actual traveling/running time to equal the resting time.

 

The dogs are specially bred to be long distance racers. The average weight for a dog is about 50 pounds.

 

Have your sound on and click this link for a nice 2-minute video of:

Iditarod Athletes In Action

 

(Requires Macro Media Flash Player)

[Allie Oop]

Cool! Thanks for the post. I've always thought that the Iditarod was very interesting.

[AK dog doc]

You should try it from close at hand! "Interesting" is not the word!

[sandra s.]

I don't have a Macro Media Flash Player , but I love sleigh dogs! They're so mad for it!

[Allie Oop]

Do you get to see the race, AK dog doc? I always thought it would be exciting to watch. I really, really, really want to come to Alaska, but to fish rather than mush. (Note, I don't put that I would like to "be" in it. Despite the fact that I like snow and winter sports, I'm not that much of a stoic. )

[AK dog doc]

Yeah, you have to be amazingly tough to do what these guys do. You should see Dee Dee Jonrowe's arms, for instance. She's not a tall woman, but she has biceps that would put most men to shame. Shoulders like a little tiny linebacker. Even when I was grooming racehorses for a living (and my sholders were pretty scary-big) I was never as built as she is.

 

I don't usually see much of the race in person - I've chip-checked at the start and the re-start, and many's the year I've gone out on re-start day, either to watch the restart (and take pictures!) or gone a little further along the trail to cheer them on and watch them go by (and take pictures!) However, I've never gone to Nome to see the end of the race, nor have I gone very far up the trail (work typically does not permit). The BF, who used to fly Iditarod Airforce, usually takes March off (he's a jet pilot, they can do things like that), and it's not uncommon for him to leap-frog up the trail to watch the race. [iditarod ariforce is a group of pilots who volunteer their planes, their time and their expertise to move equipment, supplies, and personel up the trail, and to ferry dropped dogs back down it again.] He's not doing it this year (he has friends up to go caribou hunting this year), but maybe next year I can get off work and go trail-hopping to Nome with him. That'd be fun.

 

Anyway, the madness begins a few weeks before the race, for us at least - there are like 80+ teams to be health-checked (not all of them will start), have ECGs and bloodwork done before the race, and each musher is allowed to have 24 dogs checked (by the day of the race they have to hone it down to 16 starters), so that might be upwards of 1600 or 1700 dogs that need a physical exam, and ECG, and bloods. Luckily they have outstanding teams of techs - including volunteers galore from the lower 48 - to do the ECGs and bloods, and teams of volunteer vets from all over the world that do the health checks and later work the trail (along with the techs). We open the downstairs of our clinic every year for them to do the ECGs and bloods, so there's a week or so year when we have dog trucks and teams of lean, racey, howling huskies parked behind the clinic, and teams of techs setting up, breaking down and/or manning the equipment all day. It's kind of a cheerful buzz of excitement, for me - not everyone is into it - but it's a nice anticipatory thing for me. My brother in DE is Iditarod-crazed, so he's usually pestering me for details about a week before the race begins. So in a sense, I see a lot of the race in person - just a lot of it BEFORE the race begins, and not so much after.

[Hector]

AK Dog Doc -- I'm a big fan of the Iditarod, but I have never been to Alaska. If I ever do travel there it will likely be in the summer because I don't tolerate the cold temperatures well. Flying from checkpoint to checkpoint to follow the race sounds wonderful. But I have one question -- when the temperature is -45F as it has been at Cripple the past few days, can small aircraft operate at those temperatures. Of course during the daytime it "warms" clear up to -15F (wow! a heat wave!). Do the airplanes have engine heaters, or do the engines have to be started and run every hour, or what? Just wondering how the Iditarod Air Force is able to keep their planes flying during the super cold weather? It seems like a parked plane would have the engine oil thicken up to the point that the engine could not be turned over.

 

Here is a nice story from the race:

 

Ruby, Alaska, Mar. 11, 2006 ? This Iditarod seems to be the race that sees more loose dog teams than any other; there have been at least four, and now five - and this last one is the most remarkable because the team stopped on command, and waited while its master, Ed Iten, walked back up to the sled. For that remarkable feat, Iten credits a little leader named Zoey.

 

Iten doesn't have a sit-down sled. He stands on the back of a traditional set of runners. Yet even standing up, a musher about halfway through the Iditarod can fall asleep, and fall off. And that's just what Iten did on the way to Cripple during the cold, dark night leading up to his 24-hour layover. One minute he was going along, and the next, he was awakened by a painful thud to the back of his head. He'd dozed off and literally tipped over backwards.

 

Dazed, Iten looked up the trail and saw the back of his sled some 50 feet away, going up and over a small rise. Without thinking, he yelled, "whoa!" which every musher says to tell the dogs to stop. His small black and white leader with pointy ears, Zoey, stopped the team. Then he gave a command that perhaps few distance mushers teach, but many probably should. He said, "Stay!"

 

I asked if he ran up to the team, and he looked surprised. "There's no way I could catch up to my dog team," he said. He sat up, and walked up to the waiting string of 16 dogs, went up the line and gave a lot of loving to Zoey.

[AK dog doc]

Heh! Good story! I hadn't read that one yet. Ed Iten is a client of ours. His teenaged daughter - a great kid - spent a few days in the clinic, observing, before the race.

 

To answer the aviation question, the planes generally have a cowl over the engine compartment (which is like an insulated bra for the nose, thickly padded and held on with velcro and toggles), and then you have an engine heater which is inserted inside the nose of the plane through a little access hatch. Some of these have little powerful fans on them which blow the heated air through, and the heat is held in by the insulated cowl. You can also get a much bigger heater which is like a giant hairdryer. It has a long fat flexible hose (about the size of a dryer vent hose), through which the hot air is blown. This kind of heater is put on the ground under the plane and the hose is run up through the nose bra and into the engine compartment. You have to take the insulated cowl off before you spin the prop, but then the engine generates its own heat. In cold weather you can see quite the ripple of heat waves rising off the engine once you're on the ground and the prop stops spinning. Dave usually warms the plane up for at least three hours with the little heater before he'll even try to kick it over; I can't remember how long it takes with the big heater, because it's been years since I've seen him use that. I've never seen him have trouble starting the plane once he's decided it's warm enough. The coldest it's ever been when I'VE flown with him is about -25F, but I don't know what's the lowest temp tolerance on the airplane - I can't ask right away since he's in Girdwood today, but I left him a message so maybe I'll be able to answer that question shortly.

 

As Dave explained it to me, colder air makes for better flying - the air is denser when it's cold, so it provides better lift. On hot days, the air thins, so it provides less lift. Presumably that's "cold is better for flying up to a point." I'm not sure what that point is, but I'll try to find out for you. Presumably it's also different for prop planes than for turbines.

 

I think we had a guy from your neck of the woods run Iditarod a few years ago - a dentist, maybe? A doctor? - can't recall. I think he had to scratch... I believe he tried to break up a fight in his team and got his hands bitten up. He was game to continue despite the pain, but he would not have been able to do proper dog care.

 

Anyway, I hope you do one day get to see AK - it's not for everyone, but it sure is gorgeous. A lot of people really like the summer, when it's light all the time. Heck, *I* like the summer, too - but I also like the winter, and that's kinda key if you're going to live up here.

[AK dog doc]

Hector, the BF says there's no reason to operate a piston engine airplane lower than -30F unless lives are on the line. So I'm guessing they were gounded in Cripple for the last few days. My boss just came back from there, and apparently it was getting a bit old for the volunteers... after a while with no sleep, or very little of it and that interrupted whenever a team comes in, it gets harder to make yourself go out in -45F to check dogs. You have to do it, but after a few days you're kinda longing for McGrath or somewhere quieter.... or warmer....

[Hector]

Ak dog doc, thanks for providing information about cold weather and airplanes. What you said generally confirms what I was thinking, namely -45F is too cold for piston planes to be practical.

 

I appreciate reading about your perspective on the Iditarod. There is so much work and effort that goes on behind the scenes in order to make the race possible. I wasn't aware of the extent of veterinary work done on the dogs prior to the race.

 

It is looking like Jeff King will win and Swingley will be second. This is a really good race.

[AK dog doc]

I hope Jeff DOES win! He's a nice guy, and an innovative musher. Not to mention a canny one, as he's made some good choices on doing storm runs and timing his rest/run schedule to the best trail and weather conditions for his dogs. He lives in Healy, near Denali Nat'l Park, and so his dogs tend toward more coat and are generally smaller and more compact than some of the other teams - or were last time I had a close look at them. They suffer in the heat, but they run like little freight trains in the cold.

 

We'll know soon!

[SoloRiver]

Who was the guy who was running rescued dogs on his team? Is he running this year?

[Dixie_Girl]

No matter how you feel about other breeds, and dog sports, ya just can't help being impressed with what these dogs (and drivers )accomplish!

 

Pretty awesome! Also, pretty cold! I had a run up to Canada in Dec. Never been that cold in my life! I'll just be awed from afar,,,,,,very afar!

[Black Watch Debatable]

I'm an Iditarod junkie, but not exactly a fan. Dogs die and are injured in this race every year---three deaths, so far. I like sled dog racing, but a race as long and as fast as the Iditarod takes a real toll on the dogs. "[A] 45 percent incidence of GI (gastrointestinal) erosion, bleeding and ulceration"? Maybe it's not the best idea to see whether your dogs can run 1100 miles in nine days. In the snow.

 

445 miles from the finish line: "One of Lance Mackey's dogs is asleep on his feet just before they headed out of Galena onto the Yukon River, Mar. 11, 2006." (From the Anchorage Daily News.)

 

 

Yes, the dogs "love" to run. So do thoroughbred racehorses. But extreme drives demand extraordinary responsibility, and all the vet checks in the world can't make up for the fact that it isn't good to race two year old thoroughbreds, and it isn't healthy for dogs to run 1100 miles in just over a week.

 

The Iditarod raisies some of the same questions that come to mind when I watch eventing: what makes us so willing to risk the health---the lives---of animals we claim to love? Money, a medal, an adrenaline rush? All of the above?

 

As I said, though, I'm a junkie. Here are some of my favorite links:

 

Cabela's. This site rocks.

 

More from the ADN. This is the kind of sled dog story I love [heart].

 

The official site.

 

Tons of Iditarod mushers have their own sites. Karen Ramstead has a team of purebred Siberian huskies, including conformation champions. Yeah, they're in 62nd place at the moment, but still.

 

Susan Butcher is always an inspiration. (We're pulling for you, Susan!)

 

By the time most of you read this, Jeff King will have won. (Anyone but Swingley! )

[AK dog doc]

Melanie, I'm not sure, but I'll try to find out.

 

Luisa, it cracks me up that you say "anyone but Swingley." That's how a lot of us up here feel about him, but d'you mind if I ask you why you said that? Just curious if the reasons are the same; not sure how much of what we see of him is what people Outside see of him. Anyway, this year (at least) he was just out-mushed. Jeff said in so many words he didn't have the fastest team out there - but he used their talents to their best advantage, picking running and resting conditions that suited them best and timing his run/rest periods for best advantage for his team.

 

I don't think I'd put "love" in quotes when it comes to saying huskies love to run; they DO love to run, they are mad for it, completely crazed with lust to go skimming down that trail with the snow under their feet and the moon on their shoulders and the synchrony of their team moving along with them, a single being in its way, all focused on the love of movement. That's unequivocal. But it is true that when you involve animals in sports, some will be injured, some will fall ill, and some will even die during the events, and some (though not all) of those things will be related to the sports in which they are engaged. Sometimes it won't be clear (at least to me) if the death should be called sport-related (as in the time a moose went into Susan's team and killed some of her dogs; her mushing did not kill them, the moose did, but if she hadn't been on the trail, she wouldn't have crossed paths with the moose. So...?)

 

As to the ethics of using animals in sports, that becomes a sticky matter. Some people would carry that further to say we should not use animals for work, for trialling, for food, for goods, for companionship. The ITC tries its best to make things good for the dogs and to prevent abuses and injuries and deaths, and every year it tries to do better. But that's a lot of dogs and a lot of trail and a lot of people to cover, so it's a job that is almost unimaginably complex. No one likes to see a dog die for any reason; it's something we accept as necessary sometimes (as when a beloved older campaigner has too much pain or illness and is euthanatized) - but no one WANTS to see that dog die. Still less so when it comes consequent to sports rather than age. But I think it falls to the individual to make choices about what they think is right and then to act accordingly. I understand the uneasy truce between fascination for the sport and admiration for the incredible altheticism of the dogs, and unease at the thought that some dogs will be injured or die. It's a dilemma, and I can't tell you how to feel about it. I can say that by far the majority of what I see is reassuring. It's a much more personal relationship for racing huskies than it is for racing greyhounds; perhaps because it is the onwer/musher out there training them and feeding them and cleaning them (even with dog handlers, the big mushers are out there with those dogs every day), and perhaps the nature of the race - being a distance race, which requires a lot of training and conditioning and teamwork - requires a lot more of a relationship between the owner and the dogs. But it isn't as "throw-away" as greyhound racing is... "retired" sled dogs are generally not culled (I know of no instances either personally or by reputation in which a retired sled dog was euth'd because it was no longer fast; not saying it never happens, but that IF it does it's uncommon enough that I've never seen it in over a decade up here). Often they're used as puppy trainers or retired to recreational teams or just flat-out retired. Most lots (well, all I'VE ever been to, anyway) seem to have a "retiree" section. Those dogs get fed and cleaned and petted and played with and brushed like all the others, but they just don't go in the traces any more.

 

Anyway, a tricky question, and one there is no simple answer to, in my view. Sled dog racing isn't MY thing (as in, I can't picture ever wanting to mush competitively, although recreationally it holds some charm for me). By the same token I love to jump but have no desire to do steeplechase or three-day eventing. That type of competition just isn't my thing. I just don't know if it's up to me to say it shouldn't be ANYONE'S thing.

[Valhalla]

Originally posted by AK dog doc:

...I've gone out on re-start day, either to watch the restart (and take pictures!) or gone a little further along the trail to cheer them on and watch them go by (and take pictures!)

Do you mind posting some of your pictures?? I'd love to see them!

[AK dog doc]

Christine, I'd love to post some for you, but I don't have any on disc and I don't have a scanner with which to post past years' pics. I'll check with the BF and see if he got any on his digital this year (I didn't go to the re-start with him this year... he had friends visiting and they were up in the air - so to speak! - as to which day they were going to go hunting, so planning was difficult.) If he got any good shots, maybe I can get him to let me post some. Or maybe he'll post them himself... he has a BC, why isn't HE on this board....?

[Black Watch Debatable]

Originally posted by AK dog doc:

 

they DO love to run, they are mad for it, completely crazed with lust to go skimming down that trail with the snow under their feet and the moon on their shoulders and the synchrony of their team moving along with them, a single being in its way, all focused on the love of movement.

Damn---wish I'd written that. Thanks for a great, thoughtful post, dog doc.

it cracks me up that you say "anyone but Swingley." That's how a lot of us up here feel about him, but d'you mind if I ask you why you said that?

Disclaimer: All I know is what I read in the papers. I've never met the man---it's entirely possible he's Mahatma Gandhi on sled runners. I don't care---I can't stand him. I think he's smug, patronizing and one whale of a poor loser. Remember the "farewell tour"? The frozen corneas? You lost those races, Doug. Get over yourself

 

 

(dog doc, if you tell me Martin Buser is an arrogant jerk who's mean to his dogs, my faith in humanity will be destroyed forever.)

 

Good night, all---

[silhouettestable]

Dogsled racing is an exciting sport for sure. My daughter entered a kid & mutt race near our home last year with our collie and got bitten by the racing bug. This year she tried it with our border/lab mix and did quite well, and we then decided to travel to a few more races for her to compete. Now we've accumulated 2 sleds, more harness than our 2 dogs could possibly need, a skijoring belt, and I'm thinking we need more dogs to help our little guy out a bit.

 

Originally posted by AK dog doc:

they DO love to run, they are mad for it, completely crazed with lust to go ...

That sounds like our boy. He's SO eager to run and competes vocally with the best husky out there when it comes to yipping, yelping and lunging into his harness. Only thing is he's much more energetic than our collie, they don't really team up all that well together (need another BC or BC mix!) The border collies may not be seen in the Iditarod, but they (and mixes) are certainly present in other races.

[AK dog doc]

Luisa, your faith in humanity is safe. Martin has always been a class act every time I've met him (including one embarrasing moment in the grocery store during which I had a MAJOR award-winning shiner from a head-first fall from my loft.) He's always been patient, good-humored, and even-tempered in my interactions with him - not that I know him well or anything - he's not a client or a close friend - but I have chip-checked his dogs and spoken with him from time to time (quite briefly) at various public events. Plus, you gotta admire a man who can saw off parts of a couple of fingers and less than a week later race over a thousand miles on the back of a sled in sub-zero weather. Now, THAT'S tough! (Oh, and BTW, when I chip-checked Martin's team, his were the only dogs out of over 60 teams who were off the gangline, running loose - because they were under voice control and could be allowed loose without causing a problem with the other dogs. We'd tell him which dog we wanted and he'd call it over for the scan.)

 

Amusingly, your take on Swingley is similar to many locals. Yes, he MIGHT be Ghandi on runners, but he certainly doesn't give that impression. He used to act like he OWNED Iditarod, and was pretty high-handed about it. You might notice that other non-Alaskan winners have been more warmly embraced than he was; my take is that that's because they weren't all "I'm better than you stupid Alaskans and let me show you how to run this race" about it, so they were accepted into the fraternity of winners with much more warmth. It's always seemed curious to me that he took so much credit for being some giant talent at breeding and training, without ever giving the nod to the fact that he lives and trains at high altitude, and we are NOT at high altitude up here, which gives his dogs a significant advantage. That has nothing to do with breeding or training. That's environment, which he can take no credit for. And yet somehow he never mentions this.... Did you hear that thing about him saying the best way to lose the race was to take your 24 in Takotna? Hmmm, and yet Jeff King took his 24 there, and I might be mistaken, but I believe HE WON THE RACE.

 

Silhouette, Eileen once sent me an article about someone who did some BC mushing for the fun of it. They had a blast, evidently. It was a wonderful story, and I'm not surprised that people get hooked on mushing. It's kinda like herding, perhaps.... once the bug has bitten, you're doomed! I've not tried it with my maniacs (yet?) but I have to say that one of my techs, who used to sprint-mush, never sees Ali without saying he makes her want to get back into sprint dogs. There's no question - the dog can move!

[Alaska]

I hope Jeff DOES win! He's a nice guy, and an innovative musher.

Jeff DID win!

 

Want to know how nice a guy Jeff is? His wife has a couple of border collies that she likes to do agility with, but the winter's are a bit long in their neck of the woods. Jeff built her a whole indoor agility arena just so she wouldn't have to sit the winter out. My kind of guy.

 

EDIT: Here's the link (or a link, anyway) about mushing with border collies:

 

Duncan and the Dogsled

[silhouettestable]

At one of the races I went to this year there was supposed to be a 6 dog team of border collies coming but they didn't end up making it there, not sure why. I was disappointed, I really wanted to see them go.

 

Great article about Duncan and the Dogsled and it's so true about other breeds being able to sled. Most of the races around us are sprint races (4,6 or 8mile, though some of them also have a longer race of up to about 40 miles). We see everything from the traditional huskies to border mixes, to greyhound mixes and german shorthaired pointers. Especially in the skijoring event, where they only use 1-2 dogs and they're often their family pet, not necessarily part of a sledding team. Whenever the Mushing Canada website gets updated there is supposed to be a picture of my daughter and our collie going up on it. I emailed the pic to the lady I bought my harnesses from and she asked if she could have it put onto the site. She thought it was a wonderful picture (aside from it being a great shot - thanks to a wonderful photographer) because it was promoting youth involvement in the sport and showing that different breeds can be involved. Here's the pic from last year's Haliburton Dogsled Derby. The photographer is Lyn Winans, the same woman who took the pic I posted in my profile, of our border/lab mix jumping through the tire.

The lady also asked if my daughter could write a little something to go with the pic, and here's what she wrote:

"Me and Noah and Lightning and the dogsled

I am Maria Perrin and I am 6 years old. Last winter I went in the kid & mutt race at the Haliburton Dogsled Derby with our dog Noah. He is very hairy because he is a collie. We won 8th place out of 13 and it was our first race. It was the dog?s first time pulling the dogsled. He is used to pulling my GT Snowracer that Santa brought me. The dogsled race was fun and fun and fun! I?m going back again this year, hopefully I win 8th place or 1st place with my dog Lightning."

[AK dog doc]

Oh, MAN, how cute is she? I LOVE it how she says "we won 8th place" - not "we didn't win first" or we came in 8th" - we WON 8th. THAT'S the attitude to have. Great photo, too - there's a dog who's enjoying himself!

 

Alaska, interesting about the indoor agility ring Jeff built for his wife - hadn't heard that (though I HAD heard his wife had BCs). He's a handy sort, Jeff is, AND a nice guy; mannerly, cheeful and unassuming. Good sense of humor, too. Vern Halter's wife also has a BC, or at least used to - she trialled the dog locally. CUTE little bitch. (The dog, I meant, not the wife! The wife is just a great girl, and a very good vet.)

 

Now off the check out that link...

[silhouettestable]

Originally posted by AK dog doc:

Oh, MAN, how cute is she? I LOVE it how she says "we won 8th place" - not "we didn't win first" or we came in 8th" - we WON 8th. THAT'S the attitude to have. Great photo, too - there's a dog who's enjoying himself!

She's very excited about the whole dogsledding thing, and it's been keeping winter fun and interesting. While everyone else can't wait for spring, I keep hoping that the snow's going to last a bit longer (even had the dogsled out for a trip around our field today!) Something else that has been fun is dogsledding down to meet the schoolbus at the end of our road. Many days when there was enough snow cover on the road we'd do that. It's not usually the dog in that picture we use though, it's Lightning, our border mix. Noah the collie really isn't as energetic about it all as that photo implies. That was at a race where there was more excitement, and although I'm cut out of the pic, I was running alongside him. Lightning has the will and drive to want to do it on his own and I just start them off and then stand back to watch. That's why Lightning needs another BC buddy with lots of energy!

[AK dog doc]

Okay, Dave found a few Iditarod pics for me... now, if only I can figure out how to post them....!