A Dog's Life

Musher families often have many dogs. They think of their dogs as trained athletes. What makes a good sled dog? A good sled dog is a lot like a good person:honest, hard working, friendly, positive attitude, and curious. The physical traits and muscular structure of the dog's body are important, but the best dogs are the ones with heart, willingness, and the desire to get the job accomplished. Lead dogs show sign of being leaders from puppyhood.

Jr Iditarod wins by a nose

February 24, 2008 When Jessica Klejka was a rookie in the Junior Iditarod in 2005, she came in last place to recieve the legendary Red Lantern Award. Three years later only days away from her 18th birthday Klejka captured victory in the 2008 Junior Iditarod on february 24. It was not an easily won race. She was only 2 seconds ahead of the lead dogs of cain carter, stepson of the famous Lance Mackey.

Susan Butcher

Susan Butcher was a musher in the iditarod. She won the iditarod then died of Leukemia. She has became an inspiration to a lot of people. The first sunday in march is now known as Susan Butcher day in Alaska.

Gary Paulsen

February: "Im in Alaska, about 100 miles north of Anchorage in the bush. The snow is 5 1/2 feet deep, but slightly north of here the snow goes up to about 14 feet. It's an amazing amount of snow."
Training for the first day: The Iditarod officially begins the first Saturday in March-on March 5. Ive been in training so far. ive run the dogs about 700 miles, but i would love to have run 2000. Ive got 31 days now until the race and only 22 of those um going to be able to run. If the dogs catch the flu or get any injuries i cant finish training the dogs and get the miles on them that i need.
A typical morning: A typical day is like this morning. i got up about 6:00 AM. It was 46 below outside. the dogs have houses to sleep in and straw beds. i go out at about 6:30 and give them a warm breakfast. I examine each dogs feet to make sure they are good for running. at 10:00 i go out and start picking the dog team im going to run that day. I get a toyota pickup with no motor and pull that with 20 dogs up to 80-100 miles a day. That is not all of what he does on a typical morning either that is just a summary! That is crazy how much he does to train!

Jeff king Toe Pics

The Toes on Jeff kings blog were so awesome the pictures were so good they showed every single stage of his frost bite. I thought that the pictures were cool and very graphic. Jeff and Dave are known as the Shake and Bake team.

The Home Stretch BJT

The home stretch is the last of the race. It is pretty much a sprint to the finish line. The mushers switch to lighters sleds that don't carry as much and they go faster. Even though there is still hundreds of miles to go; it is still really competitive. BT BT