With blizzard conditions, treacherous landscapes and temperatures that reach degrees Fahrenheit, only highly trained, well-conditioned dogs will pass the required physical examination and earn one of the 16 spots on an Iditarod team. According to the Official Iditarod Rules, only dogs suitable for arctic travel are permitted to race. After a sled pulled by standard poodles successfully finished the race in , veterinarians voiced concerns over the effect of the harsh conditions on the poodles health.
Dogs considered northern breeds include huskies, malumutes and Akitas. These requirements include a willingness to be harnessed, adequate training and conditioning and, most importantly, the ability to withstand environmental extremes. Certified sled dogs also must meet certain physical health parameters such as heart rate, respiratory capacity and body temperature. It begins with a ceremonial launch in Anchorage, Alaska, the morning of the first Saturday in March, with mushers running 20 miles to Eagle River along the Alaskan Highway, giving spectators a chance to see the dogs and their mushers.
The teams are then loaded onto trucks and driven 30 miles to Wasilla for the official start of the race. Perhaps the most famous sled dog of all was Balto, a jet black Siberian Husky, who was the lead dog of the sled dog team that carried diphtheria serum on the last leg of the relay to Nome during the diphtheria epidemic.
There was serum in Nenana, but the town was miles away, and inaccessible except by dog sled. A relay was set up, and 20 teams pulled together. Six days later the lifesaving serum reached Nome. It earned three out of four stars from the most famous film critic of the day, Roger Ebert. While the lead dog of the mile final leg, Balto , would become famous for his role in the run, many argue that it was Siberian Husky lead dog Togo, who was the true savior of the day. All told, the year-old Togo traversed an astounding miles, compared to an average of 31 miles each for the other teams.
Over time, with the help of historians, Togo began to garner the recognition he deserved. The reason for this is a combination of factors including vocal animal rights groups, decreased sponsorship, and a dog-doping scandal yes, you read that right! A musher looks for several qualities in a sled dog, according to National Geographic. One of the most important qualities possessed by successful sled dogs is good feet.
Dogs with tender feet may not do well on the trail, even with booties, and professionals point out that booties slow dogs down in shorter races.
A healthy appetite and a thick coat are also important. Picky eaters might not take in the necessary calories on the trail, which reduces their performance ability.
If students try that using an arm to cover mouth and nose, they can get a sense of how that helps. The Iditarod has three mandatory rests for mushers and their teams.
They will run for awhile, then stop and rest along the trail for the same amount of time. Mushers observe their dogs closely and know if they need a break. You will sometimes see a musher carrying a bale of straw out of a checkpoint. Most likely, the musher plans to camp along the trail instead of in a checkpoint.
Some sled dogs are shy; most are very friendly. They love attention like belly rubs, ear and backs scratches, and encouraging words. Read what it takes to compete in the Iditarod. National Geographic talked to Diane Johnson , the Iditarod's director of education, to learn more about the so-called last great race. Iditarod means "distant" or "distant place" in the languages of Ingalik and Holikachu, which are spoken by indigenous Athabaskan peoples of northwestern Alaska.
It's also the name of a city, a river, and a trail in the same area. A relic from Alaska's gold-mining era, the abandoned city of Iditarod is located along the Iditarod River map and considered the halfway point on the southern route of the dogsled race. Back in the gold rush days, the only way to deliver mail to Iditarod was to drive a dogsled along the Iditarod Trail.
But after World War II, Alaska transportation began to change in favor of faster methods of travel such as snowmobiles and airplanes. Iditarod race founder and musher Joe Redington, Sr.
Unseasonably warm weather can move the starting line of the Iditarod race—known as the restart location—if the trail begins to melt. In , when the trail near Willow was impassable due to deteriorating conditions, the race was moved to Fairbanks, a city miles kilometers north of Anchorage. Organizers considered moving it to colder Fairbanks again this year, but decided that trail conditions were safe for the racers. Only northern dog breeds like Siberian huskies and Alaskan malamutes are allowed to race in the Iditarod.
The rule was adopted in the early s after musher John Suter entered the competition with standard European poodles on his dogsled team. However, many of the poodles were dropped off at checkpoints due to frozen feet and hair-matting problems. Take National Geographic's dog quiz. Some mushers disagree with the decision to allow only northern breed dogs, but the organization insists the rule is to protect dogs that aren't suited for cold-weather racing.
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