The ITC headquarters is a busy place on the Wednesday before race start. With most of the official race veterinarians having arrived, mushers take advantage of the official vet check. A last physical exam before race time. 24 dogs can be checked in total. Some dogs might only do the Ceremonial Start on Saturday. No dog who has not been officially examined, can take part in the short fun run neither. This year, due to the lack of snow, the ceremonial start has been shortened from the usual 11 miles to 3 miles. Snow has been brought in by railroad all the way from Fairbanks.

For any veteran musher, they can also choose to have the vet check done beforehand. This could be an advantage if you live, for example in Fairbanks and do not want to bring down the dogs this early, and instead have them stay in their home yard till Friday night. For out of town mushers, who have a very long drive, keeping their dogs at home is not really an option. There are all kind of truck and trailer setups. Ketil Reitan is pulling a trailer while staying in a camper on his pickup truck. Nicolas Petit has moved up a notch from staying in a tent in downtown Anchorage to staying in his large enclosed dog trailer, heated by a wood stove. Others like Miriam Osredkar can make use of a friend’s dogtruck, while the dogs can return to their home yard in Willow.

Besides a physical vet check, looking for any soreness, harness rub, broken teeth, body temperatures, the dogs also have had bloodwork and an EKG done. Specially the bloodwork is an important part of the wellness check, as a dog might appear fine just looking at it, certain blood values can indicate hidden problems like infections or the presence of a stomach ulcer. Once the physical exam, the bloodwork and the EKG come up clean, a dog is given the green light to start. Each dog is micro-chipped and throughout the race any exams are further noted in the “ vet book “, which is one of the most important pieces of mandatory equipment a musher must carry.

If you live in the Anchorage area, drive on out to the ITC headquarters. Its a good chance to meet mushers one on one and to see their dogs. 

Enjoy the pictures:

Sebastian