Dear Zuma,

We are 2nd graders from Charlotte, North Carolina.  We have been reading Akiak:  A Tale from the Iditarod. This story has taught us a lot about the Iditarod dog race.  In the story, Akiak, the dog, displays his courage by finishing the race with an injured paw.  We enjoyed the story and had a few questions for you.

Do you know of any dogs that have gotten injured during the race?  Were they able to finish?

How many days does it typically take to finish the race?

Zuma, what temperature is it typically during the race week?

Zuma, can you please share a little more information with us about the Husky breed?  Why do Huskies look like wolves? Also, why do some Huskies have blue eyes? Thank you for your time.

Your Montclaire Elementary Friends

Hello Boys and Girls,

Thanks for your questions!

When a musher’s team arrives at a checkpoint the team of veterinarians examines each of the dogs.  If there are any dogs that need to be dropped from the race, the veterinarians care for those dogs.  Those dogs are later flown back to Anchorage.    Sometimes a rest in a checkpoint is all a dog needs to be feeling great again.  Do you ever come in from recess all tired out but find out when the next recess rolls around you are ready to out and play again?  Or have you ever had an upset tummy and then after a nap, you feel better?  Well, it is sort of like that for some of the dogs.  Once a dog has been dropped from the race and left with the veterinarians at the checkpoint, though, that dog doesn’t get to get back in the Iditarod— at least that particular year.

The winner finishes the race in 9 – 10 days.  Mushers roll into Nome one after another until they are all there!  Usually most of the mushers finish by 14 days.

It is hard to talk about the typical weather because weather conditions are different from one part of the trail to the next part of the trail.  The conditions can be different one year from the next or from one checkpoint compared to three checkpoints up the trail.   It is best for you to visit our weather center at the website during the race and click on the temperatures at the different checkpoints.  You can also use the GPS Tracker to see the temperature each musher faces during the race.  We also have some really awesome weather activities and lessons at the website.  You can see those ideas at this section of the website by click here. Then click on the Iditarod Ready!  Storm Read! materials.

I could write a whole book about the Husky breed.  I’ll tell you one thing— they are a northern breed which means they have a suitable natural winter coat to keep them warm.  You can go to this part of the website and learn more about the dogs.  To read, click here. Click on What is a Sled Dog?  Our Chief Veterinarian wrote that article and it will help you learn a lot of important information.  Your teacher can read it and help you learn more.

As far as eye color, I’m not so sure so many have blue eyes.  You might be thinking of Siberian Huskies.  A good place for you to look is at the Race Images by photographer Jeff Schultz.  Go to www.iditarod.com and click ‘View All Images’.  You can also check out our Zuma Blog scrapbook.  On the left side of this page, click on the Scrapbook of Pictures.  Look at the pictures of the dogs on the website pages, too.  I think you see that most huskies don’t have blue eyes.  Have fun looking at the pictures.

Thanks for your questions.

Have a great week in school!  I hope you keep reading Zuma’s Paw Prints all summer long!

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma