Dear Friends,

Some of you may have spring flowers blooming.  Those temperatures wouldn’t be good for sled dogs right now, because  we love running in colder places.  We have two layers of hair.  The inner layer is like a soft blanket, keeping us warm  The outer layer is guard hair, keeping ice and snow away from our bodies.

Notice the two layers of hair on this dog

Have you noticed that the sled dog teams make a lot of progress racing overnight?  The mushers have headlamps they wear on their hats to be able to see.  The reason night runs are often preferred is because the sun is down and it is colder.  We dogs run best below 20 degrees F., but it’s even better below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.  That is because we get heated up pulling and running, just like you do.  Various mushers like Nic Petit have commented that they are letting their teams rest during the warm times of the day.  There has even been rain on the trail, which means it is warm.

During cold days, we sled dogs love burrowing into the straw to sleep.

This morning, it looks like McGrath is going to have a high temperature of 28 degrees F.  That’s not the best for daytime runs.  Once the teams hit the coast, things cool down more because of the winds coming off the frozen Bering Sea.  

Keep cheering on the teams as they slog through wet snow and warmer temperatures right now!

Until next time,

Gypsy