Hello friends,

Vet Teamwork

Iditarod Headquarters is HOPPING! So many things happening this week. My canine friends are here having their pre-race check-ups by our volunteer vets. (Read Rule #40 to see everything they must go thru to become an Iditarod dog.) Mushers are checking in, turning in their paperwork and getting all their questions answered. Teachers are arriving to look around and Skype with their classes. Aaawoooooo! I LOVE this time of year!

My friends from Harrison School in Illinois want to know about sleeping on the trail. Most mushers start the race with a plan for their Run/Rest schedule. For example – run 4 hours, rest 4 hours. They may go a little further if they are close to a checkpoint where there will be fresh straw.

Musher curls up with the dogs.

The dogs know when they stop and the straw comes out to curl up and take a nap. Mushers, however, have to spread the straw, take off dog booties, boil water for feeding, feed dogs, apply ointment to dog pads, and, if needed, put jackets on dogs. THEN if there is time, they can pull out their sleeping bag – a mandatory item for their sled – and get some rest. If stopping at a checkpoint, mushers will sleep on the floor of a gym or community building. There is a 24 hour mandatory stop and 2 8-hour stops. This is the time mushers can try to catch up on rest. But, truth be told (dogs can’t lie), there is a lot of sleep deprivation by the humans on the trail. It’s all about the dogs.

If you have a question for me, please e-mail me here at askzumadog@gmail.com. I’ll try to answer as many as I can. Keep checking back.

Tail wags,

Zuma