Northern breed dogs have multiple adaptations for the environment they run in. Their coat, their tongues and their feet keep them warm, keep the cool and keep them going. These sled dogs are amazing athletes. 

The tongue has an intricate system of blood vessels – lots of blood flows close to the surface. Then as long as the dog is properly hydrated, there’s the ever-present copious amount of saliva. The tongue is huge compared to other canines so there’s a lot of surface to facilitate cooling.

Through the evaporation of saliva and it’s cooling effect, the tongue of a sled dog a very high efficiency cooling mechanism. It was about 31 degrees and cloudy for the Ceremonial start in Anchorage.