Sled dogs are a superbly conditioned group of dogs that have bonded with a particular human individual who has worked closely with his or her team to develop a group that can travel quickly and efficiently over long distances in very short periods of time often under extreme weather conditions. They do this out of love and devotion for each other and a passion to pull a sled. This relationship between man and beast is what intrigues me the most. I was anxious to experience first hand, this extraordinary bond between man and beast. The primary responsibility of the veterinary team is to assure the safety and well-being of all the dogs that participate in the race.
All vaccinations have to be up to date and each dog is dewormed.
The vets travel from checkpoint to checkpoint mostly by small, single engine planes with skis instead of wheels. The planes are flown by a group of highly qualified volunteer bush pilots. We land in remote native villages and a few checkpoints are isolated trail crossings in the middle of nowhere. Landings can be quite interesting as with skis, instead of wheels, there are no breaks and so coming to a stop can be an exciting event. Remote checkpoint landings are on frozen and snow covered rivers, lakes or old emergency landing strips carved out of the wilderness in strategic locations that happen to now be Iditarod checkpoints.