Dogs are dropped for a multitude of reasons. Many are just tired. Some are young dogs that are doing their first Iditarod and aren t expected to complete the entire race or older team members that are along just to lead the team through the initial mountain range, which is tricky and essential to have an experienced leader to guide the team safely. Muscle soreness, sprains, sore wrists and shoulders are the most common reasons for dropping dogs. Occasionally there are more serious injuries, but the vast majority of dropped dogs recover within twenty-four hours of being dropped.
Rest is the best medicine.
There have been dogs that have died during the race. Every effort has been made to reduce those losses to a bare minimum. Any time you have 1,000 dogs watched closely for two or three weeks there are likely to be unfortunate losses. Iditarod is no exception. Life would be much less for these creatures if they were not allowed this high point in their lives.