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| By: Natasha, Halie, Aaron, Sean, Zach, Morgan, and C.J. |
| It is hard to pick a good dog team. It's hard because you have to find strong dogs that don't have to be smart but fast and healthy. The dogs also have to get along and be honest dogs. Honest dogs are dogs that always pull and don't just pretend to pull. | |
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There are a maximum number of dogs used for the race. In the rules they say that you can have 16 dogs in the beginning of the race. You must finish with 5 dogs or you'll get disqualified from the race. In the old days you could have 20 dogs and you could finish with 6 dogs. |
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There are many kinds of sled dogs. The most used are the Siberian huskies because they run faster and are stronger. They are a medium sized compact dog of a breed that was developed in Northeastern Siberia for use with dog sleds. The largest Alaskan malamute are a breed of powerful heavy coated deep chested dogs of Alaskan origin with exact ears, heavily cushioned feet, and a plumy tail. |  |
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A musher must decide how to position his or her dogs in the team. The lead dog or dogs have to be the smartest and the most likely to obey the musher. The lead dogs sometimes have to make important choices for the team because they will be the first to come to a situation. They also must be a dog the other dogs are willing to follow. The dogs behind the leaders are the strong pullers. The dogs nearest to the sled are called the wheel dogs. The wheel dogs are the most loyal dogs. They must also anchor the sled. Mushers try their dogs in many positions before racing to find out where each dog works the best. |
| There are many kinds of commands in the
Iditarod. There is gee and haw .Gee means right and haw means left. To go you say "Hike". To stop you say "Whoa". |
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Dogs have to have special equipment such as
special
booties that protect their paws from sharp ice and snow. The dogs also need an extra gangline in case the other one breaks. You need a lot of extra food for the dogs because a dog team eats about 50 pounds of food a day! Dogs need special coats. One of the coats they need keeps them warm and the other coat reflects the sun so they're not too warm. The dogs in the Iditarod need cream for their paws because their paws will get dry and crack. If that happens they would have to be dropped. |
| Sled dogs get hurt sometimes when pulling
sleds. When you have an injured dog you must do a few things! First you
take your dog to the nearest checkpoint. If
your dog is hurt enough, you will drop the dog. When you drop a dog, someone will be there to take care of it! When a plane comes, it will fly your dog back to Anchorage. After the race is finished and you fly back to Anchorage, you can receive your dog!! |
Iditarod dogs that were dropped at the Rainy Pass checkpoint at Puntilla
Lake are led by volunteers to the plane that will take them back to Anchorage.
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