John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

Dr. David Gagnon

January 2017.  Another John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon for me.  I never seem to grow tired of writing blog entries about my sled dog races and adventures because they’re always so enjoyable, and each event is so different.  This year’s race was a bit more eventful for the veterinary team than it was last year.  Despite the trail route being nearly the same, there are so many factors: temperature, trail conditions, how well-trained the dogs are, and which teams are running.

To give you an idea of the difficulty of this particular race, one of the mushers approached me and said, “Have I told you about my dog who can finish the Iditarod but can’t finish the Beargrease? Let me show you!”  The Beargrease is the longest sled dog race in the lower 48 states, this year coming in at 370 miles.  The distance is much less than the longer races like the Iditarod, which is around 1,000 miles long.  But it’s the terrain that makes it so difficult.  There are lots of big hills!

There was another musher who comes from a big family in the Alaskan mushing community, and has run the Iditarod multiple times.  He said this was particularly difficult for him; he ended up with blisters on his own feet for trying to run alongside the sled in order to give the dogs a break.

My view from the sled, taken in the U.P. in March, 2015

This year’s weather forecast was making everyone nervous, with highs in the upper 20s/low 30s.  For racing dogs, this is HOT!  Their ideal is in the single digits above or below zero.  Fortunately, only one day was really that warm, but the other days and all the nights were comfortable.  The trail was hard with a light layer of snow on top, resulting in some fast speeds.  The warmer-than-average temperatures and the fast trail are what made things interesting for the veterinary team.

When dogs run too hard, too fast, or too long, the veterinary crew and mushers need to step up their game and really watch for evidence of muscular injury or breakdown.  Most dogs only need some fluids to help their situation, thank goodness.  The veterinary team and the mushers work together in order to serve the dogs.  The mushers know that, without the dogs, their team is nothing.  And the veterinary team is there to assess any problems and be sure the dogs recover well after a long run.

Beargrease 2017

Carrying an injured dog to our treatment area to receive some fluids and TLC

For those of you who think sled dog races are too hard on the dogs, or it’s cruel to the animals, you should watch a race sometime.  These dogs love doing this.  In fact, when they’re lined up in front of a sled, and are hooked up to their harnesses, you’d have a hard time telling them not to pull.  They were bred for this and they live for it.  Jack London said it best in his book White Fang: “Life achieves its summit when it does to the uttermost that which it was equipped to do.”

I love volunteering my time to spend time with these amazing canine athletes.  I’m desperately looking forward to the next race.  See you up the trail.

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