In this episode, Aliy talks about ambient temperature, the effects it has on the dogs, how they compensate and what it can mean in racing.
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In this episode, Aliy talks about ambient temperature, the effects it has on the dogs, how they compensate and what it can mean in racing.
Comments are closed.
Are you anticipating that this year's Iditarod's temperatures will be a lot warmer than last year's? If so, are there adjustments you make to your training? I assume that you take off the booties at each stop to let the dogs' feet dry. Do you reuse the booties or are they usually worn out?
Normally you run 16 dogs in the Iditarod, right? It appears that you are doing training runs with 12 dogs at a time. I was curious as to why you run with less dogs than you will actually race.
The Iditarod is often "warmer" and this year may be as well… It has been "warm" here at the Kennel recently, so the dogs are at least getting some acclimation, but there isn't really any "adjustment" that we can do.
Dog booties are removed at each stop and are not reused on the Iditarod. Partly because they are worn but mostly because they are "sweaty"… Here at the Kennel we sort, wash, dry and reuse some booties, but that's not possible on the Iditarod.
We are still training 12 dog teams around here because we still have so little snow on the trails that the sled brakes cannot control any more dogs… It's been a problem for us all season, requiring more running time for the mushers and more trips to the mountains where there is some more snow.
Thank you, Mac