Thursday afternoon, 37 SPK Iditarod hopefuls had their appointments with the Iditarod Vet Tech crew to have a blood sample taken and EKG completed prior to being designated fit to run. One step closer to race start!
The blood sample is sent away to a laboratory for a full blood panel and the EKG is seen by a specialist cardiologist in Anchorage to check for any heart abnormalities that could be cause for concern or may rule a dog out of running 1000 miles.
Every dog that runs in the Iditarod goes through this procedure every year.
I followed two dogs who had never been to “blood draw and EKG” day before: Decaf and QT. Neither had Iditarod microchips yet either. In this video I asked Tabitha and Sabrina about each of the procedures. Poor Decaf, it’s the hardest thing in the world to ask him to be still for the 30 seconds it takes to draw blood then the 10 seconds to do the EKG and 2 seconds for the chip. He did so well, then QT showed him how to really do it! Good girl QT.
Thanks to Tabitha Jones – Chugiak, AK, Laura Harrington – Eagle Point, OR, Katie Geray – Fargo, ND, Sabrina Volcke – Wheatland, WY, Sara Short – Harrisburg, OR. We appreciate the time you have all taken out of your lives to come up and volunteer your services for our dogs. Your passion for what you do really shines through and our dogs respond to your attention.
As their final step to “qualifying”, the dogs go through a thorough physical exam next week. More on that later.
Good Boy Decaf! We couldn’t sit still either!!! Go Boy Go! Or is it Easy Boy Easy. Either way. Heading to the big race!
QT way too easy girl. Showing him up. It’s ok. Love you all!
Go healthy blood, go healthy EKG’s! This is so cool – thank you for the pictures. Chipper looks small sitting on Aliy’s lap. Remember the size of the dogs that used to run long distance races? It seems like their sizes have shrunk over the years. Less ‘big machine’ 60 and 70 lb. dogs and more ‘smaller and athletic’ 40 and 50 lb. dogs and even less. Regardless of their size, their VO2 max results are un-freaking- believable. What incredible athletes. If loved and cared for and trained well – like SPK does – these dogs are the gold medal winners of long distance running events.
Felix – GOOD BOY! Hard to believe these 4-legged athletes will begin running a 1000 mile race (or- ANOTHER 1000 mile race) in such a short time. Good luck with preparations. Thank you again for sharing them with all of us.
Good to see my buddy Decaf. Hard to believe it is close to the next race. Good luck to SP Kennel !!
Good dog Decaf!! I love the picture of Chipper sitting on Aliy’s lap waiting her turn! I’m glad all went well and I can’t wait until the Iditarod start-only one week away!
Uggh…..I had to look away during the blood draw….Decaf handled it like no problem…..good boy! LOL….Chipper is such a lap dog! I cant believe how little she is but what a lil power house in harness! QT didnt seem to mind all the fuss…way to go girl!
Cant believe the last big race for the year is less than a week away! Good to see SPK has a healthy pool of dogs to create 2 awesome Teams. Stay healthy pups….theres a big adventure heading your way!
So, is there an Iditarod chip as well as the usual ID chip like Cutter and Hopi have or does this become their identification for all tracking?
..
I had been hoping that Dancer might be able to go on the Black Team this year, but given the times I’ve watched her run circle after circle after circle around her dog house pole, I am wondering if she could possibly hold still even as well as Decaf – man!
..
Decaf was so precious, moaning his soft protests to the indignity of it all.
I thought over what I heard the vet say and where microchips are normally placed and the location behind the ear is unique and it is used for ensuring this dog is an SPK dog during the race. So I reckon dogs have two chips? Interesting.
Ditto on Thanks for the video of what happens behind the scene. Good Dogs!!!!
I so appreciate that you post pictures of the behind-the-scenes stuff ahead of time! I’m a 4th year vet student, and I’m actually in Alaska this year for the Iditarod (first time for both the race and Alaska), and I couldn’t be more excited. These dogs are all such incredible athletes, and I hope to someday have the privilege of helping to care for them during the race. Good luck SP Kennel!!
Good dogs, all vetted and ready for Iditarod! Little Ms. Chipper looks quite content sitting on Aliy’s lap, good girl Chipper!
Heidi
WOOF WOOF WOOF
So adorable.
This is very cool. Thanks for allowing us to see a glimpse of this part of the race preparation. These dogs are well gs are so well taken care of!
Wow…37 EKGs…the patience of a saint!!
Once again, thank you for all you do to keep us up to date with SPK activities. Safe travels to Anchorage. Wish we were there!
Thank you so much for leading us through the process with you. I have learned so much about the process and gained such a respect for what you do daily as I learn.
Go SP Kennels!