SPK Dog Log

ID: Returned Dog Update

March 9, 2019 by SPK Crew

Now that the Current Standings are updated from Eagle Island we see Aliy has left one of her team mates with the vet crew there. Aliy will be so disappointed, she will have been enjoying the dynamics of her fun group of 14 team mates.

On an Insider video earlier in the week we learned that Commando got a minor cut on his leg going through Dalzell Gorge on Monday. This had been treated by the vet crew in Rohn and Aliy had it monitored at checkpoints all along the way. Commando was healing nicely and it wasn’t bothering him but these warm, wet conditions have meant the wound could not be kept dry and there could be a risk of infection. She decided to leave Commando with the vet crew in Eagle Island to enable him to heal properly and continue on an course of antibiotics to head off any infection at the pass.

Aliy will be gutted about that. Not only is Commando a superstar – he’s a Yukon Quest Golden Harness winner and the full package of a champion sled dog – he is also a nice dog! She will miss his sly cuddles when bootie-ing and his soft, goofy smile, mostly hidden behind his serious ‘Blue Steel’ persona. As always though, the best interest of her dogs comes before anything.

So what happens to a returned dog? You can take a look back at other articles we have written about this (here, here and here) and other kennels have excellent descriptions on this also, particularly our friends over at Smokin’ Ace.

First, Commando will have had a thorough exam by the vet crew on the ground at Eagle Island to triage into Red, Blue or White status. Red classed dogs require the highest priority level, blue dogs require medication but are stable and white dogs are healthy but tired or have a minor athletic injury. This exam will be completed multiple times from the time Aliy signed Commando over into the vets’ care until he is picked up by our Returned Dog Coordinator, Linda, in Anchorage.

Commando will then fly to one of the Returned Dogs Hubs in either McGrath or Unalakleet depending on the weather and flight availability with the Iditarod Airforce, then on to Anchorage. Every step of the way Commando will be well taken care of by an army of volunteers whose sole job is to care for the dogs. They have written protocols to follow and are under the supervision of a vet so rest assured, he will be in great hands!

Once in Anchorage, Liz and the vet and volunteer team on the ground have protocols to follow to ensure they are happy to hand him off into Linda’s care. He must have eaten a meal, be up to date with meds and passed a final vet exam.

Linda will update us once Commando has returned, but as Eagle Island is a remote checkpoint, it could be some days before he finds his way to Anchorage.

Find out more about the rules surrounding returned dogs in Section 45 of the Race Rules.

Note: it is not often we get the information about a returned dog so quickly. Please be patient as it can take time to get details – sometimes it is not until the dog is back in Anchorage that we find out who and why. We endeavour to keep you informed as quickly as possible so your patience is appreciated.

Races

ID: Kaltag Bound

March 9, 2019 by SPK Crew

It’s 12noon. Feeling: Inspired and exhilarated by Aliy’s bold race plan. What can I do differently today to emulate that?

Aliy has decided to take her eight hour Yukon River rest in Kaltag! That is the last possible place to see out this mandatory rest and fits with her “all shook up” race plan to gather that extra rest as late as possible, ready for the run up the coast.

Dogs | Sponsors

Dog Fan Club – Quadruple Draw

March 9, 2019 by SPK Crew

Thanks to all our Dog Fan Club fans. We appreciate your support and love that you feel the same about our canine best friends as we do!

We snagged some Iditarod race guides and got Aliy to sign them for you before she got on the trail so we are giving four away in today’s draw.

Congratulations to Alaric Honsbruch who is a fan of Clyde, Nacho fan Katelyn Rockowitz, Ann Healy, a fan of Gold and Jessica Manning who is a fan of Mismo. You will all be receiving a signed race guide, a glam shot of your dog and some other kennel goodies.

Clyde is a Quest Champ and Iditarod veteran with ten 1000 mile starts under his harness. He is a tough, solid dog who has seen it all. He is also a friendly, happy guy who’ll give you a hug when you pass by. Two of his sons – Rodney and Five are on the Iditarod trail today.

All-Star Nacho is one of the best. Along with his sisters Quito and Chica he made up the famous “trio of grey dogs”. He is the father to seven of the 14 dogs out on the trail with Aliy, and uncle to the rest. Today he lives with his long-term girlfriend Olivia. They share “the plaza” pen, eat and sleep together and run around the yard each day while we scoop the yard. Nacho follows Olivia’s her every move – Nacho loves Olivia! Read more about our Hall-of-Famer Nacho here.

Gold just finished fifth in the Two Rivers 100 with Karolyn. He’s a happy, enthusiastic chap with excellent genetics from Mama Quito and Papa Clyde and a gorgeous golden coat. Look for him in the main teams in years to come.

Mismo is with Aliy on the Iditarod trail. Aliy was delighted to be able to choose Mismo for her team as he came back from minor injury earlier in the season, worked hard to get fit and was yelling to go at the start line. He spent some time on the couch earlier in the season and usurped kennel lab Tig for the prime reclining spot.

There will be another multi-draw coming up of signed posters – it’s not too late to join. Find out more about our athletes at the “Dogs” page. To join the Dog Fan Club you can hit the “Become a Dog Fan” tab at the top of the page or click here.

Races

TR100: 5th Place!

March 9, 2019 by SPK Crew

Congratulations Karolyn, Kodiak, Lydia, Cayenne, Chipper, Habibi, Razz, Chevie, Perky, Champ, Gold and Scooby. They crossed the finish line at the Pleasant Valley Store in the early hours of the morning in fifth position (edit: originally thought they finished in 3rd – apologies)

No official results or times have been posted yet but they ran a fast second leg and almost beat the hander crew to the finish line!

Unfortunately, small checkpoint combined with headlamp failure means no photos from the finish but smiles were wide. We’ll get more details from Karolyn later, she and the team are catching up on some sleep now.

Races

ID: Saturday Morning to Eagle Island

March 9, 2019 by SPK Crew

Its 4:45am. Feeling: Kinda tired (but reluctant to say it out loud as I watch seriously sleep deprived mushers head down the trail)

Aliy and her 14 team mates are working their way up to Eagle Island. As I write they are 20 miles out.They spent 5.25 hours resting in the Grayling checkpoint then pulled out down the river.

For the second year running, the logistics team have had to battle weather issues at Eagle Island and have been unable to get food drop bags ahead of the mushers. As it is not a village, simply an island in the middle of the Yukon, the organisation can’t send the bags too far ahead of time then leave them unattended for fear animals will get into them. What that means for the teams is that they must take with them all their supplies they will need to get to Kaltag. I believe there is straw and fuel at Eagle Island and that it is still deemed a “checkpoint”, unlike last year, so if a team chooses to stay eight hours there it will be counted (disclaimer: that is my assumption as I haven’t heard that the checkpoint is closed). Even if the weather improves they now can not transport the bags for any musher behind as they could then get an unfair advantage.

This won’t be a problem for Aliy. She is used to travelling distance with supplies – all the Yukon Quest mushers in the field will not bat an eye at this development as there are parts of the Quest trail that are unsupported for nearly 200 miles.

You may be asking “why hasn’t Aliy stopped to take her eight hour break yet – almost everyone else has?” (except Pete Kaiser) The team took their 24 hour rest further up the trail that most other teams so they are fresher, in theory, than the others. They can ‘afford’ to delay their next long rest. There is still a long way to go in this race and the coast has notoriously difficult weather. The advantage to resting long later is that the team will be well rested more recently than most.

Aliy will have replenished both hers and the dogs’ energy stores later than the others so could have more zip at the end. That’s the theory anyway. This also means that when she does stop she will be leap-frogged again by the mushers that have already got two ticks beside their name. Aliy is on a completely different rest schedule to anyone else that’s for sure. She is the one behind that dog team running that trail so no one but her is able to make that call. We trust she’s doing the right thing by her dogs – which, at the end of the day is all that matters to her.

If you haven’t seen them already, there are a couple of really lovely reports about Aliy in the villages of Shageluk and Anvik. Click the red links (left) to see them.

Races

TR100: Two Rivers Lodge

March 8, 2019 by SPK Crew

Karolyn and her team arrived into Two Rivers Lodge from Chatanika at 6:20pm giving them a run time over the first 50 miles of 5 hours 28 mins. At this stage we’re not certain what position they are in but by our back of the envelope calculations they could be in third place.

I asked Karolyn who was impressing her and she immediately said “Razz” – she yelled and barked to keep moving every time the team stopped for a snack break. Gold is also impressing today – he doesn’t always perform well in the heat, and it was very warm today up in the hills, but he was strong and steady.

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After their mandatory four hour break plus differential (although Karolyn had no differential to make up as she was the last team to leave) they headed towards Pleasant Valley Store to the finish line. As the car drives, the Lodge to the Store is only about 10 miles so the teams will do a big loop around to the Chena River and return through our local trails to make the leg 50 miles long.

Check out this smooth and controlled road crossing out of Two Rivers. Thanks to all the volunteers manning the checkpoints and roads!

We expect a finish in the wee hours – we’ll bring you what coverage we can.

Races

ID: Friday Afternoon on the Yukon

March 8, 2019 by SPK Crew

It’s 4:00pm. Feeling: frustrated at the weather Gods. Rain? Seriously?

Aliy and all 14 team mates have moved through Shageluk and Anvik and are currently on the way to Grayling. They posted the fastest time from Iditarod to Shageluk for all the teams so far with a 7 hr 11 min runtime, which one might expect having come off the 24 more recently than the others. They rested for just under 2.5 hours in Shageluk and blew through Anvik at 3:45 with a runtime of 3 hours, 21 mins. They are now on the Yukon proper.

By taking the 24 hour rest later than most everyone so far, except Martin Buser, she could theoretically take the eight our rest further up the river. As always, she has packed her supply bags for several contingencies so at this point we’re not certain where she will decide to take the long rest. She will be assessing how the dogs are doing, what the weather is doing and how she is feeling to make that decision.

We’re hearing reports that it is raining out on the trail. The temperature is hovering around freezing. At least rain might keep the dogs cooler than if there were direct sun but the temperatures and running conditions are still a bit yuck.

I asked Allen what it was like to run on the river. We recorded this a few days ago when the current weather situation wasn’t known.

Check out two recent videos from the Insider: “Run Dog Run Interior” and “Run Dog Run Alaska Range” – there are some spectacular shots of our team including a cool slow-mo capture of them running through a stream in the Alaska Range. Interesting to see who tries to jump over and who just trots on through!