Posted on 03/17/2019 10:25:49 AM PDT by Viking2002
I have a mixed breed that loves to run. I hook her up to the dog leash on my bike and bam! we’re gone. She pulls me for the first block before she slows down. Sometimes she gets going so fast I have to break to slow her down. She loves it!
You may want to study up on these athlete dogs before pontificating further. They thrive in the cold and actually struggle in warm weather.
The harnesses only put about five pounds of pressure on the dogs.
The musher, like most breeds, raises and trains all his dogs himself. These dogs are not mistreated in any way, shape or form.
Dogs are dropped for several reasons. Mostly it is for race strategy. The early phases of the race have more hills so a larger team is needed. The last half of the race is flatter so a smaller team makes sense.
Occasionally a dog falls ill and is dropped. Sometimes they drop females because they go in heat and distract the males.
When they get dropped, they are flown back to Anchorage where each musher has a dog handler waiting to take care of the dog.
See 43. Dogs are not pulled for exhaustion and injury. Most are pulled due to pre-planned race strategy.
“There must be other ways to recognize that achievement without nearly recreating it each year, without all the dangers that went with the original emergency.”
Agreed. I’m surprised that the medicines weren’t flown-in and air-dropped into Nome.
Sorry but I'm not buying your acceptance of this race. Because the females are in season is only a small reason they're dropped. The rest are dropped due to injuries and exhaustion............
There is no race strategy involved in dropping a dog unless it is medically necessary...
There were only three planes operating in Alaska at the time out of Fairbanks, and they were dismantled for the winter.
-PJ
No it doesn't make sense because the smaller team is now tasked with pulling the same heavy load and making up in energy expended for the dogs that were dropped......
The race is now under scrutiny by animal rights groups, as well they should be, and is offering up any excuse they can come up with to legitimize the race at the expense of the dogs.........
Sorry Cyclotic but there is no way you or anyone else can convince me that the Iditarod is a worthwhile, 1000 mile and two week race that only the residents of Alaska are interested in.......At the expense of the dogs..........
How long have you been following the race and the strategy?
I’ll admit that I’m no expert but I’ve been a fan for many years.
A buddy of mine just sent me his Iditarod Volunteer hat from this years race.
If you’d like, I can point you to a Michigan based sled dog racer who can set you straight on strategy.
Has anyone blamed TRUMP yet?
It is a fluke because as noted, you cannot be a winner if a dog dies, therefore it is in the interest of the race to make sure the dogs get top notch treatment.
The guy took his dog to the vet, it is not as if he neglected it. Now, being a rookie, he may have not been as tuned in to his dogs as he will be once he gains experience, and he may have missed a sign that the dog was in distress because dogs hide their issues, particularly when in pack, and in the excitement which all working dogs feel when they get to do their work, there may not have been any visible signs of trouble until later after the excitement died down and the dogs were unharnessed and the racing frenzy was over.
Thanks for the history lesson on the Iditarod.
Thanks for being another voice of logic in this conversation. It’s amazing how emotional people get when animals are concerned.
You're right, you're not. Get back to me when you can give me figures on the numbers of dogs per race that have been dropped due to injuries, illness and fatigue rather than your "STRATEGY".
Then let me know how many dogs have died over the years during their years long training...........
I can point you to a Michigan based sled dog racer
You don't have to point me to anyone. Just give me the numbers I'm asking from above........
My dad was one that raised and hunted lots of foxhounds of various pedigrees. They never live long, they burn the candle at both ends, as they will pursue game for 48 hours nonstop and come home looking looking like death. A 7 year old hound is old beyond years, but they love the chase more than life. I have a feeling that the great sled dogs are similar.
I’d like to ask you to do some research yourself on mushers and strategy first rather than just making pronouncements.
Here’s a good article on the subject.
https://turningheadskennel.com/understanding-why-mushers-drop-sled-dogs-in-races/Here’s a great article on the subject.
Please read all the way through
Thanks for that perspective. I never thought of it that way.
https://www.thatmutt.com/2019/01/28/training-sled-dogs-yukon-quest/
https://www.yukonquest.com/news/dropping-dogs
Here’s some more.
The stories you read about mushers mistreating dogs are from PETA type groups who are tugging at your heartstrings so you send them money.
PETA will never answer how many dogs they flat out euthanize.
To a musher, a dog is a valuable asset, and in many cases a friend. As you’ve seen from the articles, to raise and train a race dog, it takes years of daily care and tons of money.
You simply cannot take an abused dog and expect it to perform at any level possible to complete let alone compete in a 1000 mile race, or for that matter even a short 200 mile race.
The narrative of a cigar chomping mountain man in a fur hat whipping the dogs into submission is simply unheard of in sled dog racing. Instead, it’s a guy whose entire life revolves around his dogs, their care and training to be world class athletes.
You most likely don’t believe what is in your newspaper about politics, why believe what they say about what are known as puppy mills? Do you think all who sell dogs without papers are like these people? Are there no honest breeders who don’t deal in papered pups, with them all neutered and chipped?
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