Angie Taggert Visits the Teacher Group

Mrs. B and I sat in class today. We got to see her friend, Angie Taggert. She ran the Iditarod in 2011 and 2013. CNN made some great videos about her 2011 Iditarod.

Vet Check

Dog health and safety is the Number 1 priority to mushers and the Iditarod Trail Committee. Before the race the musher has to have all of their dogs get EKG's, blood work, and a physical.  A special group of veterinarians come to Alaska from all over the world to help Stu Nelson, DVM, the Iditarod Head Veterinarian, take care of all these dogs. There are 69 teams this year and teach vet usually vet checks 20 dogs. You do the math that is a lot of dogs. The mushers that live up here is Alaska can go to their own vet to get all their physicals and then turn in the paper work but the other mushers have to do it when they get here. On Wednesday before the race, the vets set up mobile clinic at HQ (Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla).

Mrs. B year new friend, Mark,  and a vet's daughter who was
playing hooky from school in West Virginia.

The teachers and other race fans head over there to meet the dogs and the mushers. We had a great day. Check it out.

As you can tell, Mrs. B and I focused on meeting the dogs more than the mushers. The mushers are all busy but the dogs are happy to visit. We also saw one of Mrs. B favorite mushers, Matt Failor. She thinks he is cute.

My Friend, Big Ben

Yukon here, 

Hermie said you guys really like Nature's Kennel's, Rhu and Friend Episodes from last year so I said I post them again. Big Ben and I go way back to when it took 12 - 14 days to run the Iditarod. Well, here they are. Be sure to watch all the way to the end because there's some fun stuff after the credits.

Remember Don't Eat Yellow Snow!

Yukon

No Hermie! Guest Blogger Yukon

As usual, Mrs. B was frantically getting ready for her trip to the Iditarod.  She was finishing guest teacher plans, teaching crochet at the local yarn shop, and skiing on a powder day. So Tuesday morning at 4:15 am, she is packing her backpack, and NO Hermie. He is hiding on Mrs. B's desk at school. If you have seen Mrs. B's desk you know how easy it would be for him to hide there. After getting left at the airport last year and hearing how warm it was going to be in Alaska, Hermie decided to stay home. So I came instead,

I am Yukon Cornelius, you can call me Yukon. I am a retired Iditarod sled dog. I just recently came to live with Mrs. B, Hermie, and the gang.
Since I have seen this race from the inside, now I am going to enjoy just being a spectator. I am going to try to give you my perspective.

Photo from ADN

This year the weather in Alaska has been really weird. The Lower 48 has been getting hit with the Polar Vortex but Alaska has been unseasonably warm and low snowfall. On February 19, the Iditarod Trail Committee decided to leave the restart in Willow, but had thought about moving it to Fairbanks.

As a sled dog, I don't like too much snow or too little snow, I like "Goldilocks trails" that are just right. When there is a lot of snow it is just like running in mud and the lead dogs have to break trail. It is a lot of heavy work and some times the musher has to go out and break the trail for us. When there is too little snow, it can be really fast and bumpy. Fast is fun but after while the ground starts feeling really hard on our wrist and feet. The trail can be really hard on the musher, too. It is like going across a washboard. Another concern for the musher, would be braking. If there is not enough snow the musher can't set the snow hook to hold the team. Some of us old timers know how to listen and wait but those young whipper-snapper in the Iditarod just want to run.

 Well, got to run (figuratively not literal) Mrs. B and I are off to Iditarod Headquarters for Vet check and Happy Trails Kennel to hear what Martin Buser has to say about this years race. That should be very interesting.
 Don't eat any yellow snow!
Yukon