Dogs, snow and endurance: The sport of mushing

Iditarod racer brings her story and her dogs to Anythink

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Karen Land has an affinity for endurance sports, and for dogs.

Land was hiking the Appalachian Trail with her dog Kirby when she stopped to rest, shower and visit a small library to get a book to read in her tent.

She did, and it changed her life forever.

“The book was called ‘Winter Dance’ by Gary Paulsen. It’s when I got inspired for the sport of dog mushing,” Land said.

Land has participated in the sport of sled dog racing and dog mushing for about 25 years and has participated multiple times in the grueling Iditarod Sled Dog race across Alaska. In her 2004 outing, she finished the course in just more than 12 days.

Land brought her story and two of her dogs, Noggin and Chloe, to Brighton’s Anythink Library

Jan. 23. She visited the Perl Mack branch in Denver, York Street branch in Thornton and the Commerce City branch later in the week.

Starting without good snow

Land grew up in Indianapolis and hadn’t heard of the sport of dog mushing or the Iditarod.

“We never had good snow in Indianapolis, so I learned about mushing later in life,” Land said.

But snow was just one ingredient. Another was a love for animals, and she had that. She began working in a veterinary hospital and clinic in Indianapolis when she finished high school. That’s when she met her eventual Appalachian Trail companion, Kirby.

“A stray dog showed up at the door, and we couldn’t find its owner, so I decided to keep it,” she said.

Kirby was a Louisiana Catahoula mix, an energetic breed meant to hunt bears. The duo started hiking to stay busy, eventually hiking Indiana’s Nob Stone trail. They moved to Montana where she finished college and decided to take on the Appalachian Trail – a feat in itself. The hiking trail is 2,100 miles between Georgia and Maine. She had a new obsession when she returned.

“I got a job working for a dog musher because the sport is costly and requires lots of dogs,” Land said.

Dogs and Iditarod

The Iditarod race, her new obsession, startseach March in downtown Anchorage and ends in Nome, some 983 miles. Racers and their teams of dogs face blizzard conditions, winds of 90 miles per hour and windchills of 100 degrees below zero.

Land said that when she started in 1973 there were no rules as to how many dogs were in the race, so some people showed up with 20 dogs.

“Then the officials decided 20 dogs was much power, so they dropped it to 16, and in the last several years, it’s down to 14 dogs, “ Land said.

The dogs are monitored throughout, with EKGs, blood workups, and drug testing before the race. During the race, they stop at regular checkpoints where veterinarians look over the dogs and sleds. While racing, Land said she carries bags of frozen meat under her parka to keep her team fed. Sled dogs need to eat 10,000 calories a day when running.

“We have the best veterinarians in the world, and they do lots of research on the diet of a sled dog,” Land said.

Land said much of what the Iditarod veterinarians have learned has changed the modern diet for all dogs.

“In Montana, my dogs are fed a high protein diet, mostly meat from hunters and trappers such as

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Dogs can get injured or tired during the race and the musher will remove them from the team, dropping them off at the next checkpoint. Called “dropping a dog”, the team must continue one dog short. They can’t add another, and the dog will be flown back to its handler once the race is complete.

Smaller, faster lighter

Mushers prefer slimmer Alaskan Huskies with an Inuit Yupik Athabascan bloodline, which is native to Alaska. They have a good disposition and make the perfect sled dog, she said. Larger Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes are too big and heavy and are not as fast. They are also more likely to have injuries from pounding and sinking in the deeper snow.

Land said she prefers mixed breed dogs, such as her dog Noggin, an Alaskan Huskie-Greyhound mix.

“We also use German Shorthaired Pointers, Labrador Retrievers and hound dog mixes,” she said. “So if you see dogs with big floppy ears, it’s because they have hound dog mix. We don’t care what the dog looks like; they are bred for exceptional health, great endurance and are super intelligent dogs.”

They also breed for disposition and friendliness.

“We can’t hook up 14 dogs together that fight, and you’ll never get anywhere,” she said.

The dogs train year around daily, running miles following bikes or four-wheelers; some people use a cart. Each dog they learn likes a particular position but is trained in all positions. The dogs learn by voice command training to turn and stop.

“The sled dog engine – running 1,000 miles or 200 miles or 20 miles – is based on the dog’s pure joy, love, enthusiasm, the desire to run,” Land said.

Gearing up to the outdoor industry and education.

Their coats are another concern. They don’t breed dogs with long fur coats but for excellent medium coats and dense undercoats. They don’t want the dogs overheating when racing.

Mushers have to stock up for their dogs, too, packing coats, leggings for deep snow and booties to protect their feet. The dog’s weight forces its feet to splay in the snow. Ice crystals can leave painful cuts in between the pads if the feet are not protected.

It’s grueling for the mushers as well. When the dogs climb up a mountain, the musher must jump off the sled and run up the mountain with the dogs, hopping back on when they head back downhill.

Land said they always wear a rope around their wrist to stay connected to the sled. If they sled crashes or flips – which happens regularly – the wrist strap can be a lifesaver.

“The rope is my safety,” she said. “If I accidentally let go of the handlebars, I can drag from the rope instead. The golden rule on mushing is never to let go because if you let go the dogs could run off and could get lost. So you want to make sure you hold on at all costs,” Land said.

The race continues from checkpoint to checkpoint, with the teams camping on the trails along the way. If the weather is severe, she digs a hole, fills it with straw and the team – the dogs and Land – sleep in the hole together.

“During the race, we run for six hours and rest for six hours and the dog are trained for this process,” Land said.

And while wild animals might seem like a concern, they are not.

“Coyotes and elk run away. When the dogs are running, it’s silent so going around the corner and a moose is standing there, I carry a gun to make a big bang to get the animal to run in a different direction. But then you have 16 dogs that want to chase a moose, adding to the danger factor,” Land said.

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