Swing and Team Dogs
Swing Dogs in a dog sledding team help the leaders set the pace and aid in turning the team. If only the leaders wanted to turn in the direction of the musher’s commands, the team may not turn, so the swing dogs back the leaders up in these cases. The job of the Team Dogs […]
Serum Run 2011: Sled dogs arrive home
As the mushers and snow machiner’s crossed into Nome, some three weeks after the beginning of an epic journey that started in Alaska on a cold, wind-swept afternoon in Nenana, the home base support staff of this expedition sprang into action. At about 6:30 PM my friend Paul–who flew to Nome to see his wife […]
Iditarod 2011: Hugh Neff–One cool cat
When you see all of the mushers line up for the ceremonial start on Fourth Avenue on Saturday to begin the Iditarod, you see just about everything. There are teams with big name corporate sponsors like banks and hardware stores. There are others that are driving up to Anchorage from far off lands in a […]
Iditarod Gear: To bring or not to bring. That is the question
As the co-editor of Mushing Magazine and the producer of the popular podcast, Mushing, we are asked all of the time what gear do dog mushers bring on the trail. Updated: December 2024 According to the official rules of the Iditarod it says: Rule 16: Mandatory Items: A musher must carry with him/her at all […]
The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Late September Dogs
The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Late September Dogs As I was lying in bed the other night, between the moment of slumber and rest I could hear all of the dogs around me at the kennels in the neighborhood. There are at lest four of them within a 1/4 mile or so. I soon […]