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Iditarod Dogs Get Medical Checks Before Last Great RaceVeterinarians will test nearly 1,400 dogsRelated Content
WASILLA - Karin Hendrickson’s huskies are ready to trek a thousand miles through the Alaskan wilderness. Before they can take off though, they have to make a trip to the vet. “Good job, sweetheart,” Misty Libby, a licensed vet tech, whispered to one of the dogs while she’s getting her blood drawn. “We check for 24 different chemistries, kidney function as well as a CBC which is a complete blood count. We check white blood cells, red blood cells, make sure everything is going well and there are no problems,” said Sabrina Pennington, a licensed vet tech. Drawing the dogs’ blood is the easy part. “The dogs are surprisingly wonderful about it. They tolerate what we do very well,” said Pennington. It’s getting them to hold still for a heart check up that presented problems for a few pups. “They're sled dogs. They know one thing and one thing only and they like to run. They think that's fun. This here's not so fun. They think it's a silly human trick,” said Cassandra Winslow, the Assistant Head Vet Tech for the Iditarod. In the three weeks leading up to the Last Great Race, veterinarians will test nearly 1,400. Each musher is allowed to have up to 24 checked. “I brought 22 dogs,” said veteran Iditarod musher Karin Hendrickson. "I have a pretty small kennel so that's pretty much everything I've got.” While the health of the dogs is always a top priority for the Iditarod, this year testing may be more important than ever. Four dogs have already died in races across the state. Mushers said while they can’t control what happens on the trail, they do everything they can up front to make sure their dogs are in good shape. “Last year I had a dog with a little bit of a problem that we caught during blood work. We were able to treat her and she ended up finishing in lead for me. Without the blood work, we wouldn't have known. It's huge,” said Hendrickson. This is just one of many steps at the start of the race to ensure all the dogs are able to make it across the finish line. |
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Figure said on Tuesday, Feb 12 at 10:36 PM
4 dogs lost so far, is way too many.
113400031Margery said on Wednesday, Feb 13 at 7:17 AM
Did you know that Karin Henderickson raced a dog in the Iditarod who had cancer? Veterinarians allowed her to do this. Some sled dogs receive bloods tests about a month before the race starts. Think about all the substances mushers can give their dogs in one month!
113417216Eliza said on Wednesday, Feb 13 at 7:58 AM
In addition to the pre-race testing of bloodwork and ECGs and a physical exam, urine specimens are collected from the dogs throughout the race to test for the presence of substances not allowed to be given to them. And the mushers submit a urine specimen while at the White Mountain checkpoint for the mandatory 8 hour layover.
113419901Karin Hendrickson said on Wednesday, Feb 13 at 9:10 AM
I have never raced a dog that was suffering from cancer. The idea that an ill dog would even be capable of racing is ludicrous. Margery is well known for making up ANYTHING to support her agenda. If you are concerned about the care of sled dogs, please, do your own research and fact checking.
113425851Margery Glickman said on Thursday, Feb 14 at 3:47 PM
Karin wrote that she raced a dog whose cancer had returned. When a dog's cancer has returned, the dog has cancer.
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