Just for YD

[yellow dog]

It's a ceremonial start in Anchorage which is still on for the 7th, last I checked. They usually do this ceremonial start in Anchorage and then restart in Willow but this year it's Fairbanks. How am I supposed to make YD jealous if you keep bringing reality into it?

I guess there is a lot of concern about the trail even past Fairbanks. There's been lots of rain and warm weather.

Welsh you lucky dog ! The closest I have come to the Iditarod was when I sold a few dogs to a musher that ran the race a few times. Take lots of pictures and if you run in Ontario musher Hank De Bruin that's supposed to run the race look for my old white Siberian Husky leader Martini.

[welsh]

Got plenty of pix and video but I'm going to hold off until I get home to post it .... I think I may give up hunting & take up mushing.

[yellow dog]

My wife and kids keep on asking when I am going to get back into it. It was a big part of not just my life but my children's also while they were growing up. It's very easy to catch mushers fever. lol

[welsh]

Here you go..... hope this works as I'm posting from my phone. Hard to pick out the best pix on this thing.

















Seems I can't post any video over this lousy hotel wi-fi. Wait a couple days for that....

[yellow dog]

Nice pictures ! Temperatures look to be very mild.

[welsh]

The weather is nuts. Raining and above freezing. That stripe of snow down the middle of the road is the only snow in town. City crews trucked it in and worked through the night to lay the 11 mile trail for this ceremonial leg.

[Sharon]

Thanks Andrew.

Those dogs are thinner than I expected for huskies. I'm used to the huskies I see the Inuit using . What other dogs are huskie now mixed with when breeding?

[welsh]

They're not just skinny, they're small -- I was surprised how small. I don't know about breeding but I'm pretty sure the AKC ain't involved.

[Sharon]

I did a little research/reading. The bottom line seems to be :

"The Alaskan sled dog,(Husky), is a conglomeration of bloodlines constantly evolving to meet to the evolving needs of the mushers who breed them. (Season of the Sled Dog, 1989, Mary Sheilds) Notes:

https://www.google.ca/search?sourcei...ing+for+racing

[yellow dog]

They're not just skinny, they're small -- I was surprised how small. I don't know about breeding but I'm pretty sure the AKC ain't involved.

Most of the top mushers do have a breeding program along with a pedigree of every dog just as a registered dog would have. I have seen some these pedigree's going back eight generations. Many mushers will continue to breed these old mix lines and pass them down to family or sell breeding stock off to other mushers. It is no different what a registered breeder would do except these dogs are not registered. The top mushers have a very well thought out breeding program with a key focus on particular animals in every generation that has been proven on the racing circuit. I can remember in the early 1990's and Ontario musher bringing in some Susan Butcher dogs from Alaska. Unfortunately the dogs didn't adapt very well(heavy coat) and do well in the Ontario mid and long distance races. Some breed for a short thick coat and will throw extra straw down to keep them warm or they wear a dog coat in extreme conditions. You will probably see a lot of teams pulling out of the race this Iditarod if it is unseasonably warm because of heat exhaustion and viruses tend to spread under these conditions taking teams out.

I didn't see any Ontario teams running in this years Iditarod . My support once again goes to Lance Mackey with his new crew of dogs. In this heat his almost all black furry dogs may not do so well and may have to pull out. Dr Tim Hunt is also running and of course he is feeding his own brand of dog food(kibble) he developed.