How to Breed A Hearty Musher Dog

Does it take a special breed of person to be a musher? Well, consider the stamina needed to push or pull a sled on steep grades under the kind of conditions previously mentioned. Would you be willing to sleep outdoors in a sleeping bag on a mattress of spruce boughs at below-zero temperatures? That certainly requires a rugged individual. Among them this year was a veteran musher 75 years old. And he completed the 1,000-mile (1,600-km) journey!

There were also seven women among the mushers. To train for the race, one woman, a few years ago, put on a bathing suit, walked out on a frozen lake, chopped a hole in the ice and slipped into the freezing water. She wanted to see if she could endure such an experience far from home if her sled broke through the ice. Was she discouraged? That same woman was racing to Nome. Six of the seven women entered finished the race.

Training for the Contest

Although sled dogs are bred to run, and are most happy when they are running, they need to be in good condition for it. Just as a human needs to build up cardiovascular capacity, and strength, so does a dog. Too much weight can be detrimental for animals as it is for people. Therefore, much time is spent during the summer months working the team so that the dogs will be in good condition.

Prior to the first snowfall, dog teams might be seen attached to the front bumper of an old pickup truck. The musher, perched on the hood of the vehicle, holds the reins as they charge chariot-style down the road. Of course, if he wants to get in condition for the race, he had better get down and run with the team, because good mushing demands stamina on his part for pumping with one foot and for pushing the sled.

The Iditarod Trail Race of 1980 took from March 1 to March 25. Sixty-two teams were entered to race for the $12,000 first prize, with the total purse of $52,500 to be distributed among the first 20 to reach Nome. Thirty-six teams finished. The number of dogs in a team vary from 10 to 20. Siberian Huskies are the favorite breed. They are smaller, tougher, faster and more gentle than the heavier Alaskan Malamutes, which are inclined to fight among themselves. Sometimes breeding is done with Indian dogs (part wolf) or Labradors (with tougher feet).

About 1,500 spectators lined up along Nome's Front Street as 44-year-old Joe May, of Trapper Creek, Alaska, slowly walked his weary team of 10 dogs across the finish line. As the wailing fire siren announced his arrival the exhausted musher made claim on his $12,000 first prize. He earned every penny of it, finishing in a new record time-14 days, 7 hours and 11 minutes.

Will Joe May race again in the Iditarod? "It's my last race," he said at the end. Then added, "Well, maybe." Next year the purse has been upped to $100,000.