Jenna Herne, LVT Volunteers for Iditarod Race in Alaska

Jenna Herne, a Licensed Veterinary Technician, recently participated in one of the most legendary and storied races in North America; the Iditarod. Considered the "Last Great Race on Earth", the Iditarod is a dog sled race that consists of teams of 7 to 12 Alaskan Huskies pulling a dog sled over seven to eight days on the historic Iditarod Trail that runs approximately 1,150 miles between Seward and Nome, Alaska.

Herne spent 18 days volunteering her time and lending her expertise as a trained licensed veterinary technician. Volunteers can choose the length of their stay and she arrived for the ceremonial start of the race in Anchorage, Alaska. As a "vet tech", she spent 10 hour days with other volunteers who were assigned to various dog teams running a variety of health checks which included drawing blood, attaching a micro chip and doing a "ECG" on the dogs heart. While one vet tech would hold the dog, the other vet tech would draw blood then roll the dog over for the heart test. The dogs are also seen by a licensed veterinarian, providing the dogs a complete physical and making sure all dogs have their vaccinations. Herne and other vet tech volunteers saw up to four teams a day. This year there were 71 mushers who can have up to 24 dogs on their team and each team could run 12 to 16 dogs of those 24 at a time.

Herne stated these dogs are considered highly skilled, athletic dogs that have big hearts, literally. Most dogs that pulled sleds were Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies, while these breeds could tolerate cold they lacked endurance. By breeding Shepherds, hounds and other breeds, mushers came up with a mixed breed of dog who have incredibly efficient hearts, efficient enough to skip a beat. While testing dogs Herne said, "We looked for a skipped beat on the ECG's and that meant the dog was in their peak of performance. These dogs are extremely well treated, eating special blends of raw meat along with veggies and vitamins." She said the sled dogs are so different from regular dogs adding she often saw sled dogs who looked a bit like "Rez Dogs". Herne saw that the mushers were very close to their dogs and the dogs are always housed outside never allowing the dogs to become house trained or to become accustomed to the warm indoors. Where snowmobiles can break down and many men and women have died out in the freezing weather in Alaska, sled dogs are accustomed to the cold and have saved many lives on the trails.

Herne said many teams take up to two years to qualify for the Iditarod and each team must have real life experience on the trail and taking care of their dog teams which consist of proper mix of hydration, nutrition and rest. In tackling a race of this magnitude racers must use strategic planning and real life experience as part of their training and it plays more than just an important role in winning the Iditarod, it means surviving the grueling 8 day race.

In addition to the high standard of care provided by the mushers over 40 licensed veterinarians volunteer their time to provide routine evaluations and administer any necessary treatments. Herne stated that during the course of the race over 10,000 routine veterinary examinations are made.

Between 1890 and the early 1990's the Iditarod trail played an important role in the settlement of Alaska when dog sled teams carried supplies, mail, travelers, gold miners, priests and ministers. Even after the invention of the airplane, dog teams continued to be widely used as freight carriers traveling between isolated Inuit villages and towns. It wasn't until much later, the "iron sled" (snowmobile), the use of the trail and the use of dog sled teams were all but forgotten.

In 1964 the Wasilla-Knik Centennial Committee made a dedicated effort to revive the culture of dog sled racing and commemorating the role sled dogs played in Alaska. By 1967 the first race took place as a sprint race over two days, it wasn't until 1973 that the first 1,150 mile trail race took place. Musher Dick Williams became the first official winner of the last great race on earth, taking him and his dog sled team three weeks to complete.

This year's race was won by Dallas Seavey, and coming in second was Aliy Zinkle and third, Jeff King. Famous mushers as these three are often considered celebrities within the dog sled racing world. Zinkle isn't the only female dog sled racer and she has participated in 12 Iditarod in the past. Alaska is home to a number of dog sled races during the winter months but you can find dog sled races in Minnesota (John Beargrease Race), Montana (Big Sky Race), Michigan (UP 200 Race) and the Alpirod in Europe.

Mushers and their teams also played an important but little remembered role in World War II by helping the famous Inuit Scouts who patrolled the great span of Alaskan wilderness. People may be familiar with the movie, "Balto", this movie was based on the real life experience of the dog sled team who carried vital serums for vaccinations for northern and remote villagers. In present times when weather overcomes the sky and ground, dog sleds can be seen carrying life saving cargo over the Iditarod Trail.