Alaska's Great Race - Dogs in Tip Top Condition

" Participating in the grueling 1100 mile sled dog race across Alaska known as the Iditarod, means months if not years of preparation and training. For both humans....."

" The training since I got here of myself has been different. Just basically toughening up. You know, getting used to the cold and the pounding of the sled and all that kind of stuff and getting. Thrown off and bumps and bruises and getting over that."

" And dogs"

" from August to September until now you really just run every day or pretty much yeah, it's yeah it's a long way to go to go for one race. But, you know this is what everybody's been working up to so"

" It's a lot of work to commit to having a team of racing sled dogs that are competing in this race."

" These four legged athletes are much more than the marathoners they're often compared to. These dog teams are essentially running 42 marathons back to back in as short of time as possible. With the top competitors crossing the finish line in Nome in about eight or nine days. So, before this trek through some of the toughest terrain on earth, each canine gets thoroughly checked out by a team of veterinarians to make should their bodies can handle the strain."

" If they can take the training and the speed that their musher usually has them go at then they can become a sled dog."

" Leading up to the race Jan Bullock, the Iditarod's head veterinary technician, examines about 100 dogs a day. We’re here at the Iditarod headquarters where the dogs are getting their final check up before the big race."

" This is a new thing for you... the big strong dog. Isn't he? Each dog that's going to run the race has to go through our program where we draw blood, and we check to make sure that are there internal organs are functioning as they should be. Making sure we don't have any infections, kidney problems, liver problems. We also microchip them if they haven't had a microchip put it before they'll get one if they have one already we scan them with a microchip reader and this is the third phase of what we do for these dogs and each dog gets an electrocardiogram. And this machine behind me here will record his heart rate and rhythm. And what I'm looking for is I'm screening for abnormalities and we want to make sure that these dog's hearts are in tip top condition."

" The vets look over lab results of every dog entering the race. This year there's a record 96 teams in the race which makes an upwards of 2000 dogs to evaluate. And according to race officials since the screening has been in place four canine athletes have not been allowed to enter the Iditarod. "

" We've also found after doing so many years of research that these dogs are not like your regular pet these are athletes. Each dog is looked over individually the veterinarians will check their respiration their heart rate. Look at the feet to make sure the feet are in good shape. Look inside the dog's mouth check them for hydration to make sure they're nice have nice fluid balance. We'll look at their coat. Make sure they have a good coat we'll look at their weight, to make sure they have enough reserved fat in order to start the race in case it gets to be a cold race. We have drug testing on the race also. At the start of the race before the dog’s takeoff we have a random drug testing program it also happens on the race. The drug testing crew will go out to different checkpoints unbeknownst to any but their crew. And they will test certain dogs and then all the dogs that finish the race, particularly the first twenty teams are all drug tested. And there's several different drugs that they test for. And mostly for performance enhancement and to mask pain."

" Iditarod officials say that since the drug testing program was implemented ten years ago, no drug test has ever come back positive."

" And he's done."

" No the mushers have a choice whether they want to go and have a cardiac test or have blood work we don't really mind if they do or don't. But we're going to make sure these dogs are nice and healthy."

" There definitely special animals and I think, after having done it once you really do appreciate how special they are. Any dog that finishes no matter what place you come in."

" At the Iditarod headquarters for Discovery News I'm the Kasey-Dee Gardner."