IDITAROD UPDATE

Enchiladas, roast beef aid in capture of runaway sled dog

Key Iditarod Competitor Name We Are Not Making Fun Of Because We Do Not Do That On This Blog: "Silvia Furtwangler."

(Thanks to Mark Buckley)

Comments

[Mxymaster]

Would probably also aid in the capture of approximately 98.78% of the guys I know.

[wiredog]

You don't want to make fun of the names because you don't want to be husky chow...

[Meanie the Blue]

We are the 1.22 percent!

[wingnut]

Did anyone think of whistling?

[Cheesewiz]

I once had my furt wangled and it's not nearly as much fun as I thought it would be.

[Mitch]

My German-English dictionary says Furtwangler has something to do with sausage herding.

[ligirl]

Whistler's Mother was glad he was spotted*

*this is a fun site!

[ligirl]

...butt who gnu she's been sitting there wangling furts?

[Jeff Meyerson]

I saw Runaway Sled Dog open for the Cowsills.

[ligirl]

(sorry my second link got furtwangled - just another one of whistler's mother)

[funny man]

Enchaladas in Alaska? Who'd thunk?

Did Whistler have his fill of furtwangles? Or was
he trying to make a steak statement?

[Steve]

"Furtwangler" is the reason the dogs pull the sleds instead of push them.

[ligirl]

IDIDA-ROD UPDATE

...been there, done that

- Cameron Diaz

[Will (the other one)]

I wonder if she's related to the late, great, Wilhelm Furtwangler, former conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic.

[IndianaGirl]

*snork* @ ligirl. Clever!

[O the Umanity]

Yeah, Enchiladas?

With Red, or Green?

[Margery Glickman]

It could be that the dog was better off being lost. Now he will be forced to run in the Iditarod, a race that's terribly cruel to dogs.
What happens to them during the Iditarod includes death, bloody diarrhea, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, kennel cough, broken bones, torn muscles and extreme stress. At least 142 dogs have died in the race, including two dogs who froze to death in the brutally cold winds. FOR MORE INFO: Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

[Liz]

I'm with Margery. That dog doesn't have enough fur to be a sled dog. She doesn't look like much of a handler to me.

[Ralph]

If she was able to complete the Yukon Quest, which is tougher than the Iditarod, she knows how to handle dogs at 40 below. The dogs have vet inspections at every checkpoint, and losing a dog on the trail is an automatic disqualification. Dogs are frequently dropped off at the checkpoints if they're not in top form. Modern racing sled dogs are a lot smaller than the Chinooks that were used as freight haulers 100 years ago.

Some dogs (like some human athletes) have unexpected problems, but anyone who wants to compete knows they can't even finish a race like this if their dogs aren't in great shape. The 2012 Yukon Quest winner (see recent story here) lead by only 26 seconds after 1000 miles -- and he won by carrying a dog on his sled for the last 5 miles, instead of keeping him going. The mushers know when their dogs need to rest, and need more stamina than the animals, who are all cared for before the musher can get a few hours sleep a day.

[O the Umanity]

I agree with Ralph, overall, on the main point under scrutiny, and tend to disagree (tho mildly) with Margery and Liz ... the dogs are well-cared for, and any musher who is serious about it treats them with great care, possibly even better than a lot of pro athletes get, considerin' the abuses of steroid use and such ...

A lot has changed since Jack London wrote "To Build a Fire" ...