Alaska's Huskies Train for Iditarod Sled Race

DENALI, Alaska, Sept. 10, 2008— -- On the snow-free summer roads of Denali, Alaska, a group of winter dogs mushes in front of a four-wheel truck, instead of their usual sled, getting ready for their moment in the spotlight -- the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Jeff King, a four-time Iditarod champion musher, started competing 30 years ago, when the sport was different.

"Summer was thought of as the off season," King said. "A lot of people's sled dogs didn't get much exercise in the summer because they didn't know how."

The Iditarod is as much about survival as racing. It runs 1,000 miles across an ice-swept Alaska each winter; the dogs act like subzero marathon runners.

Charles, the lead dog in this group is one of the current super stars.

"What he's good at is driving," King explained. "He likes to go fast, he likes to do it in the lead, and he is just OK with going and going and going."

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But the summer months, even a cool, 50-degree day is too hot for Charles and the other hundred or so Huskies to train.

So King came up with a radical new approach -- swimming his dogs. Tethered together like a K-9 Navy Seal team, the dogs swim laps in a small lake behind a boat.

"No professional athlete takes four months a year off because ... the weather's not right," said King's daughter Cali, a former junior Iditarod champion. "So we have to find a way to maintain their endurance and stamina during the summertime, just like any other professional athlete would."

Swimming offers a low-impact, cross-training option and allows the dogs to return to the fall season stronger than ever before.

While exercise is one important part of their daily routine, another is diet; the dogs eat 10,000 calories per day during training.

"It's really important that we have dogs with tremendous appetites because if they are going to run that far they have to eat so much food," King said. "Their ability to turn it into fuel and the fuel into energy really makes them stand apart."

The prime years for these dogs to compete is usually between the ages of 3 and 5, after which their athletic ability plateaus and many enter retirement.

"The minute he gives me any indication he can't or doesn't want to keep up again this year, then he won't," King said about Salem, one of his older dogs. "Then he'll drop back to being with the young dogs. He'll be the equivalent of being the coach instead of being the star player."

The next generation is already being put under a microscope. The first step in spotting a potential champion is to examine a dog's bone structure.

"We have learned how to evaluate the structural quality to where we can pretty much pinpoint their weak points -- have an idea of where they are much more susceptible to injuries and breaking, and which ones are best made and fit to what Mother Nature wants in a canine," said Pat Hastings, an American Kennel Club confirmation judge, who examines dogs.

King's new puppies are, on average, 8 weeks old; though far too young to race. They are already training for a life of serious competition.

"This is training. This is socialization," Kind said. "They need to work good together, have good appetites and learn that I am their best friend."

Their turn to race will come soon enough. Winter may be a long way off, but being a professional athlete, even a four-legged one, is a full-time job.