Personal Narrative Essay: Who Is A Sled Dog Race?

Most seventeen year olds participate in a winter sport, myself included. Most started participating in their sport when they’re young, myself included. Most seventeen year old’s sport doesn’t take them to competitions in Main, Quebec, or Alaska, but mine did and still does. I race sled dogs. My parents met at a dog race in Chugiak, Alaska, a suburb of Anchorage. I’ve grown up playing with puppies, helping my parents to the start line, and racing my own team. I would go to my parent-teacher conference every year in elementary school and listen to my mom explain that we would be going to Alaska for two and a half months, and that I would need my work before we left. We experienced different reactions every year. For example, my second grade teacher exclaimed “So are you running the Iditarod? That’s so cool!” This reaction is common. Most people don’t know how the sport of dog racing works. Most people think a sled dog is a fluffy dog that logs hundreds of miles because their heartless

When you think of a sled dog what do you see? Do you see a big, fluffy, dog with blue eyes? If you said yes you wouldn’t be the first, and it’s not your fault. Dog races are rare. The closest most get to a dog race are movies like Eight Below, or Snow Dogs that star big fluffy dogs with blue eyes. Until the late eighties, this picture would be close to correct. The original sled dog was an Alaskan Husky; shaggy dog that originated from villages in interior Alaska. They were used in distance and sprint races alike until pointers and greyhounds from Sweden were introduced to Alaskan sprint racing creating a new look to the traditional shaggy husky. Along with faster times, pointers and greyhounds brought sleeker, shorter coats, and smaller, more sensitive feet. Depending on the amount of pointer and greyhound introduced, the Alaskans kept their ice blue eyes, stamina, and tolerance for the