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Turning Heads Kennel

Alaska Dog Sledding Tours

How Mushers Get Home After Finishing The Iditarod

March 20, 2019 by Sarah

Returning Home After Finishing Iditarod

After teams find themselves in Nome, Alaska celebrating their momentous achievement of finishing the Iditarod, they must then work on scheduling their own return trip. Generally, after arriving in Nome mushers are quick to make arrangements — if they haven’t done so already — for themselves and their dogs. Nothing feels quite as nice as your own bed for you and for your dogs!

What you don’t see from the live web feed after a dog team arrives under the burled arch in Nome, is where the teams go. The teams travel a few blocks further to a temporary dog lot that is set up during the race. This area is called the Nome Dog Lot. At the Nome dog lot, there is a dedicated crew of volunteers who stay with the dogs, in rotating shifts, 24/7 to help watch over the dogs when the mushers or their handlers can’t be there. That being said, care for the dogs themselves is done entirely by the mushers and their handlers.

When a musher and their team arrives at the dog lot, they are quickly directed by the volunteer crew as to where they will park their sled and unhook their team. Usually, a musher has a handler present in Nome who will help them with their team. The handler will have set up kennels for the dogs who have finished and will have also added straw to them so that the dogs will have a nice warm place to stay. The straw adds insulation to the kennels which serve, in part, as a windbreak. The handler will also bring a musher’s drop bags over. Experienced handlers will often have a hot meal waiting not only for the dogs but also for the musher!

Fidget relaxing after the finish of the 2018 Iditarod
Fidget relaxing after the finish of the 2018 Iditarod

All teams that arrive are inspected by a veterinarian as the musher and their help unharness the team and begin rubbing them down. If the musher has finished in the top 20 of Iditarod then the musher will have a panel of veterinarians over to inspect each dog. The musher will have to take each dog for a small walk in front of a committee who will carefully evaluate the gait of the dog. This is partially how the Leonhard Sepphala Humanitarian Award is given out. How a team finishes the race is almost as important as how the perform. A dog team should come into Nome looking strong and well hydrated. This evaluation is part of a larger evaluation of mushers and their care on the trail.

Most mushers feed their dogs several small snacks at the finish line consisting of fish or beef. Once the team is settled and the vet check is complete, they will get a nice big meal. Teams who have finished in the prize money for Iditarod must then wait for the Iditarod drug testing panel to come and collect urine from their dogs. This can be anywhere from the time a team finishes up until four hours after the team crosses the finish ilne. The reason the drug tester may take so long is that often the dog team needs to eat and drink before they are able to easily provide a urine sample. During this time a representative from the team must remain with the dog team.

At the earliest possible time available, a musher will make arrangements to fly their team out of Nome. Local freight carriers such as Northern Air Cargo and Alaska Airlines provide “back-haul” shipping out of Nome. Because so many supplies routinely have to go into the small town for it to survive, many planes go back empty.

Travis and Sarah at the Finish of the 2018 Iditarod

This is great news for mushers because ultimately, it means it is relatively inexpensive for the dogs to get shipped home. Alaska airlines charge a flat rate of $425 to ship up to sixteen dogs and a sled back. Northern Air Cargo charges by weight — if you have a smaller team that has finished, choosing Northern Air Cargo may be a better option. We’ve worked with both carriers in the past and have been very happy with how they have taken care of us and our dogs. Believe it or not, it’s cheaper to fly the dogs back than it is to fly the humans back!

Mushers generally stay in Nome until the finishing banquet. For top placing teams, this can be 4 or 5 days so many mushers elect to send their dogs home as soon as possible. This is done because the living arrangements in Nome are temporary. The dogs will recover better sleeping in their own dog house away from the distraction of dozens of other teams. Generally, a musher running the race has a crew of people back home willing and able to take care of their team. These people have generally been involved with the care of the team for the entirety of the training season. Until the dogs depart, mushers are constantly caring for their dogs, feeding them, rubbing them down, and taking them for walks so they can stretch out.

Any musher who has finished the race will receive $1049 check to help with these expenses. Generally, this is enough to cover flying the dogs, the dog sled, and any other equipment back as well as pay for the musher’s return flight. Many mushers joke that without this check, they’d have to mush back home!

Shipping Sled Dogs back from Nome after finishing the Iditarod
A worker at Northern Air Cargo helps wrap a pallet of airline kennels containing our sled dogs for safe transit out of Nome

The dogs are generally shipped home in airline kennels, one dog per kennel. The kennels are generally stacked on pallets and syran wrap is used outside the kennels to keep them to the pallets to help prevent the dogs from moving in flight. Generally, four dog crates are put on each pallet, two on the bottom and two on top before the syran wrap goes around the outside of the kennels. This is done in such a way as to not impact ventilation but to ensure that the kennels are properly secured to the pallet and to each other.

Our sled dogs are loaded up and ready to head home

The Finishing Banquet is a time for celebration. Special awards such as the Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award and other prizes, both those won along the trail and those voted on by judges and mushers, are handed out too. It is a fun event where mushers get to congratulate one another on finishing the race and enjoy the camaraderie of the mushing community.

The finishing banquet ends early in the evening. Most mushers, who have now been away from home for a minimum of 3 weeks, are eager to return home and hop on the earliest flight out of Nome which is directly after the banquet. Other mushers, stay for a few more days and continue to enjoy the post-Iditarod festivities.

Once home, most mushers and there dogs relax and start the planning process for next year’s race.

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Sun’s out, tongues out! . . . #dogsledding #sled Sun’s out, tongues out!
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#dogsledding #sleddogs #iditarod #alaska #sewardak

📸 @its_kris_fish
Happy trails & wagging tails. We are back for anot Happy trails & wagging tails. We are back for another for season of sharing our sled dogs and passion for #dogsledding here in beautiful #sewardak 

Thanks to Azura and @its_kris_fish  for the awesome photo!
An absolutely incredibly dog team coming into the An absolutely incredibly dog team coming into the Kalskag (inbound) checkpoint of the Kuskokwim 300.

🎥 by Abby Klager

#TurningHeadsKennel #kuskokwim300 #k300 #bethelak #alaska #dogsledding #iditarod #dogsofinstagram #dogstagram #huskygram #huskylife #optoutside #kuskokwimriver #dogsled #mushing #sleddogs #sleddogsport #sleddogsofinstagram #alaskalife #alaskaoutdoors #alaskaadventure #alaskaliving #alaskanhusky 

@thealaskalife @kuskokwim300 @dogsleddingdaily
Travis putting booties on the dogs as he gets read Travis putting booties on the dogs as he gets ready to depart the halfway checkpoint of the Knik 200 sled dog race. 

There were hurricane force winds throughout the race. Semi trucks got blown off the road. Planes parked at the airport were flipped over.

Still, the dogs and Travis persevered — even when they had to go through waist deep overflow.

The team came to the finish line happy and healthy and in 2nd place. Travis also received the Humanitarian Award for Excellence in Dog Care.

We are so proud of him and Braxton, who ran the B team, and also had a strong finish.

#dogsledding #sleddogs #alaska #dogsofinsta #doglife #alaskalife #huskylife #instahusky
💯 #dogsledding #alaska 💯 #dogsledding #alaska
Getting out and enjoying the sunshine together. #d Getting out and enjoying the sunshine together. #dogsledding
Happy Birthday Travis 🥳 Happy Birthday Travis 🥳
Two by two⁠ 🐕🐾❄️⁠ ⁠ Trail breakin Two by two⁠
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Trail breaking :)⁠
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#turningheadskennel #iditarod #dogsledding #sleddogs ⁠
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BB is a rock star⁠ ⁠ ⁠ #instadog #dogsofinst BB is a rock star⁠
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#instadog #dogsofinstagram #dogslife #mustlovedogs⁠
#turningheadskennel #iditarod #dogsledding #sleddogs ⁠
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#getoutside #explore #adventure #explorealaska #alaska
Baby Skunk 💕⁠ ⁠ Skunk is now almost 17 mont Baby Skunk 💕⁠
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Skunk is now almost 17 months old and is working hard at being a sled dog.⁠
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#instadog #dogsofinstagram #dogslife #mustlovedogs⁠
#turningheadskennel #iditarod #dogsledding #sleddogs ⁠
#husky #huskies #huskygram #instahusky
We were blessed with some gorgeous skies this seas We were blessed with some gorgeous skies this season. Here's just 1 of the many we enjoyed 💕⁠
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#getoutside #explore #adventure #explorealaska #alaska⁠
Time Warp! A look back at early season fall traini Time Warp! A look back at early season fall training using the side by side. ⁠
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(Also, what smells so good in the grass 🤣)⁠
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Right now, the snow is melting and spring is well on its way here but we are already thinking about this coming fall and the adventures it will bring us. 💕⁠
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Old man Boston 💕⁠ ⁠ Our time left with Bost Old man Boston 💕⁠
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Our time left with Boston is slowly coming to an end but this geriatric sled dog is full of heart. He is the dad or granddad to many of the dogs in our kennel. ⁠
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Each day we have together is a gift. ⁠
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📸 by Kalani Woodlock
Travis and the dogs are in FINGERLAKE on #Iditarod Travis and the dogs are in FINGERLAKE on #Iditarod 2021 🥳 and OUT of FINGERLAKE.

Although his stats haven’t been updated as of this posting, it looks like he got there around 5:10 this morning, making it about a 4.5 hour run for him and the dogs. He rested about 3 hours and is now headed down the trail towards RAINY PASS

Here’s a fun video from one of the last training runs this year. 

🥳🎉 Go Team Go 🎉🥳
Well, he’s off! We’d hoped to livestream the s Well, he’s off!
We’d hoped to livestream the start of #Iditarod but because of the new location, we unfortunately didn’t have coverage!

The starting line up this year:
BB - Blue
Spartan - West
Krum - Granger
Melissa - Queen
Skiff - Jovie
Ohmer - Mongoose
Delta - Tug

Go Travis go!
The countdown to race day has started. Travis is g The countdown to race day has started. Travis is getting in the last few training runs before #iditarod to determine the final few dogs on the roster.

Our trail has one minor road crossing that we usually have no problem with —  as it’s in a wide open area — so we have plenty of opportunity to see cars and vice versa but with it continuing to snow day after day in Willow, the berms have gotten quite high. 

Because of this, after Travis and the team take off I drive down to play crossing guard.

Here’s a glimpse of the team from yesterday. #dogsledding #turningheadskennel
Well we got 1882 lbs of food headed out on the #id Well we got 1882 lbs of food headed out on the #iditarod trail for mushers and dogs. 

A big thanks to Caleb & Dave for helping cut meet, Victoria & Richard for letting us post up at their house, and a huge crew of human volunteers who helped cook Travis’ meals for out on the trail. @dlwalkerak for cooking and organizing and: @zudyscafe @akcarlyn @lonechicharron @woodysthaikitchenak @bakingthyme and Cristian McClain for cooking @majormarinetours for some great snacks and Portage Transport for delivering.

It’s not small feet getting a team ready to go 1,000 miles but this year— with little indoor access —- it really took a lot of careful planning to make sure Travis stays warm and well fed.

Thanks team!
A lot of the time, we are running teams of 8+ dogs A lot of the time, we are running teams of 8+ dogs. It’s more practical with a lot of dogs in training. That being said, there is something magical about breaking things down and working with the dogs one on one in smaller teams. This is especially true for our youngest teammates!

In this video, 16-month-olds Keister and Tucker are working as a lone pair. With no one else to guide them, the pups get their first experience taking commands without the pressure of having other dogs “chase” them. They also get to practice lining out and staying forward oriented.

Working at night with young leaders, a headlamp also becomes a great tool as we can easily show the trail we want the dogs to take. 

#dogsledding #mushing #iditarod #alaska
Under the pine boughs we go. Fresh snow makes fo Under the pine boughs we go. 

Fresh snow makes for fun runs and acrobatic mushing as you dip and dive to dodge the low hanging branches. On occasion, we use our axes to cut out trees too low to safely pass under. These momentary stops are an opportunity for the dogs to cool off and for us to stop and enjoy a warm thermos of tea.
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Recent Posts

  • How Mushers Get Home After Finishing The Iditarod
  • Scouting Our Glacier Dog Sledding Camp
  • Turning Heads Kennel is Featured by The Seward Chamber!
  • The Role of Tourism in Racing the Iditarod
  • Travis Beals Finishes the 2018 Iditarod
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