Iditarod long distance sled dog race had Medicine Hat veterinary technician volunteer

MacPhail was the only Canadian working with the ECG or Electro cardiogram program.

Prior to the race it was her responsibility for about two weeks to check the dogs heart rates and pull blood to be tested in the lab to assure they were ready for competition.

“To make sure that everything is all up to par because they are running almost 1,000 miles,” MacPhail said.

“It is a long race but they train for it and their heart rates or their ECG’s mimic that of Olympic athletes, they’re basically bred to do this,” she added.

“I was nervous going up because I hadn’t been up in a while, they pull blood super different up there versus like what we do in clinic.”

The process became familiar for Macphail, who enjoyed the experience and is something she wants to continue to do.

She was able to attend the early stages of the event, including the start and the restart before heading home.

Veterinary technicians from as far away as New Zealand and the United Kingdom volunteered at the event.

The interaction with the Alaskan Huskies competing is different than your average household pet.

The dogs are there to do a job and they are ready to do it.

“You’ve got a whole bunch of like high strung breeds kind of all put together that aren’t necessarily taught commands like to sit and shake a paw and things like that,” MacPhail said.

“When they get out off the trailer, like how they get hauled. They’re like, oh we’re running, we’re ready to go.”

The dogs were excited to run, seeing how bad they wanted to go, and it was pretty cool to actually see the excitement from them at the starting line, MacPhail noticed.

Alaskan Dallas Seavey won his sixth Iditarod title on Tuesday putting him in the record books for the most wins at the 52nd edition of the sled dog race.

by Jesse Gill

Iditarod long distance sled dog race had Medicine Hat veterinary technician volunteer

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