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Dallas returns to the race he loves - Part 1

Dallas Seavey (34) has a strong group of 34 dogs this year consisting of the best from his father's kennel and the best from his own. In March, he will return to the Iditarod, the race he grew up with and one that means the most to him.



In 2021, Dallas is back in the race format that he is familiar with. He is excited to see how much has changed during these last three years while he hasn't participated.

“The race has three new champions since I last competed so I'm excited to see if the competition is better than it was before. I'm excited to race against kind of the same faces, only better versions of themselves”.

 

«I think it's always going to come back to the Iditarod»

Dallas has the Iditarod race in his DNA. He is a third generation musher. His father, Mitch, has participated in the Iditarod a number of times and Dallas' grandfather was one of the pioneers in the race. Dallas has grown up with the Iditarod as a natural part of life and he has spent a lot of time trying to understand and master this challenging race. When he was 25-year-old, in 2012, he won the race for the first time.

“The Iditarod gave mushing a purpose and a reason to become better and to push myself and try to evolve as a musher. We've had ups and downs with the Iditarod, and we've had other experiences racing and training in Norway and elsewhere, but I think it's always going to come back to the Iditarod. That is kind of my main race, my main focus and really the beginning of the whole mushing intrigue for me”.

Dallas mushing (Reidar Arnesen)

 


Borrowing dogs from his father

This season, Dallas has borrowed the best dogs from his father, who has raced every Iditarod since 1995. This year his father is taking a year off from racing.

“My dad decided not to compete in the 2021 Iditarod. I don't know if this is retirement, but I do know that it is a year off. One of the struggles for him is the fact that he has this amazing dog team and without him racing wouldn't have anything to do. Letting those dogs come to my kennel and compete with me, I think freed my dad up to know that those dogs were still having the opportunity to race”.

Dallas and Dog-1


“I have more miles than I've ever had”

The best dogs from his father, combined with the best dogs from his kennel, adds up to a a total of 34 racing dogs. Dallas says that training has been very intense this year, with serious training started from July 10th on.

“We've been running pretty hard. I have more miles than I've ever had at this point in the year. Right now I'm well ahead of any previous year in total training miles. I think the type of training we've done this year has been on point and very well focused for developing these dogs”.



Dallas S lead dogs


Dallas admits it has been a challenge training 34 dogs, ranging in age from 3 to 8, with so many different experience levels. Anytime you have that many dogs there's going to be a variation in ability levels.

“It's caused me to have to break it into smaller groups to do customized training for different categories of dogs, so for example the younger dogs that don't have as much development might need to progress in their training more slowly, while some of the older dogs, like Gambel at 8 years old and Bug at 7 years old, have so much experience and so much development that the most important thing is to keep them excited and keep them healthy”.

LEARN MORE: BASIC NUTRITION FOR OUR BEST FRIEND, THE DOG: WATER AND ENERGY SOURCES

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