230 – Storm Kloud Alaskan Malamutes: Continuation of a Dream | Pure Dog Talk

Storm Kloud team of Alaskan Malamutes proved their heritage in 1994
After two years and 3,000 hours of training, Nancy Russell’s Storm Kloud Alaskan Malamutes were ready to compete in the iconic Iditarod Race in 1994.
Russell shares her stories of this epic journey, noting that she was proud to show that “Our dogs can still go on and do what they were bred to do.”
Twenty below for eight days
Russell and her crew drove with the five females and 10 males, all but one bitch intact, that made the final team.  “It was 20 below zero when we left Minnesota. And it never got above that for eight days, all the way to Alaska,” Russell said.

“There was no snow in Anchorage,” Russell said “so they hauled in snow and put enough on the street to run the teams 15 blocks. Because  a driver would not be able to set a snow hook if they had trouble with a team, an extra person had to ride with them. Therefore I got to ride in the sled for the ceremonial start of 15 blocks that year. Jamie chose 5 Champions and Josh to run as only 6 dogs were allowed in the team.”

Dog aggression was a major concern for the race organizers, Russell noted. The Alaskan Malamutes of the day were considered very “tough.” Part of the hours of training was that “we had to be sure the dogs could pass (another team of dogs) without causing problem before would be *allowed* to run this team,” Russell said.
Show dogs to team
Another obstacle, Russell said, is that the “show dogs” had to learn to be part of a team. Of the 15 dogs on the team, 11 were or became show champions.
“Show dog is not a team event,” Russell said. “Going from ‘I am the coolest’ to teamwork was a huge issue for Jamie (Nelson, the professional musher who trained and ran the team) to overcome. She had a hard time getting the dogs past people with cameras… the dogs were so convinced they were cool…”
Russell was amazed that the dogs actually gained weight along the route of the race. She noted that the dogs would push away the straw put down for bedding and held up well in the arctic environment of their heritage.
Danger on the trail
“When Jamie arrived at Finger Lake she went into a Dodge Lodge (tent furnished for the mushers) to sleep,” Russell said. “Later she woke as she was cold and went to get her sleeping bag. She was unable to stand and crawled out and then realized they were being asphyxiated  from the stove. She crawled back in and turned it off and tried to wake the other mushers but could not wake them. She called for help and Beth Baker MD who was in the checkpoint heard her and they got them out. Jamie and Beth received the Sportsmanship award for saving the lives of the other  four mushers.”
Eskimo welcome
The native people were thrilled when the team arrived near their communities.
“When they got to the Eskimo villages, the school teachers let kids come out of school to see the Malamutes,” Russell said. “One elderly gentleman came and brought his grandkids. He said ‘you have to see these dogs. This is what we used to have.’”
The struggle, Russell said, was the dogs’ feet. The weather was unusual that year, she noted, with rising temperatures causing rivers to melt.
“The dogs went through the river,” Russell said, “but the conditions caused a number of dogs to have feet susceptible to injury.”
Feet are the foundation
Despite special boots designed for the dogs, the team was struggling with ice balls in their pads and swollen feet in the boots.
“I do feel people are breeding smaller, tighter feet because they are pretty, not because they are functional,” Russell said. “The snowshoe foot, as described in the standard, doesn’t look as nice in the show ring.”
The dogs’ feet were what caused them to end their run after 640 miles of the 1,500 mile race, Russell said.

“Here I was in Ruby,