Meeting Iditarod musher Jake Berkowitz and his team

With temperatures dropping below 0 Fahrenheit we are excited for more snow and adventure in the back country! An opportunity on a cold December afternoon to meet Iditarod and Yukon Quest musher Jake Berkowitz and his team was too much to resist. Especially, when we heard puppies would be on site! Here in town with a race sponsor, VCA East Anchorage Animal Hospital, Jake and team were ready to share their experiences with the kids.

I am not sure who was more excited – the kids or the dogs. It was easy to hear the excitement in the dogs as they eagerly shared it  with yips, barks and jumps. Once out of the van the kids hurried to the dogs easily beating me to the show. Once in the presence of  3 puppies and 29 full grown dogs they were wide eyed but quiet. And Zeke maintained his bizarre fear of dogs, despite his fearlessness with everything else.

We learned a lot from Jake. The puppies are on track for becoming Iditarod 2014 racers. This year’s team is practicing on the Denali highway. Temperatures on the trail have plummeted to -30 F. As cold as it sounds, the dogs prefer to run in the sub zero weather. And Jake commented that they tend to perk up when temperatures drop to -10 F.

Good luck to the Apex Kennel team! The Iditarod is 90 days away and Jake and the dogs are training regularly. We look forward to cheering him along when we meet up on the trail in March.