More Health Care by Janet Allison

By now, if you have been participating in the Adopt a Sled Dog Program, you have all been gathering data and information about your adopted sled dog like it’s weight, muscle structure, condition of the fur and it’s feet. (But do not worry if you have not adopted a dog, you can still do the activity by choosing a sled dog.) These are all things that the musher must tend to on a regular basis in order to insure that their dogs are in good health, happy and ready to run. But there is another aspect to dog care that some of you may already know about. Sled dogs need vaccines just like your pet dog does.

Not only do vaccines protect dogs against some potentially deadly illnesses, all dog sled races require the entrants to show proof that the they have taken care of this part of their dogs health. Here is a list of what most races require:

Rabies

Canine Distemper Vaccination
Canine Parvo Vaccine
Hepatitis
Canine Adenovirus
Corona
Leptosporosis

http://www.iditarod.com/pdfs/2010/vet_check.pdf

A licensed veterinarian must give the Rabies vaccine, but all the others can be given by the owner of the dogs. Most mushers give their dogs their vaccines. Can you think of some reasons why they would do this? Here are some hints….

How would all the dogs get to a veterinarians office?

Could they sit in the back seat of a car like you pet dog might?

How many trips from the kennel to the veterinarian would it take to get the whole team vaccinated?

How much time would it take to get the dogs vaccinated at the veterinarians office?

One more important thing to think about. Why do you think that all the race rules require that the dogs must be vaccinated?

Write your ideas down or draw of picture and post them here to share with everyone. Don’t forget that if you have any questions, just post them and we will get them answered right away.