Local veterinarian Rob Avery traveled to Alaska to vet his first dogsled race where he experienced temperatures reaching -36° high winds and a heavy fresh snowfall that nearly cancelled the Northern Lights 300 dogsled race. This 300-mile race is a training run and a qualifier for the better known Iditarod and Yukon Quest. These dogs live for this sport and the excitement is palpable when the time is getting close to start running!

The dogs have rest breaks and during mandatory down time the musher must make their dogs a comfortable place to recover using bales of hay/straw to provide a barrier from the frozen ground. Occasionally dogs must be pulled, or dropped, and in those cases the dogs are provided a ride in a bush plane to get back to a prearranged location. The dropped dogs' faces show the total disappointment of not being able to finish.

 The Northern Lights 300 is a sprint compared to the long distances of the Iditarod and Yukon Quest, each 1,000 miles long. This race carries the mushers and their teams through the Susitna Valley of Alaska from Big Lake to Finger Lake on the Iditarod Trail and back again to Big Lake. Nearly half of the mushers were women, in fact first and second place were earned by sisters Kristy and Anna Berington in that order. The race began on January 23rd and ended January 26.

 Veterinarian Rob Avery says, "I would say that this experience was a once in a lifetime, but it wouldn't be true because this is the beginning of a tradition for me. The relationship between the dogs and their musher is a special bond and in this sport the dogs' safety and health supersedes everything else. For example there were three veterinarians available for the dogs and no paramedics for the humans."

For the Love of Pets Veterinary Hospital & Grooming is owned by Rob & Inger Avery who enjoy not only a deep love for animals, but also giving back to their community through several philanthropic endeavors including the local arts community, The Friendship Club, many animal welfare groups such as NorCal Boxer Rescue, Wildlife Rehabilitation & Release and Sammies Friends.