The superstar, the veteran, the doofus: Meet 5 of the dogs racing in this year’s Iditarod

Many of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race mushers have a hard time naming a favorite dog.

“I kind of like them all,” said Willow musher Lev Shvarts. “That’s what we all say, right?”

Iditarod mushers are required to begin the race with 12 to 14 dogs. With a field of 49 competitors this year, that means between 588 and 686 dogs booked it onto the trail from the official start in Willow on Sunday.

Each dog on the trail has its own personality. Some are calm and bashful while others howl or jump, full of energy.

Canine athletes also have different roles to play on a musher’s team: Lead dogs are tasked with keeping the team on pace, on task and headed in the right direction. Behind them are the swing dogs, who help steer the team around corners. In the middle of the towline are team dogs, who make up the core of the group and pull the sled. The two dogs closest to the sled are wheel dogs — they pull the sled out and around corners or obstacles, like trees.

[From soccer player to musher: Rookie Amanda Otto tackles Iditarod with dogs raised by a champion]

We asked a few of this year’s Iditarod mushers to tell us about their dogs. Here’s what they had to say.

Sammy the superstar

Norway rookie Hanna Lyrek, 22, said one of her favorite dogs is Sammy, who was born at Jeff King’s kennel in Denali Park. Lyrek traveled to Alaska and brought him home to Norway with her about two years ago.

“You never really know what you’re going to get when you buy a dog, but he’s a superstar,” she said. “So it’s really fun having him and it’s fun to bring him here and bring him into this race because that’s where he’s from.”

Sammy is an upbeat dog who brings the entire team’s energy up, she said.

Chaiser: Goofy but tough

Healy musher Yuka Honda, 49, laughed as she sat in the back of her dog truck before the Iditarod ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage and scratched behind 6-year-old Chaiser’s ears. He’s a sweet, goofy dog but makes for a tough competitor when he runs as a wheel dog, she said.

“When he was a puppy he was so cute! And so bossy — everybody hated him because he’s too bossy and now he’s kind of shy,” she said.

Lucy, the tried-and-true leader

Bethel musher Peter Kaiser, 34, said he looked forward to racing again with his 7-year-old dog Lucy. She led the team in 2019, when Kaiser won the Iditarod. He said she’s a strong leader who is “not afraid of leading the team down a trail for a long, long ways.”

“She’s maybe slightly slower than she was, but definitely wiser and more experienced,” Kaiser said. “She has a lot of trail miles behind her and more in front of her.”

Budweiser the ‘brainless’

Shvarts said one of his biggest and dopiest dogs will be leading the team on the Iditarod trail this year.

“I have this giant monster named Budweiser on the truck — 80 pounds of brainless dole,” he said before unloading the dogs at the Iditarod ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage. “He ran the entire Kusko in lead for me. Turned out to be a lot tougher than I thought he was, so I hope he holds up in front.”

Lhotse, a.k.a. Malarkey, and his ‘dumb, happy face’

Rookie Joe Taylor, from Fairbanks, has three main leader dogs who have been with him the longest: Lhotse, Ophelia and Dusky. Lhotse, who is nicknamed Malarkey, is the namesake of Taylor’s kennel, Mushing Malarkey. A friend of Taylor’s would forget Lhotse’s name, calling him Malarkey instead.

“He’s like, kind of a big dumb boy and always has a dumb, happy face on him, and so Malarkey, it ended up sticking,” Taylor said. “So, even though I still call him Lhotse, to everyone else he’s Malarkey. And so when it came time to have a kennel name, Mushing Malarkey was right there.”