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NOME - When Tobuk died on the trail two miles outside Elim on Wednesday afternoon, the dog went down suddenly. Musher Al Hardman halted his sled and rushed to the fallen animal. Frantically trying to revive the 3-year-old husky, Hardman gave it CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Nothing worked, and Tobuk became the only canine fatality thus far in the 28th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race among the nearly 1,300 dogs who started the race in Wasilla. "I never had a dog die," said Hardman Thursday night after he crossed the finish line in 37th place. "It shocked me. You feel so helpless." Hardman, 57, of Ludington, Mich., was on the 1,100-mile trail for the second time after a 33rd-place finish in 1997. He placed 37th this year in 11 days, 11 hours, 32 minutes. Doug Swingley of Lincoln, Mont., won the $60,000 first prize Tuesday when he set a race record of 9 days, 58 minutes. Hardman bettered his previous time by almost two days, despite finishing with just six dogs. "If there was something I could have done, I'd feel really bad," Hardman said. "He was one of the best dogs. He ran in swing. He was a top team dog." The initial Iditarod investigation into the dog's death Wednesday raised no questions about Hardman's behavior, and he was allowed to continue racing. That finding was reinforced Thursday when the gross necropsy exam of Tobuk's body was completed in Nome. Race marshal Mark Nordman said the preliminary diagnosis of the cause of death is "peracute pulmonary edema," or fluid in the lungs. Nordman emphasized that there was no negligence on Hardman's part. Stu Nelson, Iditarod chief veterinarian, said Tobuk suffered from acid reflux, a circumstance where the dog's stomach contents came up its esophagus and entered its lungs. In a broad sense, this is not unlike a swimmer accidentally gulping a mouthful of water that "goes down the wrong pipe," Nelson said. "This could be triggered by a lot of things," said Nelson, who said more veterinary tests are being conducted to more precisely attempt to pin down the cause of death. "The dog did have stomach ulcers. It wasn't something that was going on a long time. There are things that don't develop over time. These things have a very rapid onset." With the record field this year, Nelson said he had a record number of 36 vets working the trail, in addition to himself and four other vets working off the trail. Iditarod vets and researchers are working on a study of the incidence of ulcers in dogs on the trail this year in hopes of finding methods of prevention, he said. The death of a dog is felt keenly by the vet staff, he said. "We are dealing with it on a much more personal level," Nelson said. "All the examinations in the world at the previous checkpoint wouldn't have found (anything)." This was a race filled with trying developments for Hardman, a gregarious, white-bearded man who finished wearing a red parka. The weather was warm for the dogs and the musher. "I felt I was always overdressing," Hardman said. "I wish I had some tennis shoes." Like many other teams, his dogs caught a virus. And coming in from White Mountain over the last 77 miles, Hardman said he almost got lost. He thought he was OK, but asked a snowmachiner if he was going the right way. "The sun was in the right direction," he said. Those were all minor obstacles compared to the dog's death. Hardman said this is probably his final Iditarod. It would have been much harder to finish, he said, if the dog died earlier in the race rather than 125 miles from the end. "It does drop you down," Hardman said. "You have a low point when you have a dog die. I did everything I could. It's Mother Nature." * Sports editor Lew Freedman can be reached at lfreedman@adn.com
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