Another overheated Iditarod dog recovers after flight

Jaimee High says Stout, her 2-year-old Alaskan husky, seems back to himself days after overheating while being transported to Anchorage with dozens of other dropped Iditarod sled dogs last week.

High, whose husband, Justin, is racing to Nome, said she was notified Saturday afternoon that her dog was hyperthermic (overheated) and in a pet emergency room in Anchorage. Justin High dropped the dog in Tanana last week.

Stout was one of about 75 dropped dogs on a chartered Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race flight from Galena to Anchorage on Friday. Another dog on the flight, 2-year-old Smoke, died of possible hyperthermia, Iditarod officials said Saturday, and at least one other dog displayed symptoms of hyperthermia. That dog has not been identified by race officials.

High said she's grateful to the veterinarian who noticed her dog overheating as he was being unloaded from the plane. She said the veterinarian decided to quickly place the dog in a nearby snowbank to start cooling him down. Sled dogs have a typical temperature of about 100 degrees, but High said veterinarians told her Stout recorded a temperature of about 109 degrees shortly after he was removed from the plane.

"Without that vet he would have lost his life," High said in a phone interview Monday.

The race announced Sunday it would change how it transports dogs, including not flying with the dogs in coats and ensuring that flights during the remainder of the race "provide for cool cabin temperatures and increased ventilation."

[Iditarod changes rules for dog transport after suspected overheating death aboard plane]

Stout was released to High on Saturday night. She's still learning about what happened on the flight and did not know whether Stout was wearing a dog coat or whether he was in a travel kennel by himself or with another dog.

But High said Monday that the dog seems to be back to normal. She said Stout —whose official name is Colonel Stout, after DeeDee Jonrowe's late father Ken Stout — is eating well and is back to his "sweetheart" ways. High, an Iditarod veteran, said they'll be monitoring Stout closely.

High has been in contact daily with chief veterinarian Stu Nelson and race marshal Mark Nordman. She said the Iditarod is working hard to find out what happened.

"I know no one intentionally wanted this to happen," High said. "It was seriously a freak accident that we're now going to make sure it doesn't happen again."