We interviewed Dr. Seeba. He is a vet who worked on The Iditarod in l990 and l991. He told us that all dogs must have a full checkup before running the trail. They have an EKG. That is a machine that reads how the dogs heart is beating to make sure it is right. The vet has to go to 2 or 3 checkpoints during The Iditarod. You get to the checkpoints by plane. The vet works with two other people, the Checkers and the Communicators. If you abuse your dogs you are out of the race. You aren't allowed to use aspirin on your dogs, which we wouldn't do even if they are in pain. When a dog's foot is frozen it is hard, cold, lifeless and has no feeling in it. When you pinch it the dog doesn't feel anything. The mushers have two pounds of emergency food. The trail is hard for dogs who have not been trained. There is acid in the dog's muscles which can create sudden death. Not many dogs die of abuse.