Alaskan Iditarod
Sled Dog Race
How Amazon Herbs
changed the history of the world-famous Alaskan
Iditarod sled dog race
Sixteen gung-ho dogs linked and ready to pull a
sled, supplies, and a musher is a sight to be
seen. The dogs radiate power and energy and have
no other desire than to pull the sled to its
final destination.
Once on the trail, each dog has a clear-cut job.
Some trade off being the leader, others act as
guides to keep the sled traveling on the right
trail, and the strongest dogs balance the sled
around curves. They work in unison. And they
depend on the true leader of the sled, the
musher, to lead them to wherever it is that they
are going as quickly and safely as possible.
A musher's first concern is always the
well-being of his or her dogs. That's why
experienced musher, Jamie Nelson of Togo,
Minnesota, was determined to run the
world-famous Iditarod sled dog race in March of
this year with a supply of herbs from the Amazon
Rainforest.
While training for Iditarod 2000, Jamie
incorporated an herbal health plan of Recovazon,
Illumination, Warrior and Sumacazon into the
dogs' daily diet, and tested the effects of
Recovazon when it was applied to their feet.
What she discovered was something she had never
seen in her 30 years of sled dog racing.
Two months prior to the Iditarod, Jamie decided
to run a short 260-mile race near Duluth,
Minnesota, called the Grand Portage Passage, to
get the dogs used to running on snow. At each
checkpoint during the race she gave the dogs a
generous serving of the herbal mixture, and
Recovazon was applied to their feet. What she
hoped is that by applying Recovazon topically,
it would help reduce swelling and
enhance the healing of old wounds and soft
tissue cuts between the pads of the dogs' feet.
Sure enough, at the end of the race the dogs had
fewer cuts on their feet, less red, raw feet,
and less muscle pulls and sprains. "This is the
first race I've ever ran where the dogs had no
slits inside their feet!" Jamie explained in
amazement.
But what
happened in March when Jamie crossed the finish
line at Iditarod 2000 was even more incredible.
Iditarod Trail.
Every year Alaska's most famous sporting event,
the Iditarod sled dog race, challenges some of
the best dog teams and mushers in the world. The
famous Iditarod Trail, which was completed in
1973 by a team of willful volunteers who were
determined to keep Alaska's mushing heritage
alive, extends more than 1,100 miles from
Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.
But the Iditarod Trail
was not always a racing trail. During the harsh,
cold winter of 1925, part of the trail was used
to transport urgently needed medical supplies to
the town of Nome where countless children had
been exposed to an acute infectious disease
called diphtheria. The quickest, surest way to
deliver the 300,000 units of lifesaving
antitoxin serum was with the help of dogs. So
various mushers and their dog teams split up the
674-mile distance from Nenana to Nome in an
attempt to deliver the serum. One week later the
serum arrived safely in Nome and saved many
lives.
Iditarod 2000.
On March 4, 2000, Jamie Nelson, an Amazon Herb
Company customer, braved ~ for the third time in
her life ~ the potentially life-threatening, yet
thrilling, Iditarod sled dog race with a team of
dogs ready to take on their first Iditarod.
Competing against more than 80 experienced
mushers, Jamie and the other Iditarod
participants started the race with an
enthusiastic team of 16 dogs per sled. The
trail offered breathtaking views of the Alaskan
countryside including the glorious northern
lights, but also frigid temperatures, blinding
windstorms, hairpin turns, and a rough trail
that contributed to over 40 broken sleds by the
end of the race.
Dogs Stay Healthy.
The Iditarod is truly a marathon event that
becomes a test of physical and emotional
strength for musher and dogs alike. Most teams
travel over 100 miles in a day, and run 6 to 10
hours at a time. The grueling schedule invites
fatigue, weakens the immune system, and
increases the chance for injuries; in fact,
three of Jamie's dogs, Speck, Fly and Pirate,
developed shoulder injuries about half way
through the race. Speck's injury was very
serious; she was using only three legs when she
came into the checkpoint. The veterinarian
wanted Speck to sit out the remainder of the
race so she could heal, but Jamie was
determined to have all of them cross the finish
line. Speck's shoulder was drenched in Recovazon
and then massaged so the herbs could be absorbed
through the skin directly where the injury
persisted. Six hours later, Speck was walking on
all four legs and ready to leave the checkpoint
with the other dogs. The veterinarian was nearly
speechless, "What's going on here?" she said as
she re-inspected Speck's leg. "I can feel
crackling under the skin... as if the healing
process is being accelerated." Jamie just smiled
and hooked Speck up with the rest of the team.
Fly and Pirate also had
shoulder injuries, but not nearly as serious as
Speck's injury. They, too, were rubbed down with
Recovazon and easily bounced back to finish the
second half of the race.
Another test of the
herbs occurred when Hitch, in swing position,
developed kennel cough just before the race
started. It didn't take long for the cough to
spread to the other dogs in the team. "What a
nightmare," Jamie thought. "This is the type of
disaster that takes a team out of the race."
But, once again, with the help of the dogs'
herbal mixture of Illumination, Sumacazon,
Warrior and Recovazon, the cough disappeared and
the dogs completely recovered early in the race.
The Big Mystery.
Under the rules of the Iditarod every musher
must fit his or her 16 dogs with special booties
to protect against ice and hard packed snow
injuries. But even with the boots, the dogs may
experience sore, cracked and cut feet from sharp
ice. As Jamie learned from her test runs prior
to the
Iditarod, the key is to apply the herbs directly
to the dogs' feet in order to keep them healthy.
At each checkpoint, the dogs received their
serving of herbs, and patiently allowed
Recovazon to be applied to their feet as they
rested.
The race pushed on and
as the days passed all but one musher had to run
their teams with less than 16 dogs because of
injuries or sore, cut feet. In fact the top five
winners of the race came in with only 8 or 10
dogs. The big mystery during and after the race
was focused around Jamie and her team: why
didn't her dogs have the same injuries and paw
problems everyone else was experiencing. Jamie
knew from past experience that it was because of
the Amazon herbs. In her 30 years of sled dog
racing, she had only experienced these kinds of
results when she used the Sumacazon, Warrior,
Illumination and Recovazon.
On March 16, for the
first time in more than 20 years, a musher
crossed the Iditarod finish line with all 16
dogs it was Jamie's team.
Congratulations, Jamie, to you and
your team on your remarkable accomplishment.
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Herb Guide for Your
Pets
Herb Pet Testimonials
Amazon John
arriving at Iditarod race headquarters
Jamie
Nelson with a couple of team members.
Iditarod dogs
had Amazon herbs applied to their paws at
each checkpoint.
Amazon
John making new friends in Alaska.
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A Close Look at How a Dog Trainer Uses Rainforest Herbs
Ichiro B. Stewart, a professional dog trainer and
handler in Ely, Minnesota, may work with as many as 100
dogs in a year. He has handled for many successful sled
dog teams, including teams preparing for the Iditarod.
As I talked with Ichiro he told me of three instances
when he was glad he had Rainforest herbs for the dogs:
It's common to have to travel in a truck for a long time
with a team of dogs when you're going from one sled dog
race to another. During one trip last year, a female dog
who is prone to travel sickness was being especially
irritable and she was nauseous. I stopped and gave her a
few drops of Calmazon and within minutes she was calm
and her nausea went away for the remainder of the trip.
While preparing a team of dogs in Canada, two male dogs
who were running side by side decided they didn't like
each other. A fight broke out and before I could stop it
one dog had bit the wrist of the other dog, which
created a puncture wound. For a racing dog, a wrist
wound is very serious. It usually means the dog has to
sit out until he is healed. But this dog was important
to the team and I needed him. So I flushed his wound
with Recovazon and had him drink a half a bottle of the
herbs so they could also work from the inside out. An
injury like this usually heals within a few days if the
dog rests a lot. But this dog, less than 24 hours after
I applied the herbs, was not showing any favoritism to
the leg, there was absolutely no swelling, and you could
barely tell he had been punctured unless you looked
closely at his wrist.
A unique team of dogs selected for their mental and
physical abilities will run 1,000 to 3,000 miles to
prepare for the Iditarod. This frequently includes
having to run on dry land with a 4-wheeler when there is
no snow for the dogs to train on. Dry land trails don't
provide the cushion that snow trails do, so the dogs
need extra care for their feet. I used Rainforest herbs
to help Jamie Nelson's dogs with injuries, cuts and worn
pads. The herbs were also used during Iditarod 2000 and
not one dog had a single cut, lesion or worn pad after
1,100 miles of running. |
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