Iditarod Insight: How do they find the trail?

How do the dogs find the trail?
Looking at the Iditarod coverage and listening to the stories of mushers going through ground storms and big snow drifts one might wonder: How do these dogs find the trail?
Well, for one, the dogs really want to find the trail. A dog bred to excel at competing in sled dog races wants to do the right thing and they want to do it fast.
These dogs are very eager to please. They’re getting the hard-worker award every day. The Iditarod trail is an historic trail that has been used for thousands of years by the people of Alaska. In some places the route is well defined as in a cut trail through a forest. In other places it follows the terrain in a way that makes sense – rivers and main mountain passes. In many places the trail leads from one rural village to the next. Locals travel here. Additionally, the Iditarod trail breakers prepare a trail ahead of the lead teams.
The trail is marked with four-foot “trail stakes”. These are thin wooden lath painted bright orange on top with a strip of reflective tape. Along the treeless coast these trail stakes are placed every 100 yards or so, in tree country at further distances apart. In some sections of the trail there are wooden, reflectorized tripods placed.
Along the barren coast, local search and rescue organizations as well as the Nome Kennel Club procure funds to buy thousands of trail stakes that are placed along the trail as well as 10-foot-tall wooden tripods. Iditarod National Historic Trail Alliance is a partner in those endeavors. Trails aren’t marked just for the Iditarod but also for locals traveling from village to village as well as for events such as snowmachine races and weekend dog races.
These trail markers are crucial to find the trail ground storms, blizzards or whiteouts that frequently happen along the Iditarod trail. Some of the dogs learn to look for trail stakes and tripods, as well as the reflection of a headlight off the reflective tape. They also do everything they can to find and stay on this trail. Be it by scent, feeling or visual cues.
The trail is where they live and where they want to be. They become experts at finding the right path throughout their lives. Most of the time a musher can’t really explain how the lead dogs actually do find this trail. It’s a mystery. Dogs have a really good memory. Some will find and follow a trail they’ve traveled on a year ago.
The musher helps the dogs in finding and staying on the trail by helping with voice commands such as gee and haw for left and right, as well as words of encouragement. This is a moment when dogs and mushers come together and work as one unit.
At night mushers will shine their bright headlights in a way to where the lead dogs can see the faint outline of an old or drifted-in trail, as well as look for the reflectors on the trail stakes or tripods. Dogs will see the headlight beam bounce of the reflective tape and either know to go towards the reflection or take it as a sign that they’re on the right trail.
Finding the trail and staying on the trail is in the best interest of dogs and musher, as off-trail travel isn’t advisable in deep snow. Racing dogs need a hard snow base to run on. Trail finding is part of this co-dependency, this teamwork between dog mushers and their teams. Some lead dogs are great at trail finding, others aren’t so much. During tough days the top pathfinders will be running up front, while during normal days the other leaders might be up front. Just because a leader isn’t the best at finding a blown-in trail doesn’t mean it’s not a good lead dog. There are times when other qualities such as attitude and speed are more important. But a trail savvy lead dog is every musher’s pride and joy.