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Forecasted high temps keep rising for tomorrow when the CopperDog 150 kicks off, but that shouldn’t be a factor for the animals competing. Tom Bauer from Otter River Sled Dog Training and Wilderness Adventures says breeding has advanced to such a degree, his huskies are a hybrid able to handle warm and cold.
Bauer says that even if genetics are overwhelmed by conditions, the real truth is that the dogs love what they do. They aren’t running due to fear of their musher or a misplaced sense of duty. If they end up getting too warm, they aren’t afraid to solve the problem.
Bauer has been competing for decades in races across the region and into Ontario, Canada. He says he wasn’t initially thrilled by the stage race concept, but has come to love CopperDog because of the attention to detail organizers put into the event. Bauer says that between it and the UP 200 out of Marquette, this area outclasses other Midwest states in the caliber of competition it holds.
