Luna is a
seven pound white toy poodle. She lives with her best friend Buddy, a Yorkipoo
who loves to eat, and her Mom and Dad as she likes to call them. They are
actually her owners, but she doesn’t see them that way. Luna has a dream. She
wants to do something big with her life. She loves her home and her family, but
something inside her tells her she is destined for great things. Well, here she
is. Let her introduce herself.
“My name is Luna and this is my dream. I live
with my best friend Buddy and my Mom and Dad. I’m a miniature poodle and I
weigh 6.5 pounds. Buddy is a Yorkipoo and he’s my best friend! He’s my hero and
he’s very handsome. Buddy and I are together all the time, even when we go to
the doggie groomers at PetSmart.”
Our Mom and
Dad take us for walks all the time and when they do, I just kept pulling and
tugging on the leash. That’s what I do! Then I saw on TV how other dogs do the
same thing except they’re pulling a sled in the snow. The Iditarod! I learned
about this race in Alaska and I knew that’s what I was meant for. My dream is to be the lead dog on the team
that wins the Iditarod. Where’s Alaska? I just don’t know how to get to Alaska.
I know when I get there the other dogs will want me to help them win. I know I
can do it! I talked to Buddy about it and he said, “It sounds scary and a long
way from home.”
“Buddy,
don’t you ever think about anything but food?”
“Yeah, like
chewing on a bone and taking a nap. That’s hard to do in the snow!” Buddy
replied.
“Besides,
it’s a long way to Alaska and I like my bed.”
“Buddy, I
was born to pull a sled. I was meant to win this race!” Luna said.
“Somehow, I just have to get to Alaska.” Luna
sighed realizing that Buddy was not nearly as excited.
When winter
came it was very cold outside. It was not as cold as winters in Alaska, but it
was colder than it was in the summer. There was a crackling fire in the
fireplace and the whole house was warm and toasty. It was one of those cold and
quiet winter days when everyone could afford to be lazy all day and just lounge
in front of the fire.
Luna curled
up into a tiny ball of fur on the couch and went to sleep with Buddy laying
only a few feet from her. When she opened her eyes her and Buddy were in
Alaska. “How did we get here?” she thought. “I don’t remember the trip”. There
was snow everywhere as far as you could see. Luna was amazed at all the snow
and the fact that her and Buddy were actually in Alaska! The snow didn’t seem
to bother Luna at all, but she could tell Buddy was already looking for a warm
bed and some food. “Come on Buddy. Let’s go talk to those dogs over there”,
Luna said wagging her tail. “I think I’ll just stay here and wait for someone
to open this door and then I’m going inside and get some food. I’m really
hungry.” Buddy said glancing sideways at the door as he sometimes does. Buddy
is famous for his sideways glances. When he sits in your lap, he pretends to
ignore you, but the whole time he’s giving you a sideways glance hoping you’ll
give him some food.
Luna ran
over to where the pack of Huskies was laying in the snow. They seemed tired or
sad just laying there staring in all directions as if waiting for something.
She looked them all over very carefully and they didn’t seem to notice her at
all. “Hey, where can I find an Iditarod team? She asked, addressing the Husky
closest to her. “We’re an Iditarod team, but our lead dog is hurt and so we don’t
know if we’ll be in the race this year” he said in a sad monotone dog voice.
Luna said, “I’m your dog! I’ll be the lead dog on your team,” she said
confident and full of herself.
The other
dogs just looked at her for a minute and then they all started rolling in the
snow and laughing dog laughs, which sound like yelps to human ears. “You?” one
of the other dogs said with a skeptical tone. “You’re kind of a fancy dog to be
pullin a sled in the snow across the Yukon aren’t you?” he said matter of
factly. “In fact, you’re not even big enough to make a decent meal for one of us.
I eat more meat at every meal than you have on your whole body,” he said with a
smirky dog scowl on his face.
“I can pull
way more than my own weight and you shouldn’t go around judging other people
and dogs by their size. Who do you think you are anyway?” she said, standing
her ground and showing some teeth in a kind of fake smile grimace, scary
looking poodle dog way. It worked too! For a minute, all the Huskies gave her
their full attention and seemed to be taking her serious, when, they all
started laughing all over again. They were rolling around in the snow,
guffawing, howling, snorting, and acting every bit like superior dogs. They
were so busy laughing they didn’t see what she did next.
Luna marched
over to the front of the team where Rusty’s harness was laying in the snow.
Rusty was the team’s lead dog and leader of the pack so to speak. Luna took it
upon herself to start adjusting the harness straps for the lead dog. The
harness was way too big for her, so she quickly chewed away all the parts she
didn’t need, until, until she could strap herself in to the lead dog position. (Luna
has very powerful jaws for such a tiny dog) This maneuver did not sit well with
the rest of the team. They all stopped laughing immediately.”Get out of there!”
one dog yelled. “Who the hell do you think you are?” “Get out of their before
Rusty comes back with his bad leg and all. He’ll have your butt for breakfast”
said one of the other dogs.
About this
time, Old Jake came strolling out of the doc’s office shaking his head and
pondering what he would do without his lead dog this year. Poor Rusty had
somehow hurt his leg and well, Old Jake and the rest of the team depended on
Rusty to lead the team and to win the Iditarod. He was completely lost in
thought as he mounted his sled and ordered his dogs to “Mush!” Before anyone
knew it, even Luna, they were all up and pulling for everything they had. They
were off! After about a hundred yards, Old Jake came out of his fog and noticed
his lead dog was a little on the small side. “What the hell? What the hell is
going on here? He muttered as he stopped the sled. He got off and walked up
front to see who was in Rusty’s spot. That’s when he saw Luna standing their
all harnessed up and wagging her stub of a tail. “Well little girl, you think
you got what it takes to fill Rusty’s spot? He said with a chuckle. It was a
sight Old Jake could never have imagined.
“I’d better
get you out of that harness and find out who you belong to.” Old Jake said
reaching down to take the harness off Luna. In an instant, Luna growled and
showed Old Jake her teeth, which took him back a bit. “Easy girl, I’m just
tryin to help you and keep you out of trouble.” He said as he stood back up and
just stared at Luna with a thoughtful gaze. After about a minute of staring at
her he said, “Well, if you can pull your weight on the team, you can stay, but
you don’t get anything extra and well, I know you won’t eat as much as Rusty.”
With that,
Old Jake mounted the sled and they were off for home. When they got home, he
untied all the dogs, even Luna, and led them to a barn where they stayed.
Shortly he came out with a whole bunch of meat and other things to eat. He gave
Luna a small helping of meat compared to the huge portions he gave to the other
dogs. All the other dogs dove into their food with gnashing teeth, slobbering,
making munching sounds, and pretty soon, they were all finished. In less than a
minute! They all looked at Luna and her food. She hadn’t touched a bite. Luna
hunkered down over her food and growled at them, letting them know that her
food belonged to her. Not one of the Huskies had thought that this little white
poodle would even think to growl at them or to think for a minute they couldn’t
just eat her up too. Nevertheless, they backed away and let her eat her meager
meal. Soon, it was time for them to bed down for the night. Tomorrow was race
day and they all knew they’d need as much rest as they could get.
Back in
town, Buddy finally got his wish. Someone actually did open the door and as
soon as they did, he made a beeline inside. Right next to the vet’s office was
a small home. It was the veterinarian’s home. He lived there with his wife and
two children. One of his children had opened the front door to go outside and
when she did, Buddy saw the chance to go inside, so there he was now, on the
inside. Immediately he saw the veterinarian’s daughter, a little girl about ten
years old. Buddy started wagging his tail and using all his charm to maybe get
something to eat. “Look Mommy! It’s a little puppy! He’s so cute. Can we keep
him?” she said bending down to pet Buddy. Buddy knew exactly what to do. He
turned on the charm even more, rolling around and being as happy as he could
be. “Maybe she’ll give me some food.” He thought. And then she did! She gave
Buddy a cookie from the counter. Buddy knew he had made the right decision. He hadn’t
even noticed that Luna had run off with a pack of wild Huskies. The only thing
on his mind was some food and then maybe a nice long nap somewhere.
The little girl fell in love with Buddy
immediately. All the dogs she had ever seen were Huskies and they were so big
and so messy and such outside dogs. She knew Buddy was different. Buddy was an
inside dog. And Buddy knew this too as he looked around to figure out where he
was going to sleep as soon as he could eat as much food as this little girl
would give him. Her mother looked down at Buddy and smiled. She too was used to
seeing only Huskies and rarely saw a cute little dog like Buddy. She said,
“Well dear, we can keep him for now, but we’ll have to see what your father
says when he comes in.” And with that, she gave Buddy a nice dish of meat which
he gobbled down as quickly as any Husky would have done. With his belly full,
Buddy walked over to the couch, jumped up on it, curled up and went to sleep.
Life was good.
Back in the
barn, Luna and the team were already up from a long night’s sleep. Old Jake had
given them all an extra ration of meat knowing they were going to be working
hard today. He took the dogs outside and let them play in the snow and stretch
their legs. He knew they needed a good warm up before the start of the race.
Shortly he harnessed them all up, except for Luna. He tucked Luna inside a
pouch on the sled. She was extremely unhappy, but went along with the whole
thing. At least she was on a sled team and going to race in the Iditarod! Old
Jake decided he’d be one dog short and was relaying on his experienced team of
dogs to work together even without Rusty as their lead dog. He knew they
wouldn’t disappoint him.
When they
reached the starting line, all the other teams looked at Old Jake and his
one-dog short team and just shook their heads in disbelief. “Suicide!” somebody
yelled. “You can’t race like that Jake” said one of the other contestants.
“Jake, you’ll never keep up without Rusty”. You have no lead dog! You got no
dog to set the pace to keep the other dogs in line.” He pleaded. Old Jake just
looked at them all and smiled. “My team knows what to do” he said confidently,
making sure Luna was quiet and out of site.
Luna was
trying to get out of the pouch about this time. She didn’t want to miss all the
excitement of the start and well, she couldn’t see a darn thing in the pouch,
although she could hear all the commotion going on. Before any knew it, the gun
went off and the race was on. Luna felt the sled leap forward and they were
moving across the snow as a feverish pace. Old Jake let her peek out of the
pouch now since they were a ways from the crowd. Luna could see several sled
teams ahead of them and a few behind them. Her team was doing a good job
keeping up even without Rusty and even without her. This wasn’t the way Luna
planned to participate in the Iditarod, but at least she was on the team.
Two days
into the race, Luna could begin to see her team growing weary. Without Rusty to
lead them, they didn’t always pull together, which made them spend more energy
to stay together to shoulder the weight of the sled. She wanted to do
something, but what? What could she do? The next morning Luna woke up before
everyone else. She was able to work the lead harness loose from where Old Jake
had tied it between the two lead dogs. Luna laid it all out and then strapped
herself in. She was ready! She was going to be the lead dog today or else!
When Old
Jake and the dogs woke up, they found her standing there in the harness looking
at them. The dogs were too tired to laugh, but they managed a few muffled
chuckles. Old Jake started to complain to Luna about what a bad idea this was
and how it wouldn’t work, but Luna just glared at him and he knew she meant
business. And that was that! Old Jake fed all the dogs and Luna too and then
harnessed the team and they were off. Luna pulled with all her might and began
to realize how hard this work really was. Then it hit her: “I’m in the
Iditarod! I’m running in the Iditarod and I’m the lead dog! I’m leading my
team! And with that, she pulled even harder and began to measure out her steps
in a way that seemed to give her more leverage while hitting a rhythm. The
other dogs on the team could feel no difference in the load they’d been
pulling. It felt exactly the same for the first few miles. But, then something
began to happen….
Somewhere
around mile three of day three, everything began to click. The whole dog team
suddenly felt the difference. They were all pulling together. They were all in
step and running across the snow as a single dog. They were a team! And there
was little Luna out front leading them and thinking she was pulling her weight.
Actually she was pulling her weight in a manner of speaking. She was so small
that all the other dogs had to focus to see her. And as they did, this act of
focusing caused them to become the one dog that pulled the sled. They were a
proud team pulling the sled across the snow all day. They felt like they could
keep up this pace all day and all night if they had to.
Before the
day ended, Luna’s team passed one of the other sled teams. They came over a
small ridge and there about halfway across the little valley, was another team.
As they came down the slope into the valley, they picked up speed until they
were running faster than they thought was possible. It didn’t take long for
them to pull up to the other team. And when they did, all the dogs and the
musher stared in disbelief at the little white poodle running in the lead dog
position. They were stunned. They could hardly believe what they were seeing. This
was the Iditarod! This wasn’t some sissy race for sissy dogs, but there she was
out front leading her team right past them! A poodle! A little white toy poodle!
When the
team bedded down for the night, all the huskies gathered around Luna. One of
the huskies said, “Thank Luna. We’re not sure what you did, but today’s run was
the best day we’ve had in the race. Somehow you knew just how fast we should be
running and you were right because we could have run all day and night at that
pace. Anyway, you’re one of us now.” Luna just looked back at all of them from
her curled up ball. “I just wanted to be in the race today and it was so much
fun to be part of the team. I know that tomorrow we’re going to have another
great day. Thanks for letting me be on your team”, she said. And with that,
Luna curled up even tighter and went to sleep. She wasn’t even that hungry. The
rest of the dogs went back to the sled, ate their dinners and went to bed. They
were all dreaming that maybe, just maybe, they could win this race.
The next
several days were very tough for Luna and all the dogs. Each day they seemed to
improve on their pace, improve on their stride, and they were all growing
closer as a team. It was hard work and Luna soon learned she needed to eat as
much food as her little stomach could hold. She needed all the fuel she could
hold to keep her going and to keep her warm. No matter how much food the dogs
ate, they could tell they were all getting thinner and thinner. It was a hard
race and pulling a sled all day everyday was not easy. Still, they were gaining
ground. In the past three days, they had passed two other teams. It was always
the same scene: as they would pull up alongside the other team, the musher and
the dogs would look over in disbelief when they saw Luna the white poodle in
the lead dog position. The dogs would whine and yelp with shame as Luna and her
team passed them by and left them in the snow dust so to speak.
When they
pulled into camp that night, Old Jake gave all the dogs a little extra ration.
In fact, it was almost all the food that was left. He petted each dog and told
them all, “We only got enough food left for breakfast tomorrow, but that’s okay
because tomorrow, we’re crossing the finish line in Nome.” Old Jake just sat
there for a while looking at his dogs and studying Luna. “What the hell goes on
in that little dog’s mind that makes her think she’s a Husky?” he thought.
“Well, tomorrow girl you’ll get to finish your first Iditarod, so I guess we’d
better get some sleep.” And with that Old Jake snuggled into his sleeping bag
and went to sleep.
In the
morning everyone was up a little early. Old Jake seemed to be a little anxious,
a little different. He was always calm and jovial. He was simply someone that
enjoyed life and loved being alive. He was very careful to make sure each dog
received a generous portion of food and a little extra attention today. He was
so proud of them to have worked so hard and come so far. Heck, just finishing
the Iditarod was an achievement. Old Jake wanted to win the race, but he knew
in the grand scheme of things, that finishing the race was the most important.
He figured he’d run about twenty five Iditarods and this might be his last one.
He was getting on in years and well, somewhere in his heart he thought he might
have won at least one race.
He harnessed
up the team and made sure Luna was strapped in out front. At this point in the
race, everyone accepted Luna as the lead dog. She was so small, but somehow,
she seemed to be the center of attention, nobody wanted to fight with her, and
well, they all felt pretty good about the fight they were putting up. They knew
that today they had to catch the two teams in front of them if they were going
to win. They knew it would be a hard day. It would be a day to remember.
“Mush!”
yelled Old Jake and they were off. Right out of the gate Luna was pulling like
there was no tomorrow. (There was no tomorrow because today the race would be
over. It would be won or lost today!) The other dogs pulled for all they were
worth and the sled flew over the snow, over hill after hill and across great
stretches of open flat lands. About three hours into the day, they caught sight
of the next team just starting up the rise in the distance. This sight made
them all pull harder. Luna knew she had to dig down deep and step up the pace,
which she did as best she could.
By the time
they crested the next hill, they could see the other team about four hundred
yards ahead of them. Down they went on the other side. Luna was running out of
her own footsteps and the Huskies were pulling with everything they had to give
to the effort. Before they hit the next rise, we were neck and neck with them.
When the dogs looked over and saw Luna, they began to yelp as they ran. They
couldn’t believe what they were seeing, a poodle! There was a little white
poodle leading the team that was passing them! For a couple of hundred yards
they struggled and then they had no more to give as they watched Luna and her
team pull ahead of them.
Luna was
running so hard she didn’t even realize they had passed the other team. “This
Iditarod thing is a lot harder than I thought,” Luna thought as she was panting
and pulling and running for her life. They were in third place. There were only
two teams in front of them and it wasn’t even noon yet! They had a good six hours of running left
before the end of the race and Luna knew she had to pull with everything she
had for them to have a chance. Hope springs eternal in a little poodle’s heart.
Just then they topped another ridge and saw the big valley below. And there in
front of them were the other two teams. Right there in front of them and not
that far away. They were battling it out for first place.
This was all
the encouragement the team needed. Old Jake was mushing them for all he was
worth. It felt like they were flying over the snow barely touching it. The wind
was blowing in their faces and none of them were even thinking about being
tired now. They were pulling like a single dog, pulling together’ locked in a
battle with one solitary purpose: to win! And that’s when it happened: As they
came around the corner of a snowdrift, they could see the flags and banners of
the finish line about a half a mile away. They could also see the other two
teams were halfway there. None of the Huskies were willing to give up and
neither was Luna as they tried to run even faster. Little by little they were
closing the gap on the other two teams, but it wasn’t enough.
Both teams
crossed the finish line within five seconds of each other. Luna, the Huskies,
and Old Jake crossed it about two minutes later. They ran about two hundred
yards passed the finish line and then all of them collapsed in the snow,
panting and licking the air, and then panting some more. Luna was heartbroken.
As she was catching her breath she couldn’t hold back her tears of failure, of
the terrible thought that they didn’t win. “I just knew we were going to win.”
She said to herself. “We had to win. We should have won, but we lost.” Luna was
inconsolable as she looked around at her teammates. They had all got their
breath back and were laying quietly in the snow. All of a sudden, Old Jake
started laughing and whooping and petting the Huskies and telling them how
proud he was of them and how much he loved them and what a great job they did
in the race.
Then he
unharnessed the Huskies and unharnessed Luna as well. Old Jake bent down and
picked Luna up and hugged her and said, “Roxie, you are quite a dog! I’m so
proud of you for the way you lead this team and for being so strong and
determined.” Luna was stunned and without words. “Roxie? Who’s Roxie? I’m
Luna!” she barked. Old Jake never knew her name and well Luna never told him,
so he named her Roxie. “Wait a minute” Luna said. “Why are you so happy that we
lost?”
Old Jake
said, “Honey, the best we’ve ever done in this race is fourth place and that’s
with Rusty in the lead.” Luna just
nuzzled into Old Jake’s arms and began to understand his joy. The meaning of
the accomplishment, pulling the sled day after day and still getting third
place began to change Luna’s mind. “I finished the Iditarod! I didn’t win, but
I finished and third place to boot!” She looked over at the Huskies and they
were all looking at her. “We did it! We did it!” she yelled as loud as she
could. All the dogs started barking and yelping in celebration. They all
understood they were winners. They finished what they had started and had won third
place. They were very happy and Luna was very happy as well.
By the time
all the other teams arrived and then the celebrations and awards and
picture-taking and interviews and eating lots of foods was over, Luna realized
she was very tired. “Buddy”! The thought hit her like a lightning bolt. “Where
is Buddy? What happened? I thought he was following me. Where is he?” Luna
remembered back to when they were sitting there on the street and she spied the
Husky team laying in the snow and then she remembered: “Buddy said he was going
inside, but inside where? I have to find him first thing when I get back to
Anchorage.” With that thought Luna settled down with the team, enjoyed the
celebration and festive mood that surrounded her. This gave her some time to
reflect on everything that happened to her in Alaska. She’d come here hoping to
run in the Iditarod and she did! She wanted to be the lead dog and she was! She
wanted to win, but she didn’t! But she did get third place and after all, for a
seven pound white toy poodle, this was quite an accomplishment and she knew
this to be true. Her dream had, in fact, become real. With that Luna curled up
in a little ball and went to sleep. Her last thought was, “Next y ear.”
There was so
much excitement going on outside, Buddy was curious to see what was going on.
Normally, Buddy liked to stay inside by the fire and more importantly, by the
kitchen so he could keep an eye on everyone’s coming and going, especially when
they opened the refrigerator. This always gave Buddy a small window of
opportunity to get some food. Maybe not very much food, but a mouthful here and
a mouthful there, and pretty soon, it was a meal. Besides, there was little
else to do except eat and sleep. But today, the little girl and boy were running
in and out as if expecting something to happen. The doc seemed a little excited
today.. He knew Old Jake would be coming soon to pick up Rusty, who had healed
up very nicely, and besides, he had already heard the news of the race and he
wanted to get a look at this little poodle everyone was talking about.
Also, by
this time, the doc had put two and two together and somehow understood that his
new little house guest was somehow related to this miracle toy poodle that had
almost won the Iditarod almost by herself it seems. At first he wondered where
this little Yorkipoo had come from. You don’t see many of these kinds of dogs
up here in the Yukon, not to mention little white toy poodles. But now, it was
all coming clear to the old doc. He’d wait for Old Jake to come back to town to
pick up Rusty and then he’d get his chance to meet this poodle and also to see
how these two little critters were related.
Well, it
wasn’t much longer at all, when all the excitement came to a head. Four of the
eight teams were from Anchorage and so they all showed up together to a hero’s
welcome, even Old Jake and his team. They came driving up like they were still
runnin the Iditarod and darned if there wasn’t the cutest little white toy
poodle pullin in the lead position. And there was Old Jake as proud as a
peacock mushin them right up to the clinic like he was giving everyone a taste
of what it was like in the race. The little poodle seemed completely at home in
the lead position and all the Huskies seemed like it was okay.
The kids
opened the front door and ran out to meet Old Jake and his team and when they
did, Buddy bolted for the door and ran out with them. They ran right up to the
sled and Buddy stopped short. He wasn’t afraid or anything, but there was a lot
of big old Huskies panting in a pile right in front of him and well, he was
going to be cautious and very polite. That was his plan until he saw Luna and
just ran up to her and started licking her. They were both licking each other
and sniffing each other’s butt a little bit, when Luna said, “Buddy! I was so
worried about you and we almost won and I got to pull the sled and race in the
Iditarod!” Luna was jumping up and down and so was Buddy, although he wasn’t
sure why. “Where did you go?” she said finally stopping all her jumping and
panting. “I went inside that house and a little girl gave me a cookie, so I
decide to stay.” Buddy said with a certain amount of pride.
Old Jake and
the doc talked for a while and then went inside. They quickly returned with
Rusty, who looked like a million dollars. He was completely healed and bolted
toward the other Huskies. They all rolled around in the snow and yelped and
played for a while and then they all quieted down. It seemed like they talked
among themselves for a bit and then Rusty glanced over at Buddy and Luna. Then
he trotted over to where they were sitting and thanked Luna for filling in for
him while he was hurt. He even bent down and licked Luna right on the face,
right in front of Buddy and Buddy didn’t mind a bit. He was very proud of Luna,
but he rarely liked to show it. This was different because Buddy and Luna had
never been apart for so long before and also because Buddy knew that Luna’s
dream came true and he was happy for her. This was her moment.
The doc was
talking to Old Jake and then they both looked over at Buddy and Luna and doc
was nodding in a way that confirmed his suspicions. Buddy and Luna were meant
to be together. They both came over and petted all the Huskies and then petted
Buddy and Luna marveling at what he had heard about Luna pulling the sled and
sleeping in the snow and bunking with a whole pack of Huskies. It was very hard
to believe it all, but there she was.
Just then,
Luna heard something and sat straight up on the couch. It was Buddy and he was
barking at something. She was confused for a moment and didn’t remember being
on the couch and then she did. Everything seemed so strange now. She was back
home with Buddy on the couch and the fire was still burning and it was
suppertime. “How did I get home?” she thought. “We were just in Alaska and I
ran in the Iditarod and where’s the Huskies and Old Jake?” Buddy just looked at
her and asked, “Are you going to eat your dinner?” noticing that their supper
was on the floor. Luna hopped off the couch and walked over to her supper dish
thinking about next year. “it was good to be home” she thought.