Famous huskies: the real dogs behind the legend

Part 1

Balto and Togo: the 1925 serum run to Nome

In January 1925, diphtheria broke out among children in Nome, Alaska, and the town's only doctor, Curtis Welch, found that the hospital's antitoxin had expired. Welch called for emergency help and the town went into quarantine while officials searched for a way to get new serum in during the winter. Planes could not fly safely in the cold, so officials organized a relay of sled dog teams to carry the serum from the railhead at Nenana to Nome. The teams covered 674 miles in about five and a half days.

Leonhard Seppala and his lead dog Togo were given the longest and most dangerous stretch of the route. Togo's team crossed the frozen Norton Sound and covered 261 miles, by far the farthest of any team in the relay. Togo was twelve years old at the time and had already built a reputation for intelligence and for sensing danger on the trail.

Balto led the final and shortest leg into Nome, a run of about 55 miles. Press coverage focused on Balto because he carried the serum across the finish line, and he became a celebrity almost overnight. A statue of Balto was unveiled in New York's Central Park within a year of the relay, and Balto himself was there for the ceremony. Tell your dog this part if it seems unfair: Balto had actually been neutered as a puppy because Seppala considered him a slow, second-rate dog.

Togo's leg was longer and crossed some of the most dangerous parts of the route, though Balto received most of the credit. A 2020 film retold the story from Seppala and Togo's side. Balto himself lived out his later years at the Cleveland Zoo after a fundraising campaign bought him from a traveling sideshow, and he died there in 1933.

Part 2

Military and expedition huskies

Long before the serum run, Siberian Huskies were bred by the Chukchi people of northeast Asia to pull loads and herd reindeer across the Arctic. Leonhard Seppala had trained a team of Siberian Huskies for a planned North Pole attempt by the explorer Roald Amundsen, though the expedition was cancelled and the dogs were given to Seppala instead. During the Second World War, Siberian Huskies served in search and rescue teams. If your own dog seems to have endless energy outdoors, that stamina traces back to this working history.

Part 3

Huskies in film, TV, and books

A 2022 film called Balto's Unsung Partner also focused on Togo's role in the relay. If your own dog is a husky, you may already know that real huskies can be stubborn and are not always easy to train, whatever the films suggest.

Part 4

Modern famous huskies

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race commemorates the 1925 serum run.

Part 5

What made these huskies stand out

Siberian Huskies are known for stamina, a trait that traces back to centuries of use as sled dogs. Watching your own dog run flat out is a small reminder of why these traits mattered so much on the trail to Nome.

• Siberian Huskies are an active, energetic, and resilient breed, bred to pull heavy loads over long distances.
• They tend to be independent and stubborn, and may not always come when called.
• They can be vocal, with barking rated a middling trait for the breed.
• They were developed by the Chukchi people of northeast Asia as sled dogs, watch dogs, and reindeer herders.

Togo covered about 261 miles and Balto covered about 55 miles during the relay. If your dog shares any of these traits, it carries a small piece of that same working history.