Nobody thought he would survive: Today, this Husky is training for the most prestigious sled dog race

Kailyn Davis adopted her dog Zeke six years ago from the Fairbanks Animal Shelter in Alaska.

By Emilie Heyl

Published on the 01/03/2022 18:00, Updated on the 03/05/2022 17:55

At the time, the Siberian Husky was suffering from an autoimmune disease and the vets did not think he would survive.

Zeke had to go through several treatments

The vets had tried several treatments, but unfortunately to no avail.

With the help of the Fairbanks Animal Shelter Fund, a non-profit organisation that provides veterinary care for pets in need, Kailyn was able to get a final treatment for Zeke.

Zeke went to the vet once a week for injections and took antibiotics. Slowly, he began to heal. Unfortunately, the itchy skin persisted. The beautiful and brave dog always wore a hoodie to cover his sores and boots on his hind legs to protect him.

When the itching got too bad, Kailyn would take him for a run.

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He got a taste for running

At first it was just short bike rides, but sometimes the runs were longer. Zeke’s owner noticed that every time her dog ran, he didn't suffer.

So Kailyn started to do longer and longer runs, and the more the dog ran, the more comfortable he became. Kailyn started training for sled dog races and each time Zeke would come and run on all the training runs with her.

I can't go this whole season and not mention the amazing story of my special lead dog, Zeke 😭 When I first adopted Zeke...
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Zeke is now a fully grown sled dog

In a few days, on Saturday 5 March, Kailyn and Zeke will lead the famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. This is an annual 1,757 km sled dog race in Alaska, between Anchorage and Nome mainly through the taiga.

Zeke is one of the main favourites for the race, and his owner is extremely proud of him, what an incredible journey!

Good luck Zeke!

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Emilie Heyl

Emilie Heyl is the UK country manager at Wamiz. She was born in Southampton and has studied communications and journalism in Paris. She has always loved dogs and cats and she knows she will have a dog one day, when the time is right. In the meantime she loves to take care of her colleague’s dogs and has been voted best pet-sitter at the office. She feels lucky to be able to write about pets all day and she never stops being amazed about these wonderful creatures.