Iditarod leader blows 14-mile lead as dog’s bathroom break pushes team past No. 2 in standings

A part of dog racing that often isn’t considered by outsiders to the sport is how you get a unit of sled dogs to work cohesively – especially when one of the canines has to relieve itself. All it can take is one mistake to ruin the chemistry of the dogs. Musher Nicolas Petit learned that the hard way at the Iditarod, and it resulted in him blowing a massive lead.

The race is in its last 200 miles and Petit was 14-miles ahead of the field. That lead looked insurmountable, but according to The Anchorage Daily News, GPS showed that the dogs stopped just 12 miles after the checkpoint in Shaktoolik. He was passed by Pete Kaiser and Joar Leifseth Ulsom.

Per KTUU, the reason that the dogs stopped is because one of the older ones attacked a younger one for going to the bathroom. When Petit, who rarely raises his voice at the dogs, yelled at the older one, all of the canines reacted poorly.

“Everybody heard daddy yelling,” Petit said, via KTUU. “Which doesn’t happen. And then they wouldn’t go anymore. Anywhere.

“They know where the cabin is. I’m really surprised that they didn’t just go to the cabin. They’re all fine, they all ate good, no orthopedic issue. Just a head thing.”

It’s rough for Petit, who was also leading out of Shaktoolik at last year’s Iditarod. That time around, Petit left the trail and lost time because of it. Unfortunately for him, he’ll have to spend another year shaking his fist at Shaktoolik.