Schooby (pronounced “Shoo-bee”) is nine years old and has done every Iditarod since he was a yearling, musher Nicolas Petit said.
“Never had a problem,” Petit said of the dog, whom he referred to as, “the old man here.”
“He’s really a fantastic dog,” Petit said. “He’ll be in lead sometimes, and he’ll be in the team sometimes. I don’t know that he’ll make it to the end, but he’ll do good.”
Schooby is named after a friend of Petit’s in Girdwood, where Petit used to be based before moving his kennel to Big Lake.
As for Schooby’s personality, Petit said he “carries the world on his shoulders.”
“He’s responsible for everything, including Daddy,” Petit said, pointing to himself. “He’s a professional. He knows what we’re up to.”
Schooby is part of our “Dog of the Day” Iditarod series. Previously we met Paul, Ralph, Mussel, Junior and Meg.
Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Casey here.
