Paige and Cody put their science hats back on for a day... but not to do squid or archaeological research.
Along with Paige's run in the Yukon Quest 300, our dogs are part of an experiment to see how the stresses of racing affect the physiology of sled dogs. Dr. Sarah Love ,a collaborator on the study, came out Friday to collect urine and blood samples from the 12 athletes that will be competing in this years race. Samples will then be collected again right after the race is completed to see how the body chemistry has changed under such adverse conditions.
Cody is collecting urine from Okie with the pee ladle.a very precise scientific collection tool. :) . nice stream Okie! This was a challenging job.. maybe harder than Doctor Love's job of finding the jugular vein to collect blood. :)
Okay, maybe drawing blood is more difficult. Lupine is getting her blood drawn above, while Paige whispers sweet nothings in her ear.
Dr. Love organizes all the samples and seperates the blood samples using a centrifuge on our kitchen table. The purpose of this study and others on sled dog athletes is to understand their physiology under stress and hopefully to learn how to lessen health problems that can occur during strenous activity such as long distance racing. We will post more on these studies as we learn more.
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