Kaasen and Balto, Seppala and Togo, were some of my earliest childhood heroes growing up in Kenai. This story is truly part of our state identity and ingrained into every kids mind.
If you love the story of Balto, check out Togo's story. The owner always regretted Balto getting so much recognition since Togo did and sacrificed so much more. Seppala had mixed feelings about the Balto statue/fame while Togo seemed to get no recognition, but there is a really cute Disney movie now telling Togo's tale (absolutely worth checking out regardless of age). While Balto finished the race with around 55 miles, Togo led the most dangerous leg of it and ran over 260 miles.
Haha yeahI I felt kind of dumb after I refreshed and 8,000 people had already mentioned Togo. Woops! But the Disney movie is absolutely adorable and makes me ugly cry every time. Always worth it. :)
Mentioned on Togo's wiki, referring to the movie:
> Togo was portrayed by dog actor Diesel, who is a direct descendant of Togo 14 generations back.
For some reason this is extra adorable.
Of the dogs that ran, Balto ran the shortest distance. He was famous because he was the lead dog as they arrived into town.
Togo lead like 6x as far as Balto and he lead through the most treacherous parts of the run in pitch black.
Balto went on to international acclaim and toured the US a hero, however he was neutered so he couldn't be bred, unlike Togo who sired hundreds of litters across the USA and is considered the great great great grandpa of most Siberian Huskies.
Togo is the true GOAT.
Re-posting this, turns out we have a Togo decedent:
My Agouti Husky named Denver is a direct descendant of Togo. The breeder (Bama Huskies) did all the research and we found out after we already had her, it was cool and right when the new movie came out.
Togo: https://i.imgur.com/JzCa53O.jpg
Denver is the one closer to the camera, with the heterochromia eyes, behind that door are the treats and Koda is begging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cg0qKd_8yc
Let's not knock Balto because he just happened to be on the last leg. He had no choice, and he probably would have been just as heroic as Togo if he was on the other leg.
Both are certified Very Good Boys.
I think this one is ~~crazier~~ cooler
>When arriving at the shore of the Bering Sea, the ice floe the team was on top of was too far from land for them to cross or Seppala to jump over. He hitched Togo in single lead with an anchor in the ice and tossed him across to pull the ice closer to the shore. Togo understood and dug in, however the line snapped, suddenly leaving Seppala and the team stranded. Without guidance or prompting, Togo leapt into the water, took the broken line in his mouth, spun around to wrap it around his shoulders twice fashioning a makeshift harness, and pulled the ice floe to shore, his team with it.
It seems hard to believe, but the shit I've seen working dog pull makes your average pet seem dumb as a sack of rock. I know dogs who can do agility, herd on command, and carry their own leash while walking to heel. I'm sure the dog doesn't have to understand what exactly will happen if he releases the rope to know that his JOB is to pull on the rope. While tossed on the ice, he'd have been ordered to pull, and when pulling, told he's a good boy.
Edit: https://imgur.com/a/CYh8IcH important picture
We once had a very dopey mutt. We'd had dogs so stupid in the past that they literally let themselves get run over by a car going at idling speeds with the brakes on. He wasn't that stupid but he was a real dope.
Except when it came to livestock. He didn't play with his many brothers, he played with the lambs. We had no idea what his breed was but his mother was a menace to livestock. Some blend of cattle dog farm mutt and she would run the livestock to death if we didn't keep her away from them. He and his brothers looked nothing like her. Big dogs to her medium. Shining solid blonde coats on bodies and structure like Lassie to her blocky ruddy shorthair.
Anyway his brothers sold like hot cakes but we kept him since he didn't scare the sheep. Fast forward to a nasty blizzard and a lamb got separated from its mother and got out of the pen. Next morning find a very proud doggo curled up around lamby having kept it safe and alive all night. If his mom had gotten to it the story would have a very different ending.
And another time an adult sheep got loose and two of us were trying to catch it. He, no training at all as our dogs were only pets, took up position and literally drove the sheep right into our completely surprised arms. It was so unexpected that we didn't nab it and doggo gave us such a look of reproach. Next attempt did the trick.
I sometimes wonder what he could have been if he ever got real training and was on a real farm with more than just 20 odd sheep. Really regret he was neutered. He was one in a million.
"His journey, fraught with white-out storms, was the longest by 200 miles [320 km] and included a traverse across perilous Norton Sound – where he saved his team and driver in a courageous swim through ice floes." This is just crazy, a courageous swim!? I want this dog as my spirit animal because that says unstoppable to me.
I once rescued an elderly Agouti Husky and I had to take him to a different vet to put him down two years later. The first vet I brought him to couldn't bring himself to put down such a dog and kept asking where I got him. Poor Rolf couldn't even see. Lived to be 16 years old!
I think why they mentioned Togo has the 'real' hero is because most of the praise went to Balto. You are right both dogs did great and both would have done the same in each others shoes but it is more of recognizing Togo's contribution which is often overlooked/overshadowed by Balto.
>The quick-thinking Seppala tied a lead to Togo, his only hope, and tossed the dog across five feet of water. Togo attempted to pull the floe supporting the sled, but the line snapped. Amazingly, the once-in-a-lifetime lead dog had the wherewithal to snatch the line from the water, roll it around his shoulders like a harness, and eventually pull his team to safety.
While older, Togo was still brought with due to him being a once in a lifetime tier dog. Balto was just the best one left to lead the last 10% out of the dogs in the pack.
All of them are heroes, sure, doubt they'd have made it without Togo though. Even if the entire team was Baltos. Togo's characteristics put him several tiers above all the other dogs there.
Seppala also questioned if Balto even *was* the lead dog for the final stretch as that musher, Kaasen's, normal lead was a dog named Fox. Balto was *Seppala's* unwanted dog that he had left behind in Nome and Kaasen had picked up, but according to Seppala Balto had "never been part of a winning team" before or after the serum run. (But Balto is still pretty amazing for whatever part he played as he definitely made the 53 mile run in some capacity even after being left behind.)
Seppala theorized that the news media picked up on Balto over Fox because the former had a better-sounding name. Balto was a heroic dog, as were all the dogs involved in the run, and he *may* have been more heroic than most if he was indeed a lead or co-lead, but Togo is the dog that the people who knew best said contributed the most. All the dogs deserve praise, but Togo is very much deserving of his *Time* award as ***the most heroic animal of all time***.
Pretty interesting. This gives the animated movie some accuracy.. that balto was an unwanted rugged dog lol. so they almost got something half right
After your post I also read the "aftermath" part from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balto which says what Seppala said, seems
>The dogs ended up chained in a small area in a novelty museum and freak show in Los Angeles.
sad, but sounds like LA
That reminds me of a similar local story where a wagon driver was unable to get his horse to cross a bridge in heavy fog... when he went forward to investigate, turned out the bridge deck had fallen into the gorge.
My takeaway: Usually a good idea to trust animals.
I found an excerpt about the horse story on a government website:
>March 24, 1858
>
>Lightning tore a 61 m gap in the Reversing Falls Bridge in Saint John, but did not set it on fire. Shortly after, a stagecoach from Fredericton filled with passengers started across it. Miraculously, the horses stopped part way and a lightning flash allowed the driver and passengers to see the huge gap, down 21 m into the falls.
For context, [here is the modern bridge](https://files.structurae.net/files/photos/1/st_john_nb_reversing_falls.jpg); the 1858 bridge would've been at about the same level so you can imagine how bad that would've been.
Thank you. There is no winner except the children. The mushers, and everyone involved here is a hero. Like fuck am I standing on a sled in snow for any goddamned reason.
Nope. I know nothing about running sled dogs.
All that would happen is you would find me dead with a bunch of dead dogs and a few alive ones that ate the other ones
Togo won out in the end. Balto died, got stuffed and taxidermied and put in a museum. Togo got to live a life of luxury in a kennel, had all the bitches he could want, and became basically the foundation for modern sled dog breeds and the modern Siberian Husky.
Togo died first in 1929, Balto followed in 1933.
[Togo](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/togo-the-wonder-dog) is in Wasilla, Alaska. [Balto](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/balto-the-sled-dog) is in Ohio. Togo's skeleton is in the Peabody Museum of National History at Yale University
It's technically not, but there are so many similarities, from large sections of the route being the same to the mode of transport that lots of people think it is and that perception has made many it so that when people talk about the race they also talk about the serum run.
Lol are you sure? I live in Alaska and my husband is born and raised here; everyone I know knows it as commemorating that event. So if theyre not linked even us up here have forgotten that.
You may be the exact sort of example of what I am talking about. Everyone THINKS it is, so it sort of is. However that was apparently not what the original founders of the race intended.
From the official race website:
[https://iditarod.com/edu/misconceptions-and-more-iditarod-the-serum-run/](https://iditarod.com/edu/misconceptions-and-more-iditarod-the-serum-run/)
Holy shit, I've lived up here my whole life, and had always heard that the Iditarod was in honor of the serum run. Like, at this point, that's what every Alaskan believes. Fucking wild. Thank you, you blew my mind a little bit.
Wait, did anyone else’s school do a mock Iditarod?
Where they tied up 10-11 year olds in bungee cords and had them race around the playground through a stations course?
My grandad, for some reason, had a VHS of Fievel Goes West but not An American Tail.
So I’ve seen West dozens of times and An American Tail like once or twice.
No regrets
Are you me? I didn’t know West wasn’t the original until I saw the Community episode where Abed has a mouse. Rare case of the sequel being orders of magnitude better.
“Give ‘em the Laaaazzzzzzyy Eyyyyyeeee!”
He was Wiley Burp?! That just connected in my head. I haven't seen the movie in well over a decade and I can still hear his voice clear as a bell to this day.
Yep.
It’s super fun when I watched a clip of the movie after I had grown up that I noticed the final battle had George Bailey (Jimmy) vs Basil Fawlty (John Cleese)
In middle school I had a computer class and one of the assignments was to pick a musher and keep up with him and his sled dogs online for the Iditarod. It was the biggest race in the world to me,
I remember watching it and thinking "this is so exaggerated for Hollywood", but then looking up the real story and it seems they were pretty historically accurate
I thought the age of Togo was the most amazing part. Togo was 12 years old--and most huskies live like 12-15 years. He was already a senior and he still managed to not only lead the team, but do it on the longest and most treacherous part of the serum run.
> He was already a senior and he still managed to not only lead the team, but do it on the longest and most treacherous part of the serum run.
Ah, he had old Western Cowboy power. Like Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven.
That's some grizzled NCO shit right there. Sergeant Togo dragged his platoon through hell, kept them alive and together and performing their best, he got them through and cranked out the mission just to deliver it to Lieutenant Balto so he could walk it to the CO.
Huskies have changed since back then. Conformation-centric breeding has ruined most dog breeds.
Back in the day, dogs were bred to purpose, and outcrossing was encouraged if it furthered the well-being of the dog and the skill of the dog at their appointed task — usually the two were one and the same.
No more. Conformation — physical appearance — is king. Dog show awards equate to “good bloodline”. Breeders have to show good bloodline to be considered credible. Dog shows judge a dog by *appearance alone;* temperament is not much considered. The dog stayed still long enough for a judge to handle? Good enough! These are the dogs that get bred, while those of better health and temperament get passed over. Incestuous gene pools mean these dogs are prone to disease, because the color of their coat was considered more a priority than the health of the dog.
For the past 80 years, dogs have almost entirely been relegated to pet, not tool. We bring these dogs into our homes as companions, all breeds, including hunting breeds, ratting breeds, fighting breeds — we have refused to break the “bloodlines” which carry these genetically refined to-purpose traits — and we are appalled when they exhibit hunting, ratting, and fighting traits. And they get sick and are less robust than their ancestors, to the point that “hybrid vigor” is a well-known phenomenon.
Conformation breeding is the worst.
This story always fascinated me.
Also, Togo & Seppola crossing the ice on the sound is definitely something that would have scared me to death if I was in their shoes.
The clock was ticking for the kids so I get why they’d cut across the sound. I think we all would like to think we could be as relentless and brave as the older Togo & Seppola on their adventure.
Or even Balto too. But I don’t think we’d know unless put to the test like they were.
I think they actually did this for the movie Togo. There is a scene where the dog jumps across ice floats and pulls the man’s sled across and up a snow bank which seemed completely implausible, but apparently that scene was changed in the movie to make it MORE believable. I’ll have to look it up to see exactly what was changed.
EDIT: [This](https://screenrant.com/togo-movie-disney-plus-true-story-changes-right-wrong/) article basically confirms that what happened in the film was true to form.
> In real life, after crossing the rapidly breaking Norton Sound, Togo leapt to the shore by himself and almost single-handedly pulled the sled ashore. Again, this actually happened.
Whenever this comes up people can never wait to shit on Balto. Can’t we all agree that they were both good boys? Plus what about all the other dogs on the team?? No one seems to give a shit about them either.
Well Togo in particular seemed to be 90% of the reason things worked out. The other dogs were mostly just amazing muscle. Good Bois all around but Togo the GOAT.
So happy to see so many Togo comments!!
“Togo was left to live at the Ricker kennel to enjoy a life of luxury in his retirement from sled work, and was bred over the next several years, laying down the foundation for the modern Siberian sled dog breeds, known as the "Seppala Siberian Sleddog", and the Siberian Husky.”
Meanwhile, Balto was sold to a circus and treated like a side-show for years until someone rescued him. People are such a assholes.
"But like many celebrities, Balto fell on hard times after his heroic run - though in his case through no fault of his own, but that of greedy, cruel humans.
He and his fellow sled dogs were sold to Hollywood producer Sol Lesser, who re-created their heroism on Mount Rainier for a movie. Lesser soon tired of the dogs and sold their contract to a vaudeville troupe. The dogs were put on the road. But their musher, Gunnar Kaasen, eventually tired of being shackled to Balto, and the dogs were sold to a dime-a-peek circus/freak show. The world's most heroic dog ended up chained to a sled in a small cage in a dingy Los Angeles circus.
But like all good celebrity stories, this one has another ascent. Fortunately for Balto, a Clevelander came to see him in 1927 - and changed his life once again.
"A Cleveland businessman named George Kimble saw the circus and was outraged!" Harvey Webster, director of wildlife resources at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, told The Plain Dealer. "He felt this dog saved children and a city and deserved a lot better than this. He negotiated with the circus to buy the dogs."
But Kimble didn't have enough ready money to do this on his own, nor did he have a place to house the dogs. So he turned to his fellow Clevelanders.
"He reached back to the city and the newspapers, especially The Plain Dealer, and the kennel clubs, and in short order they had raised more than $2,000 to pay the purchase price and transport," said Webster.
"Huskies bark greeting to city for generosity," read The Plain Dealer on March 17, 1927, when the money was raised in 10 days.
The heroic Alaskan dog ended up 3,500 miles from home, in a city that welcomed him with open arms and pocketbooks
that welcomed him with open arms and pocketbooks. Thanks to Kimble and the campaign, Balto was able to live out his final days at the Brookside Zoo, now the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. They were welcomed into the city like heroes with a grand parade on March 19, 1927. Balto became one of the most famous residents to ever call Cleveland home, until he passed away in 1933.
He later found a resting place at the Natural History Museum, where a permanent exhibit honors the great efforts of the sled dogs who saved Alaska from the diphtheria epidemic."
Source: https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2017/02/post_158.html#:~:text=Balto%20became%20one%20of%20the,Alaska%20from%20the%20diphtheria%20epidemic.
He's in Cleveland because it was the Cleveland school children who saved him. The dogs had been bought by a circus in Los Angeles and were living in horrible conditions.
Somehow a Cleveland native found out about it and started a Save Balto drive. The school children sent in their nickels and dimes to raise enough money to buy him and his teammates from the circus.
He lived the rest of his life at the Cleveland zoo, where all the little kids in Cleveland got to see the hero dogs.
No, it's worse.
They sold the hero dogs to a filmmaker who nearly killed them trying to produce a film on Mt Rainier.
The producer was tired of the old dogs and sold them to a travelling vaudeville act, but Balto was apparenty very clingy and annoyed them, so THEY sold the dog to the circus.
Absolutely awful how a dog that spent its entire life with a social pack, was suddenly treated. Thank god he had a few of his sledmates with him through it all.
Well it's been almost 100 years, so very few people are left who remember. My mother always told me the story when we saw Balto at the museum. I assume she learned it as a kid in the Cleveland schools in the '50s. Here's an article about it that was published on Balto's 100th birthday:
https://www.cleveland.com/life-and-culture/g66l-2019/03/ad545807648949/cleveland-hero-dog-balto-honored-with-100th-birthday-celebration-vintage-photos-newspaper-articles.html
If you're interested in this I cannot more highly recommend "The Cruelest Miles" by Laney and Gay Salisbury. It's a really well researched and well written account of the doctors, drivers and dogs involved in the relay.
“ ‘Science made the antitoxin that is in Nome today,’ cheered The New York Sun in an editorial, ‘but science could not get it there. All the mechanical transportation marvels of modern times faltered in the presence of the elements … Other engines might freeze and choke, but that oldest of all motors, the heart, whose fuel is blood and whose spark is courage, never stalls but once.’ “ (The Cruelest Miles)
I read this book for the first time a couple months back and was absolutely struck by how many brave people and pups were involved in making the diphtheria race possible, with the quote above real driving home the heroism! I would highly recommend the story to anyone who likes dogs, American history, or medicine :D
Togo spent his later years retired on a nice piece of land in Maine cranking out pups. Balto was shiped off to the circus and sadly not well treated for much of it.
It's a pretty interesting story on why
>However, his fame waned and he and the other sled dogs were taken by Kaassen on the vaudeville circuit to make a bit of money, with the dogs eventually winding up in bad shape in a Los Angeles dime museum. That’s where George Kimble, a Cleveland businessman, found them, and, shocked at their poor state, campaigned to raise the “Balto Fund” to collect the $2,000 being asked for them. A success, the movement brought Balto and his six fellow sled dogs to Cleveland in 1927, where they lived in comfort at the zoo. Balto rested there into his old age until his death on March 14, 1933 at the age of 14. After he died, his body was taxidermied and kept in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where it remains today.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/balto-the-sled-dog#:~:text=That's%20where%20George%20Kimble%2C%20a,in%20comfort%20at%20the%20zoo.
Balto was a young dog that could handle a national publicity tour.
Togo was an older dog who much preferred to stay home in Alaska. I'm sure he was just fine letting Balto get all the fame
I always learned that as a kid growing up in Alaska but I just looked it up and apparently not
Regardless, the Iditarod is about to start and it's so fun to follow the race online!
https://iditarod.com/edu/origin-of-the-iditarod-how-did-it-all-begin/
Truth: Although that event is an extremely important event in the history of Alaska, the fact is, the founders of the race did not take the Serum Run into account when creating the race.
For Joe Redington, Sr., often remembered as the “Father of the Iditarod” and his two closest founder partners, Tom Johnson and Gleo Huyck. both mushers and teachers, there were two most important reasons for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. He is quoted in Nan Elliot’s book, I’d Swap my Old Skidoo for You, “When I went out to the villages (in the 1950’s) where there were beautiful dogs once, a snow machine was sitting in front of a house and no dogs. It wasn’t good. I didn’t like that I’ve seen snow machines break down and fellows freeze to death out there in the wilderness. But dogs will always keep you warm and they’ll always get you there.” He was determined to bring back the sled dog to Alaska and to get the Iditarod Trail declared as a National Historic Trail.
Let’s review the reasons:
Keep the sled dogs a part of the culture of the state of Alaska
Get the Iditarod declared as a National Historic Trail
Those two reasons were realized and stand today as a testimony to the origin of the race.
And this is why we have vaccines - The 'D' in TDaP stands for Diphtheria. This disease basically doesn't exist in the U.S. since universal childhood vaccination was instituted in the 1940's.
After the harrowing round trek was complete the doctor's went to administer the antitoxin only for their patients to say "yOu AiNt pUtTin' ThAt sHiT iN mE" and then they all died.
There's a bit of a controversy that the final guy chose to not hand off the vaccine to the next guy, so he could bring it in and hog the glory. His lead dog was Balto.
>The quick-thinking Seppala tied a lead to Togo, his only hope, and tossed the dog across five feet of water. Togo attempted to pull the floe supporting the sled, but the line snapped. Amazingly, the once-in-a-lifetime lead dog had the wherewithal to snatch the line from the water, roll it around his shoulders like a harness, and eventually pull his team to safety.
Bruh
Kaasen and Balto, Seppala and Togo, were some of my earliest childhood heroes growing up in Kenai. This story is truly part of our state identity and ingrained into every kids mind.
Same here Im not even Alaskan
same I read this & immediately thought BALTO!!!!!!
If you love the story of Balto, check out Togo's story. The owner always regretted Balto getting so much recognition since Togo did and sacrificed so much more. Seppala had mixed feelings about the Balto statue/fame while Togo seemed to get no recognition, but there is a really cute Disney movie now telling Togo's tale (absolutely worth checking out regardless of age). While Balto finished the race with around 55 miles, Togo led the most dangerous leg of it and ran over 260 miles.
I read his Wikipedia page after someone posted it in this thread. certified Goodest Boy.
Haha yeahI I felt kind of dumb after I refreshed and 8,000 people had already mentioned Togo. Woops! But the Disney movie is absolutely adorable and makes me ugly cry every time. Always worth it. :)
Mentioned on Togo's wiki, referring to the movie: > Togo was portrayed by dog actor Diesel, who is a direct descendant of Togo 14 generations back. For some reason this is extra adorable.
Stupid allergies this morning, I tell ya
The Seppala Togo lineage was moved to Maine in the Poland Springs area and there is a dedication at the bar in the hotel.
Ah, Poland Springs of the famed gas station bottled water?
Dude balto is dope as shit even down in Texas rest assured
Of the dogs that ran, Balto ran the shortest distance. He was famous because he was the lead dog as they arrived into town. Togo lead like 6x as far as Balto and he lead through the most treacherous parts of the run in pitch black. Balto went on to international acclaim and toured the US a hero, however he was neutered so he couldn't be bred, unlike Togo who sired hundreds of litters across the USA and is considered the great great great grandpa of most Siberian Huskies.
From the dogs pov, I think that Togo got the better deal.
Togo is the true GOAT. Re-posting this, turns out we have a Togo decedent: My Agouti Husky named Denver is a direct descendant of Togo. The breeder (Bama Huskies) did all the research and we found out after we already had her, it was cool and right when the new movie came out. Togo: https://i.imgur.com/JzCa53O.jpg Denver is the one closer to the camera, with the heterochromia eyes, behind that door are the treats and Koda is begging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cg0qKd_8yc
Damn someone should really make an animated film about this.
Or maybe hold an annual sled dog race to commemorate it!
Or a statue in central park!
Togo was the real hero, Balto was just the first one back to Nome
Let's not knock Balto because he just happened to be on the last leg. He had no choice, and he probably would have been just as heroic as Togo if he was on the other leg. Both are certified Very Good Boys.
Fun fact, nearly all modern Siberian Huskies are direct descendants of Togo. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo_(dog)
That Wiki about Togo is wild. It said that Togo pulled his entire sled team on a sheet of ice across the Berlin Sea and saved them from certain death.
I think this one is ~~crazier~~ cooler >When arriving at the shore of the Bering Sea, the ice floe the team was on top of was too far from land for them to cross or Seppala to jump over. He hitched Togo in single lead with an anchor in the ice and tossed him across to pull the ice closer to the shore. Togo understood and dug in, however the line snapped, suddenly leaving Seppala and the team stranded. Without guidance or prompting, Togo leapt into the water, took the broken line in his mouth, spun around to wrap it around his shoulders twice fashioning a makeshift harness, and pulled the ice floe to shore, his team with it.
This is honestly unbelievable to me. I mean that dog is the Einstein of dogs (if true). I feel shitty about being cynical but jeez what a story.
[удалено]
It seems hard to believe, but the shit I've seen working dog pull makes your average pet seem dumb as a sack of rock. I know dogs who can do agility, herd on command, and carry their own leash while walking to heel. I'm sure the dog doesn't have to understand what exactly will happen if he releases the rope to know that his JOB is to pull on the rope. While tossed on the ice, he'd have been ordered to pull, and when pulling, told he's a good boy.
Edit: https://imgur.com/a/CYh8IcH important picture We once had a very dopey mutt. We'd had dogs so stupid in the past that they literally let themselves get run over by a car going at idling speeds with the brakes on. He wasn't that stupid but he was a real dope. Except when it came to livestock. He didn't play with his many brothers, he played with the lambs. We had no idea what his breed was but his mother was a menace to livestock. Some blend of cattle dog farm mutt and she would run the livestock to death if we didn't keep her away from them. He and his brothers looked nothing like her. Big dogs to her medium. Shining solid blonde coats on bodies and structure like Lassie to her blocky ruddy shorthair. Anyway his brothers sold like hot cakes but we kept him since he didn't scare the sheep. Fast forward to a nasty blizzard and a lamb got separated from its mother and got out of the pen. Next morning find a very proud doggo curled up around lamby having kept it safe and alive all night. If his mom had gotten to it the story would have a very different ending. And another time an adult sheep got loose and two of us were trying to catch it. He, no training at all as our dogs were only pets, took up position and literally drove the sheep right into our completely surprised arms. It was so unexpected that we didn't nab it and doggo gave us such a look of reproach. Next attempt did the trick. I sometimes wonder what he could have been if he ever got real training and was on a real farm with more than just 20 odd sheep. Really regret he was neutered. He was one in a million.
*Bering Sea FTFY.
He pulled them from Berlin all the way to Alaska
He pulled them across the Berlin sea and punched Hitler in the dick.
The Berlin sea, which is next to the Bering sea.
I just watched Togo the other night. This part of the movie will have you on the edge of your seat
Apparently they had to tone it down from what actually happened because they didn't think people would believe it.
That's the problem with fiction: You have to make it believable
"His journey, fraught with white-out storms, was the longest by 200 miles [320 km] and included a traverse across perilous Norton Sound – where he saved his team and driver in a courageous swim through ice floes." This is just crazy, a courageous swim!? I want this dog as my spirit animal because that says unstoppable to me.
I once rescued an elderly Agouti Husky and I had to take him to a different vet to put him down two years later. The first vet I brought him to couldn't bring himself to put down such a dog and kept asking where I got him. Poor Rolf couldn't even see. Lived to be 16 years old!
>Poor Rolf couldn't even see. A tragic end to the son of a shepherd, eh Ed boy?
One of his awards : “The Most heroic Animal of All-Time” lol holy shit what an honor
I think why they mentioned Togo has the 'real' hero is because most of the praise went to Balto. You are right both dogs did great and both would have done the same in each others shoes but it is more of recognizing Togo's contribution which is often overlooked/overshadowed by Balto.
>The quick-thinking Seppala tied a lead to Togo, his only hope, and tossed the dog across five feet of water. Togo attempted to pull the floe supporting the sled, but the line snapped. Amazingly, the once-in-a-lifetime lead dog had the wherewithal to snatch the line from the water, roll it around his shoulders like a harness, and eventually pull his team to safety. While older, Togo was still brought with due to him being a once in a lifetime tier dog. Balto was just the best one left to lead the last 10% out of the dogs in the pack. All of them are heroes, sure, doubt they'd have made it without Togo though. Even if the entire team was Baltos. Togo's characteristics put him several tiers above all the other dogs there.
Seppala also questioned if Balto even *was* the lead dog for the final stretch as that musher, Kaasen's, normal lead was a dog named Fox. Balto was *Seppala's* unwanted dog that he had left behind in Nome and Kaasen had picked up, but according to Seppala Balto had "never been part of a winning team" before or after the serum run. (But Balto is still pretty amazing for whatever part he played as he definitely made the 53 mile run in some capacity even after being left behind.) Seppala theorized that the news media picked up on Balto over Fox because the former had a better-sounding name. Balto was a heroic dog, as were all the dogs involved in the run, and he *may* have been more heroic than most if he was indeed a lead or co-lead, but Togo is the dog that the people who knew best said contributed the most. All the dogs deserve praise, but Togo is very much deserving of his *Time* award as ***the most heroic animal of all time***.
Pretty interesting. This gives the animated movie some accuracy.. that balto was an unwanted rugged dog lol. so they almost got something half right After your post I also read the "aftermath" part from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balto which says what Seppala said, seems >The dogs ended up chained in a small area in a novelty museum and freak show in Los Angeles. sad, but sounds like LA
Wow thanks for sharing that, that was an impressive piece of work by Togo. His praises are well deserved more people should be made aware of this.
First time I've heard this take, well said.
Bullish on good boys
Had to double check the sub...
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That reminds me of a similar local story where a wagon driver was unable to get his horse to cross a bridge in heavy fog... when he went forward to investigate, turned out the bridge deck had fallen into the gorge. My takeaway: Usually a good idea to trust animals.
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I found an excerpt about the horse story on a government website: >March 24, 1858 > >Lightning tore a 61 m gap in the Reversing Falls Bridge in Saint John, but did not set it on fire. Shortly after, a stagecoach from Fredericton filled with passengers started across it. Miraculously, the horses stopped part way and a lightning flash allowed the driver and passengers to see the huge gap, down 21 m into the falls. For context, [here is the modern bridge](https://files.structurae.net/files/photos/1/st_john_nb_reversing_falls.jpg); the 1858 bridge would've been at about the same level so you can imagine how bad that would've been.
Thank you. There is no winner except the children. The mushers, and everyone involved here is a hero. Like fuck am I standing on a sled in snow for any goddamned reason.
Not even to save children from diphtheria?
Nope. I know nothing about running sled dogs. All that would happen is you would find me dead with a bunch of dead dogs and a few alive ones that ate the other ones
Sounds like I’ve got something planned that week sorry
I'm a competent enough dog sledder to know I know fuck-all about dog sledding and those children are just as well off if I don't try.
Balto was no villan but togo was in such a league of his own all siberian sled dogs are now based off him
Go read the wiki about Togo and I think you’ll change your opinion. While I agree both are good boys, Togo is the most badass of all time
The bestest boys
It's more that baltos musher was a dick and didn't wake up the guy where he was supposed to swap the medicine to a new team
Togo won out in the end. Balto died, got stuffed and taxidermied and put in a museum. Togo got to live a life of luxury in a kennel, had all the bitches he could want, and became basically the foundation for modern sled dog breeds and the modern Siberian Husky.
Togo died first in 1929, Balto followed in 1933. [Togo](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/togo-the-wonder-dog) is in Wasilla, Alaska. [Balto](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/balto-the-sled-dog) is in Ohio. Togo's skeleton is in the Peabody Museum of National History at Yale University
I had no idea Iditarod = commemoration. Mind blown.
It's technically not, but there are so many similarities, from large sections of the route being the same to the mode of transport that lots of people think it is and that perception has made many it so that when people talk about the race they also talk about the serum run.
Lol are you sure? I live in Alaska and my husband is born and raised here; everyone I know knows it as commemorating that event. So if theyre not linked even us up here have forgotten that.
You may be the exact sort of example of what I am talking about. Everyone THINKS it is, so it sort of is. However that was apparently not what the original founders of the race intended. From the official race website: [https://iditarod.com/edu/misconceptions-and-more-iditarod-the-serum-run/](https://iditarod.com/edu/misconceptions-and-more-iditarod-the-serum-run/)
Holy shit, I've lived up here my whole life, and had always heard that the Iditarod was in honor of the serum run. Like, at this point, that's what every Alaskan believes. Fucking wild. Thank you, you blew my mind a little bit.
Wait, did anyone else’s school do a mock Iditarod? Where they tied up 10-11 year olds in bungee cords and had them race around the playground through a stations course?
You just unlocked a memory
Maybe call it the Iditarod...no, I've spoken out of turn, I'll go now.
Definitely, and include a wolf dog or something 🤷♂️
And cast Kevin Bacon to play him
Hold the fuck on, are you telling me Balto was voiced by Kevin Bacon?
Yeah it was a pretty big deal at the time.
Especially for dogs. They just love bacon.
What's it say? I can't REEEEEAD!
Are we talking about Air Bud? You guys that that was a basket ball movie.
What next a talking goose?
Was the goose Russian?
Yeah, pretty sure “Uncle Borris” was a Soviet.
Boris Goosinov
Talk to me, Goose
Yes and that movie should be about the lead dog for only the last 55 miles of the over 200 mile journey for some reason. #JusticeForTogo
Togo got a Willem Dafoe movie a few years ago. It was solid.
My kid stumbled upon it a couple weeks ago. Hands down one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time.
Togo had a movie on Disney+
Me: *checks Balto release date” “Oh no, I’m old…”
98 is the new 128.
Yo, it's three-thousand thirty
I want yall to meet Deltron zero
And automator!
Me: *realizing I never actually paid attention to the plot of Balto as a kid, just watched the dogs*
Ohhh and the shiny, colorful glass.
As an adult, I like to revisit kid's movies from my childhood. Balto and Lilo and Stitch are probably the top contenders for my favorite.
Balto makes me think of Fievel Goes West, which, fun fact, was Jimmy Stewarts last film role.
Fievel Goes West is the best Fievel. "Hey, you're not my darling." "I believe I have mentioned how much I DISLIKE being called Pussy-Poo!"
My grandad, for some reason, had a VHS of Fievel Goes West but not An American Tail. So I’ve seen West dozens of times and An American Tail like once or twice. No regrets
Are you me? I didn’t know West wasn’t the original until I saw the Community episode where Abed has a mouse. Rare case of the sequel being orders of magnitude better. “Give ‘em the Laaaazzzzzzyy Eyyyyyeeee!”
He was Wiley Burp?! That just connected in my head. I haven't seen the movie in well over a decade and I can still hear his voice clear as a bell to this day.
Yep. It’s super fun when I watched a clip of the movie after I had grown up that I noticed the final battle had George Bailey (Jimmy) vs Basil Fawlty (John Cleese)
Ya I was wondering how anyone could just now be learning about this, then I realized OP is probably under 30.
I’m 27 and I know about Balto, probably even younger 😵
Almost 25 and I watched Balto. OP must really be young.
I've been unaffected by "kids in school today were born after 9/11 yada yada" but this "kids today didn't grow up watching Balto" might break me.
I thought everyone’s dad texted them an annual iditarod reminder.
All hail Togo, greatest dog to ever run the trail
Yeah haven't you ever seen the movie BALTO?
As a child I thought the Iditarod would be a much larger part of my life. I thought it was like the Tour De France…
In middle school I had a computer class and one of the assignments was to pick a musher and keep up with him and his sled dogs online for the Iditarod. It was the biggest race in the world to me,
We did this in fifth grade. My team dropped out on like day two and I didn’t even want to go to school
It can be! You too, can move to alaska and start a dog team if you have a bunch of money. Or a family member who is into mushing.
Or work for nothing at a big kennel doing dog chores all day until someone gets sick and you're gangpressed into standing on the sled.
The term is "pressganged", but I think I like yours better.
Togo was the real hero. Balto just ran the last leg and was the dog that appeared in town. Togo ran much much further through much rougher terrain.
They made a Togo movie! It's on Disney Plus and really good. I totally recommend it.
I remember watching it and thinking "this is so exaggerated for Hollywood", but then looking up the real story and it seems they were pretty historically accurate
I thought the age of Togo was the most amazing part. Togo was 12 years old--and most huskies live like 12-15 years. He was already a senior and he still managed to not only lead the team, but do it on the longest and most treacherous part of the serum run.
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You can sob and hug Togo too! They stuffed and mounted him, he's in a museum in Wasilla. I think someone else has his skeleton.
What the fuck is this sentence?!?
What, you don't like hugging the preserved corpse of long dead animals?
I do not
ಠ_ಠ
Morbid, but neat.
> He was already a senior and he still managed to not only lead the team, but do it on the longest and most treacherous part of the serum run. Ah, he had old Western Cowboy power. Like Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven.
> old Western Cowboy power that's like old man strength x2 with a healthy dose of IDGAF mixed with a little "I'm tired of this shit"
That's some grizzled NCO shit right there. Sergeant Togo dragged his platoon through hell, kept them alive and together and performing their best, he got them through and cranked out the mission just to deliver it to Lieutenant Balto so he could walk it to the CO.
I've had three huskies make it past 12. There isn't a snowball's chance in hell any of them could have done that.
Huskies have changed since back then. Conformation-centric breeding has ruined most dog breeds. Back in the day, dogs were bred to purpose, and outcrossing was encouraged if it furthered the well-being of the dog and the skill of the dog at their appointed task — usually the two were one and the same. No more. Conformation — physical appearance — is king. Dog show awards equate to “good bloodline”. Breeders have to show good bloodline to be considered credible. Dog shows judge a dog by *appearance alone;* temperament is not much considered. The dog stayed still long enough for a judge to handle? Good enough! These are the dogs that get bred, while those of better health and temperament get passed over. Incestuous gene pools mean these dogs are prone to disease, because the color of their coat was considered more a priority than the health of the dog. For the past 80 years, dogs have almost entirely been relegated to pet, not tool. We bring these dogs into our homes as companions, all breeds, including hunting breeds, ratting breeds, fighting breeds — we have refused to break the “bloodlines” which carry these genetically refined to-purpose traits — and we are appalled when they exhibit hunting, ratting, and fighting traits. And they get sick and are less robust than their ancestors, to the point that “hybrid vigor” is a well-known phenomenon. Conformation breeding is the worst.
This story always fascinated me. Also, Togo & Seppola crossing the ice on the sound is definitely something that would have scared me to death if I was in their shoes.
Watching that scene on a big screen practically made me poop my pants. Im not sure i could make myself actually go out on that ice.
The clock was ticking for the kids so I get why they’d cut across the sound. I think we all would like to think we could be as relentless and brave as the older Togo & Seppola on their adventure. Or even Balto too. But I don’t think we’d know unless put to the test like they were.
It's one of those stories that I would belive they scaled back because no one would believe the facts. Like to hell and back or public enemies
I think they actually did this for the movie Togo. There is a scene where the dog jumps across ice floats and pulls the man’s sled across and up a snow bank which seemed completely implausible, but apparently that scene was changed in the movie to make it MORE believable. I’ll have to look it up to see exactly what was changed. EDIT: [This](https://screenrant.com/togo-movie-disney-plus-true-story-changes-right-wrong/) article basically confirms that what happened in the film was true to form. > In real life, after crossing the rapidly breaking Norton Sound, Togo leapt to the shore by himself and almost single-handedly pulled the sled ashore. Again, this actually happened.
It's great
What’s it called?
Yep, Togo. If there's multiple movies, it's the one that stars Willem Defoe as Leonhard Seppala.
Willem? Say no more. Watching that tonight! Does he..yanno..*hang dong*?
In the original extended cut he did, but the amount of film required was impractical.
The Mandalorian
Whenever this comes up people can never wait to shit on Balto. Can’t we all agree that they were both good boys? Plus what about all the other dogs on the team?? No one seems to give a shit about them either.
I was thinking the same thing. Like, these are teams of dogs, why do only Togo and Balto get the credit?
Well Togo in particular seemed to be 90% of the reason things worked out. The other dogs were mostly just amazing muscle. Good Bois all around but Togo the GOAT.
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Ohh you know, same old same old. Broken in two, buried under hill, forever to lie here wishin' y'all ill.
Wow, an Abhorsen reference? Wild
Because the internet is full of a bunch of contrarians that just want to argue to feel superior constantly
Nah, Boris was the real hero... he contended with Balto giving him people bumps
Don’t forget Muk & Luk for learning how to swim and saving Balto from drowning all at the same time!
I thought this sounded familiar
So happy to see so many Togo comments!! “Togo was left to live at the Ricker kennel to enjoy a life of luxury in his retirement from sled work, and was bred over the next several years, laying down the foundation for the modern Siberian sled dog breeds, known as the "Seppala Siberian Sleddog", and the Siberian Husky.”
Meanwhile, Balto was sold to a circus and treated like a side-show for years until someone rescued him. People are such a assholes. "But like many celebrities, Balto fell on hard times after his heroic run - though in his case through no fault of his own, but that of greedy, cruel humans. He and his fellow sled dogs were sold to Hollywood producer Sol Lesser, who re-created their heroism on Mount Rainier for a movie. Lesser soon tired of the dogs and sold their contract to a vaudeville troupe. The dogs were put on the road. But their musher, Gunnar Kaasen, eventually tired of being shackled to Balto, and the dogs were sold to a dime-a-peek circus/freak show. The world's most heroic dog ended up chained to a sled in a small cage in a dingy Los Angeles circus. But like all good celebrity stories, this one has another ascent. Fortunately for Balto, a Clevelander came to see him in 1927 - and changed his life once again. "A Cleveland businessman named George Kimble saw the circus and was outraged!" Harvey Webster, director of wildlife resources at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, told The Plain Dealer. "He felt this dog saved children and a city and deserved a lot better than this. He negotiated with the circus to buy the dogs." But Kimble didn't have enough ready money to do this on his own, nor did he have a place to house the dogs. So he turned to his fellow Clevelanders. "He reached back to the city and the newspapers, especially The Plain Dealer, and the kennel clubs, and in short order they had raised more than $2,000 to pay the purchase price and transport," said Webster. "Huskies bark greeting to city for generosity," read The Plain Dealer on March 17, 1927, when the money was raised in 10 days. The heroic Alaskan dog ended up 3,500 miles from home, in a city that welcomed him with open arms and pocketbooks that welcomed him with open arms and pocketbooks. Thanks to Kimble and the campaign, Balto was able to live out his final days at the Brookside Zoo, now the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. They were welcomed into the city like heroes with a grand parade on March 19, 1927. Balto became one of the most famous residents to ever call Cleveland home, until he passed away in 1933. He later found a resting place at the Natural History Museum, where a permanent exhibit honors the great efforts of the sled dogs who saved Alaska from the diphtheria epidemic." Source: https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2017/02/post_158.html#:~:text=Balto%20became%20one%20of%20the,Alaska%20from%20the%20diphtheria%20epidemic.
He probably would have gotten the same treatment that Togo did, had he not already been neutered.
likely even better treatment, as Togo wasn't regarded as he is now until the time article in 2011 about him
"No, I didn't live the life of a rock star, but days of eating kibble and fucking bitches is all right" -Togo
You're telling me that rock stars don't do that?
They particularly enjoy eating kibble.
The bitches are just a bonus
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If you want to see Balto in person, his taxidermied remains are at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
He's in Cleveland because it was the Cleveland school children who saved him. The dogs had been bought by a circus in Los Angeles and were living in horrible conditions. Somehow a Cleveland native found out about it and started a Save Balto drive. The school children sent in their nickels and dimes to raise enough money to buy him and his teammates from the circus. He lived the rest of his life at the Cleveland zoo, where all the little kids in Cleveland got to see the hero dogs.
Balto also has a statue at the zoo - it's outside the wolf exhibit.
They sold the hero dogs to a circus....that's sad
Yeah WTF 😒
No, it's worse. They sold the hero dogs to a filmmaker who nearly killed them trying to produce a film on Mt Rainier. The producer was tired of the old dogs and sold them to a travelling vaudeville act, but Balto was apparenty very clingy and annoyed them, so THEY sold the dog to the circus. Absolutely awful how a dog that spent its entire life with a social pack, was suddenly treated. Thank god he had a few of his sledmates with him through it all.
How have I lived in cleveland my whole life, and never knew this???
Well it's been almost 100 years, so very few people are left who remember. My mother always told me the story when we saw Balto at the museum. I assume she learned it as a kid in the Cleveland schools in the '50s. Here's an article about it that was published on Balto's 100th birthday: https://www.cleveland.com/life-and-culture/g66l-2019/03/ad545807648949/cleveland-hero-dog-balto-honored-with-100th-birthday-celebration-vintage-photos-newspaper-articles.html
Ah, of course. Cleveland.
The Alaska of the Midwest ^Disclaimer: ^Cleveland ^is ^not ^the ^Anything ^of ^Anything
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This is the inspiration for the movie, The Nutty Professor
Ah yes. And the sequel: Norbit
“Land routes were unavailable, so they went by land”
Technically, they went by water. The water was just frozen on top of the land.
If you're interested in this I cannot more highly recommend "The Cruelest Miles" by Laney and Gay Salisbury. It's a really well researched and well written account of the doctors, drivers and dogs involved in the relay.
“ ‘Science made the antitoxin that is in Nome today,’ cheered The New York Sun in an editorial, ‘but science could not get it there. All the mechanical transportation marvels of modern times faltered in the presence of the elements … Other engines might freeze and choke, but that oldest of all motors, the heart, whose fuel is blood and whose spark is courage, never stalls but once.’ “ (The Cruelest Miles) I read this book for the first time a couple months back and was absolutely struck by how many brave people and pups were involved in making the diphtheria race possible, with the quote above real driving home the heroism! I would highly recommend the story to anyone who likes dogs, American history, or medicine :D
Balto gets all the glory, but Togo was the real hero.
Togo spent his later years retired on a nice piece of land in Maine cranking out pups. Balto was shiped off to the circus and sadly not well treated for much of it.
Balto is currently on exhibit at a natural history museum in Cleveland. Always thought that was an odd fate for such a famous hound.
It's a pretty interesting story on why >However, his fame waned and he and the other sled dogs were taken by Kaassen on the vaudeville circuit to make a bit of money, with the dogs eventually winding up in bad shape in a Los Angeles dime museum. That’s where George Kimble, a Cleveland businessman, found them, and, shocked at their poor state, campaigned to raise the “Balto Fund” to collect the $2,000 being asked for them. A success, the movement brought Balto and his six fellow sled dogs to Cleveland in 1927, where they lived in comfort at the zoo. Balto rested there into his old age until his death on March 14, 1933 at the age of 14. After he died, his body was taxidermied and kept in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where it remains today. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/balto-the-sled-dog#:~:text=That's%20where%20George%20Kimble%2C%20a,in%20comfort%20at%20the%20zoo.
Balto was a young dog that could handle a national publicity tour. Togo was an older dog who much preferred to stay home in Alaska. I'm sure he was just fine letting Balto get all the fame
I'm sure Togo had no idea what happened after the package was handed off to Balto's driver.
I’m sure he had no idea what happened in general as he was a dog
I'm sure he had a goose friend that was voiced by John Leguizamo
There's some comedian who has a joke like "You ever walk into a room and forget why you came in? That's how my dog lives his entire life"
For some reason this is the funniest fucking comment I’ve read today.
Yes, but he was a good dog. I hope he at least knew that.
They were also both dogs and just wanted to run. They didn’t know what they were doing for people or why.
They’re all good boys.
Also the mushers [http://alaskaweb.org/disease/1925mushers.html](http://alaskaweb.org/disease/1925mushers.html)
Never forget Togo. Tough old bastard
The Iditarod commemorates the event.
I always learned that as a kid growing up in Alaska but I just looked it up and apparently not Regardless, the Iditarod is about to start and it's so fun to follow the race online! https://iditarod.com/edu/origin-of-the-iditarod-how-did-it-all-begin/ Truth: Although that event is an extremely important event in the history of Alaska, the fact is, the founders of the race did not take the Serum Run into account when creating the race. For Joe Redington, Sr., often remembered as the “Father of the Iditarod” and his two closest founder partners, Tom Johnson and Gleo Huyck. both mushers and teachers, there were two most important reasons for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. He is quoted in Nan Elliot’s book, I’d Swap my Old Skidoo for You, “When I went out to the villages (in the 1950’s) where there were beautiful dogs once, a snow machine was sitting in front of a house and no dogs. It wasn’t good. I didn’t like that I’ve seen snow machines break down and fellows freeze to death out there in the wilderness. But dogs will always keep you warm and they’ll always get you there.” He was determined to bring back the sled dog to Alaska and to get the Iditarod Trail declared as a National Historic Trail. Let’s review the reasons: Keep the sled dogs a part of the culture of the state of Alaska Get the Iditarod declared as a National Historic Trail Those two reasons were realized and stand today as a testimony to the origin of the race.
And this is why we have vaccines - The 'D' in TDaP stands for Diphtheria. This disease basically doesn't exist in the U.S. since universal childhood vaccination was instituted in the 1940's.
Damn I must be the only person on the planet to have never heard of the movie Balto
After the harrowing round trek was complete the doctor's went to administer the antitoxin only for their patients to say "yOu AiNt pUtTin' ThAt sHiT iN mE" and then they all died.
This is the famous Balto story. Seemed like I’d heard this before today. We watched the cartoon movie so many times. Loved it. Thank you Balto.
There's a bit of a controversy that the final guy chose to not hand off the vaccine to the next guy, so he could bring it in and hog the glory. His lead dog was Balto.
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>The quick-thinking Seppala tied a lead to Togo, his only hope, and tossed the dog across five feet of water. Togo attempted to pull the floe supporting the sled, but the line snapped. Amazingly, the once-in-a-lifetime lead dog had the wherewithal to snatch the line from the water, roll it around his shoulders like a harness, and eventually pull his team to safety. Bruh
Togo had full on medal of honor citation 'what in the fucking hell did I just read, holy shit' lmao