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Team of Sled Dogs Drags Jeep Cherokee Out of the Snow in Alaska

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It’s Balto and the crew to the rescue!

Getting stuck in the snow and having to be dragged out by a tow truck is never fun. But do you know what would make the whole situation a little more tolerable, if not more interesting? Being dragged out of the snow by sled dogs instead.

That is exactly what happened to a group of tourists in Alaska when a team of sled dogs dragged their Jeep Cherokee out of the snow.

The tourists were admiring the Chena River near Pike’s Landing when they discovered that their Jeep vehicle had suddenly become stuck in the snow. Four feet of snow to be precise.

Luckily for the tourists, Neil Eklund, who participated in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in both 1981 and 1983, just happened to be in the same area with his son. Even more fortunate was the fact that the Eklunds happened to have their team of nine sled dogs with them.

You’ll never find anyone more enthusiastic to provide roadside assistance
Photo: Frank Kovalchek

Eklund, who runs the Skookum Expeditions tour company, was conducting a dogsled tour for another group of tourists when he spotted the vehicle in distress. After first dropping of the group from the dogsled tour, Eklund and his son returned to the scene of the stuck SUV.

Following some initial digging, Eklund hooked the dogs up to the Jeep, and the dogs began to tug at the vehicle. Through the constant pushing and pulling from the sled dog team, the Jeep Cherokee was eventually freed from the snow.

Free at last
Photo: dave_7

However, don’t worry about the dogs too much. Eklund promised that they had a good time during the entire towing process.

“We all tugged and pushed,” Eklund recalled. “The dogs had a lot of fun with it. When you have them all synced in unison, they can really pull.”

While Eklund has never used his team to pull a vehicle out of the snow before, it should be good practice for both the dogs and his son, Lauro. Lauro Eklund is currently training for the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod Trail sled dog races.

Needless to say, these tourists were lucky that Eklund and his sled dogs were there to help them out of a “ruff” situation.

Subaru loves dogs

That last joke might have been a little bit too “mush” to handle

News Sources: The Fairbanks Daily News Miner, The Drive