'An amazing thing': Iditarod dog found 3 months after disappearing from race checkpoint

He lost some weight,but otherwiseLon, an Iditarod sled dog who disappeared from a checkpoint in Alaskathree months agoand was recently found, seems to be doing OK.

"For sure he was thin when, you know, when he was finally caught. But he looks great," said Mark Nordman, the Iditarod's race director and race marshal.

"It's an amazing thing. I mean, it just shows you what the Alaskan husky can do, and survive with."

The nearly 1,609-kilometre Iditarodrace began March 6 just north of Anchorage. The route took mushers along Alaska's untamed and unforgiving wilderness, including two mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River and Bering Sea ice along the state's western coastline. Brent Sass won the race March 15 when he crossed under the famed burled arch finish line in Nome.

Such an epic race would be a big enough adventure for mostrestless dogs, but apparently notLon. He was at a race checkpoint in Ruby, Alaska,just under 800 kilometres from the race's start,when he somehow managed to slip out of his collar and skedaddle.

His owner musher Sbastien Dos Santos Borges of France had already continued up the Iditarod trail with the rest of his team. Individual dogs are often left behindwith handlers at checkpoints, for extra rest or medical care.

Nordman chalks upLon's escape to "human error."

"I just don't think the collar was put on tight enough," Nordmansaid.

WhereLonwent fromthereis a mystery. But people in Ruby really "stepped up," Nordman said, andbegan looking for the dogas soon as word went around that he was missing. Ahelicopter got involved at one point.

"There was a lot of emotions at the beginning. It was hard for people to understand how this could happen," Nordman recalled.

"It went on and on. And we'd hear, you know, maybe this was the dog,maybe it was wolf tracks back and forth."

Winter turned to spring, the snows melted and the rivers opened andLonwas still lost tothe wilds.

Nordmansays he never gave up hope, though. He thoughtthe dog may have initially bolted back up the race trail, scavenging abandoned dog food along the way.

Then, in late May, word came to Nordman that a homesteader near McGrath, Alaska about 195kilometres south of Ruby had been seeing a dog frequently near his cabin. Word ofLon'searlier disappearance had spread through the area and many people had been keeping an eye out for him, including in McGrath.

The homesteaderand another musher from the area left foodfor the dog Lon and eventually managed to capture him.

Nordman was "elated" when he heardLonwas safe.

"I don't know if you'd say it's a miracle or not, but it just shows how people work together and how tough these sled dogs can be," Nordman said.

Lonhas since been reunited with Dos Santos Borges in Willow, Alaska, and the two were expected to soon fly back to France.

Nordmansaid it was an amazing reunion. He described Lon "bouncing around, really happy to be back with Sbastien."

"Everybody's saying, if only Leon could talkbecause I'm sure he'd have a good story to tell!"