Peeved pets — Musher loses Iditarod as dogs quit

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — There is a new leader in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race after the dogs on musher Nicolas Petit’s team quit on him.

Petit held a five-hour advantage after Sunday, but he told the Iditarod Insider that he yelled at two dogs who were fighting and that the team wouldn’t move after that.

He said the dogs ate well and there are no orthopedic issues.

“It’s just a head thing,” Petit said.

Petit’s team quit running at about the same point he gave up the lead in last year’s race, when he lost the trail in a blizzard.

Alaska musher Pete Kaiser passed Petit and was the first to reach the checkpoint in Koyuk on Monday. Koyuk is 827 miles into the 1,000-mile race across Alaska.