GRETCHEN MENSINK LOVEJOY/CHATFIELD NEWS Damon Ramaker of Wykoff takes his dogs for a run around the schoolyard to show the students what it's like to be a musher. Ramaker will take his dogs and equipment to Alaska to compete in the 2020 Iditarod sled race in March. - Chatfield, MN 
Students meet sled dogs prior to Iditarod journey
“Do you know what kind of dogs these are?” asked Damon Ramaker, standing atop the Chatfield Elementary School hill, paying no attention to the damp, pre-snowstorm winds biting at his face and freezing the steam landing on his beard as he exhaled.
Mittened hands shot up. “Husky sled dogs?”
The 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race contender affirmed the answer, explaining, “These are Alaskan huskies. There are many kinds of huskies, and most people think of the gray dogs with the blue eyes – a lot of people think of Siberian huskies. Mine are Alaskan huskies, and they love to run a long time and go really fast. They’re pretty durable dogs. What drives their breeding is not what they look like, but how fast they can run.”
Ramaker and his children, who attend Chatfield Elementary, had the privilege of showing their family’s very athletic canines and sled to the students Friday, Jan. 17, in the schoolyard just outside the preschool playground, sharing what they know about harnessing the energy of enthusiastic runners and Damon’s participation in the Iditarod dog race beginning on March 7.
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