Why Don't Sled Dogs Ever Get Tired?

Sled dogs are the best endurance athletes in the world thanks to a weird quirk in their metabolism.

If you liked this week’s video, we think you might also like:

LEARN MORE
**************
To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
- Glycolysis: The process by which glycogen is broken down into energy.
- Anaerobic metabolism: The creation of energy through the combustion of carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen.
- Aerobic metabolism: The creation of energy through the breakdown of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.
- ATP: The principal molecule for storing and transferring energy in cells.
- Baseline Vital Signs: A subject’s temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, pain, and pulse oximetry.

CREDITS
*********
Script Writer: David Goldenberg
Script Editor: Emily Elert
Video Illustrator: Ever Salazar
Video Director: Kate Yoshida
Video Narrator: Kate Yoshida
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Peter Reich
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder

MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC

SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH
**************************
If you like what we do, you can help us!:
- Share this video with your friends and family
- Leave us a comment (we read them!)

OUR LINKS
************

REFERENCES
**************
McDougall, C. (2011). Born To Run.

McKenzie, Ericka. (2017). Professor of large animal internal medicine at the Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Personal Communication.

[matthewirizarry]

I could have told you this after chasing my husky around the neighborhood for the 15th time. I am in excellent shape now.

[the-real-zpero]

The fact that it's so cold also helps. The greatest advantage of humans over other animals when it comes to long distance running is the fact that we can sweat to dissipate heat. There is a traditional race ran every year somewhere (I can't remember the location) where humans compete against horses. Typically horses win on colder days, whereas in years that the race was held on a hot day, humans had the edge.

[ymj]

Human beats other animals cause we are better at sweating to prevent overheating.
I don't think heatstroke was a issue at Arctic.

[Chris-jwvm]

"To mush"

Finally a Youtuber that doesn't feel the need to apologise after every pun.

[arrownoir]

"We still don't know" Science's most famous catchphrase.

[ErikJohnsonFMA]

this channel is always like 10% louder than the normal youtube volume.

[MeanSoybean]

Marathon runners hate them! Click here to find out this trick sled dogs use to run forever!

[joemama]

Even though dog's may not always be the fastest, they're always good doggos

[TheDI]

This actually helped me in my training routine. Thank You.

[arcticnerd]

I grew up working with my neighbors sled dog team. She used to race in the Yukon Quest and it was amazing how far those dogs could go in a day. I would get tired running the sled before the dogs would.

[secondsuccess]

New generation of Olympian: Part human, part doggo. It's a new age, boyo.

[wilfinley]

I'm not sure why the video fails to mention climate, but that is the singular reason why Huskies can outrun humans. Available energy isn't the major factor that limits animals from running long distances - it's the inability to regulate their body temperature that does. Our ability to sweat across our large hairless surface area makes humans the most versatile long distance runners on the planet. Try and make a Husky run a few miles in 80 degree temperatures and see how that works out. They're poorly suited to running anywhere but cold climates.

[kemekee]

This is wrong, Forrest Gump ran the longest. He ran america like 6 times

[elliotttheneko]

Looks like the husky mains aren't accustomed to the African, South American and South Asian servers, so we hominoids will easily decimate them

[bjornlundberg]

1:58 the most enthusiastic "mush" I have ever heard.

[TheFreakDownStreet]

This is so incredibly fascinating to me. Stuff like this keeps making me bonder becoming a biology major.

[mavoc]

"Why Don't Sled Dogs Ever Get Tired?"
Selective breeding for maximum endurance

[mightymoose]

Best runners on the planet?

Every woman I've tried to talk too.

[AbudBakri]

Looks like dogs have beat us out evolutionarily in the fitness department.

[BrianBoruish]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. This is a question I was asking myself last week and I initially thought humans were the best long distance runners until I thought of the Iditarod sled dogs and thought "there's no way we can compete with that!". I think if you put those dogs anywhere other than a freezing environment we humans then come out on top...we're good at expelling heat. Thanks again!