Honest Dogs

by Brian Patrick O'Donoghue

Book Overview

At forty-one, husband and father Brian Patrick O'Donoghue feels his youth slipping away... It had been since six years since the newspaper reporter mushed to a last-place finish in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Yearning to challenge himself anew, he enters the Yukon Quest--a far more brutal, 1,000-mile run through mountainous wilds along the Yukon River between Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and Fairbanks, Alaska. With wry humor and diminishing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 094539778X
• ISBN13: 9780945397786
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Epicenter Press (WA)
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Truthful account of one man's Quest

This book tells the story of one man's first experience of the Yukon Quest, and the problems and triumphs he encountered along the way. Very informative for some-one like myself (an armchair musher!)covering aspects which would never occur to me i.e. arranging food drops in advance!A real page turner, i finished reading the book in one day.

Highly recommended for dog lovers & armchair adventurers.

In Honest Dogs: A Story Of Triumph And Regret From The World's Toughest Sled Dog Race, journalist and family man Brian O'Donoghue shares the story of his experiences upon entering the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race at the age of 41. Brian writes with wry humor of sharing the trail with his Alaskan huskies Khan, Hobbes, Scrimshaw, and Cyclone, as well as a diverse collection of rival racers and resident bush rats. Honest Dogs is a candid, vivid account of a punishing personal journey and relates the strategies, dreams, and disappoints of the contestants, the antics of the furry canine athletes, the sheer drama of the race, and the unworldly wilderness setting in which Brian and his dogs found themselves. Honest Dogs is highly recommended reading for armchair adventurers and dog lovers everywhere.

I just loved it!

This is an amazing book!--I had no idea what it takes to compete in a major sled dog race. All those pictures we see of the "romance" of sled dog competitions don't even begin to cover the fatigue (of dogs and people), the logistics and the problems. It must be an incredible experience to even finish in a race like this. I'm glad the author let me experience a little bit of it through his book.

A must read for sled dog racing fans

Once in a while you come across a book that you are sorry to see end.Honest dogs was one of those books for me.The chapter on going over american summit was very exciting.When I was in Anchorage for the start of this years Iditarod I got to see and pet O'donogue's lead dog "Khan". in person After reading this fine book I want to move to Two Rivers,Alaska and take up Mushing myself.