Only one aspect of the 2010 Iditarod race might overshadow the feat of Lance Mackey driving across the finish line for a remarkable fourth consecutive victory. For what is believed to be the first time ever, it also has the distinction of being the year that no dogs lost their lives along the way.

Race officials and mushers alike are serious about their dog care, as evidenced by rookie Cain Carter, who was eager to get his team in and out of the mandatory check at Iditarod headquarters in Wasilla as soon as possible. He'd heard some dog teams were sick with something contagious. Heeding the advice of Mackey, who also happens to be his step dad, Carter intended to keep his team around the rest of the racers for as short a time as possible. "Lance said to get in and out," Carter said as he started his truck and finished packing up his team to take off.

With all of the dogs checked out and cleared for duty, Carter is one step closer to making his inaugural run from Wasilla to Nome.

The vet checks are an annual ritual. The dogs, extremely fit ultra-marathoners, show up for the exams already having had their hearts tested and blood work done. As they wait patiently tethered outside their dog boxes, race veterinarians work the line. Working their hands over each dog's body, they carefully check for lumps and bumps, listen to hearts and lungs, and make sure each canine racer is healthy enough for the 1,100-mile, long distance journey on which they are about to embark.

In one day, veterinarians may collectively handle 600 to 700 dogs, or about half the field. While all teams must be checked out, mushers are allowed to have a private vet conduct the exam, something a lot of teams will take advantage of, according to Stuart Nelson, the race's chief veterinarian.

Carter's leeriness about a contagious illness may have been overly cautious, but not entirely unfounded.  By mid-morning the vets had come across at least one team with kennel cough, which can be brought on by the dog world's equivalent of the common cold. The illness wasn't serious, though, and the dogs will still be allowed to race, Nelson said.

The mandatory vet checks are a precursor to what will be constant vigilance of dog health along the trail. Forty one volunteer veterinarians will travel from across the nation to lend their expertise and healing hands at checkpoints along the trail, and mushers are trained to closely monitor how their team is doing and to take note of changes both subtle and serious in performance. Grogginess, unwillingness to eat, changes in the way a dog runs, coughing -- all of these can be early indicators of problems that need attention, Nelson said.

Although Nelson believes the good job mushers and vets did last year watching over the dogs from start to finish played a big role in the first-ever death-free Iditarod, he’s quick to point out that a lot can happen whenever a large number of dogs convene in one place over a two week period. Deaths may happen. The marathon race for the veterinarians will be to do everything they can to make sure they do not.

"We are trying to do our very best to make sure the dogs are healthy, mushers are well informed and vets know what they need to do," Nelson said about two-and-a-half hours into exam day in Wasilla and five days before the race's official start. "It's about time to make it all happen."

Contact Jill Burke at jill(at)alaskadispatch.com